Best 24/7 Live Streaming Software in 2026 (Honest Comparison)

This guide compares seven cloud streaming tools people consider for a 24/7 live stream from a playlist of pre-recorded videos: LiveReacting, Upstream, Gyre, OneStream Live, Castr, Restream and StreamYard. Prices and limits come from each vendor's own pages and are current as of October 27, 2026. LiveReacting publishes this guide and sells one of the seven tools, so every competitor claim below names the plan or page it comes from.

💡 Quick takeaway

• Our view, most balanced for a 24/7 playlist channel: LiveReacting. The same four-step cloud setup as Upstream or Gyre, plus multi-cloud failover with automatic restart, scheduling at any gap, live playlist changes, free unlimited encoding and API and MCP control for AI agents in the same plan. $39.99/month, or $33/month billed yearly. New customers: $21.99/month for the first 5 months (then $39.99), or $23.99/month for the first year billed yearly (then $33).
• Lowest standard price: Upstream, $30/month or $24/month billed yearly, with a free plan of 24 hours a month.
• Entry plans that do not run a looping playlist channel: Gyre's $49 Start has no playlists or scheduler. Castr loops only from Premium at $199.99/month. OneStream Live runs 24/7 for up to 30 days at a time, on YouTube only. Restream stops a looped video at 40 hours, and its playlists do not loop. StreamYard has no 24/7 mode.

For a shorter version with OBS included, see our comparison of the best apps for 24/7 live streaming.

How setup works

On LiveReacting, a 24/7 channel takes four steps:

1. Upload your videos, or import them from Google Drive, Dropbox or YouTube.
2. Build the playlist: play in order, shuffle, or loop one video.
3. Connect your YouTube channel or another destination.
4. Click Go Live. Close the browser and switch the computer off: the stream keeps running on our servers.

Upstream and Gyre document the same basic steps. Everything else in this guide is optional and sits on top of these four steps.

How we compared these tools, and who wrote this

Disclosure: LiveReacting publishes this comparison and sells one of the seven products in it. That is a reason to check our work, so here is what it rests on.

Prices, plan limits and features come from each vendor's own pricing, feature and help pages, read in a browser, because several pricing pages render with JavaScript and read wrong otherwise. They are current as of October 27, 2026.

Every price assumes one 1080p 30fps stream running continuously, about 730 hours a month, unless a different stream count is stated. Where monthly and yearly billing differ, both are given.

Four definitions used below:

• Output protocol: how the stream leaves the service for a destination you control. It does not include HLS a vendor uses only for its own player.
• Interactive overlays: elements that viewers change with a comment or a vote, such as a poll or a trivia round. Branded graphics and alerts are a different thing.
• Multi-cloud failover: the service runs streams on servers with more than one cloud provider and in several data centers. If the server running your stream stops answering, the stream starts again on another server by itself.
• Not documented: we found no page from that vendor that says it. It does not mean the vendor cannot do it. Vendors are welcome to send a correction with a link to a public page, and we will update this guide and its date.

What actually separates 24/7 streaming tools

Eight things, in the order they tend to cause problems:

1. True unlimited duration. "24/7" is marketed loosely. Some tools stop a stream after 40 hours or 30 days. Check the number, not the label.
2. Reliability. A 24/7 channel runs for months. What happens when a server fails decides whether it goes dark.
3. Playlists and scheduling. A playlist that plays in order is the minimum. Schedules, reruns and mixed sources make a channel look programmed.
4. Changes while live. Can you add or remove videos without stopping the stream?
5. Encoding and storage. Long playlists need room, and automatic encoding decides how much work each file takes.
6. Concurrency and destinations. One channel or ten, and how many platforms each stream reaches.
7. Output and automation. RTMP is standard. SRT, HLS, ad markers, an API and an MCP server for AI agents matter for bigger operations.
8. Interactive overlays. Polls and trivia on screen, for channels that want viewers to take part.

Feature depth and setup difficulty are different things. Every tool here is cloud software with the same basic flow. Judge setup on that flow, not on the length of a feature list.

The tools

LiveReacting

Price: $39.99/month, or $33/month billed yearly. New customers: $21.99/month for the first 5 months, then $39.99/month. Or $23.99/month for the first year billed yearly ($287.93), then $396 a year.

