Streaming gear
for beginners.

What do you need to start streaming? The $0 setup

Four things, and you probably own all of them:

• A device that can stream. A PC or Mac with OBS Studio (free and open source, for Windows 10 and 11 and macOS 13 or newer, per obsproject.com), a PS5 or Xbox, or a phone.
• Software. OBS on a computer (setup in how to set up OBS), the built-in broadcast on a console, the platform's app on a phone.
• Upload speed. Run a speed test first. Section 3 has the numbers.
• Sound. A headset mic or earbuds with a mic works on day one.

What you need to start streaming on each platform:

• Twitch: an account, then stream from OBS, a console or the Twitch app.
• Kick: an account (Kick's checklist says to turn on two factor authentication from day one), then OBS, Streamlabs Desktop, XSplit or MELD on a computer, or the KICK Go Live app.
• YouTube: a verified channel with live streaming turned on; YouTube says the first time can take up to 24 hours. From a phone you also need at least 50 subscribers.
• TikTok: LIVE has its own age and follower rules, and computers use TikTok LIVE Studio. See how to go LIVE on TikTok.

The upgrades in the order that matters: mic, light, camera

Kick's beginner checklist (May 2026) puts it plainly: "Your audio matters more than your video quality. Even a basic USB microphone is a major upgrade over a built-in laptop mic." Then: "Good lighting makes your webcam look dramatically better." So buy in this order:

1. A USB mic. Budget: Elgato Wave Neo $89.99 or Logitech G Yeti $109.99 on sale. Step up: Elgato Wave:3 MK.2 $169.99. Pro: Shure SM7B $439, an XLR mic that needs an audio interface such as the Focusrite Scarlett Solo ($169.99).
2. Light, before a new camera. Face a window for free. Then one panel: Elgato Key Light Neo $69.99, or the bigger Elgato Key Light $179.99. A cheap webcam with good light beats an expensive one in a dark room.
3. A webcam. Kick's checklist says a 1080p webcam covers most needs: the Logitech C920s (1080p, privacy shutter) was $59.99 on sale. Step up: Elgato Facecam MK.2 $119.99. Pro: Elgato Facecam 4K $199.99.
4. Extras. A Stream Deck puts scenes and sounds on buttons: Stream Deck Neo (8 keys) $99.99, standard Stream Deck (15 keys) $149.99. Nice, never first.

Wear headphones so your mic does not pick up game audio from your speakers. Any earbuds you own do the job.

Upload speed and bitrate: check this before buying anything

Your upload speed decides your quality, not your gear. The platforms' own rules of thumb:

• Twitch: upload should be your bitrate plus 30%. Twitch's example: 6 Mbps needs at least 8 Mbps of upload.
• Kick: upload at least twice your bitrate, so 6,000 kbps needs 12 Mbps. Kick's Go Live help says the same for phones: bitrate under half your upload.

Recommended bitrates, checked 22 October 2026:

• Twitch (Broadcasting Guidelines): 6,000 kbps for 1080p60, 4,500 for 1080p30 or 720p60, 3,000 for 720p30, CBR, 2 second keyframes. Twitch raises 1080p to 7.5 Mbps only inside a 2K stream with Enhanced Broadcasting, which is for Affiliates and Partners.
• Kick: up to 1920x1080 at 60 fps and 8,000 kbps. Why viewers may still see 720p: Kick stream quality.
• YouTube: for 1080p60 it recommends 17 Mbps with H.264 (minimum 6) or 12 Mbps with H.265 or AV1. For 720p60: 8 Mbps with H.264 (minimum 3).

Worked example, arithmetic: a 10 Mbps upload allows 5,000 kbps by Kick's rule (10 ÷ 2) and about 7,700 kbps by Twitch's (10 ÷ 1.3). 720p60 at 4,500 kbps fits both. Kick's checklist adds that wired ethernet is more reliable than Wi-Fi.

Streaming setup for PS5, Xbox, PC or phone: what each needs

PS5 and Xbox. Both consoles can broadcast to Twitch and YouTube from their own menus, with no PC and no capture card. Kick is different: its setup guide names PC apps (OBS, XSplit, Streamlabs Desktop, MELD), not consoles, so console gameplay on Kick, or overlays and alerts anywhere, needs a capture card and a PC. Elgato's Game Capture Neo ($129.99) connects a console to your TV and a laptop. Steps in how to stream on PS5 and Xbox.

PC. On a gaming PC the encoder matters. Twitch's guide says x264 uses a lot of your CPU, while GPU encoding such as NVIDIA NVENC uses a dedicated chip, so you can play and stream without hurting game performance. On RTX 20 series and GTX 1660 cards, NVENC typically beats x264 Fast.

Phone. The cheapest start: the Twitch, KICK Go Live, YouTube or TikTok app. Add a clip-on mic like the RØDE Wireless Micro ($99) and a stand. Long streams heat phones up, Kick notes, so keep yours out of direct sun.

IRL. Streaming outside adds power, data and dead zones to the list. The full gear ladder, from a phone kit to a bonded backpack, is in IRL streaming setup.

How much does a streaming setup cost? And what to skip

From the table, arithmetic on maker prices: $0 with what you own, $239.97 for a budget desk, $459.96 for a step up, $1,138.96 for a pro desk before cables and a mic arm, and $158.99 for a phone kit. A cheap streaming setup that sounds good beats an expensive one that does not.

Skip at the start:

• A 4K webcam before a light. Platforms cap what viewers see anyway: Kick and Twitch's standard settings top out at 1080p.
• An XLR mic and interface ($608.99 for the SM7B and Scarlett Solo) before you know you will keep streaming.
• A capture card if you stream a PS5 or Xbox to Twitch or YouTube only.
• Overlays and alerts on day one. Kick's checklist says to streamline step by step, not all at once.

Do not skip: a speed test, a short test recording before your first stream, and two factor authentication on your account.

Where ReelShift fits once you are live

Clips on TikTok, Shorts and Reels are how many new channels get found. ReelShift watches your public stream on Twitch, Kick, YouTube or TikTok LIVE and follows what you say and the loud moments, and on game streams it also reads kills and wins off the screen. Vertical clips with word synced captions land in your library within minutes, while you are still live, ready to post. No extra gear and nothing to install in OBS. Creator is $24.99 a month for 1 channel, with a 7 day free trial (1 channel, 5 streaming hours, card required, nothing charged today). See pricing.