Knowledge Base > F.A.Q.s > Steam FAQ

Where can I find OBS Studio on Steam?

Simply search for "OBS Studio" on the Steam Store or follow this link to get directly to the OBS Studio store page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1905180/OBS_Studio/

Why are you releasing OBS Studio on Steam?

Over the years, we have received requests to publish OBS Studio on Steam as it provides a convenient way to install and update software. For many users, it is one of their primary sources for the programs on their machines.

In general, we want to offer OBS Studio through various platforms to reach both our current and future users as easily as possible. This includes our presence on the Microsoft Store for Windows and our most recent expansion to Flathub on Linux. Steam is part of this endeavor.

Is it free or paid?

The OBS Studio Steam version is and always will be free, just like on our website.

We may explore using the Steam platform to provide additional ways of financially supporting OBS Studio development in the future, but the application itself will remain free and we will never charge for or paywall features.

If you are interested in finanically supporting the OBS Project, check out our Contribute page.

Is there a difference between the Steam and regular version?

OBS Studio on Steam is the exact same version as you would download from our website.

Which operating systems are supported?

OBS Studio on Steam supports the same versions as the regular release. Currently, this means:

  • Windows 10 and Windows 11
  • macOS 10.15 and higher

Linux is currently not supported (see "Will there be a Linux version?" section below).

Are cloud saves supported?

Steam cloud saves are not supported.

We experimented with enabling Steam Auto-Cloud but ran into several issues and limitations, such as assets not being included and cross-platform sync deleting files it shouldn't or getting stuck on conflicts, which made them unreliable and potentially confusing to users.

However, we are working on building better ways of exporting/importing and backing up your OBS Studio data regardless of platform. Stay tuned!

Are additional Steam features (Workshop, Achievements, etc.) supported?

No. Due to OBS Studio being licensed under the GPL, we are not able to utilize the Steamworks SDK to offer such features.

Are plugins supported?

Plugins can be installed and used as normal.

Most plugin installers should automatically use the Steam library installation path. For manual installs, the OBS Studio installation folder can quickly be located by right-clicking OBS Studio in your Steam library and selecting "Manage" -> "Browse local files".

Note: plugins cannot be distributed via Steam Workshop due OBS Studio's GPL license (see above).

Will there be a Linux version?

Currently we have no plans for providing a Linux build via Steam.

While we can simply reuse our existing builds for Windows and MacOS, Steam on Linux would require a dedicated build, separate from our efforts with the Ubuntu PPA and Flatpak. We may reconsider this in the future. Currently, we do not have the resources to take on the additional workload that maintaining a Steam version would entail.

We recommend that Linux users use our Flatpak version for a well supported, first-party OBS Studio experience on a large variety of distributions.