Captivate vs StreamYard Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Captivate | StreamYard | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $17/mo | $44/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | usage-based | flat-rate |
Personal
- Up to 30,000 downloads/month
- Unlimited Podcasts
- Unlimited Uploads/Storage
- Extensive Distribution List
Professional
- Up to 150,000 downloads/month
- Unlimited Podcasts
- Unlimited Uploads/Storage
- Extensive Distribution List
Business
- Up to 300,000 downloads/month
- Unlimited Podcasts
- Unlimited Uploads/Storage
- Extensive Distribution List
Free
- StreamYard logo in your streams
- Streaming limits
- Limited storage
- Dark mode
- Local recordings - 2 hours/mo
- 6 on-screen participants
- 1 seat
Core
Popular- Full HD (1080p)
- No StreamYard logo on your streams
- Multistream - 3 destinations
- Logos, Overlays, Video clips, Backgrounds
- 10 on-screen participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 2 hours
- Unlimited streaming and recording
- Live streams are recorded
- Unlimited local recordings
- Custom RTMP destinations
- Guest destinations
- 50 hours of permanent storage
- Intro and Outro video
- AI clips
- Custom referral message
- +16 custom layouts
- Cloud recording
- Chat Overlay
- Clean thumbnails, no watermark
- AI Backgrounds
Advanced
- 4K (2160p) local recordings
- Multistream - 8 destinations
- Extra camera
- 15 backstage participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 4 hours
- On-Air webinars - 100 viewers
- Custom fonts
- Download transcripts
Captivate vs StreamYard FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Captivate starts lower at $17/mo, compared to $44/mo for StreamYard.
- Can I use either one for free?
- StreamYard has a free plan. Captivate doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Captivate uses usage-based pricing, while StreamYard goes with flat-rate. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Captivate: Captivate sits in the mid-market of podcast hosting — not the cheapest (Buzzsprout, Anchor/Spotify for Podcasters undercut them) but well below enterprise tools. They're clearly targeting serious independent creators and small media companies who want pro tooling without a bloated price tag. StreamYard: Sits in the mid-market of browser-based streaming tools — more expensive than bare-bones alternatives like Restream's entry tier, but cheaper than enterprise broadcast stacks. They're clearly targeting the prosumer and small creator segment, not agencies or large teams, which the 'individual use only' restriction makes explicit.
Still deciding? See the best Captivate alternatives or the best StreamYard alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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