OBS vs XSplit
Auto Configuration wizard when you launch the app for the first time and what it does is do all the backend work for you like setting everything to the optimum levels according to your PC and your internet connection. The interface is also cleaner than XSplit but the learning curve tends to be a little longer as compared to the latter. Beginners might find it a little hard and rather complicated to get started and some might need expert supervision to get started.
OBS’s Auto-Configuration Wizard automatically optimizes the performance based on how the application is used. It shows new & optimized options for recording and streaming as well as optimization for use with the virtual camera. The settings can be customized anytime for getting the most performance out of the application. But once the software is set up the interface of the OBS looks a little complicated. There are a lot of sections from scene and scene to sources, audio mixer, and Controls. While these provide you quick access to your most-used commands but functions like these are aimed at people who have experience of streaming.
XSplit on the other hand as a more simplified interface that displays the current scene and also gives you the facility to swap between different scenes. Advanced controls such as ‘Audio Mixer’ can be accessed through the Extensions and Tools menu. When XSplit is installed you have to log in to one of the four platforms i.e. XSplit, Twitch, Facebook, or YouTube, and when you log in your account details and settings are automatically imported which makes setting up of the stream easy and quick. OBS allows you to import filters, swap your broadcast source and change the scene transitions. ‘Studio mode’ is a feature that often comes in handy, it basically allows you to have a preview of the stream before you implement any change. You can change the scenes in OBS to but doing so takes a little longer.
Both XSplit and OBS fare equally in terms of performance. The former uses more resources than the latter which is attributed to the fact that it comes preloaded with all the plugins and overlays. One can argue that if both of the software are loaded with the same amount of plugins they would take an equal amount of time to startup and would use the same amount of resources. OBS being an open-source software fares better in recording, whether it’s the resolution or the ease of recording but the interface lags and frozen screens are incurred. XSplit, which lacks in the resolution of recording and ease of use makes up for it in the ease of use of the software.
OBS comes out as the clear winner in this category.
Being an open-source software the number of plugins that are available for OBS are plentiful. Just go to the OBS project website and you can find plugins categorized by themes, scripts, guides. Xsplit on the other hand only has a relatively less number of plugins that are made by the parent company Splitmedia and authorized partners. They can be found in the application in the “plugin store” option under the “tools” section. However, the integration of plugins is better in XSplit.
XSplit has more features as compared to OBS.
It offers direct uploading of videos to multiple platforms, this makes the software quite useful for multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPG), on the go editing is also one of the salient features of Xsplit. While XSplit may allow you to make private recordings and have a green screen built-in, these features come at a premium. You can do everything that OBS has to offer for free while the full functionality of the XSplit can only be achieved by purchasing different versions.
XSplit offers video and audio delay, supports interactive flash files, and offers simultaneous streaming while OBS supports more formats of video than the former, allows the users to make their own plugins, and is available across Mac, Windows, and Linux. OBS also has an active and very strong dev community that has a plethora of posts and people ready to help at any point of time.
XSplit has different alternatives for local recording, which are primarily video codecs like x264 and x265.
This makes it a better alternative when it comes to YouTube uploads. It also offers features that enable Video and Audio Optimization. OBS on the other hand lacks features like these. While it may lag behind its rival in this aspect it more than makes up for it by providing support for multiple file formats, VLC included. XSplit also offers inbuilt functionality to improve the quality of stream audio, the user take help of the ‘broadcaster audio preview’ to access the level of audio mixing. An extension called ‘Per Scene Audio’ allows the user to monitor audio during different scenes.
Top OBS features Hotkeys : Using hotkeys makes the stream effortless and saves time.
Scenes : OBS offers you the option to add unlimited number of scenes and it is easy to switch between them with the help of custom transitions.
Plugins : If you want the maximum amount of customizability then OBS should be your choice, XSplit doesn’t even come close.
Quality of recorded video: OBS emerges as the clear winner here, not only it captures the video with a better resolution but also for a longer time without much problems.
Availability of options for customizations: OBS gives you total control over your stream with configuration options like duplication of already existing resources or adding new ones and fine tune their properties seamlessly. You can use different input resources like videos, capture cards, images, window capture and text.
Ease of setting up: The auto config wizard automatically applies the best setting to the software according to the user which eliminates a lot work from the user’s end.
Audio Mixer: Gives the user complete command over the audio. From source to editing, everything can be done so that the audience listens what the user wants them to.
Video recording: OBS lets the user record videos with no time limit and supports microphone and webcam as audio and video sources.
High level view: This proves to be a very useful future and comes in clutch when video editing takes place. What is does is it allows the user to look after upto 8 scenes at once and gives them the ability to transition to any scene with only a couple of clicks. Studio modes allows the user to look at the scenes and the sources before using them in the livestream, thus making sure that the scheme is up to expectations.
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