Simple setup: the four steps above. No OBS, no software to install, no computer left running.

Reliability

• Stream servers in several data centers in Europe and the US
• Multi-cloud failover: if the server running your stream stops answering, the stream starts again on another server by itself
• Video files are kept in two independent storage services. If one fails, the stream switches to the other by itself
• If the connection to a platform drops, the stream reconnects by itself
• A broken video file is skipped, not played

Included in the same 24/7 plan when you need more

• 100 GB storage, CSV playlist import, and import from Google Drive, Dropbox or a YouTube channel
• Advanced Scheduling: daily, weekly or at any gap, with reruns that start over or continue where the last run stopped
• Change videos, music or overlays while live, without stopping the stream
• Free video encoding with no limit, so any common file format works
• Cut to a live camera or a guest, then back to the playlist
• YouTube ad breaks placed in your playlist (Ad Slots Manager)
• Stream into an event you already scheduled on YouTube or Facebook
• Connect a client's YouTube channel with an invite link, without owner access
• Multistreaming, plus any RTMP server
• AI-agent ready: an API and an MCP server, so your code or an AI agent (Claude, Codex, Cursor, or ChatGPT through our ChatGPT plugin) can create a stream, fill its playlist, schedule it and swap a video while it is on air
• A record of what played and when, on request
• Logos, text and countdowns
• Chat overlay, polls and trivia that viewers answer in the live chat

Custom plan (by request): HLS and SRT output, server-side ad insertion (SSAI) with SCTE-35 ad markers, including YouTube's SSAI workflow, and dedicated servers.

Weak spots: Upstream is cheaper at standard prices. LiveReacting is not on YouTube's list of verified encoders. OBS and vMix plugin mode is not in the 24/7 plan. HLS, SRT and SCTE-35 are not in self-serve checkout. There is no program guide (EPG) endpoint.

Best for: a channel that should be simple to start and still have room to grow: automatic recovery, programmed schedules, live changes and agent control, without a second tool. See the 24/7 live stream page.

Upstream

Price: $30/month for one stream, $50 for two, $70 for three, then $20 per stream from four. Billed yearly: $24/month for one stream, $16 per stream from four. Free plan: one stream, 24 hours of streaming a month, every feature. Upstream states that free and paid plans share the same feature set.

• Looping playlists with shuffle, and separate audio and video playlists
• Scheduling: a start time once, or repeated every day or week
• Change the playlist while the stream is live
• Live Studio: a webcam, OBS or guests over the playlist, which keeps playing; a camera needs your computer on
• YouTube ad cue points between videos
• Multistream to up to 10 of 30+ platforms; output over RTMP, and SRT
• Streams into a broadcast you set up in YouTube Studio, with a stream key
• 100 GB storage per stream
• Re-encoding: paid plans and trials include re-encoding time, and you can buy more
• API and MCP server on every plan, the free plan included
• Reconnects by itself when Twitch ends a broadcast at 48 hours (Upstream's blog)
• On YouTube's list of verified encoders
• October 15, 2026 update: 60fps and 4K passed through from RTMP input, multi-chat on all plans
• Interactive features: third-party widgets only

Best for: the lowest standard price, a free plan to test with, and a full feature set on every plan. See LiveReacting and Upstream side by side.

Gyre

Price: Start $49/month (one HD stream, 35 GB). Start+ $99/month (four HD streams or one 4K, 75 GB). PRO+ $169/month (eight HD or two 4K, 150 GB). Paying 3 to 12 months ahead cuts 7 to 17 percent.

• Start has no playlists and no stream scheduler. Both start at Start+, $99/month. The 7-day free trial includes playlists and the scheduler (up to 15 files, 20 GB, 1080p30, with a Gyre watermark).
• Gyre Video Converter on every plan; Gyre states no limit for it
• 1080p at 60 fps from the Start plan
• Streams to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, X, Kick and MixCloud, and to RTMP according to its blog; multistreaming to several at once is not stated
• Connects your YouTube channel through your Google account, and creates broadcasts through the YouTube API (announced August 24, 2026)
• A scheduler for continuous streams, announced October 8, 2026
• On YouTube's list of verified encoders
• Changing the playlist while live: not documented, so we are not sure
• Live cameras, guests, output protocols beyond RTMP and interactive overlays: not documented

Best for: YouTube-focused operators who want the YouTube API launch flow, and teams with up to four HD channels on Start+. See LiveReacting and Gyre side by side.

