What each one is built for
LiveReacting
Pre-recorded and 24/7 live streams: upload a video and go live, or build a playlist for non-stop streaming. The same account also does live shows from a browser studio with cameras, guests and a shared screen, multistreaming to several platforms at once, trivia, polls and giveaways with a chat overlay, YouTube ad breaks, ready-made templates, and control by an AI agent or your own code.
Castr
Live video for businesses and broadcasters on one platform: delivery to your own player and to social platforms, video hosting, 24/7 TV playout, a paywall and a branded OTT web app.
LiveReacting vs Castr, side by side
How we compared
LiveReacting figures come from our pricing page. Castr figures come from Castr's own pages and help guides, read in a browser, and from YouTube's list of verified encoders; the number beside each Castr cell names its source below. Castr sells two 24/7 products, pre-recorded streams and TV playout, and a cell names the one it is about. "Not documented" means we found no public Castr page that says so.
- Castr pricing page, monthly and yearly, every row of the plan table open, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr pre-recorded live page, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr TV playout page, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr cloud production page, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr features page, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr multistreaming page, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr Help Center, how to connect YouTube with Castr, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr video monetization page, read on September 24, 2026
- YouTube Help, YouTube Live verified encoders, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr Help Center, how to start streaming pre-recorded videos, read on September 24, 2026
- Castr video API page, read on September 24, 2026
| LiveReacting | Castr | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| New-customer offer | $21.99/mo for the first 5 months, then $39.99. Or $287.93 for the first year billed yearly ($23.99/mo), then $396 a year. Code KICKSTART2026. The offer ends Oct 31, 2026. | None on its pricing page. Paying yearly gives 2 months free. [1] |
| Cheapest paid plan for a pre-recorded stream | $39.99/mo, or $33/mo billed yearly. Playlists that repeat, and scheduling, included. | $19.99/mo on Starter, or $16.67/mo billed yearly: one TV playout channel in Schedule mode, up to 5 files of 30 minutes each. No loop. [1] |
| Cheapest plan that plays a playlist 24/7 on repeat | $39.99/mo | $199.99/mo on Premium, or $166.67/mo billed yearly. Starter ($19.99) and Standard ($49.99) have no loop. [1] |
| Free plan or trial | Free plan: 3 streams a month, 720p, 30 minutes each, LiveReacting watermark | Starter: a 7-day trial, no credit card. [2] |
| Programming | ||
| Limit on stream length | No limit set by the service; platform limits apply | Pre-recorded streams: an infinite loop, from Premium. TV playout: a loop runs to an end date set up to 15 days ahead on Premium, 30 on Ultra. [1] |
| Playlists | Yes, on every plan, the Free plan included: set the order, or shuffle it into a new order each time it loops | Yes: 2 files per pre-recorded stream on Starter, 10 on Premium, 15 on Ultra. A TV playout takes 5 to 50 files by plan. [1] |
| Scheduling | Yes, Advanced Scheduling: several dates, or a repeat every set number of minutes, hours or days | Yes, on every plan: a TV playout timetable across several days, with breaks that start the next item at a set date and time. [3] |
| Change the stream while it is on air | Yes, on the fly, without stopping the stream | Yes, in TV playout: change any upcoming item while the channel runs. The item on air cannot be changed without stopping the playout. [3] |
| Cut to a live camera | Yes, Live Studio in the browser: cameras, guests who join from a link and a shared screen, placed anywhere beside your videos and switched with scenes, while the stream stays on air | Yes: a live stream from your encoder can join the TV playout timetable, then the schedule goes on. [3] |
| Guests on screen from a browser | Yes, guests join from a link in the browser | No video-call guest room. In its cloud production, a contributor can stream from a browser as a live source. [4] |
| What viewers see | ||
| Picture quality | 1080p at 30 FPS on the 24/7 plan | TV playout: 720p at 30 FPS on Starter, Standard and Premium; 1080p and up to 60 FPS on Ultra and Events. [3] |
| Watermark | None on every paid plan | TV playout: the Castr logo is on the output on the trial, Starter and Standard. Premium and higher remove it. [3] |
