v1.0 · macOS · Apple silicon
Go live everywhere,
in both formats.
Vidyst is a native Mac studio for live streaming and recording. Stream to YouTube and any RTMP destination, record crash-safe 4K, and produce horizontal and vertical video from one session.
Free to start · macOS 14.2 Sonoma or later · Install steps
- Native on Apple Silicon
- Hardware HEVC encode
- Crash-safe recording
- Free to start
How it works
Three steps. No plugins.
From a blank canvas to live on every platform in minutes.
- Step 1
Add sources
Pick a display, window, camera, microphone and system audio. Each is captured once, straight to the GPU.
- Step 2
Build scenes
Arrange sources into scenes for both canvases. Link them so a cut on horizontal cuts vertical too.
- Step 3
Go live and record
Hit Go Live. Vidyst streams to every destination and records a crash-safe master file at the same time.
Use cases
Made for every kind of show.
Whatever you make, Vidyst streams it wide for YouTube and tall for Shorts, Reels and TikTok at the same time.
Live coding
Screen plus face cam at 4K for YouTube, a stacked vertical cut for Shorts and Reels, from the same session.
Music & creative
Per-source gain, mute and meters on a 10 ms mixer. Your synth sounds like your synth, not like a web call.
Podcasts & interviews
Record every mic and camera cleanly while you stream. Split long shows into gapless files as you go.
Tutorials & courses
Record in MP4, MOV or MKV with hardware HEVC. Edit-ready files land in the folders you choose.
Webinars & launches
Stream to YouTube and your own RTMPS endpoint at once, and answer questions from one merged chat.
Gaming & IRL
The compositor never blocks on the encoder, so the game keeps its frames while the stream keeps its bitrate.
Dual canvas
Wide and tall. One session.
Stop running two apps or cropping later. Vidyst renders a horizontal 4K60 canvas and a vertical 1080×1920 canvas side by side, from the same inputs, in real time.
- Captured once
- Every input is captured a single time and shared on the GPU with both canvases. No second copy, no extra CPU.
- Two program clocks
- Horizontal and vertical each render on their own Metal thread, so neither waits for the other.
- Linked scenes
- Link scenes across canvases and one take switches both, or keep them independent for different layouts.
Multistream & live chat
Every platform. One chat.
Connect your YouTube channel once and Vidyst creates, starts and ends the broadcast for you. Add any RTMP or RTMPS server alongside it and go live on all of them with one button.
- YouTube broadcasts managed for you: title, privacy and latency
- Custom RTMP and RTMPS with encrypted stream keys
- One chat panel for every destination, with pin, reply and show on stream
- If one destination drops, it reconnects while the others stay live
Features
A broadcast truck, in one Mac app.
A C++ media engine on Metal and VideoToolbox, with a native SwiftUI studio on top.
Metal compositor
One render thread per canvas on its own clock. IOSurface in and out, with no CPU copies.
Hardware encode
VideoToolbox HEVC and H.264 on the media engine. Encoding never blocks the render thread.
Crash-safe recording
Fragmented MP4, MOV or MKV with a fragment per keyframe. A crash never costs you the take.
Gapless file split
Roll over to a new file every N minutes without dropping a frame, written to every folder you choose.
Pro audio mixer
10 ms mixer on a time-constraint thread with per-source gain, mute and meters. AAC encoded once.
Transitions & masks
Crossfades with a set duration, circle camera masks and aspect-fill crops, all on the GPU.
Multistream
YouTube plus any RTMP or RTMPS destination at once. Vidyst creates and ends YouTube broadcasts for you.
Merged live chat
Every platform's chat in one panel. Pin, reply, hide, or put a message on stream.
Live telemetry
GPU, encoder load, dropped frames, disk speed, thermals and A/V drift, always in view.
The tally
A glance is all it takes.
One status pill tells you what your show is doing, across every destination and every file, without opening a single panel.
- 01
Ready. Sources connected, scenes set, destinations armed.
- 02
Live. Streaming to every destination at once.
- 03
Recording. Writing a crash-safe master to every folder.
- 04
Reconnecting. A destination dropped. Vidyst retries while the rest stay live.
- 05
Ended. Broadcasts closed, files finalized and ready to edit.
Why Vidyst
Built for the way you actually stream.
An honest comparison with the tools you probably use today.
Native Apple Silicon app
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Partial
- Browser studios
- No
Horizontal and vertical from one session
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Partial
- Browser studios
- Partial
Hardware HEVC with zero-copy GPU pipeline
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Partial
- Browser studios
- No
Crash-safe local recording
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Partial
- Browser studios
- No
YouTube broadcasts created for you
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Partial
- Browser studios
- Yes
Merged multi-platform chat
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- No
- Browser studios
- Yes
Works without a browser tab or upload
- Vidyst
- Yes
- OBS
- Yes
- Browser studios
- No
Private by design.
Vidyst is a Mac app, not a cloud studio. Your cameras, screen and audio are processed on your Mac.
Your media stays on your Mac
Capture, compositing, encoding and recording all happen locally. Video only leaves your Mac for the destinations you choose.
No passwords in the app
Sign in with Apple, Google or email in your browser. The app receives short-lived, signed tokens and never sees a password.
Encrypted platform tokens
Your YouTube refresh token is AES-GCM encrypted on our server and never sent to your Mac. Stream keys are encrypted at rest.
FAQ
Common questions.
Don't see your question? Get in touch.
What is Vidyst?
Vidyst is a native macOS studio for live streaming and recording. It composites your screen, cameras and audio on the GPU, streams to YouTube and any RTMP or RTMPS destination, and records crash-safe files, all from one app.
Which Macs does Vidyst support?
Vidyst runs on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) on macOS 14.2 Sonoma or later. It is built around the Apple silicon media engine and Metal, so Intel Macs are not supported.
Can I stream horizontal and vertical at the same time?
Yes. Vidyst renders a horizontal canvas (up to 4K60) and a vertical canvas (1080×1920) from the same inputs. Each input is captured once and shared on the GPU, so the second canvas costs very little.
Where can I stream to?
Connect your YouTube channel and Vidyst creates, starts and ends the broadcast for you. You can also add any RTMP or RTMPS server with a stream key, and send to several destinations at once.
What happens to my recording if the app crashes?
Recordings are written as fragments, one per keyframe, so everything up to the moment of a crash or power loss stays playable. You can also split long sessions into gapless files.
Which recording formats are available?
MP4 and MOV on every plan, with hardware HEVC or H.264. Pro adds MKV, Apple ProRes and multitrack audio.
Is Vidyst free?
Yes. The Free plan includes dual canvas, multistreaming and recording. Pro unlocks MKV, ProRes and multitrack audio for creators who need edit-grade masters.
Is Vidyst an OBS alternative for Mac?
Vidyst covers the core OBS workflow of scenes, sources, streaming and recording, but is built only for Mac. It adds native dual canvas, managed YouTube broadcasts and merged chat without plugins.
Start streaming. Both ways.
Download Vidyst free and go live on every platform, in both formats, from your Mac.
Requires Apple silicon · macOS 14.2 Sonoma or later