Bandicam vs OBS Studio: Which is best? [2024]

Bandicam vs OBS Studio– In recent times, many game lovers and YouTubers wish to share their real-time adventures and content with other people. For this reason, they are highly using screen recording software for capturing their screen.

Several people get confused about which one is the best option for their use, to record their experience. Among all such software, some software like Bandicam and OBS are quite famous. Nevertheless, they are also confused to choose between them, which is why, they are looking for Bandicam vs OBS comparison.

If you are also looking for the same, don’t worry! In this article, I’ll show you a simple Bandicam and OBS comparison which will help you to select the best option based on your needs and requirements.

Bandicam vs OBS: What are they?

Bandicam will offer you options for video merging, cutting, and trimming. It is a comparatively powerful software for screen or video recording, and also help you to capture images instantaneously. On the other hand, OBS also offers you high flexibility with several screen recording and editing activities.

Both Bandicam and OBS are suitable for live streaming, as well as recording gameplay. You can also utilize them for conducting an online tutorial, class or any other conference. Check out the article below to know more detailed information on Bandicam vs OBS comparison.

Bandicam

Bandicam is a closed-source screen recorder and screen capturing software which can record screen changes or take screenshots. It displays an FPS count in the corner of the screen while the OpenGL/DirectX window is in active mode. If program is ready to start, the FPS count can be visible in green. If the FPS count changes to red color, it means that the recording has started.

Basically, it consists of three modes: one is the “Game Recording” mode, that can record the target created in OpenGL or DirectX. The other is the “Screen recording” mode, which can be utilized to record a specific area on your PC screen. The last is the “Device Recording” mode which records HDMI devices and Webcams.

Bandicam is mainly used by games for recording their live streaming. It lets them to capture the screen with more compression rate. Once you finish capturing your screen, you can save it in files. One of the extraordinary features of Bandicam is that, it will let you to record several external video devices like Webcam, IPTV, smartphone, Xbox, PlayStation and much more.

OBS Studio

OBS Studio is a free streaming and recording program that is available for macOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux distributions.  It is available in several languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, English, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Norwegian, Swedish, Indonesian and much more.

The chief user interface is organized into five sections: sources, transitions, scenes, audio mixer and controls. Mixer panel allows the user mute the audio and regulate the volume through virtual faders. Scenes are collections of sources like recorded and live video, text and audio. The upper section has a live video preview, that is used to edit and monitor the current scene.

The control panel has options for stopping and starting a recording or stream. The user interface can be customized to a variety of themes, including both light and dark themes, depending on what the user desires. OBS software keeps on updating and improving itself regularly to enhance the user experience. You are allowed to select your streaming service from the settings menu.

Bandicam vs OBS: Key Features

Bandicam

• The video created can be saved in MP4 or AVI formats.
• Captures screenshots and save them as PNG, BMP or JPG files.
• Autocomplete record mode can limit the video capture procedure to a definite size or time value.
• Supports hardware acceleration through CUDA, Intel Quick Sync Video/HEVC, Nvidia NVENC/HEVC and AMD APP.
• Real-time drawing feature allow you to outline any of your videos or screenshots.
• You can merge, add, or delete any needed parts after registering your video.
• There is screen recording, game recording and device recording mode.
• You are allowed to record the videos of selected areas on screen to get a perfect and professional video for your use.
• You can mix your voice on the video which you have captured during your game session.

OBS

• Capable of using the Intel Quick Sync Video, x264 free software library, Nvidia NVENC and the AMD Video Coding Engine to encode video streams to H.265/HEVC and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format.
• Advanced users can select to use any containers and codecs available in libavformat and libavcodec.
• Capture your real-time videos and share with your friends, or broadcast it on various channels.
• Use hotkeys for various kinds of actions, including starting and stopping recording, muting audios, live streaming, push-to-talk and much more.
• Offers many filters such as noise gate, noise suppression and gain.
• Supports collaboration with other plug-ins and applications creatively, and permit you to improve performance and functionalities.

Bandicam vs OBS: Comparison

Pricing

When you compare Bandicam vs OBS in terms of price, I can say that OBS is the best option as it is completely free and comes with all the features.

On the other hand, Bandicam costs $39.95 as a one-time payment. There is a free trial available, but it places its name as a watermark at the top of all recorded videos, and every recorded video is limited to 10 minutes in length.

Installation

To enjoy the advantages of any software, you are supposed to install it first. Installing both software is pretty simple and easy.

Bandicam: Go to Bandicam’s official website -> Download the software -> select Installer language -> Set up Windows -> Agree to license agreement -> Choose components -> select Installation location -> finish the installation -> Launch Bandicam.

OBS: Go to OBS’s official website -> Download the software -> open the OBS file -> next -> click I Agree -> select your usage information -> next -> select the best resolution for your device -> Finish.

Audio Recording

Bandicam software permits you to capture the screen total comfort. You can be able to record as long as for 24 hours without any breaks or glitches. Its screencast feature permits you to capture system sound, audio, and microphone, while recording your computer screen.

Whereas, OBS let you to record multiple audio channels at the same time. This means, you can easily capture commentators, video conferences and much more. Its audio feature assists you to achieve a more professional video that you can integrate into various streaming platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook.

Interface

Bandicam offers a high-quality video editor program which comes with an amazing user interface and video’s speed function. Apart from recording, it will also let you to take screenshots. Furthermore, this software provides outstanding screen recoding option and high recording quality even with a high-quality compression rate.

On the other hand, the principal user interface of OBS is organized into five sections: sources, transitions, scenes, audio mixer and controls. It is completely free program which permits users to stream any audio or video to other platforms like YouTube, Twitch and Facebook.

Performance

Bandicam provides you higher FPS which allows you to create high-quality and natural videos. The FPS is highly significant for developing the system performance. It lets users to record gameplay up to 480 FPS. It is also compatible to record on other video devices like Webcam, IPTV, smartphone, Xbox, PlayStation and much more.

Whereas, OBS ia a free streaming and open-source software. When comparing Bandicam vs OBS, you can find that OBS is easy-to-use and moderately lightweight. With OBS, broadcasters can get an automated setup to start the live streaming. It also supports the sources like web pages, images & GIFs, webcams, etc.

System Requirements

Bandicam c be used Windows Vista 7, 8, or 10 (both 64 bit and 32 bit). Bandicam 2.3.1 is compatible with Windows XP. Whereas, OBS is available for macOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux.

The Bottom Line

Selecting the best screen recording software which is free and have a cross-platform streaming support can be quite difficult. If you ask me, OBS is the best option for those who require a fully equipped screen recorder, and for those who are looking for a lightweight screen recorder, Bandicam is the best option.

So, what wins? What did you choose? If you are still thinking whether you need Bandicam or OBS, I would like to mention that both have various different features. Also, they are the top screen recorder which are used by people all around the internet.

However, before buying any screen recording software, it will be helpful to check whether your system configuration is compatible or not. So, I hope the above article on Bandicam vs OBS has helped you to pick up the best option according to your preferences.