| Trivia, polls and giveaways in the live chat | Yes, all three. Up to 150 viewers play trivia or a poll at once | Not documented on Castr's pages we checked [5] |
| Live chat shown on the stream | Yes, a chat overlay in the 24/7 stream, with comments from every platform you connect with a login | A combined YouTube, Facebook and Twitch chat overlay that you add in your own encoder. Not documented for a pre-recorded stream or a TV playout channel. [6] |
| On your own website | ||
| A video player to embed on your site | No player of its own. Viewers watch on YouTube or the other platforms you stream to | Yes, on every plan: an HTML5 player to embed on your site, with video analytics and password protection. [1] |
| Video hosting and replays | No. Your uploads are for streaming, not an on-demand library for viewers | Yes, on every plan: a video library from 100 GB, and replays of past broadcasts (Live-to-VOD). [1] |
| Paywall | No | Yes, on every plan, with a 9% commission. Subscriptions and one-time sales on the Events plan. [1] |
| Program guide (EPG) | No program guide feed | Yes, from Premium: the playout's program guide as JSON over the API. [3] |
| Where it goes | ||
| Platforms | YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Instagram; on every paid plan, also any platform that accepts RTMP, such as Kick, TikTok or LinkedIn, and several at once | YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, your own website and any custom RTMP or SRT destination, several at once [6] |
| Connect your YouTube channel by signing in | Yes | Yes, by signing in to Google, or with a stream key [7] |
| Choose where YouTube ad breaks fall | Yes, Ad Slots Manager | Not documented on Castr's pages we checked [8] |
| HLS and SRT | HLS and SRT outputs, with SCTE-35 ad markers, by request, on a custom plan | An HLS (m3u8) URL for live streams from Premium. SRT ingest on every plan, and SRT or RTMP pull links from Standard. [1] |
| YouTube Live verified encoder | Not on the list. Streams through YouTube's official API; the app passed YouTube's API compliance audit and Google's verification | Not on the list [9] |
| Uploads, scale and automation | ||
| Storage | 100 GB for each stream | Pre-recorded uploads: 4 GB on Starter, 10 GB on Premium. Video hosting library: 100 GB on Starter, 2 TB on Premium. [1] |
| Largest video file | Up to 10 GB a file | TV playout: 500 MB and 30 minutes a file on Starter, 2 GB and 60 minutes on Premium, 10 GB and 240 minutes on Ultra. Pre-recorded: 60 minutes a file on Starter, 240 on Premium. [1] |
| Import videos from a YouTube channel or playlist | Yes: paste a channel, playlist or video link, pick the videos, and they are imported to your media library. On every paid plan | Not documented on Castr's pages we checked [10] |
| Many 24/7 streams at once | Yes, up to 20 at checkout, up to 1,000 on request, each with its own playlist | One TV playout channel per subscription. Pre-recorded streams at once: 1 on Starter, 2 on Premium, 3 on Ultra. [1] |
| API to create and control streams | Yes, on every paid plan: build a stream, fill its playlist, schedule it | From $199.99/mo (Premium): live streams, video uploads, destinations and a playout's program guide [11] |
| AI agents over MCP | Yes, on every paid plan: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other MCP clients | Not documented on Castr's pages we checked [11] |
On the Free plan you can build the whole stream and go live for a short test before you pay for the 24/7 plan.
Where is each one ahead?
LiveReacting is ahead on
- The same few steps as Castr to start: upload your videos, put them in a playlist, go live. Everything below is there when you need it, in the same stream.
- A playlist that loops 24/7 from $39.99 a month, where Castr starts looping at $199.99.
- 1080p with no watermark on the 24/7 plan, where Castr's TV playout runs in 720p below Ultra and carries its logo below Premium.
- Up to 20 streams at checkout, each with its own playlist. Castr Premium runs 2 pre-recorded streams at once, and each subscription has one TV playout channel.
- Trivia, polls and giveaways viewers play in the live chat.
- Ad breaks placed where you choose in a YouTube stream.
- Streams run by an AI agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor over MCP, or by your own code through the API, on every paid plan. Castr's API starts on Premium.
Choose LiveReacting if you want a 24/7 channel on YouTube and other platforms from $39.99 a month, with a straightforward setup. It also has a live studio with guests who join from a link, and interactive games and a chat overlay when you need them.
Castr is ahead on
- Its own player and video hosting on every plan: embed the stream on your site, keep replays, protect them with a password.
