[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":128},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fblog\u002Fobs-multistream-without-a-plugin":3,"authors":110},{"id":4,"title":5,"authors":6,"badge":8,"body":10,"date":100,"description":101,"extension":102,"image":103,"meta":104,"navigation":105,"path":106,"seo":107,"stem":108,"__hash__":109},"posts\u002F3.blog\u002Fobs-multistream-without-a-plugin.md","Multistreaming from OBS without a plugin",[7],"jaydrogers",{"label":9},"Guide",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":94},"minimark",[13,17,22,25,28,31,35,38,41,52,55,58,75,79,82,85],[14,15,16],"p",{},"The usual way to send your OBS stream to a bunch of platforms at once is a multistream plugin. I'd skip it. Here's why, and what I do instead.",[18,19,21],"h2",{"id":20},"the-problem-with-multistream-plugins","The problem with multistream plugins",[14,23,24],{},"A plugin loads inside OBS and runs in the same process as your scenes, your sources, and your encoder. So when the plugin has a bad day, it doesn't fail off to the side somewhere. It can take OBS down with it, right in the middle of your stream.",[14,26,27],{},"Anyone who's stacked a few OBS plugins knows the feeling. A scene switch hangs for no reason, at the worst possible moment.",[14,29,30],{},"There's a quieter problem too. A plugin ties your whole multistream setup to OBS. Move to vMix or a hardware encoder later and none of it comes with you. And plenty of people don't use OBS at all.",[18,32,34],{"id":33},"point-obs-at-something-else","Point OBS at something else",[14,36,37],{},"The setup I like keeps the fan-out completely outside OBS.",[14,39,40],{},"OBS already knows how to send a stream to an RTMP server. That's how it talks to YouTube or Twitch directly. So instead of pointing it at a platform, point it at a server running on your own machine. That server takes your one feed, re-encodes it once per destination, and forwards each one on.",[42,43,48],"pre",{"className":44,"code":46,"language":47},[45],"language-text","OBS  ──►  rtmp:\u002F\u002Flocalhost  ──►  ┌─ encoder ──► YouTube\n                                 ├─ encoder ──► Twitch\n                                 └─ encoder ──► LinkedIn\n","text",[49,50,46],"code",{"__ignoreMap":51},"",[14,53,54],{},"Nothing loads into OBS. As far as OBS knows, it's streaming to one place.",[14,56,57],{},"That separation does two things for you:",[59,60,61,69],"ul",{},[62,63,64,68],"li",{},[65,66,67],"strong",{},"It can't crash OBS."," The fan-out runs in its own process, so a problem there never reaches your scenes.",[62,70,71,74],{},[65,72,73],{},"It isn't married to OBS."," Anything that speaks RTMP, SRT, or WHIP works the same way: vMix, a hardware encoder, a camera, your own script.",[18,76,78],{"id":77},"where-polycast-fits","Where Polycast fits",[14,80,81],{},"Polycast is that separate process, built for exactly this. You point OBS (or any RTMP, SRT, or WHIP source) at it, and it runs a dedicated encoder per destination on your machine, each one tuned to what its platform accepts. It's a desktop app you own, not a plugin and not a cloud relay.",[14,83,84],{},"Keep producing in whatever you already use. Let something independent handle getting it everywhere.",[14,86,87,88,93],{},"Polycast is in pre-launch. ",[89,90,92],"a",{"href":91},"\u002F#waitlist","Join the waitlist →"," and I'll send you the launch email.",{"title":51,"searchDepth":95,"depth":95,"links":96},2,[97,98,99],{"id":20,"depth":95,"text":21},{"id":33,"depth":95,"text":34},{"id":77,"depth":95,"text":78},"2026-06-02","OBS multistream plugins run inside OBS, which is exactly why they're risky. Here's the approach I use instead.","md",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fobs-multistream-without-a-plugin",{"title":5,"description":101},"3.blog\u002Fobs-multistream-without-a-plugin","TKwEcgY4cRtxEUORJwwwoRgu0XoFg4nNXALWlYcWvyY",{"id":111,"extension":112,"list":113,"meta":125,"stem":126,"__hash__":127},"authors\u002Fauthors.yml","yml",[114,118,121],{"slug":115,"name":116,"avatar":117},"aarondfrancis","Aaron Francis","\u002Fauthors\u002Faarondfrancis.jpg",{"slug":7,"name":119,"avatar":120},"Jay Rogers","\u002Fauthors\u002Fjaydrogers.jpg",{"slug":122,"name":123,"avatar":124},"danpastori","Dan Pastori","\u002Fauthors\u002Fdanpastori.jpg",{},"authors","TD_FKipxxPsHMH_Evc0aVCfassI3jyFZb147l3uQzRA",1780799136764]