Upstream alternatives

4 Best Upstream Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Updated October 16, 2026

Upstream is a strong 24/7 streaming tool, and it is on YouTube's list of verified encoders. But its per-stream subscription and design-heavy workflow are not for everyone. Here are four alternatives, ranked for an always-on channel.

We judged each tool on what an always-on channel needs: price, streaming quality, destinations and how hands-off it runs.

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Best alternatives

1
Streamloop
Creators who want flexible-duration playlists on up to 5 destinations at once, such as YouTube, Twitch and Kick, without running an encoder
1Streamloop: Creators who want flexible-duration playlists on up to 5 destinations at once, such as YouTube, Twitch and Kick, without running an encoder
2
Castr
Pre-recorded 24/7 plus broader streaming
2Castr: Pre-recorded 24/7 plus broader streaming
3
Restream
Live multistreaming with a browser studio
3Restream: Live multistreaming with a browser studio
4
Runnel.live
A bare-bones, budget 24/7 loop
4Runnel.live: A bare-bones, budget 24/7 loop

★ Our pick

Streamloop

Creators who want flexible-duration playlists on up to 5 destinations at once, such as YouTube, Twitch and Kick, without running an encoder

Starts at

$10 per 30 days at 1080p30

Best for

Creators who want flexible-duration playlists on up to 5 destinations at once, such as YouTube, Twitch and Kick, without running an encoder

Streamloop turns prerecorded video and audio playlists into cloud streams at up to 4K60. One stream can send the same video to up to 5 destinations at the same time. At most one of them can be a YouTube channel connected by login. Live Scenes adds live inputs and graphics. In the Streamloop dashboard, choose Scene when you create a stream.

What's good

Billed by the minute at the rate for your quality, and nothing while a stream is stopped
Play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words
Published playlist edits take effect at the next clip boundary without restarting
YouTube channel connected by sign-in, plus any compatible RTMP or RTMPS destination
Imports from Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links
Documented REST, GraphQL, and OAuth-protected MCP interfaces

Where it's not a fit

Built for pre-recorded loops, not live webcam input
Stops at 5 destinations per stream, and each one after the first adds to the cost

Streaming is billed by the minute, only while live: one 24/7 stream at 1080p is about $10 per 30 days. Start with a $1 trial week, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel, or top up and pay as you go.

Start the $1 trial

Castr

Pre-recorded 24/7 plus broader streaming

Starts at

Core plans from $19.99/month; infinite looping from $199.99/month

Best for

Pre-recorded 24/7 plus broader streaming

Castr is a broad live-video platform rather than a focused looper. Premium and higher can run infinitely looping MP4 playlists through Pre-Recorded Live, while TV Playout offers structured scheduling, live inputs, EPG, and larger playlists but limits loops to 15 or 30 days.

What's good

Broad multistreaming, hosted VOD, player, monetization, and API stack
Documented infinite Pre-Recorded Live looping on Premium and above
Account-wide delivery to between 6 and 30 destinations depending on plan
TV Playout adds scheduling, live inputs, breaks, and EPG on higher tiers
Cloud Production provides browser-based switching and external URL overlays

Where it's not a fit

Endless looping starts on Premium, at $199.99 a month
Starter and Standard can schedule prerecorded content but cannot loop indefinitely
Cloud prerecorded playback has no current documented 4K guarantee
Pre-Recorded Live and TV Playout have separate storage, file, quality, and loop rules
Cloud Production is a browser switcher, not a full Restream-style guest studio

Free trial available; Trial TV Playout output is branded

Restream

Live multistreaming with a browser studio

Starts at

Free core plan; prerecorded looping from $79/month

Best for

Live multistreaming with a browser studio

Restream is primarily a live multistreaming platform and browser Studio. Upload & Stream can schedule prerecorded videos and playlists, but it is not a perpetual 24/7 looper: an individual event is capped at 10 loops and 40 hours, while playlists cannot loop and are capped at 40 entries.

What's good

Mature one-to-many distribution to 30 integrated platforms plus custom endpoints
Full browser Studio with guests, scenes, graphics, screen sharing, and chat
Scheduled prerecorded events are available through dedicated add-ons
Marathon supports 1080p looping and Media supports 4K
Business and Enterprise add stronger production and reliability controls

Where it's not a fit

Looping starts on the Marathon plan, at $79 a month
No documented tier supports a continuous 30-day prerecorded event
Individual videos stop after 10 loops or 40 hours
Playlists cannot loop and cannot be reordered after playback starts
Custom RTMP loses Restream chat, analytics, and automatic destination-title updates

Permanent Free plan; not a time-limited free trial

Runnel.live

A bare-bones, budget 24/7 loop

Starts at

$6 per stream per month

Best for

A bare-bones, budget 24/7 loop

Runnel.live loops or shuffles a video queue, mainly to YouTube, at a low price per stream. You can create as many streams as you like, but each one is billed on its own and sends to one destination. Account limits and server capacity still apply.

What's good

Very low per-stream playout price with minute-level proration
Up to 4K60 in horizontal or vertical orientation
Queue looping, shuffle, bulk upload, and one-time scheduled starts
Additional videos can be uploaded while a stream is running

Where it's not a fit

Uploads cost extra and 4K uploads carry the highest per-GB charge
YouTube is the primary target; Twitch and Rumble are only partially supported
Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are unsupported, while Kick support is conflicting
Account limits can require support approval and launches can wait for server capacity
Inactive streams containing media are purged after two months

No free trial; you add credit before your first stream

Real cost

What a 24/7 stream actually costs, by quality

Streamloop bills by the minute. Pick a resolution and frame rate, and pay only while you are live. Optional monthly credit plans are also available. Below is the cost of a stream running nonstop for a full 30 days.

Quality	30 fps / mo	60 fps / mo
720p	$5	$7.50
1080pMost popular	$10	$15
1440p (2K)	$20	$30
4K (2160p)	$30	$45

720p

30 fps: $5
60 fps: $7.50

1080p

1440p (2K)

30 fps: $20
60 fps: $30

4K (2160p)

30 fps: $30
60 fps: $45

Metered by the minute, so a week of streaming costs about a quarter of these figures, and a day about a thirtieth. Files that need encoding add a one-time ~$0.005 per minute of encode time; files that are ready to stream skip it. Uploads and idle loops are free, and so is the first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage.