- A paywall on every plan, pre-roll ads in its player from Standard, and a branded web app with subscriptions on its Events plan, with mobile and TV apps scoped separately.
- A TV station timetable: programs timed across several days with breaks, and a program guide (EPG) over its API from Premium.
- SRT ingest on every plan and an HLS URL for live streams from Premium. On LiveReacting, HLS and SRT outputs come by request, on a custom plan.
- A lower starting price: $19.99 a month on Starter for scheduled pre-recorded broadcasts, without a loop.
Choose Castr if your channel plays on your own website or apps: video hosting, its own player with a program guide, and a paywall.
How do you start a 24/7 stream on each?
LiveReacting
- Create a free account and open a 24/7 template, or start from scratch.
- Upload your videos, or on any paid plan paste a link to a YouTube channel, playlist or video, or to a Google Drive or Dropbox file.
- Put them in a playlist: set the order, shuffle it or loop one file.
- Connect your YouTube channel by signing in, or paste a stream key.
- Click Go Live, or set the dates and times it should run.
How To Stream 24/7 on YouTube Using Pre Recorded Videos without OBS, our tutorial.
Castr
- In the Castr dashboard, open Pre-Recorded Streams and create a new pre-recorded stream.
- Upload your videos (MP4 only), import them from cloud storage, or add videos from your Castr library, and put them in order.
- Choose a scheduling mode: Loop, to play the playlist on repeat, or a date and time.
- Add a destination and connect the platform.
- Click Start Stream.
From Castr's own setup guide, read on September 24, 2026. Its pricing page puts the loop on Premium and higher.
What does LiveReacting add to a 24/7 stream?
A playlist is enough to go live. Each feature below joins the same stream when you want it, and we found none of them on Castr's pages.
-
Trivia, polls and giveaways
Viewers take part in the channel: they answer trivia, vote in polls or enter a giveaway by typing in the YouTube, Facebook or Twitch chat, and the result shows on the stream. See interactive live streaming and why that matters on YouTube.
-
Bring in your YouTube channel
Castr takes MP4 files, uploaded or brought in from Dropbox. LiveReacting also pulls in a YouTube channel, a playlist or one video from its link, and you pick the videos to import. Help Center guide.
-
Ad breaks where you choose
Streaming the channel to YouTube? Ad Slots Manager marks where YouTube may show an ad, between two videos of the playlist. It needs monetization on your channel. Help Center guide.
-
Build the playlist in a spreadsheet
Program the channel in a spreadsheet: a CSV of file names in order becomes the playlist, and any playlist exports back to a CSV.
-
Connect a client's YouTube channel
Run channels for clients: an invite link lets each client connect their YouTube channel with streaming access only, on a page with your logo. Help Center guide.
Can you start from a ready-made 24/7 stream?
Yes. Each template is a finished 24/7 channel, with its artwork, a playlist and a layout on screen, ready for your own videos or music.
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Playlist of pre-recorded videos
Playlist of video files that play one after another in sequence for continuous streaming.
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24/7 synthwave
24/7 synthwave music radio channel with retro audio playlist and 80s-style animated visualizer.
-
24/7 relaxing spa
24/7 relaxing spa ambience live stream with calming audio playlist and meditation background visuals.
-
24/7 horror stories
24/7 horror stories radio stream with audio narration playlist and animated spooky background graphics.
-
24/7 fitness live stream
24/7 workout live stream with fitness video playlist or pre-recorded exercise videos playing continuously.
-
24/7 minimalistic LoFi
24/7 minimalist lofi beats stream with a minimal audio visualizer and clean aesthetic background design.
How much does a 24/7 stream cost on each?
On LiveReacting, one 24/7 stream costs $39.99/mo, or $33/mo billed yearly, and its playlist plays 24/7. On Castr, looping starts on Premium at $199.99 a month, or $166.67 a month billed yearly (Castr's pricing page, September 24, 2026). Premium also includes 2 TB of video hosting, the API and up to 2 pre-recorded streams at once.
Castr's Starter plan costs less, $19.99 a month. It runs pre-recorded broadcasts at a set time and a TV playout timetable of up to 5 files, which stops when its last item has played and carries the Castr logo. Two 24/7 streams on LiveReacting cost $76.78 a month at the standard price, where Castr Premium runs up to 2 pre-recorded streams for $199.99.