OneStream Live

Price: Basic $15, Standard $39, Professional $49, Enterprise $99 a month.

• 24/7 is not included on Basic, Standard or Professional. It is a $30/month add-on per stream on a paid plan, or part of Enterprise, which covers three 24/7 streams.
• Basic has no playlist streaming, so 24/7 with a playlist starts at $79/month (Professional plus the add-on). Basic plus the add-on is $45/month for a single video.
• A 24/7 stream runs "for up to 30 days straight," according to OneStream's 24/7 page, and only on YouTube.
• Uploads are deleted after 30 to 180 days depending on the plan.
• OneStream 2.0 added a backup stream key for live encoders.
• Not on YouTube's list of verified encoders.
• "Live Sales" product cards on the stream (commerce, not polls).

Best for: YouTube campaigns of up to 30 days, and teams that also run live shows. See LiveReacting and OneStream Live side by side.

Castr

Price: Starter $19.99, Standard $49.99, Premium $199.99, Ultra $349.99, Events $749.99 a month (billed yearly: $16.67, $41.67, $166.67, $291.67, $624.99).

Castr sells two different 24/7 products, so it matters which one you mean.

• Pre-recorded streams with Infinite Loop: from Premium, $199.99/month. Castr's help pages describe it as a loop that streams 24x7 with no end date. Starter and Standard have no loop.
• TV playout: a scheduled channel on every plan. Its Loop mode starts at Premium and runs up to 15 days ahead (30 on Ultra and Events). In TV playout, Castr edits upcoming items while the channel runs, inserts a live stream from your encoder, and converts every uploaded file. TV playout output is 720p on Starter to Premium, and 1080p on Ultra and Events. Starter and Standard carry a Castr watermark.
• Output to RTMP and SRT destinations, and an HLS URL from Premium
• API from Premium, including a program guide (EPG)
• Not on YouTube's list of verified encoders
• Interactive overlays: not documented on Castr's pages

Best for: broadcasters and FAST-channel teams at Premium and above, who want a timetable and a program guide. See LiveReacting and Castr side by side.

Restream

Price: multistreaming Standard $19, Professional $49, Business $239 a month, plus a free plan with two channels. Pre-recorded streaming is a separate Upload & Stream add-on: Premier $39 (no playlists, no looping), Marathon $79 (playlists and looping one video), Media $239.

• Restream's help centre: "You can loop your video up to 10 times," "You can stream a maximum of a 40-hour stream with looping," and "Currently, our playlists don't support looping."
• Playlists run up to 24 hours. Videos cannot be added or removed once a playlist is live, and Restream says "Playlists cannot be blended with live content".
• Enterprise plans add a fail-safe backup for live input, and SRT, HLS and WHIP output.
• A public API and an MCP server.
• On YouTube's list of verified encoders.
• Polls appear only as third-party widgets in its Studio.

Best for: multistreaming live shows first, with occasional pre-recorded broadcasts. It is not built for an always-on channel. See LiveReacting and Restream side by side.

StreamYard

A pre-recorded stream plays one video and ends: up to 2 hours on Core ($44.99/month), 4 on Advanced, 8 on Teams and Business. There is no playlist that runs by itself and no 24/7 mode. StreamYard says it has no public API. It is on YouTube's list of verified encoders. Chat polls and a giveaway picker work only in its live studio during a live show.

Best for: live shows with guests, not 24/7 channels. See LiveReacting and StreamYard side by side.

Also worth knowing

StreamPush serves music labels such as Sony and Warner and is enterprise-only, not self-service. We could not verify YoloCast's current plans.

Comparison tables

Current as of October 27, 2026.

Price and duration

One 1080p stream that loops a playlist without an end date.

*New customers: $21.99/month for the first 5 months (then $39.99), or $23.99/month for the first year billed yearly ($287.93, then $33/month billed yearly).

