Streamlabs vs OBS: control either from one deck
January 15, 2026 · 5 min read
OBS Studio and Streamlabs Desktop each have their fans. The good news: your control deck doesn't have to care which one you use. Here's how a single deck drives both.
Two apps, two APIs
OBS exposes the obs-websocket protocol; Streamlabs Desktop exposes its own JSON-RPC API. They're different under the hood, which is why many control tools only support one.
StreamPad speaks both and auto-detects whichever is running — switch streaming software and your deck just follows.
What works on each
Scene switching, going live, and recording work on both. OBS additionally exposes studio mode, per-source visibility, a program monitor, virtual camera, and replay buffer — so those extra controls appear when OBS is active and hide on Streamlabs, where the API doesn't offer them.
The rest is universal
Your audio mixer, soundboard, camera and mic kill switches, macros, and chat work the same regardless of which streaming app you run — because they're driven at the OS level, not through OBS or Streamlabs.
One deck for OBS and Streamlabs. Download StreamPad and use whichever you prefer.
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