A 1080p stream running 24/7 on Streamloop is about $10/month, and you only pay while it is live. For comparison, Upstream lists: From $24/mo yearly / $30/mo monthly.

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Comparison

Upstream compared to the others

All the features that matter, side by side.

Feature	Streamloop	Upstream	Castr	Restream	Runnel.live
1Pricing & access
Pay-as-you-go, no subscription	Top up by card or crypto and pay as you go; a monthly plan is optional	✕	✕	✕	Prepaid credit and minute-prorated usage; no lock-in
Trial	$1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel	Free, 24h/mo	Free trial available; Trial TV Playout is branded	Permanent Free plan, not a trial	No free trial; you add credit before your first stream
Starting price	720p24: $4 per 30 live days; billed by the minute, monthly plan optional	From $24/mo yr / $30 mo	Core $19.99/mo; infinite Pre-Recorded Live loop from Premium $199.99/mo	Free core; paid core $19/mo; Upload & Stream $39/mo; looping $79/mo	$6 per separate stream per month, prorated by minute
720p 30-day price	$4 at 24fps; $5 at 30fps	30fps: $24/mo yearly, $30 monthly. 60fps: $36/mo yearly, $40 monthly	TV Playout starts at $19.99/mo but Starter cannot loop indefinitely	No 30-day prerecorded tier; looping starts at $79/mo and stops by 40 h	$6/mo + upload fees
1080p 30-day price	$10 at 30fps	30fps: $24/mo yearly, $30 monthly. 60fps: $36/mo yearly, $40 monthly	TV Playout 1080p starts on Ultra $349.99/mo; max 30-day loop	No 30-day prerecorded tier; 1080p looping starts at $79/mo and stops by 40 h	$6 streaming plus HD upload charges of $0.07/GB
1440p / 2K 30-day price	$20 at 30fps	No 1440p option; 4K at 30fps is $63/mo yearly, $70 monthly	No 1440p option; TV Playout outputs 720p or 1080p	No 30-day prerecorded tier; above 1080p needs Media at $239/mo, and looping stops by 40 h	$6/mo + uploads
2160p / 4K 30-day price	$30 at 30fps; $45 at 60fps	30fps: $63/mo yearly, $70 monthly. 60fps: $108/mo yearly, $120 monthly	4K is not listed for prerecorded playout	4K requires $239/mo Media but still cannot run 30 days continuously	$6 streaming plus 4K upload charges of $0.50/GB
2Streaming quality
720p / 30fps	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
1080p / Full HD	✓	✓	TV Playout 1080p on Ultra/Events; lower plans are fixed 720p30	✓	✓
60fps	24, 30 or 60 fps	✓	TV Playout 50/60fps on Ultra and Events	Official prerecorded requirements recommend 30 or 60fps	Up to 60fps
Up to 4K @ 60fps	Up to 2160p/4K	✓	4K is not listed for prerecorded streaming	4K requires the $239/mo Media Upload & Stream tier	Up to 4K
Vertical / portrait streaming	Portrait and landscape output	✓	✓	✓	Horizontal and vertical output
HDR streaming publicly documented	HDR to YouTube only	✕	✕	HDR prerecorded output is not publicly documented	HDR is not mentioned
3Production & design
Stream designer / layout builder	Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: a layered scene editor with an AI assistant.	✓	Cloud Production supports positioning, scaling, transitions, and slates	Scenes, custom layouts, portrait/landscape, branding, and media	✕
Image, video & logo overlays	Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: image, logo, text, clock, countdown and video layers.	✓	Images, tickers, lower thirds, alerts, and external URL overlays	Logos, overlays, lower thirds, captions, tickers, QR codes, and backgrounds	Overlays are not supported
Embed live websites & graphs	Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: any web page can be a layer.	✓	Hosted HTML5 player and video hosting	Embed player only	✕
Interactive alerts & widgets	No native alerts or polls. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, can show a third-party chat or alert page.	✓	External URL widgets are supported; built-in interactive show tools are limited	Unified chat and on-screen cross-platform comments	✕
Custom fonts in overlays	Partly. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, uses the Google Fonts catalog; no font upload.	✓	✕	✓	✕
Browser Live Studio (camera)	No browser studio, webcam or guests. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs, takes OBS, vMix or IP camera feeds up to 1080p60.	✓	Cloud Production switcher up to 1080p60; not a full multi-guest studio	Full browser Studio with up to 10 on-screen participants	No browser production studio
4Sources & inputs
MP4 / MKV / AVI / MOV upload	MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MPEG and MXF	✓	Pre-Recorded Live documents MP4 only	MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV with H.264/AAC; AVI is not documented	MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM; no AVI
Separate audio track (music / voiceover)	Separate audio and audio playlists: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, Opus	✓	✕	Separate Studio recording tracks do not provide a separate prerecorded audio playlist	✕
Import from Google Drive / Dropbox	Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links.	✕	✓	Current Upload & Stream pages reviewed do not verify Drive or Dropbox import	✕
Playlists with custom ordering	Drag to reorder; play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words	✓	Ordered playlists with per-item enable/disable controls	Marathon/Media; 40 videos, no playlist looping	Bulk-uploaded queue can loop and shuffle
Custom loop logic (shuffle, loop counts)	In order, shuffle without repeats, or a custom order in plain words; no loop counts	✓	✕	✕	✓
Edit the stream live (swap / skip / reorder)	Publish playlist edits while live; they start at the next item. No skip button.	✓	Items can be managed, but the playing TV item should not be moved or replaced live	Playlist items cannot be added, removed, or reordered after playback starts	You can upload more videos while live; reordering a live queue is not described
