How Ferrocast compares.
StreamElements and Streamlabs are the tools most streamers start with. Here is what each one does, side by side, as of October 2026.
Ferrocast is still being built; its column describes version 1. Corrections are welcome on our contact page.
| Topic | Ferrocast | StreamElements | Streamlabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs and who owns it | |||
| Where your alerts and overlays run | Yes. In the app on your computer, served to OBS locally | Cloud: configured on the web, served from StreamElements | Cloud widgets, used in Streamlabs Desktop, its OBS plugin or any app |
| If the vendor’s servers go down | Yes. Twitch and YouTube keep working; Kick events wait in the relay and replay | Widgets depend on StreamElements’ servers | Widgets and Cloudbot depend on Streamlabs’ servers |
| Ownership | ClearCraft Labs; GPL-3.0 so anyone can keep it going | Razer subsidiary since 31 July 2026 | Logitech since 2019 |
| Open source | Yes. The whole app, GPL-3.0 | No. No | Partly. Streamlabs Desktop is GPL-3.0; widgets, Cloudbot and tips are not |
| Price | |||
| Core tools | Yes. Free forever | Yes. Free; funded mainly by sponsorships | Yes. Free tier |
| Paid plan | Pro (planned): ₹199 a month, cloud extras only | None; future fees not announced | Ultra: US$27 a month or US$189 a year |
| Platforms and systems | |||
| Streaming platforms | Twitch, YouTube, Kick | Twitch, YouTube; Kick for the bot and some alerts | Twitch, YouTube, Kick, Facebook, X and more |
| Desktop systems | Yes. macOS, Windows and Linux | Partly. Web dashboard; SE.Live plugin is Windows only | Partly. Web dashboard; Streamlabs Desktop for Windows and macOS |
| Alerts and overlays | |||
| Alert variations and custom code | Yes. Variations, templates and custom CSS | Yes. Variations, custom HTML, CSS and JS widgets | Yes. Variations, custom HTML, CSS and JS |
| “Why didn’t this alert fire?” log | Yes. Every missed alert gets a reason | Not documented | Not documented |
| TTS approval queue | Yes. Off by default; hold and approve each message | Partly. TTS available; approval queue not documented | Partly. TTS on tips; approval queue not documented |
| Chat and moderation | |||
| Merged chat across platforms | Yes. Twitch, YouTube and Kick, reply to the source | Partly. Chat widget; multichat in the Ground Control app | Yes. Merged Chat Box widget |
| Ban on every platform at once | Yes. One click, one shared ban list | No. Per platform | No. Per platform |
| Hate-raid panic mode | Yes. One hotkey for every platform | Not documented | Not documented |
| Chatbot | Yes. Runs on your PC; 24/7 cloud bot planned for Pro | Yes. Cloud bot with many modules | Yes. Cloudbot, runs 24/7 |
| Loyalty points and song requests | No. Planned for a later version | Yes. Yes | Yes. Yes |
| Tips and your data | |||
| Tip page cut | Yes. 0%, paid straight to your own account | Yes. 0%; SE.Pay balances must be withdrawn by 31 Dec 2026 | Yes. 0%; Stripe fees apply |
| Legal name kept off the tip page and alerts | Yes. Yes, on the tip page and in alerts; the provider’s checkout shows your account name | Partly. Depends on the payment method | Partly. Depends on the payment method |
| Export your whole setup | Yes. Overlays with media, commands and history, open formats | No full export documented | Partly. Imports from StreamElements; full export not documented |
Sources
Checked in October 2026. “Not documented” means we could not find it in the vendor’s public docs, not that it can never be done.
- Streamlabs Ultra pricing
- Streamlabs widgets
- Streamlabs Cloudbot
- Streamlabs Desktop source (GPL-3.0)
- StreamElements custom widgets
- StreamElements chatbot modules
- SE.Pay requirements
- Razer acquires StreamElements (Tubefilter)
StreamElements is a trademark of StreamElements Inc. Streamlabs is a trademark of Logitech. Twitch, YouTube and Kick are trademarks of their owners. Names are used only to identify the products compared; Ferrocast is not affiliated with any of them.