Read the middle column, not the first. Several tools sell lower-priced plans for live shows or multistreaming that do not include a looping playlist.

Core 24/7 features

Advanced features

Can a 24/7 loop get demonetized on YouTube?

Not for being 24/7. YouTube publishes no rule against continuous or pre-recorded live streams. The question is whether the content varies.

Two facts from YouTube's own channel monetization policies page, checked October 27, 2026:

• The policy covers live: "when we use the term video on this page, it refers to Shorts, long-form videos, and live streaming."
• A section named "Generic or Repetitive Content" describes content "that looks like it's made with a template, or that may feel repetitive to viewers after watching several videos in a row from the same channel," and says "channels where content feels interchangeable from video to video are not allowed to monetize."

YouTube also allows automation: "If you use automated tools or templates to help create your content, the final product must still demonstrate your creative vision and provide educational or entertainment value."

The page's dated changelog shows the July 15, 2025 rename of "repetitious content" to "inauthentic content." It has no July 2026 entry; the named sections were reported by the press in July 2026. No tool can promise a monetization outcome. YouTube decides channel by channel. A varied playlist is closer to what the policy asks for than one short clip on repeat. For more, see what YouTube's AI content crackdown means for 24/7 streamers.

Where LiveReacting is not the best choice

• You want the lowest standard price. Upstream is $30/month against our $39.99, and $24 against $33 billed yearly. Our new-customer offer narrows the gap in the first year only.
• You want a tool on YouTube's verified-encoder list. Upstream, Gyre, Restream and StreamYard are on it. LiveReacting is not.
• You want to run playout software on your own server. LiveReacting is cloud software. Self-hosted playout is a different category.
• You want broadcast playout with a published program guide. Castr offers an EPG over its API from Premium. LiveReacting has no EPG endpoint.

Which one to pick

Most balanced for a 24/7 playlist of pre-recorded videos

LiveReacting, in our view. Setup is the same four steps as on Upstream or Gyre, with no duration limit and 100 GB of storage. The same 24/7 plan adds multi-cloud failover with automatic restart, two storage services, free unlimited encoding, live playlist changes, scheduling at any gap and an API and MCP server for AI agents. Billed yearly, the first-year offer ($23.99/month, then $33) is close to Upstream's yearly price ($24/month). At standard prices Upstream is cheaper.

Our pick when automatic recovery matters

LiveReacting. It runs multi-cloud failover with automatic restart on another server. On October 27, 2026 we found no documentation of equivalent recovery for cloud playlist streams on the other six vendors' own pages. OneStream Live and Restream (Enterprise) document a backup input for your own live encoder, which is a different thing. Upstream documents reconnecting after Twitch's 48-hour cap. Missing documentation does not prove a feature is absent, and no restart system promises zero downtime.

Recurring schedules, live changes and free encoding in one plan

LiveReacting. Scheduling at any gap, reruns that continue where they stopped, changes while live and free unlimited encoding are all in the 24/7 plan. Upstream comes close: it repeats daily or weekly, changes playlists while live and includes re-encoding time.

Cheapest 24/7 streaming software

Upstream, at $30/month or $24/month billed yearly, with a free plan for testing. LiveReacting's new-customer offer is lower for the first 5 monthly bills ($21.99/month, then $39.99) and about equal to Upstream's yearly price in the first year ($23.99/month billed yearly against $24, then $33). After that, Upstream is cheaper. Lower advertised prices elsewhere do not run a looping playlist channel: Castr's $19.99 tier has no loop, and Restream's playlists do not loop.

Several 24/7 channels at once

Upstream at standard prices: $80/month for four streams ($64 yearly), against $123.17 on LiveReacting ($101.64 yearly). Gyre Start+ covers four HD streams for $99. LiveReacting's new-customer offer brings four streams to $73.90/month billed yearly in the first year, then $101.64/month billed yearly. For agencies, LiveReacting can connect a client's YouTube channel with an invite link.

Enterprise and broadcast-grade 24/7 streaming

LiveReacting, for server-side ad insertion (SSAI) with SCTE-35 ad markers in the stream, including YouTube's SSAI workflow, on its Custom plan. We found no documentation of SCTE-35 on the other six. For HLS or SRT output, Castr, Upstream (SRT) and Restream Enterprise are also options.