5Destinations
YouTube (one-click OAuth)	✓	✓	✓	✓	YouTube via stream key
Custom RTMP (any platform)	Any compatible RTMP destination	✓	Custom RTMP and SRT endpoints consume destination allowance	Paid core plan required; no Restream chat, analytics, or title control	Alternate RTMP/RTMPS URLs accepted; query-string URLs rejected
Twitch / Facebook / Kick / TikTok	Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok, and others through compatible RTMP endpoints	✓	30+ platform catalog with native and custom endpoints	30 integrated destinations plus custom RTMP/SRT/HLS/WHIP options	Built for YouTube; Twitch and Rumble partly supported; no Facebook, Instagram or TikTok; Kick unclear
Multistream to several destinations	Up to 5 destinations per stream. Each one after the first adds $6 per 30 days at 1080p while live.	✓	One source can distribute to several account-wide destinations	One live source can distribute to several enabled channels	Each destination requires a separate stream and key
One-click YouTube (no stream key)	Official Google OAuth connection; manual stream-key option also available	✓	Native YouTube destination integration	Native YouTube integration	Users create a YouTube event and stream key separately
SRT ingest	Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs: SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS. Plain loops take uploaded files only.	✕	✓	✓	✕
6Lifecycle & automation
True 24/7 continuous loop	Continuous cloud loop while active and funded	✓	Infinite Pre-Recorded Live looping on Premium+; TV Playout loops are time-limited	Maximum 10 loops and 40 hours per video event	Queues can loop continuously
YouTube broadcast lifecycle automation	Can create and synchronize broadcast metadata, privacy, thumbnail, latency, DVR, recording, and schedule	✓	Native YouTube destination and scheduling; full broadcast automation is not described	Scheduled event creation/attachment and advance posts; not full lifecycle ownership	No; you create each YouTube event yourself
Scheduling	Immediate/future start; duration, end time, or open-ended	✓	One-time prerecorded schedules and TV-style timetables	Scheduled prerecorded events and playlists	One-time future start; recurring schedules are not described
MCP / agent integration	OAuth-protected hosted MCP for streams, playlists, uploads, destinations, usage, and billing	MCP server on every plan	✕	✕	✕
YouTube ad cue points	✕	✓	✕	✓	✕
Edit title / description / thumbnail live	✓	✕	✕	✓	✕
Public API	Public OpenAPI REST interface plus documented GraphQL	Live Streaming API on every plan	API access begins on Premium	✓	No public API listed
Unlimited loop without manual rescheduling	Can run indefinitely until stopped, credit is exhausted, or destination action is required	✓	Yes for Premium+ Pre-Recorded Live; no for TV Playout	No perpetual prerecorded loop; playlists cannot loop	Continuous queue loop; inactive streams are purged after two months
7Limits & inclusions
Storage included	Uploads are free. The first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage is free, then $0.35 per GiB-month while live.	100GB on the free plan	Pre-recorded: 4/4/10/20/20 GB; hosted VOD storage is separate	Upload & Stream publishes 2-, 4-, and 12-hour libraries rather than GB quotas	Unlimited storage advertised; each upload has a one-time fee, and inactive streams with videos are deleted after 2 months
Concurrent streams / slots	Multiple separate streams are supported; no public account hard cap is documented	1 on the free plan; paid plans priced per concurrent stream	Created workflows, including inactive ones, count; prerecorded streams are 1/1/2/3/3	Published numbers are active destination channels, not independent program jobs	Unlimited streams advertised, but support sets account limits and a start can wait for a free server
Max multistream destinations	5 per stream, with at most one connected YouTube channel	10	6 Starter; 10 Standard; 20 Premium; 30 Ultra/Events, account-wide	2 Free; 3 Standard; 5 Professional; 8 Business; Enterprise custom	One destination per separately created stream
Videos per playlist	1000 items per playlist	No published limit	Pre-recorded: 2/2/10/15/15; TV Playout: 5/10/30/30/50 files	40 videos per playlist	No published limit (bulk-upload as many videos as you like)
Max upload size / length	15 GiB per file	✕	Pre-recorded max 240 min/file Premium+; TV caps range 500 MB to 10 GB and 30 to 240 min	2/4/12-hour libraries; playlists max 40 items	100 MB to 100 GB and 20 seconds to 4 days per file
Team / multi-user access	Shared workspaces with email invites and owner, admin and member roles	✓	3 members (Premium), 5 (Ultra)	✓	✓
No watermark	No watermark on any plan	✓	Trial, Starter, and Standard TV Playout output is branded	Free carries Restream branding; paid plans remove it	✓
8Reliability & support
Automatic monitoring & recovery	Automatic monitoring, restart and reconnection	✓	✓	✓	✕
Backup streams	No. You do not set up a backup stream. A failed stream restarts automatically.	✓	Failover ingest begins on Ultra and Events	Disconnect protection on Business; true backup encoder ingest on Enterprise	✕
Chat / email support	Email only, with replies typically within 24 hours	✓	✓	✓	✓
Uptime guarantee / compensation	No contractual uptime compensation or recovery-time SLA published	✓	99.9% uptime SLA on every plan	No public compensation-backed uptime SLA found	✓
In-app viewer analytics	YouTube concurrent viewers only	✕	✓	✓	✕
9Trust & account
Trustpilot rating	Only one review so far, so no useful rating yet	4.5 (243)	~4.0 (54)	4.5 (~471)	4.5 (14 reviews)
YouTube-Verified encoder	✕	✓	Not listed as verified encoder	✓	Not listed as verified encoder
Two-factor authentication	No. You sign in with Google, an email link or a passkey, with no extra second step.	✓	✓	✓	✕

