One Rec vs StreamYard
StreamYard is the browser-based live streaming platform — polished for multi-guest shows with on-screen comments, polls, and banners. Post-Bending Spoons acquisition (2024), Core jumped to $35.99–44.99/month. One Rec is a free native desktop app that streams in 4K, adds a full screen recording studio, and costs a fraction of StreamYard's current pricing.
One Rec vs StreamYard: StreamYard is still best-in-class for audience-interactive live shows with on-screen comments, polls, banners, and webinars. One Rec is better if you want a native desktop studio with 4K streaming, a bundled screen recording studio, and a dramatically lower price.
Quick verdict
- One Rec free includes multi-RTMP streaming. StreamYard free watermarks streams, caps under 1080p, limits to 6 on-screen participants, and allows only 2 hrs/month recording.
- StreamYard Core is $35.99/month annual ($44.99 monthly) after 2024's price hike. One Rec Pro is $19/month with 4K streaming and recording included.
- One Rec is native desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux) with 4K/60fps streaming. StreamYard is browser-only and caps live streams at 1080p regardless of plan.
- StreamYard wins on live show production: on-screen comments, polls, Q&A, banners, tickers, lower-thirds, webinars. One Rec covers most streaming needs but lacks those audience-interactive layers.
How they compare
Verified feature-by-feature breakdown of One Rec vs StreamYard.
Where One Rec wins
4K streaming and recording (StreamYard caps live at 1080p)
One Rec Pro streams and records at 4K/60fps natively. StreamYard's live streams are hard-capped at 1080p regardless of plan — the 'Advanced plan 4K' refers only to local recording files, not live broadcasts.
Cinematic screen recording studio bundled
One Rec is also a polished screen recording studio — cinematic auto-zoom, cursor effects, custom backgrounds, device frames, multi-track timeline editor. StreamYard's screen sharing is a basic browser capture; nothing cinematic.
Dramatically lower price post-2024
After Bending Spoons acquired StreamYard in April 2024, prices increased 80–368%. StreamYard Core is now $35.99/month annual. One Rec Pro is $19/month — about half, with native 4K and a full screen recording studio included.
Native desktop performance
One Rec runs as a native desktop app with direct GPU encoding. StreamYard is browser-based — RAM heavy, occasionally fragile with guest connections, capped by browser encoding limits.
When StreamYard might be a better fit
We believe in honesty. Here's where StreamYard might actually suit you better.
You produce audience-interactive live shows
StreamYard's on-screen comment overlays, polls, Q&A, and multi-guest spotlight layouts are purpose-built for live show formats. If your streams depend on surfacing viewer comments on-screen, that's StreamYard's lane.
You need extensive branded overlays during streams
StreamYard ships logos, overlays, banners, tickers, lower-thirds, and custom intros/outros. For heavily-branded live productions, the graphics layer is more developed than One Rec's.
You host webinars with registration
StreamYard Advanced includes webinar features — registration pages, attendee management, downloadable transcripts, gated access. One Rec doesn't play in that space.
Your guests join from random browsers and devices
StreamYard's entire architecture is browser-native — guests click a link and are live with no install. One Rec's streaming studio supports guest invites too, but the browser-first guest experience is still more frictionless on StreamYard.
Which one should you pick?
A quick cheat sheet — pick the column that sounds most like you.
Pick One Rec if…
- You want native desktop quality with 4K streaming, not 1080p browser ceiling
- You also record screen content and want cinematic polish on recordings
- You want to pay $0–19/month, not $35.99+/month
- You stream to more than 3 destinations simultaneously
- You're on Linux, or your team mixes platforms
Pick StreamYard if…
- Your streams depend on on-screen audience comments, polls, and Q&A
- You produce branded live shows with extensive overlays, tickers, and lower-thirds
- You host webinars with registration pages and attendee management
- Guests joining from any browser with zero install is load-bearing
- You prefer a pure browser workflow over desktop app installs
Side-by-side pricing
Cost over time
Real numbers for common scenarios — One Rec vs StreamYard.
Frequently asked questions
Try One Rec free today
No sign-up. No credit card. No time limits on recordings. Download and start recording in under a minute.
Facts verified against StreamYard (official website) on April 22, 2026. Spot something outdated? Let us know.