API access and AI agents

LiveReacting and Upstream both have an API and an MCP server. On LiveReacting's 24/7 plan, and every paid plan, your code or an AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor) can create a stream, fill its playlist, schedule it and swap a video while it is on air. Upstream includes its API and MCP server on every plan, its free plan too. Restream has an API and an MCP server, and Castr has an API from Premium.

YouTube API connection

LiveReacting, Upstream and Gyre all connect to your YouTube account. LiveReacting and Upstream can also stream into a broadcast you already scheduled in YouTube Studio.

Broadcast playout with an EPG

Castr, at Premium and above.

Entry price vs looping playlist price

The entry price on most pricing pages does not run a looping playlist channel. Gyre's $49 plan has no playlists. Castr's $19.99 plan has no loop. OneStream Live's lower plans have no 24/7, and its 24/7 is YouTube-only and stops at 30 days. Restream's playlists do not loop, and a looped video stops at 40 hours.

Compare the tier that does the job. On that basis, a looping playlist channel costs from $30 (Upstream) to $199.99 (Castr Premium) a month at standard prices. Between Upstream and LiveReacting the gap is about $10 a month. Decide whether automatic recovery, scheduling depth and live changes are worth that to you.

FAQ

Is 24/7 streaming against YouTube's rules?

No. YouTube publishes no rule against continuous or pre-recorded live streams. Its monetization policies apply to live streams too, and content that feels repetitive or interchangeable is not eligible for monetization.

Did YouTube change its monetization rules in July 2026?

YouTube's policy page has no dated July 2026 entry. It now shows named sections, including "Generic or Repetitive Content," which the press reported in July 2026. The last dated change is the July 15, 2025 rename of "repetitious content" to "inauthentic content."

What is the cheapest 24/7 streaming software?

Upstream, at $30/month or $24/month billed yearly. LiveReacting costs $39.99/month, or $33/month billed yearly. Its new-customer offer is $21.99/month for the first 5 months (then $39.99), or $23.99/month for the first year billed yearly (then $33).

Which tools cap how long a stream can run?

Restream stops a looped video at 40 hours, and its playlists do not loop. OneStream Live runs 24/7 for up to 30 days, on YouTube only. Castr's TV playout loop runs 15 to 30 days ahead; its pre-recorded Infinite Loop has no end date. StreamYard plays one video for up to 8 hours. LiveReacting, Upstream and Gyre set no limit on paid plans.

Which 24/7 streaming software recovers by itself if a server fails?

LiveReacting runs multi-cloud failover: if the server running your stream stops answering, the stream starts again on another server by itself. We found no documentation of equivalent recovery for cloud playlist streams on the other six vendors' pages.

Can an AI agent run a 24/7 stream?

Yes, on LiveReacting and Upstream, which both have an API and an MCP server. An agent such as Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT (through our plugin) can create a stream, fill its playlist, schedule it and swap a video while it is live.

Can a 24/7 stream have polls or trivia?

Yes, on LiveReacting: polls and trivia run inside a 24/7 stream, and viewers answer in the live chat. StreamYard has chat polls only in its live studio, Restream and Upstream use third-party widgets, and OneStream Live shows product cards.

Which 24/7 streaming software supports SRT and HLS output?

LiveReacting on its Custom plan. Castr (SRT, and an HLS URL from Premium), Upstream (SRT) and Restream on Enterprise (SRT, HLS and WHIP).

Is LiveReacting harder to set up than a simple looping tool?

No. The default path is four steps: upload or import, build the playlist, connect the channel, go live. Scheduling, live changes, interactive overlays and API control are optional.

Do I need OBS or a computer left running?

No. All seven are cloud tools that stream from their own servers, so your computer can be off. See how to run 24/7 streams without OBS.

Start with what you already have

Pick on duration limits and reliability first, then on scheduling and price. Both are easier to judge with a channel running. You can turn an existing YouTube library into a 24/7 channel or start a 24/7 live stream on LiveReacting.

Related reading: how to create a 24/7 YouTube live channel, how much a 24/7 live stream can earn, and a shorter comparison of the best apps for 24/7 live streaming.