Streamloop stays fixed. Open a tool to compare its full feature set.

StreamloopVS

Upstream

Pricing & access

Pay-as-you-go, no subscription

Streamloop: Top up by card or crypto and pay as you go; a monthly plan is optional
Upstream: ✕

Trial

Streamloop: $1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel
Upstream: Free, 24h/mo

Starting price

Streamloop: 720p24: $4 per 30 live days; billed by the minute, monthly plan optional
Upstream: From $24/mo yr / $30 mo

720p 30-day price

Streamloop: $4 at 24fps; $5 at 30fps
Upstream: 30fps: $24/mo yearly, $30 monthly. 60fps: $36/mo yearly, $40 monthly

1080p 30-day price

Streamloop: $10 at 30fps
Upstream: 30fps: $24/mo yearly, $30 monthly. 60fps: $36/mo yearly, $40 monthly

1440p / 2K 30-day price

Streamloop: $20 at 30fps
Upstream: No 1440p option; 4K at 30fps is $63/mo yearly, $70 monthly

2160p / 4K 30-day price

Streamloop: $30 at 30fps; $45 at 60fps
Upstream: 30fps: $63/mo yearly, $70 monthly. 60fps: $108/mo yearly, $120 monthly

Streaming quality

720p / 30fps

Streamloop: ✓
Upstream: ✓

1080p / Full HD

Streamloop: ✓
Upstream: ✓

60fps

Streamloop: 24, 30 or 60 fps
Upstream: ✓

Up to 4K @ 60fps

Streamloop: Up to 2160p/4K
Upstream: ✓

Vertical / portrait streaming

Streamloop: Portrait and landscape output
Upstream: ✓

HDR streaming publicly documented

Streamloop: HDR to YouTube only
Upstream: ✕

Production & design

Stream designer / layout builder

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: a layered scene editor with an AI assistant.
Upstream: ✓

Image, video & logo overlays

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: image, logo, text, clock, countdown and video layers.
Upstream: ✓

Embed live websites & graphs

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: any web page can be a layer.
Upstream: ✓

Interactive alerts & widgets

Streamloop: No native alerts or polls. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, can show a third-party chat or alert page.
Upstream: ✓

Custom fonts in overlays

Streamloop: Partly. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, uses the Google Fonts catalog; no font upload.
Upstream: ✓

Browser Live Studio (camera)

Streamloop: No browser studio, webcam or guests. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs, takes OBS, vMix or IP camera feeds up to 1080p60.
Upstream: ✓

Sources & inputs

MP4 / MKV / AVI / MOV upload

Streamloop: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MPEG and MXF
Upstream: ✓

Separate audio track (music / voiceover)

Streamloop: Separate audio and audio playlists: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, Opus
Upstream: ✓

Import from Google Drive / Dropbox

Streamloop: Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links.
Upstream: ✕

Playlists with custom ordering

Streamloop: Drag to reorder; play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words
Upstream: ✓

Custom loop logic (shuffle, loop counts)

Streamloop: In order, shuffle without repeats, or a custom order in plain words; no loop counts
Upstream: ✓

Edit the stream live (swap / skip / reorder)

Streamloop: Publish playlist edits while live; they start at the next item. No skip button.
Upstream: ✓

Destinations

YouTube (one-click OAuth)

Streamloop: ✓
Upstream: ✓

Custom RTMP (any platform)

Streamloop: Any compatible RTMP destination
Upstream: ✓

Twitch / Facebook / Kick / TikTok

Streamloop: Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok, and others through compatible RTMP endpoints
Upstream: ✓

Multistream to several destinations

Streamloop: Up to 5 destinations per stream. Each one after the first adds $6 per 30 days at 1080p while live.
Upstream: ✓

One-click YouTube (no stream key)

Streamloop: Official Google OAuth connection; manual stream-key option also available
Upstream: ✓

SRT ingest

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs: SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS. Plain loops take uploaded files only.
Upstream: ✕

Lifecycle & automation

True 24/7 continuous loop

Streamloop: Continuous cloud loop while active and funded
Upstream: ✓

YouTube broadcast lifecycle automation

Streamloop: Can create and synchronize broadcast metadata, privacy, thumbnail, latency, DVR, recording, and schedule
Upstream: ✓

Scheduling

Streamloop: Immediate/future start; duration, end time, or open-ended
Upstream: ✓

MCP / agent integration

Streamloop: OAuth-protected hosted MCP for streams, playlists, uploads, destinations, usage, and billing
Upstream: MCP server on every plan

YouTube ad cue points

Streamloop: ✕
Upstream: ✓

Edit title / description / thumbnail live

Streamloop: ✓
Upstream: ✕

Public API

Streamloop: Public OpenAPI REST interface plus documented GraphQL
Upstream: Live Streaming API on every plan

Unlimited loop without manual rescheduling

Streamloop: Can run indefinitely until stopped, credit is exhausted, or destination action is required
Upstream: ✓

Limits & inclusions

Storage included

Streamloop: Uploads are free. The first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage is free, then $0.35 per GiB-month while live.
Upstream: 100GB on the free plan

Concurrent streams / slots

Streamloop: Multiple separate streams are supported; no public account hard cap is documented
Upstream: 1 on the free plan; paid plans priced per concurrent stream

Max multistream destinations

Streamloop: 5 per stream, with at most one connected YouTube channel
Upstream: 10

Videos per playlist

Streamloop: 1000 items per playlist
Upstream: No published limit

Max upload size / length

Streamloop: 15 GiB per file
Upstream: ✕

Team / multi-user access

Streamloop: Shared workspaces with email invites and owner, admin and member roles
Upstream: ✓

No watermark

Streamloop: No watermark on any plan
Upstream: ✓

Reliability & support

Automatic monitoring & recovery

Streamloop: Automatic monitoring, restart and reconnection
Upstream: ✓

Backup streams

Streamloop: No. You do not set up a backup stream. A failed stream restarts automatically.
Upstream: ✓

Chat / email support

Streamloop: Email only, with replies typically within 24 hours
Upstream: ✓

Uptime guarantee / compensation

Streamloop: No contractual uptime compensation or recovery-time SLA published
Upstream: ✓

In-app viewer analytics

Streamloop: YouTube concurrent viewers only
Upstream: ✕

Trust & account

Trustpilot rating

Streamloop: Only one review so far, so no useful rating yet
Upstream: 4.5 (243)

YouTube-Verified encoder

Streamloop: ✕
Upstream: ✓

Two-factor authentication

Streamloop: No. You sign in with Google, an email link or a passkey, with no extra second step.
Upstream: ✓

