Top-Rated Free Social Media Live Streaming Platforms For 2023

Content creators and marketers rely completely on social media live streaming to connect with their audience.

Engaging with the audience in real-time is the key, and social streaming ensures you the same. But to stream your content live on social media, you need to find a reliable social media live streaming platform. And you don’t need to worry about platforms; we have gotten you covered. 

Here, we are taking you through some high-rated social media streaming platforms in 2023. 

But, before that, let us understand the meaning of the live streaming platform.

What is a Live Streaming Platform? 

One can define a live streaming platform as an online platform, website, or service that enables users to broadcast content in real-time. It means that your viewers will watch the video in real-time as you are uploading it. Live streaming is different from recording the video and uploading it later; Users can use it to stream webinars, gaming sessions, Q&A sessions, etc. 

But how do you know if the platform you are using is a reliable one? It generally depends on the features of the platform, and what makes a platform good one? It should provide the users with basic functionalities and a good management system. Not only this, but the service should also enable users with monetization functionality. 

Top-Rated Free Social Media Live Streaming Platforms For 2023

Here are some of the top-rated social media streaming platforms in 2023; though they are free, some of them come with premium features. 

1. Facebook Live: 

With more than 60% of internet users having an account on this platform, Facebook remains one of the most popular social media streaming platforms. With its launch back in 2006, Facebook brought a revolution in the social media industry. With more than 2 billion active users across the world, Facebook became a top choice among publishers and brands in no time. 

With Facebook came Facebook Live, it gained popularity. Now, every 1 in 5 videos on Facebook is a live video. 

This social media live streaming platform provides several features to its users; some of them are: 

• Audience Engagement Tools: Facebook offers several audience engagement features and tools, such as live polls and live comments. 

• Link Feature: Users can add multiple links to their streams to promote their website. 

• Live-In Stories: It enables users to share their live streaming directly on their stories. 

• Live Collaboration: Users can collaborate with other Facebook users and host a live session with multiple users. 

• Multi-Device Accessible: Facebook live is a multi-device accessible platform that allows users to stream live through their desktops, laptops, tablets, and even smartphones. 

Pricing: Facebook is a free social streaming platform, and so is Facebook Live. Hence, one doesn’t need to spend money to stream their content live on this social media streaming platform. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.

Moving onto our next choice, 

2. LinkedIn Live: 

Gone are the days when LinkedIn was merely a professional networking platform; it has now become one of the top choices of creators for content creation. As per data and statistics, LinkedIn has more than 849.6 million users worldwide as of July 2022. 

It comes as a great opportunity for users to stream their content live on this social streaming platform. Users can present their content live and engage their audience using the set of features it comes with. 

Here are some of the top features this social media streaming platform provides its users with: 

• Advance Scheduling: Users can schedule their streaming in advance. 

• Stream Testing: Users can test their streams to check if everything is fine before going live. 

• Auto-Captions: LinkedIn’s API generates auto-captions for streams with audio in English. 

• Live Comments and Reactions: Viewers can react to your stream in real-time through reactions and live comments. 

• Edit the Video: Users get to trim the beginning and end of the video in its ‘previously live’ state. 

Pricing: 

LinkedIn comes with a free plan and a premium plan, which users can subscribe to based on their requirements.

Basic Plan: It comes with all the regular functionalities which regular LinkedIn users can use, such as connecting with professionals, viewing profiles of other LinkedIn members, etc. This plan is absolutely free of cost. 

Premium Plan: An advanced version, the premium package of LinkedIn helps users to expand their businesses. Some of the plans that the LinkedIn Premium Package includes are: 

LinkedIn Career: It comes at the cost of $29.99/month. 

LinkedIn Business: Comes at the cost of $47.99/month.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: The cost is $79.99/month.

Recruiter Lite: $140/month. 

#Note: One thing that users need to keep in mind is the above plans are not for LinkedIn Live. To broadcast content on LinkedIn Live, users need to match certain access criteria. However, there aren’t any criteria for viewing social streaming. 

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.

Moving onto the next platform in our list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have

3. Instagram Live: 

Instagram, another popular social media platform, came up with its live platform, Instagram Live in 2016. Since the watch time of live videos is 24.41 minutes, which is around 27% more than that of on-demand videos, at 18%, statistics predict it will grow more than 15 times than it is in 2022. If this happens, it would be around 17% of the internet’s traffic. 

It makes Instagram Live an excellent platform for creators to interact and engage with their audience base in real-time and boost their growth. Using a well-prepared and well-thought-out strategy has helped users drive engagement and growth on their brand. 

When it comes to the features of this social streaming platform, here is a list: 

• Advance Scheduling: Users can schedule their broadcast as well as save their social streaming once it gets over. 
• Question and Answer Session: They can host a dedicated question and answer session for their viewers. 

• Collaboration: Users can add other users to their ongoing stream. It provides them with an opportunity to collaborate and boost viewers’ reach. 

• Add Pictures From Gallery: Instagram Live broadcasters show pictures from their gallery while the stream is going on. 

• Test Run: Like LinkedIn, Instagram also enables users to practice without an audience and do last-minute checks. 

