5 Most Useful Stream Deck Plugins for Streamers

Today I'm going to share with you the 5 most useful Stream Deck plugins I use for streaming!

1.) OBS Studio - By Corsair Memory Inc.

So number one on this list has to be the OBS Studio plugin. If you use OBS to stream (which I highly recommend you do) and you have a Stream Deck, you NEED this plugin. It has a wide range of incredibly useful buttons you can make use of while you're live or just recording in OBS. Just to name a few, there is "Record", "Record Pause", "Replay Buffer", "Source Visibility" and "Transition".

In the version I am currently using, 2.2.8, there are a total of 18 different buttons you can add and make use of just within this plugin alone. I'm sure there will be more added with future updates and additional OBS features. I find myself using them on a regular basis during every single stream I do as it makes for doing these actions so much easier and smooth. Very often I use the "Scene" button to change between my chatting and gaming scenes smoothly while I'm already doing something or am in a game.

For an example, most of the time if I want to change scenes I can just swap to the page of my Stream Deck that has those buttons and select which one I want. It's is a convenience item for sure, but I find it a lot more efficient that I don't have to tab out of my game just to change something quickly on my stream. 10/10 would highly recommend.

2.) Twitch - By Elgato

Second on this list is the Twitch plugin from Elgato themselves. This plugin is really helpful for a few important things like moderation, getting clips and sending chat messages! I primarily use it for the clip button and making stream markers. I also have an SOS folder setup with a bunch of important things in it like "Shield Mode", "Clear Chat", "Follower Chat", etc. I set this up before Twitch added Shield mode which replace those.

Currently I'm using version 1.10.0.6 and there are 15 different buttons you can use. The "Create Clip" button is probably THE most helpful button in the entire plugin in my opinion. I use it multiple times every stream, genuinely. It has saved me from missing so many clippable moments if someone in chat can't get it in time or my people are lurking at the moment. It really is the best thing since sliced bread in this plugin. The only requirement to use it is that you have to login with your Twitch account first and it only works while live, which makes sense.

I overall find this plugin to be pretty helpful. I've unfortunately found a few of the buttons to be sort of useless to me but that may just be due to my preferred way of doing things. The "Stream Title" and "Stream Category" buttons are not very useful to me since you have to manually type out what you want to change them to every time if its different than last time. As a variety streamer, I can't really make use of that because I have way too many games that I play to make use of it. I could theoretically make a button for every game I play but I prefer to use the Stream Manager dock in OBS. 7/10 Mostly useful and would recommend.

3.) Discord - By Elgato

Third on the list is the Discord plugin! This plugin has become a lot less bare bones since I first used it. I still currently mostly only use it to mute my mic and deafen if I need to while I'm trying to talk to chat or end my streams. They have a lot more to offer in it than just that though. For some examples, they have "Soundboard", "Video Toggle", "Stream Toggle", etc. I haven't used half of these yet, but I plan to try them.

As of writing this, I am using version 2.1.0.73 which has 15 different buttons to use. My only complaint I really have about this plugin is how sometimes it just doesn't work. It seems to me like the reason behind that is that its trying to prompt me to re-authorize the plugin in Discord itself, but it often doesn't actually prompt me without a lot of troubleshooting like reloading, refreshing and such. So it is relatively reliable, but in a pinch if it doesn't work that is definitely frustrating.

Overall I think the plugin is good but I feel like it needs some kind of specific patch to fix that re-authorization issue. If it worked more reliably I would give it a higher score as well, but for me personally I have to rate this a 5/10 due to its inconsistencies in function. If a future update brings better reliability to it, I would definitely rate it higher. I hope they do!

4.) Camera Hub - By Elgato

Second to last on the list is the Camera Hub plugin by Elgato. This one is specifically for if you own an Elgato Facecam. If you're into Elgato's ecosystem like I am, then you may have yourself a Facecam. I really enjoy using this webcam and all the functions it comes with. The Camera Hub plugin comes with a surprising amount to offer as well, especially since the Prompter was released.

The version of the plugin on is 2.0.0.137 and there's 18 different buttons to use. The ones I find the most interesting are "Refocus", "Background", "Effect" and "Snapshot". There's actually a lot of buttons in here that I haven't yet used myself. I've only had my Facecam Mk.2 for just over a year now and the plugin for even less than that. I do appreciate that there are so many options as it really allows for a lot of customization convenience.

Personally, I wish I had more to say about this plugin, but what I can say about it is I like it. Its unfair to fully review it because I don't have the Prompter and literally can't test those buttons out to tell you how they work, but for the ones I have used, I have to say I like the plugin a lot. Definitely a solid 9/10 in my opinion and I would recommend if you have a Facecam!

5.) Voicemod Plugin - By Voicemod Inc.

Lastly on this list is the Voicemod plugin! I haven't used Voicemod myself in a little bit now, but when I did use it, it made things much more convenient. I'd say the mark of a good Stream Deck plugin is how convenient it makes your experience. This one has both a lot of buttons to choose from and a lot of convenience packed into them.

I'm currently using version 5.1.5 and there are 15 buttons to choose from. The ones I find the most notable are "Random Voice", "Instant Censor Beep" and "Soundboard". I wish I had more to tell you about reliability on this plugin, but I have heard good things. When I used it I didn't have any issues thankfully, but I recognize it has been a little while. If you already use Voicemod and have a Stream Deck I don't see why you wouldn't want to use this plugin to make your user experience smoother.

Overall I would have to give this plugin an 8/10. Its got very specific functions, and a lot of them which is good. There isn't much I could complain about with this plugin personally. My only negative thing I have to say is more so about Voicemod itself, that I wish there were more free options, but that's no reflection on this plugin.

Conclusion

Hi there! My name is Mystic and I've been streaming and content creating for 5 years now. Over the years I've definitely had my fair share of trying different services, tools and plugins to use to make my streams better, more interactive and all around more fun to watch. I'm not a fan of gatekeeping and I believe education should be accessible to everyone!

I hope this was informative for you! There are so many cool Stream Deck plugins out there. Let me know what your favorite ones are in the comments! 

If you'd like to see more posts like this please consider following this blog and following me on my other socials! I have an educational series called "Mystic's Guide to Streaming" on my YouTube channel and I stream live on Twitch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays every week! See you in the next one!

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- Mystic