StreamloopVS

Castr

Pricing & access

Pay-as-you-go, no subscription

Streamloop: Top up by card or crypto and pay as you go; a monthly plan is optional
Castr: ✕

Trial

Streamloop: $1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel
Castr: Free trial available; Trial TV Playout is branded

Starting price

Streamloop: 720p24: $4 per 30 live days; billed by the minute, monthly plan optional
Castr: Core $19.99/mo; infinite Pre-Recorded Live loop from Premium $199.99/mo

720p 30-day price

Streamloop: $4 at 24fps; $5 at 30fps
Castr: TV Playout starts at $19.99/mo but Starter cannot loop indefinitely

1080p 30-day price

Streamloop: $10 at 30fps
Castr: TV Playout 1080p starts on Ultra $349.99/mo; max 30-day loop

1440p / 2K 30-day price

Streamloop: $20 at 30fps
Castr: No 1440p option; TV Playout outputs 720p or 1080p

2160p / 4K 30-day price

Streamloop: $30 at 30fps; $45 at 60fps
Castr: 4K is not listed for prerecorded playout

Streaming quality

720p / 30fps

Streamloop: ✓
Castr: ✓

1080p / Full HD

Streamloop: ✓
Castr: TV Playout 1080p on Ultra/Events; lower plans are fixed 720p30

60fps

Streamloop: 24, 30 or 60 fps
Castr: TV Playout 50/60fps on Ultra and Events

Up to 4K @ 60fps

Streamloop: Up to 2160p/4K
Castr: 4K is not listed for prerecorded streaming

Vertical / portrait streaming

Streamloop: Portrait and landscape output
Castr: ✓

HDR streaming publicly documented

Streamloop: HDR to YouTube only
Castr: ✕

Production & design

Stream designer / layout builder

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: a layered scene editor with an AI assistant.
Castr: Cloud Production supports positioning, scaling, transitions, and slates

Image, video & logo overlays

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: image, logo, text, clock, countdown and video layers.
Castr: Images, tickers, lower thirds, alerts, and external URL overlays

Embed live websites & graphs

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: any web page can be a layer.
Castr: Hosted HTML5 player and video hosting

Interactive alerts & widgets

Streamloop: No native alerts or polls. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, can show a third-party chat or alert page.
Castr: External URL widgets are supported; built-in interactive show tools are limited

Custom fonts in overlays

Streamloop: Partly. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, uses the Google Fonts catalog; no font upload.
Castr: ✕

Browser Live Studio (camera)

Streamloop: No browser studio, webcam or guests. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs, takes OBS, vMix or IP camera feeds up to 1080p60.
Castr: Cloud Production switcher up to 1080p60; not a full multi-guest studio

Sources & inputs

MP4 / MKV / AVI / MOV upload

Streamloop: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MPEG and MXF
Castr: Pre-Recorded Live documents MP4 only

Separate audio track (music / voiceover)

Streamloop: Separate audio and audio playlists: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, Opus
Castr: ✕

Import from Google Drive / Dropbox

Streamloop: Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links.
Castr: ✓

Playlists with custom ordering

Streamloop: Drag to reorder; play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words
Castr: Ordered playlists with per-item enable/disable controls

Custom loop logic (shuffle, loop counts)

Streamloop: In order, shuffle without repeats, or a custom order in plain words; no loop counts
Castr: ✕

Edit the stream live (swap / skip / reorder)

Streamloop: Publish playlist edits while live; they start at the next item. No skip button.
Castr: Items can be managed, but the playing TV item should not be moved or replaced live

Destinations

YouTube (one-click OAuth)

Streamloop: ✓
Castr: ✓

Custom RTMP (any platform)

Streamloop: Any compatible RTMP destination
Castr: Custom RTMP and SRT endpoints consume destination allowance

Twitch / Facebook / Kick / TikTok

Streamloop: Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok, and others through compatible RTMP endpoints
Castr: 30+ platform catalog with native and custom endpoints

Multistream to several destinations

Streamloop: Up to 5 destinations per stream. Each one after the first adds $6 per 30 days at 1080p while live.
Castr: One source can distribute to several account-wide destinations

One-click YouTube (no stream key)

Streamloop: Official Google OAuth connection; manual stream-key option also available
Castr: Native YouTube destination integration

SRT ingest

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs: SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS. Plain loops take uploaded files only.
Castr: ✓

Lifecycle & automation

True 24/7 continuous loop

Streamloop: Continuous cloud loop while active and funded
Castr: Infinite Pre-Recorded Live looping on Premium+; TV Playout loops are time-limited

YouTube broadcast lifecycle automation

Streamloop: Can create and synchronize broadcast metadata, privacy, thumbnail, latency, DVR, recording, and schedule
Castr: Native YouTube destination and scheduling; full broadcast automation is not described

Scheduling

Streamloop: Immediate/future start; duration, end time, or open-ended
Castr: One-time prerecorded schedules and TV-style timetables

MCP / agent integration

Streamloop: OAuth-protected hosted MCP for streams, playlists, uploads, destinations, usage, and billing
Castr: ✕

YouTube ad cue points

Streamloop: ✕
Castr: ✕

Edit title / description / thumbnail live

Streamloop: ✓
Castr: ✕

Public API

Streamloop: Public OpenAPI REST interface plus documented GraphQL
Castr: API access begins on Premium

Unlimited loop without manual rescheduling

Streamloop: Can run indefinitely until stopped, credit is exhausted, or destination action is required
Castr: Yes for Premium+ Pre-Recorded Live; no for TV Playout

Limits & inclusions

Storage included

Streamloop: Uploads are free. The first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage is free, then $0.35 per GiB-month while live.
Castr: Pre-recorded: 4/4/10/20/20 GB; hosted VOD storage is separate

Concurrent streams / slots

Streamloop: Multiple separate streams are supported; no public account hard cap is documented
Castr: Created workflows, including inactive ones, count; prerecorded streams are 1/1/2/3/3

Max multistream destinations

Streamloop: 5 per stream, with at most one connected YouTube channel
Castr: 6 Starter; 10 Standard; 20 Premium; 30 Ultra/Events, account-wide