New customers get 45% off the first 5 months month to month ($21.99 a month, then $39.99), or 40% off 12 months at $39.99 billed yearly ($287.93 for the first year, then $396 a year), on the 24/7 plan at 1080p 30 FPS with the code KICKSTART2026 until Oct 31, 2026. The offer comes on top of the volume discount. With it, four streams cost $67.74 a month for the first 5 months.
How do you move a 24/7 stream from Castr to LiveReacting?
- Bring your videos: upload them from your computer, or on any paid plan paste a link to a YouTube channel, playlist or video, or to a Google Drive or Dropbox file and LiveReacting fetches the file.
- Rebuild the order: add the videos to a playlist, or upload a CSV of the file names in order.
- Connect your YouTube channel and go live, or stream into an event you already scheduled in YouTube Studio.
If the platform does not accept a file as it is, LiveReacting converts it for free. Nothing is imported from Castr directly, and LiveReacting has no player of its own: if your viewers watch on your website, embed the YouTube live stream there.
LiveReacting vs Castr: questions
Is LiveReacting a good alternative to Castr?
Yes, for a 24/7 live stream of pre-recorded videos on YouTube or another platform. LiveReacting plays a playlist 24/7 from its servers on the $39.99 a month plan, where Castr starts looping on Premium at $199.99 a month. It does not replace Castr's video hosting, its own player or its paywall, which LiveReacting does not offer. Castr figures checked September 24, 2026.
Is LiveReacting harder to set up than Castr?
No. Upload your videos, put them in a playlist, connect YouTube or another platform, and go live. Castr's own guide lists the same kind of steps: create a pre-recorded stream, upload the videos, choose Loop, add a destination and start. Scheduling, trivia and a live camera are there when you want them, not steps you take first.
Which is cheaper for one 24/7 stream with a playlist?
LiveReacting, at $39.99/mo, or $33/mo billed yearly. On Castr, a playlist on repeat needs Premium at $199.99 a month, or $166.67 billed yearly, which also includes video hosting and the API. Castr's $19.99 Starter plan has no loop. Castr prices checked September 24, 2026. New customers pay $21.99 a month for the first 5 months on LiveReacting, then $39.99. The offer ends Oct 31, 2026.
Does a 24/7 stream on Castr have a time limit?
On Castr's Premium plan and higher, a pre-recorded stream can repeat without an end. Its TV playout repeats until an end date, set up to 15 days ahead on Premium and 30 on Ultra, with longer runs through its sales team, checked September 24, 2026. LiveReacting sets no limit on stream length. A platform can end a stream sooner: Facebook at 8 hours, Twitch at 48.
Can a 24/7 stream have polls or trivia?
On LiveReacting, yes: trivia, polls and giveaways run in the 24/7 stream, and viewers take part by typing in the live chat. We found no Castr page that documents polls, trivia or giveaways, as of September 24, 2026.
Will YouTube treat a 24/7 stream on LiveReacting or Castr as repetitive content?
With either tool, the risky case is one short video looping with nothing else on screen. A playlist shuffled into a new order each time it loops, a chat overlay with viewers' comments, and trivia or polls in the live chat make each hour different, and LiveReacting has all of these, the 24/7 plan included. Our guide to looping a video on YouTube Live explains the policy.
Does LiveReacting have its own video player or a program guide like Castr?
No. Castr plays the channel in its own player on your website, hosts the videos, and publishes a program guide as JSON over its API from its Premium plan, checked September 24, 2026. LiveReacting streams to YouTube and the other platforms you connect, and viewers watch there.
Is LiveReacting a YouTube Live verified encoder?
It is not on YouTube's list of verified encoders, as of September 24, 2026. LiveReacting streams to YouTube through YouTube's official API, and the app passed YouTube's API Services compliance audit and Google's verification. Sign in with your YouTube channel and LiveReacting creates the live stream there for you.
How do I move my 24/7 stream from Castr to LiveReacting?
Upload the same videos from your computer, or on any paid plan paste a link to a YouTube channel, playlist or video, or to a Google Drive or Dropbox file and LiveReacting fetches the file. Put them in a playlist, connect your channel and go live. If the platform does not accept a file as it is, LiveReacting converts it for free.
Do I need to keep my computer on?
No, with either one. Both stream from their own servers, so your computer can be off while the 24/7 stream runs.