Pricing: 

Similar to Facebook Live, Users can stream their content live on Instagram also without paying anything. It is a free social media Live streaming platform. 

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.

Talking of the next social streaming platform, here’s what we have: 

4. Twitter: 

Twitter, another renowned social media platform, has more than 450 million active users as of 2022. This extensive reach of this social media platform makes it an excellent platform for users to reach out to a wider audience and expand their growth exponentially. 

Twitter had its former live streaming platform, Periscope, for social streaming; However, it got discontinued in 2021, and now users can go live directly on Twitter, called Twitter Live. 

When we talk about the features of Twitter Live, here are a few things to note: 

• Interactive Options: Twitter Live provides users with several interactive tools and features. These tools are heart reactions, live chat, and comments. 

• Location: You can add your location to the social streaming; it would help your viewers know where you are streaming from. 

• Stream Saving: Users can save their streams once they get over; Not only this, but they can also post it later as a regular video. 

• Inviting Other Users: While broadcasting your stream, users can invite up to three guests to join their social streaming. 

• Time Stamps: Users can add customizable time stamps to their stream to draw their viewers’ attention to a certain part of the stream. 

Pricing: 

Twitter is a free social streaming platform that doesn’t require users to pay any fee; neither for watching or streaming. 

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.

What’s Next? 

5. YouTube Live: 

We all know what YouTube is! A globally-renowned platform, YouTube is a ‘go-to’ platform for all kinds of video content. Not only this, YouTube is the world’s second most visited website. Also, for its whooping 1.7 billion unique users per month, YouTube Live makes it to the list of the best social media streaming platforms of several marketers and creators across the globe. 

Broadcasting your stream live on YouTube is as simple as clicking on the ‘Go Live’ button on your smartphone. Not only this, YouTube Live does provide you with monetization offers. 

Here are the features of YouTube Live: 

• Multi-Platform Streaming: Users can broadcast their social streaming through several platforms, a webcam, an encoder, and even a mobile application. 

• Live Analytics: Users can see live analytics of the number of viewers and those engaging. 

• Live Funding: Viewers can send money directly during the live streaming. 

• Snippets: Users can turn their social media streaming snippets into highlights of their channel. 

• Ads: Those streaming live on YouTube live can enable ads to generate revenue. 

Pricing: Talking of the pricing of social media streaming on YouTube Live, one doesn’t need to pay anything for the same. 

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Jumping onto the next name, we have, 

6. Dailymotion: 

The next social media live streaming platform we are going to talk about is Dailymotion, a platform similar to YouTube. This platform enables users to share their videos. Along with sharing videos, it lets users live stream their content. Dailymotion is a primary video-sharing service that allows users to discover content from all parts of the world. This social streaming platform has more than 350 million active users across the globe. 

Features you should know about Dailymotion are: 

• Embedding Video: This platform lets users embed their social media live streaming to their websites and enable them to share on social media. 

• Multi-Device Accessible: Social streaming on Dailymotion can be accessed from all devices. 

• Customization: This platform comes with a customization feature, enabling users to customize their player as per their brand. 

• Revenue Share Program: It allows users to monetize their social media streaming and other videos. 

• Live Events: With this feature, users can keep an eye on their audience and ad revenue. 

Pricing: Dailymotion is a free-of-cost Social Media Live Streaming Platform. All you have to do is register yourself and become a partner. Though it also offers an advanced partner option, you need to contact their team for the same. 

7. YouNow: 

Picking up the next name from our list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have YouNow, a streaming platform that lets users share their content from a webcam or phone. YouNow enables people to meet and interact with fellow users from across the globe and watch live streams. This platform offers users several features, including audio-video social streaming, and many more. 

Some of them are: 

• Subscription: This feature allows viewers to subscribe to the users, and they can charge them for that. 

• Download Replays: One can download replays of the streams and watch them multiple times. 

• 25-Second Long Snippets: Users can create 25-second long snippets of their social streaming and share them with their audience. 

• Host Online Competitions: Users can host virtual competitions to boost audience engagement. 
• Screen Sharing: One can share their screens while the streaming is going on. 

Pricing: One doesn’t need to pay anything to host social streaming on this platform or to watch the streaming. However, it offers users some streaming perks, which they can unlock as they level up. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.

Next up, we have

8. Tiktok Live: 

Tiktok is a common name among those interested in watching viral videos. With a reach and user base of more than 1 billion people, TikTok is considered one of the top names among content creators and influencers. The best part is it offers TikTok Live, a social streaming platform, where one can broadcast their content live, and that too for unlimited timing. 

Since most of its users are under the age of 25, using this platform to broadcast content for this audience group can be highly beneficial for users and their brands. 

Talking about its features, 

• Picture-In-Picture: This feature enables users to not lose their followers so easily. 

• Collaboration: Users can collaborate with fellow users and host joint LIVE social streaming sessions. 

• Q&A Sessions: Users can ask questions. 

• Top LIVEs: It helps users discover some of the top LIVE sessions. 

• Keyword Filters: It helps commenters reconsider if they are posting unkind words. 