Videos per playlist

Streamloop: 1000 items per playlist
Castr: Pre-recorded: 2/2/10/15/15; TV Playout: 5/10/30/30/50 files

Max upload size / length

Streamloop: 15 GiB per file
Castr: Pre-recorded max 240 min/file Premium+; TV caps range 500 MB to 10 GB and 30 to 240 min

Team / multi-user access

Streamloop: Shared workspaces with email invites and owner, admin and member roles
Castr: 3 members (Premium), 5 (Ultra)

No watermark

Streamloop: No watermark on any plan
Castr: Trial, Starter, and Standard TV Playout output is branded

Reliability & support

Automatic monitoring & recovery

Streamloop: Automatic monitoring, restart and reconnection
Castr: ✓

Backup streams

Streamloop: No. You do not set up a backup stream. A failed stream restarts automatically.
Castr: Failover ingest begins on Ultra and Events

Chat / email support

Streamloop: Email only, with replies typically within 24 hours
Castr: ✓

Uptime guarantee / compensation

Streamloop: No contractual uptime compensation or recovery-time SLA published
Castr: 99.9% uptime SLA on every plan

In-app viewer analytics

Streamloop: YouTube concurrent viewers only
Castr: ✓

Trust & account

Trustpilot rating

Streamloop: Only one review so far, so no useful rating yet
Castr: ~4.0 (54)

YouTube-Verified encoder

Streamloop: ✕
Castr: Not listed as verified encoder

Two-factor authentication

Streamloop: No. You sign in with Google, an email link or a passkey, with no extra second step.
Castr: ✓

StreamloopVS

Restream

Pricing & access

Pay-as-you-go, no subscription

Streamloop: Top up by card or crypto and pay as you go; a monthly plan is optional
Restream: ✕

Trial

Streamloop: $1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel
Restream: Permanent Free plan, not a trial

Starting price

Streamloop: 720p24: $4 per 30 live days; billed by the minute, monthly plan optional
Restream: Free core; paid core $19/mo; Upload & Stream $39/mo; looping $79/mo

720p 30-day price

Streamloop: $4 at 24fps; $5 at 30fps
Restream: No 30-day prerecorded tier; looping starts at $79/mo and stops by 40 h

1080p 30-day price

Streamloop: $10 at 30fps
Restream: No 30-day prerecorded tier; 1080p looping starts at $79/mo and stops by 40 h

1440p / 2K 30-day price

Streamloop: $20 at 30fps
Restream: No 30-day prerecorded tier; above 1080p needs Media at $239/mo, and looping stops by 40 h

2160p / 4K 30-day price

Streamloop: $30 at 30fps; $45 at 60fps
Restream: 4K requires $239/mo Media but still cannot run 30 days continuously

Streaming quality

720p / 30fps

Streamloop: ✓
Restream: ✓

1080p / Full HD

Streamloop: ✓
Restream: ✓

60fps

Streamloop: 24, 30 or 60 fps
Restream: Official prerecorded requirements recommend 30 or 60fps

Up to 4K @ 60fps

Streamloop: Up to 2160p/4K
Restream: 4K requires the $239/mo Media Upload & Stream tier

Vertical / portrait streaming

Streamloop: Portrait and landscape output
Restream: ✓

HDR streaming publicly documented

Streamloop: HDR to YouTube only
Restream: HDR prerecorded output is not publicly documented

Production & design

Stream designer / layout builder

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: a layered scene editor with an AI assistant.
Restream: Scenes, custom layouts, portrait/landscape, branding, and media

Image, video & logo overlays

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: image, logo, text, clock, countdown and video layers.
Restream: Logos, overlays, lower thirds, captions, tickers, QR codes, and backgrounds

Embed live websites & graphs

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: any web page can be a layer.
Restream: Embed player only

Interactive alerts & widgets

Streamloop: No native alerts or polls. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, can show a third-party chat or alert page.
Restream: Unified chat and on-screen cross-platform comments

Custom fonts in overlays

Streamloop: Partly. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, uses the Google Fonts catalog; no font upload.
Restream: ✓

Browser Live Studio (camera)

Streamloop: No browser studio, webcam or guests. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs, takes OBS, vMix or IP camera feeds up to 1080p60.
Restream: Full browser Studio with up to 10 on-screen participants

Sources & inputs

MP4 / MKV / AVI / MOV upload

Streamloop: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MPEG and MXF
Restream: MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV with H.264/AAC; AVI is not documented

Separate audio track (music / voiceover)

Streamloop: Separate audio and audio playlists: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, Opus
Restream: Separate Studio recording tracks do not provide a separate prerecorded audio playlist

Import from Google Drive / Dropbox

Streamloop: Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links.
Restream: Current Upload & Stream pages reviewed do not verify Drive or Dropbox import

Playlists with custom ordering

Streamloop: Drag to reorder; play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words
Restream: Marathon/Media; 40 videos, no playlist looping

Custom loop logic (shuffle, loop counts)

Streamloop: In order, shuffle without repeats, or a custom order in plain words; no loop counts
Restream: ✕

Edit the stream live (swap / skip / reorder)

Streamloop: Publish playlist edits while live; they start at the next item. No skip button.
Restream: Playlist items cannot be added, removed, or reordered after playback starts

Destinations

YouTube (one-click OAuth)

Streamloop: ✓
Restream: ✓

Custom RTMP (any platform)

Streamloop: Any compatible RTMP destination
Restream: Paid core plan required; no Restream chat, analytics, or title control

Twitch / Facebook / Kick / TikTok

Streamloop: Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok, and others through compatible RTMP endpoints
Restream: 30 integrated destinations plus custom RTMP/SRT/HLS/WHIP options

Multistream to several destinations

Streamloop: Up to 5 destinations per stream. Each one after the first adds $6 per 30 days at 1080p while live.
Restream: One live source can distribute to several enabled channels

One-click YouTube (no stream key)

Streamloop: Official Google OAuth connection; manual stream-key option also available
Restream: Native YouTube integration

SRT ingest

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs: SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS. Plain loops take uploaded files only.
Restream: ✓

