The15 Best Social Live Stream Apps

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Live streaming is one of the most popular and fastest-growing ways for people to socialize online.

Granted, that’s primarily among Millennials and other younger generations – 63% of whom report regularly watching live stream videos. This is a tremendous shift from even just a few years ago when sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter completely dominated the online social space.

What apps are social Live stream apps?

In this article, a “social app” is an app that allows users to build a network by agreeing to connect with one another for the purposes of communication.

Generally, social apps have these 3 characteristics in common:

1. Users create a profile that has a photo and some info about them.
2. 2 or more users can choose to connect with each other.
3. Connected users can communicate either publicly or in private.

The Best social Live Stream Apps:

The best of these social apps allow users to communicate as freely and naturally as they would if they were face to face. For that, few apps beat the ease and convenience of live streaming.

Tango LIVE

About the Company: 

Tango was founded in 2009 as an instant messenger service similar to apps like Whatsapp. Because of this previous tech experience, Tango has a robust call and messaging feature that comes free with the streaming app.

Today, Tango’s focus is on LIVE, and connecting artists and other talented creators with an audience who appreciates them for their work. This means that Tango livestreamers have the opportunity to grow their art and even monetize their viewership for real-world cash!

For viewers, Tango’s massive global reach as one of the most popular live streaming apps means there is practically no end to the type of streamers they can see and connect with.   

Features: 

• Tango’s Artist Program pays artists who stream on Tango.
• The Partner Program allows individuals to earn a passive income from Tango.
• Tango feed can be posted on other popular social networks.
• Events, parties, tournaments, and other fun happenings.
• Mobile-based app means that going live is easy and fun.

Cons:

• Reports of occasional bugs.
• Moderation policy changes from time to time.

TikTok

About the Company:

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social video apps, and not only just with the younger generations. Recently it has been revealed that only 48% of TikTok users are 29 and under with 40% of TikTokers making household incomes of over $100,000.

Users create easily editable 15-second to 3-minute videos complete with licensed music. Due to its easy user interface, the app is full of content for everything from entertainment to education.

If you are at least 16 years old and have over 1,000 followers you can enjoy TikTok’s live streaming feature, TikTok Live. This is a relatively new aspect of the  

Features: 

• Can have more than one streamer in each stream.
• “Top Lives” category to help with discoverability.

Cons:

• TikTok Live is only available to people in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, or Italy.
• Have to have 1,000 followers or more.
• Need to have had 100,000 views in the last month.

Bigo

About the Company:

Launched in 2016 out of Singapore, Bigo Live has grown tremendously in recent years thanks to its popularity in China, where live streaming has been a popular form of youth entertainment for years now.

Bigo offers many of the live streaming features that users and artists have come to expect. An in-app monetization economy along with PKs (battles), various gifts, and, of course, live performances.

Features: 

• Strong localization that makes it easy to pair up with people near you.
• Functional across all devices.

Cons:

• High percentage of sexual and inappropriate content.
• Low streamer payouts.
• Frequent complaints of bugs.

Facebook Live

About the Company:

We’re assuming you’ve heard of Facebook before so we won’t go into too much detail about the company other than to say it’s currently being used by roughly 2.91 billion people around the world.

Facebook Live is Facebook’s livestreaming feature, and can be a great way for people, brands, and businesses to expand their reach and connect to their customers.

Features: 

• Go live from within Facebook.
• Everytime you go live a notification will be sent to your friends and followers.

Cons:

• Have been issues connected to moderation.
• The Facebook algorithm can make it difficult for your stream to get noticed.
• Facebook has intense rules related to policy and moderation.

MeetMe

About the Company:

MeetMe is a social app that uses streaming as a way to connect people looking for friends or dates. The app comes complete with games to help strangers break the ice.

Developed in 2010, the app boasts 4.5 million active users worldwide and is available on Android and iPhone / iPad.

Features:

• Can choose who you want to stream with based on things like gender, location, pets, etc.
• Versatile: can be used for dating, friends, and earning money via streaming.

Cons:

• Many profiles on MeetMe turn out to be spam or fake due to a lack of background checks.
• Mobile version is full of ads.
• Many of the best features are placed behind a paywall.

Likee

About the Company:

Similar to TikTok, Likee allows users to create and edit short videos with an intuitive editing interface system. On top of that, users on Likee can use various filters to go live, talk, and connect.

The app promises that users can grow in popularity and even meet “tens of millions of celebrities and talented artists from around the world,” thanks to their AI face swap.

Features:

• FaceMagic is an AI face swap feature that lets streamers pose as celebrities.
• Creator Program offers tips on how to succeed as a live streamer.

Cons:

• No option to set your account to private.
• Very little moderation when it comes to removing dangerous or inappropriate content.
• Users’ data is stored on servers located in China (if that is a concern to you).

