Restream vs StreamElements (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Restream: it is second in our ranking of webinar and live streaming tools, though StreamElements grades higher (2.6 against 2.4) on value for money and the free plan.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Restream grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Restream
Multistream one live video to YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn and more
Which one is for you
Pick Restream if
- Fits if you go live on YouTube, Twitch and LinkedIn at the same time and want their comments in one place
- Works for streamers who already use OBS and want one feed sent to several channels
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want 1080p from the browser studio without paying for Professional at $49 a month
- Pricey if you mostly want webinars: $99 a month for 100 attendees on top of the plan, or $299 for 500 on Business
- Tight if you're staying free, with Restream branding, only 2 channels and no cloud recording
- Watch out: recordings are kept 15 days (30 on Business), and extra seats are $25 a month each, sold only on Professional and Business
- Not for you if you want a desktop or phone app, since it's web only
Pick StreamElements if
- Fits if you stream on Twitch and want alerts and a chatbot
- Works for streamers who build their own widgets
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to run webinars, as there are no registration or attendee features
- Watch out: the pricing page returned no readable text, so paid options are unverified
- Watch out: a Titanium site is linked separately
- Skip it if you are off Twitch, as one feature is Twitch-only
How we grade them
| 2.4GPARestreamFair | 2.6GPAStreamElementsGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStreaming to three platforms means Standard: $190 a year billed annually, or $19 by the month. Against the tools doing the same job, that's level with Ecamm and Castr and well under StreamYard's Core, so it sits in the cheapest band. Webinars are an extra $99 a month. | AThe homepage says its alerts and widgets are free forever. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's a free plan with no time limit: 2 channels at once and 6 people on screen in Studio. But Restream branding sits on the stream, it's 720p, and there's no cloud recording. | BFree forever by the homepage, but any paid options could not be read. |
| Features | CIt does the multistreaming job fully: 30 or more platforms, custom RTMP and SRT, one chat for every channel, combined stats, and recorded video streamed as live. The gaps: Studio stays at 720p on Standard, and webinars and clips are paid add-ons. | CAlerts, overlays, chatbot and SE.Live. It does the streamer job and lists no webinar, registration or attendee features. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. Guests join from a browser, but you connect each channel and build scenes and overlays in Studio, or set up OBS to stream in. | CNo store rating on record. You build overlays and connect your channel. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app, with no desktop or phone app listed, but it streams to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, X and TikTok, takes feeds from OBS, Zoom and game consoles, and can send a webinar into Slack. | CWeb only, with Twitch and OBS Studio links and developer tools. |
| Best for | streaming to several platforms at once | overlays and chatbots for streamers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Restream and StreamElements. How we grade
Where they differ
- Restream also covers transcription and webinars.
At a glance
| Restream | StreamElements | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed monthly ($190 a year billed annually) | Not published |
| Free plan | Stream to 2 channels at once with Restream branding, 6 on-screen participants in Studio at 720p, and no cloud recording. | The homepage says its alerts and widgets are free forever; no pricing page lists any plans. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Restream, Inc. | StreamElements |
| Price read from | restream.io | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Restream
- Webinars cost extra: $99 a month for 100 attendees on Standard and Professional, and $299 a month for 500 on Business.
- The Free plan carries Restream branding, streams to only 2 channels and has no cloud recording.
- Studio streams at 720p on Free and Standard; 1080p needs Professional, and recordings are kept 15 days (30 on Business).
- Extra team seats cost $25 a seat a month and are sold only on Professional and Business.
StreamElements
- The pricing page returned no readable text, so any paid options are unverified; a separate Titanium site is linked.
- Built for live streamers; it is not a webinar platform and lists no webinar, registration or attendee features.
- The homepage notes one feature is available now for Twitch streamers only.
Key features
Restream
- Multistreaming
- Sends one stream to 30 or more platforms, from 2 at once on Free to 8 on Business, plus custom RTMP and SRT destinations and paired channels added by guests.
- Restream Studio
- A browser studio with up to 10 people on screen, scenes, overlays, logos, a scrolling ticker, QR codes and background music. Professional and up stream in 1080p and record in 4K.
- Encoder support
- Instead of Studio, you can stream from OBS, Zoom, mobile encoders or game consoles into Restream and let it fan the stream out to every channel.
- Cross-platform chat and analytics
- Comments from every channel arrive in one feed, and viewer and engagement stats from all channels are shown together, with a live health monitor during the stream.
- Webinars add-on
- One link handles registration, the live webinar and the replay. Attendees watch in a browser without an account, and the webinar can also be streamed into a Slack channel.
- Upload & Stream and clips
- Pre-recorded videos can be broadcast as live streams, and the Clips add-on cuts streams into short vertical clips for TikTok, Shorts and Reels.
StreamElements
- Alerts and overlays
- Animated alerts and overlays can be built from templates or a visual editor, which the site says is free.
- Chatbot
- Commands, variables, timers, spam filters and interactive modules for chat, per the documentation.
- SE.Live
- An OBS Studio plugin with setup guides in the documentation.
- Ground Control
- Described as a multi-streaming stream management companion app.
- Developer tools
- The documentation covers WebSockets, an HTTP API and custom widgets.
Plans
Restream
Free$0
Stream to 2 channels at once with Restream branding; Studio at 720p with 6 people on screen.
Standard$19
per month, billed monthly ($190 a year billed annually)
3 channels, no Restream branding, guest channels, 10 people on screen, cloud recording of 6 hours per stream kept for 15 days, and transcription.
Professional$49
per month, billed monthly ($470 a year billed annually)
5 channels, 1080p from Studio, 4K recording, horizontal and vertical streams at once, 10 hours recorded per stream and 2 team seats.
Business$239
per month, billed monthly ($2,390 a year billed annually)
8 channels, a website player for 1,000 viewers, 2 seats, co-producer mode, team workspaces and 30 days of recording storage.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom channels and seats, SSO, multiple workspaces, SRT ingest, stream backup and an account manager.
StreamElements
Pricing could not be confirmed. See streamelements.com.
Ways to pay less
Restream
- Annual discount
Annual billing labelled Save 20%
Restream's pricing page offers annual billing marked "Save 20%". Its price data gives $190 a year for Standard, $470 for Professional and $2,390 for Business, against $19, $49 and $239 a month.
StreamElements
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Restream or StreamElements?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Restream starts at $19 per month, billed monthly ($190 a year billed annually), and StreamElements has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Restream or StreamElements?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Restream and StreamElements have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.