Lifecycle & automation

True 24/7 continuous loop

Streamloop: Continuous cloud loop while active and funded
Restream: Maximum 10 loops and 40 hours per video event

YouTube broadcast lifecycle automation

Streamloop: Can create and synchronize broadcast metadata, privacy, thumbnail, latency, DVR, recording, and schedule
Restream: Scheduled event creation/attachment and advance posts; not full lifecycle ownership

Scheduling

Streamloop: Immediate/future start; duration, end time, or open-ended
Restream: Scheduled prerecorded events and playlists

MCP / agent integration

Streamloop: OAuth-protected hosted MCP for streams, playlists, uploads, destinations, usage, and billing
Restream: ✕

YouTube ad cue points

Streamloop: ✕
Restream: ✓

Edit title / description / thumbnail live

Streamloop: ✓
Restream: ✓

Public API

Streamloop: Public OpenAPI REST interface plus documented GraphQL
Restream: ✓

Unlimited loop without manual rescheduling

Streamloop: Can run indefinitely until stopped, credit is exhausted, or destination action is required
Restream: No perpetual prerecorded loop; playlists cannot loop

Limits & inclusions

Storage included

Streamloop: Uploads are free. The first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage is free, then $0.35 per GiB-month while live.
Restream: Upload & Stream publishes 2-, 4-, and 12-hour libraries rather than GB quotas

Concurrent streams / slots

Streamloop: Multiple separate streams are supported; no public account hard cap is documented
Restream: Published numbers are active destination channels, not independent program jobs

Max multistream destinations

Streamloop: 5 per stream, with at most one connected YouTube channel
Restream: 2 Free; 3 Standard; 5 Professional; 8 Business; Enterprise custom

Videos per playlist

Streamloop: 1000 items per playlist
Restream: 40 videos per playlist

Max upload size / length

Streamloop: 15 GiB per file
Restream: 2/4/12-hour libraries; playlists max 40 items

Team / multi-user access

Streamloop: Shared workspaces with email invites and owner, admin and member roles
Restream: ✓

No watermark

Streamloop: No watermark on any plan
Restream: Free carries Restream branding; paid plans remove it

Reliability & support

Automatic monitoring & recovery

Streamloop: Automatic monitoring, restart and reconnection
Restream: ✓

Backup streams

Streamloop: No. You do not set up a backup stream. A failed stream restarts automatically.
Restream: Disconnect protection on Business; true backup encoder ingest on Enterprise

Chat / email support

Streamloop: Email only, with replies typically within 24 hours
Restream: ✓

Uptime guarantee / compensation

Streamloop: No contractual uptime compensation or recovery-time SLA published
Restream: No public compensation-backed uptime SLA found

In-app viewer analytics

Streamloop: YouTube concurrent viewers only
Restream: ✓

Trust & account

Trustpilot rating

Streamloop: Only one review so far, so no useful rating yet
Restream: 4.5 (~471)

YouTube-Verified encoder

Streamloop: ✕
Restream: ✓

Two-factor authentication

Streamloop: No. You sign in with Google, an email link or a passkey, with no extra second step.
Restream: ✓

StreamloopVS

Runnel.live

Pricing & access

Pay-as-you-go, no subscription

Streamloop: Top up by card or crypto and pay as you go; a monthly plan is optional
Runnel.live: Prepaid credit and minute-prorated usage; no lock-in

Trial

Streamloop: $1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel
Runnel.live: No free trial; you add credit before your first stream

Starting price

Streamloop: 720p24: $4 per 30 live days; billed by the minute, monthly plan optional
Runnel.live: $6 per separate stream per month, prorated by minute

720p 30-day price

Streamloop: $4 at 24fps; $5 at 30fps
Runnel.live: $6/mo + upload fees

1080p 30-day price

Streamloop: $10 at 30fps
Runnel.live: $6 streaming plus HD upload charges of $0.07/GB

1440p / 2K 30-day price

Streamloop: $20 at 30fps
Runnel.live: $6/mo + uploads

2160p / 4K 30-day price

Streamloop: $30 at 30fps; $45 at 60fps
Runnel.live: $6 streaming plus 4K upload charges of $0.50/GB

Streaming quality

720p / 30fps

Streamloop: ✓
Runnel.live: ✓

1080p / Full HD

Streamloop: ✓
Runnel.live: ✓

60fps

Streamloop: 24, 30 or 60 fps
Runnel.live: Up to 60fps

Up to 4K @ 60fps

Streamloop: Up to 2160p/4K
Runnel.live: Up to 4K

Vertical / portrait streaming

Streamloop: Portrait and landscape output
Runnel.live: Horizontal and vertical output

HDR streaming publicly documented

Streamloop: HDR to YouTube only
Runnel.live: HDR is not mentioned

Production & design

Stream designer / layout builder

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: a layered scene editor with an AI assistant.
Runnel.live: ✕

Image, video & logo overlays

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: image, logo, text, clock, countdown and video layers.
Runnel.live: Overlays are not supported

Embed live websites & graphs

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics: any web page can be a layer.
Runnel.live: ✕

Interactive alerts & widgets

Streamloop: No native alerts or polls. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, can show a third-party chat or alert page.
Runnel.live: ✕

Custom fonts in overlays

Streamloop: Partly. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs and graphics, uses the Google Fonts catalog; no font upload.
Runnel.live: ✕

Browser Live Studio (camera)

Streamloop: No browser studio, webcam or guests. Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs, takes OBS, vMix or IP camera feeds up to 1080p60.
Runnel.live: No browser production studio

Sources & inputs

MP4 / MKV / AVI / MOV upload

Streamloop: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, MPEG and MXF
Runnel.live: MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM; no AVI

Separate audio track (music / voiceover)

Streamloop: Separate audio and audio playlists: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, Opus
Runnel.live: ✕

Import from Google Drive / Dropbox

Streamloop: Google Drive, Yandex Disk, YouTube, other video sites and direct file links.
Runnel.live: ✕