Joi

About the Company:

Unlike the other live streaming social apps on this list, Joi is an up-and-comer. The app relies on 1-on-1 streaming in order for users to connect.

Although Joi promises on their app store that they have “easy and instant video matches,” there is an option to buy gifts to give to fellow streamers as well in order to get their attention. 

Features:

• Add short videos to your profile and watch other users’ videos as well.
• Privacy is important, each video starts out with a blur filter.
• Can send direct messages to other users.

Cons:

• Streams can only be done 1-on-1.
• Each minute communicating on the app costs in-app currency.

Uplive

About the Company:

Uplive is another successful Chinese live streaming app that has found global success after its founding in May 2016.

One of the main reasons for Uplive’s success is its focus on global regions and creating cultural-specific events.

Features:

• Can screen record funny or entertaining moments that you can post on your feed.
• Mini-games and missions let users do more than just stream.

Cons:

• Customers report privacy issues and an inability to delete accounts.
• Reports of poor customer service.
• Occasional bugginess.

Mico

About the Company:

Based out of Beijing, China, Mico is both a live streaming app and a matching app as well.

While not as big as other live streaming apps, Mico still manages to attract 10s of thousands of users on a monthly annual basis from around the world.

Features:

• Swipe feature lets users match up with fellow streamers.
• Beautification tool allowing for various filters, lighting, and exposure.

Cons:

• Reports of frequent spam.

Chamet

This Hong Kong-based live streaming app has found a significant audience in India, Pakistan, Columbia, and Brazil. 

It’s both a video chat and live streaming app that generally charges men for calling women who receive an income for accepting calls.

Features:

• Allows group live streaming with up to 5 people.
• Can opt-out of doing video streaming by just doing voice chat.

Cons:

• Significant bugs at the time of this writing.
• Every call requires payment.
• Content has a tendency to be exclusively sexual in nature.

Yubo

About the Company:

Yubo is a French live streaming app that allows for strangers to enter “chats” usually consisting of a group of people. Users can either live stream or simply listen in.

Unlike many other social media apps, Yubo does not focus on likes or followers, citing the negative psychological effects this can have particularly on young people.

Features:

• Users can swipe to “match” allowing them to access each other’s Instagram and Snapchat accounts.
• Yubo has 2 communities – one for minors and another for adults.

Cons:

• Due to most of its users being young, Yubo is under intense scrutiny over any sexual or inappropriate content.
• Anonymous viewers can record the screen, even when the streamer is underage.
• Only available on mobile devices.

LiveMe

About the Company:

LiveMe is geared towards socializing and meeting new people in a live video-based setting.

Thanks to its lack of restrictions, LiveMe is an ideal place for adult content. 

Features:

• LiveMe comes with community-building tools to make meeting others easier.
• Can collaborate with other streamers.

Cons:

• High volume of inappropriate content due to the lack of moderation.
• Users often complain of a lack of customer support.

Twitch

One of the most popular live streaming apps when it comes to video games, Twitch has since tried to expand into other forms of live streaming content.

Thanks to its parent company, Amazon, Twitch offers a Prime Gaming service that is available to those who have an Amazon Live account.

Features:

• Used by professional gamers and is often the exclusive site that streams major gaming tournaments.
• Can live chat during any broadcast.

Cons:

• Requires an OTP in order to log in.
• Due to oversaturation, it can be hard for new streamers to find an audience.
• Known to have significant buffering times.

17Live

About the Company:

Founded in 2015 in Taiwan, 17Live is one of the most popular social apps in East Asia, particularly Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The app provides monetization for its streamers via in-app currency, e-commerce, and subscription services.

Features:

• Offers artists a local content management team to help them succeed in 17Live.
• Apps content-focused strategy offers a wide variety of live streaming subjects.

Cons:

• Reports of latency problems and bugs.
• Previous complaints due to lack of moderation.

YouNow

About the Company:

Founded in 2011, YouNow has over a decade of experience when it comes to providing a platform for streamers and users to enjoy.

One of their most noteworthy characteristics is that YouNow focuses on providing safe and moderated content on its platform.

Features:

• Content monitoring is active 24/7.
• Majority of the content on YouNow is centered around artistic content.

Cons:

• Far less popular than it used to be.
• Monetization is only available to certain partners.

Conclusion

As you can see, live streaming is clearly the winner when it comes to socializing online with friends both old and new.

The only question is: which live streaming app is best for you? We’ve done our best to provide you with the most up-to-date research to help you answer that question, now it’s up to you to get started!

If you’re curious about how live streaming can help you earn money, connect with others, and provide entertainment that millions will love, check out some of our past blog posts here:

• Tips to Make More Money Live Streaming
• 10 Best Practices All The Most Successful Tango Partners Know
• 2021 Guide to Streaming Live

Good luck and happy streaming!