Restream vs VDO.Ninja (2026): which should you pick?

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 VDO.Ninja if

• Fits if you already use OBS and want remote guests on screen
• Works for people comfortable editing link parameters

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want one product that streams out to viewers, as you need OBS or similar
• Not for you if you want registration pages, polls or attendee numbers
• Too light for support: it is run by one developer with sponsorship, and no paid support is listed
• Watch out: setup is mostly URL parameters from the docs

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.

VDO.Ninja

• It supplies video sources, not a stream-out service, so you need OBS or similar software to produce and send the broadcast.
• It has no registration pages, polls or attendee analytics, so it does not replace a webinar platform.
• The documentation is where setup is explained, and the interface is configured mostly through URL parameters.
• It is run by an individual developer with sponsorship support, so no paid support plan is listed.

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.

VDO.Ninja

Guests join from a link

Remote guests open a link in a browser to share a camera, microphone or screen; the documentation lists smartphones as a source.

Rooms with a director

A room has a director control center for managing guests, with optional passwords, approval before joining and sign-in options.

Output into OBS

Each feed or scene gets a link to paste into an OBS Studio browser source.

Peer-to-peer WebRTC

Video travels directly between browsers where possible, using WebRTC rather than a central media server.

URL parameters

Advanced Options in the docs let users tune quality, layout and behavior through parameters in the link.

Self-hostable

The code can be customized and self-hosted by teams that want control over deployment and signaling.

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.

VDO.Ninja

• Free$0

  The hosted service at vdo.ninja, with rooms, guests and OBS browser-source links. No paid plans are listed.

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.

VDO.Ninja

No public discounts listed.