Pricing: 

TikTok is a free social media live streaming platform. Also, TikTok allows users to earn money, but only if they are 18 or more than 18. Along with it, one thing they need to know is that TikTok doesn’t allow everyone to go live; only those with more than 1000 followers can do so. 

G2 Rating: (Tik Tok Ads): 4.2 out of 5.

Our next social streaming platform is 

9. Reddit Live: 

Reddit is another most popular social platform which is community-centric, and enables people with the same interests to connect with each other. If statistics are to be believed, this platform falls on number six when we talk of most popular social platforms. 

Not only this, according to data, more than 430 million people actively use Reddit every month. As we said, it is a community-based platform, data suggests that there are more than 130,000 active communities on this platform. 

While talking about its Live Streaming, it offers some of the most interesting features to its users. Those features include: 

• Save Live: One can save their live sessions so that anybody can view it. 

• Awards: The social media streamings that last longer than 3 hours receive awards from the audience. 

• Multi-device Accessibility: One can access this platform from their desktops as well as their mobile devices. 

• No Limitation: There is no limitation when it comes to the number of LIVE sessions users can host; one can go LIVE as many times as they want. 

Pricing: Reddit, also, is a free-to-use social media live streaming platform. However, the users need to meet one requirement before being able to go LIVE on this platform. They need to have comment karma in order to go live. It can be earned through getting upvotes on their comments. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Let’s see what the next name on this list is. 

10. Vimeo: 

We all know Vimeo as one of the most renowned video hosting platforms; however, what you need to know is it also offers live streaming services. It comes with different solutions for all kinds of social streamings, suitable for all sizes and strategies. Not only this, it allows creators to choose plans according to their needs and demands. 

Do you know what its features are? 

• Ad-Free Streaming: One can broadcast high-quality videos as well as stream ad-free in HD, ensuring the best experience for the viewers. 

• Customization: Users can personalize their streams to match their brand requirements and needs. 

• Preview: One can preview their streams before going live for the quality check. 

• Password-Protected Streaming: One can broadcast content privately; one can also add passwords and permissions to ensure complete privacy. 

• Real-Time Feedback: Users can get real-time feedback on their streaming, which would help them improve their quality. 

Pricing: Vimeo offers several pricing options to its users; however, out of those packages only its Premium and Enterprise plans let users live stream.

 Premium: Users get unlimited access to live events and webinars with its Vimeo player. Not only this, but they also get basic viewer analytics, three streams, and 1080 p streaming, all at $75 per month. 

Enterprise: This plan is best suited for medium and large businesses. Users get everything that Premium Plan offers and certain add-ons, including custom embedding, account management, and more. It is a customizable plan; hence, users need to contact their team for its pricing. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Let’s have a look at the next platform. 

11. Zoom: 

We all know Zoom as certainly the most popular webinar and online conference platform. The popularity of Zoom can be understood by the fact that online meetings are synonymous with Zoom Meetings. 

Zoom is undoubtedly one of those few names that saw tremendous growth in the past few years. According to the data, the usage of Zoom grew by more than 30 times since 2019. 

Want to know more about it; let’s have a look at its features: 

• Video-On-Demand: Unlike several social media streaming platforms discussed here, Zoom lets users stream on-demand content. Hence, users can record their content and stream it later. 

• HD Video Meeting: Users can stream their content in HD quality with 1000 live viewers. 

• AR and Studio Effects: Users can enhance the quality of their streaming with Augmented Reality and Studio Effects. 

• Live Chat: Viewers can chat with each other in group chat. 

• Breakout Rooms: Attendees can be divided into groups for effective communication and interaction. 

Pricing: 

Zoom offers two pricing plans to its users; however, its pricing varies with the number of attendees. 

Zoom Webinar: Users can host an unlimited number of webinars, each can last for more than 30 hours. CRM and Marketing Tools integration, and many other tools. It starts at $690 per year per license. 

Zoom Events: This plan offers everything Zoom Webinar offers, along with some add-ons. These add-ons are event hubs, multi-session hosting, event analytics, and so on. This plan starts at $890 per year per license. 

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Next, we have 

12. Twitch: 

Last on the list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have Twitch, a live streaming platform that was launched especially for gamers. However, in 2020, this platform expanded its categories. Now open for all categories, such as art, music, and lifestyle. 

Talking about its features, here are some points to consider: 

• Live Comments: Viewers can add comments to live streams. 

• Emote Slots: Viewers can interact. 

• Subscriber Badges: Subscribers get various badges on subscribing. 

• Stream Scheduler: Users can schedule their streams in advance. 

• Monetization: Users can monetize their social streaming with ads. 

Pricing: It is a free Live streaming platform; hence, users aren’t charged for anything, neither streaming nor viewing. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

 Choose the Best Social Media Live Streaming Platform

Given there are a plethora of social media streaming platforms available in the market, making a final choice isn’t an easy task. While you are looking for your platform, there are several factors that you should consider, starting with your objectives. You need to know that what might work for one, might not work for another. Hence, keep your eyes and mind wide open, and choose your platform accordingly. 

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