Playlists with custom ordering

Streamloop: Drag to reorder; play in order, shuffle without repeats, or describe a custom order in plain words
Runnel.live: Bulk-uploaded queue can loop and shuffle

Custom loop logic (shuffle, loop counts)

Streamloop: In order, shuffle without repeats, or a custom order in plain words; no loop counts
Runnel.live: ✓

Edit the stream live (swap / skip / reorder)

Streamloop: Publish playlist edits while live; they start at the next item. No skip button.
Runnel.live: You can upload more videos while live; reordering a live queue is not described

Destinations

YouTube (one-click OAuth)

Streamloop: ✓
Runnel.live: YouTube via stream key

Custom RTMP (any platform)

Streamloop: Any compatible RTMP destination
Runnel.live: Alternate RTMP/RTMPS URLs accepted; query-string URLs rejected

Twitch / Facebook / Kick / TikTok

Streamloop: Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok, and others through compatible RTMP endpoints
Runnel.live: Built for YouTube; Twitch and Rumble partly supported; no Facebook, Instagram or TikTok; Kick unclear

Multistream to several destinations

Streamloop: Up to 5 destinations per stream. Each one after the first adds $6 per 30 days at 1080p while live.
Runnel.live: Each destination requires a separate stream and key

One-click YouTube (no stream key)

Streamloop: Official Google OAuth connection; manual stream-key option also available
Runnel.live: Users create a YouTube event and stream key separately

SRT ingest

Streamloop: Yes, in Live Scenes, Streamloop's mode for live inputs: SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS. Plain loops take uploaded files only.
Runnel.live: ✕

Lifecycle & automation

True 24/7 continuous loop

Streamloop: Continuous cloud loop while active and funded
Runnel.live: Queues can loop continuously

YouTube broadcast lifecycle automation

Streamloop: Can create and synchronize broadcast metadata, privacy, thumbnail, latency, DVR, recording, and schedule
Runnel.live: No; you create each YouTube event yourself

Scheduling

Streamloop: Immediate/future start; duration, end time, or open-ended
Runnel.live: One-time future start; recurring schedules are not described

MCP / agent integration

Streamloop: OAuth-protected hosted MCP for streams, playlists, uploads, destinations, usage, and billing
Runnel.live: ✕

YouTube ad cue points

Streamloop: ✕
Runnel.live: ✕

Edit title / description / thumbnail live

Streamloop: ✓
Runnel.live: ✕

Public API

Streamloop: Public OpenAPI REST interface plus documented GraphQL
Runnel.live: No public API listed

Unlimited loop without manual rescheduling

Streamloop: Can run indefinitely until stopped, credit is exhausted, or destination action is required
Runnel.live: Continuous queue loop; inactive streams are purged after two months

Limits & inclusions

Storage included

Streamloop: Uploads are free. The first 30 GiB of large-playlist storage is free, then $0.35 per GiB-month while live.
Runnel.live: Unlimited storage advertised; each upload has a one-time fee, and inactive streams with videos are deleted after 2 months

Concurrent streams / slots

Streamloop: Multiple separate streams are supported; no public account hard cap is documented
Runnel.live: Unlimited streams advertised, but support sets account limits and a start can wait for a free server

Max multistream destinations

Streamloop: 5 per stream, with at most one connected YouTube channel
Runnel.live: One destination per separately created stream

Videos per playlist

Streamloop: 1000 items per playlist
Runnel.live: No published limit (bulk-upload as many videos as you like)

Max upload size / length

Streamloop: 15 GiB per file
Runnel.live: 100 MB to 100 GB and 20 seconds to 4 days per file

Team / multi-user access

Streamloop: Shared workspaces with email invites and owner, admin and member roles
Runnel.live: ✓

No watermark

Streamloop: No watermark on any plan
Runnel.live: ✓

Reliability & support

Automatic monitoring & recovery

Streamloop: Automatic monitoring, restart and reconnection
Runnel.live: ✕

Backup streams

Streamloop: No. You do not set up a backup stream. A failed stream restarts automatically.
Runnel.live: ✕

Chat / email support

Streamloop: Email only, with replies typically within 24 hours
Runnel.live: ✓

Uptime guarantee / compensation

Streamloop: No contractual uptime compensation or recovery-time SLA published
Runnel.live: ✓

In-app viewer analytics

Streamloop: YouTube concurrent viewers only
Runnel.live: ✕

Trust & account

Trustpilot rating

Streamloop: Only one review so far, so no useful rating yet
Runnel.live: 4.5 (14 reviews)

YouTube-Verified encoder

Streamloop: ✕
Runnel.live: Not listed as verified encoder

Two-factor authentication

Streamloop: No. You sign in with Google, an email link or a passkey, with no extra second step.
Runnel.live: ✕

★ Key differentiator✓ Feature included✕ Not included- Not publicly documented

Decision guide

Which one should you choose?

A quick decision framework based on what you actually need.

You want a focused 24/7 loop with pay-as-you-go or an optional monthly planStreamloop · Pay as you go or choose an optional monthly credit plan; $1 trial week by card, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel

You need pro, TV-style playout or OTT deliveryCastr · Broader broadcast and hosting toolset

You mostly run live multistream showsRestream · Browser-based multistream studio

You want the cheapest barebones YouTube loopRunnel.live · Budget, pay-as-you-go

FAQ

Upstream alternatives: FAQ

The questions people actually ask before switching

What is the best Upstream alternative?

For flexible 24/7 looping, Streamloop is our pick: use pay-as-you-go credits or an optional monthly credit plan. Castr and Restream suit broader streaming needs; Runnel.live is a budget option.

Is there a free Upstream alternative?

Not for a full-time channel. Upstream's own free plan covers 24 hours a month, and Restream's free plan cannot loop a video around the clock. Streamloop starts with a $1 trial week, which becomes a monthly plan unless you cancel.

Which Upstream alternative is cheapest?

Streamloop starts lowest: about $4 per 30 days for a 720p loop at 24 fps, or about $10 at 1080p, billed by the minute, so a stopped stream costs nothing. Runnel.live charges $6 a month per stream, plus upload fees.

Explore next

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