OBS setup for Whatnot breakers — the only guide you need.

Why OBS instead of Whatnot's built-in stream?

Whatnot's phone-only stream limits you to one camera and zero overlays. OBS gives you multi-camera switching, live graphics, scene transitions, and a real audio chain. Every breaker who's past their first month uses OBS — your stream looks dramatically more professional and keeps viewers engaged longer.

Equipment minimum

• OBS Studio — free, obsproject.com
• Face cam — webcam (Logitech C920 is the standard) or phone-as-webcam
• Hand cam — phone mounted overhead pointing at your card opening surface
• USB microphone — even a $40 Fifine improves audio dramatically over laptop mic
• Decent lighting — one ring light or panel light pointed at your face
• Wired ethernet — wifi will drop your stream eventually. Not optional for serious shows.

The scene structure

Every Whatnot breaker uses the same 3-scene OBS layout:

1. Whatnot Live — your main scene with face cam + hand cam + overlay
2. Pulling cards — full-screen hand cam for when you need viewers to focus on the card you just pulled
3. BRB — a static "be right back" image for bathroom breaks or restocking

Build the Whatnot Live scene

In OBS, click the + under Scenes, name it "Whatnot Live." Then add sources in this order:

1. Background — solid color or branded image, 1920×1080, full canvas
2. Hand cam — Video Capture Device, position bottom-half of canvas, sized ~960×540
3. Face cam — second Video Capture Device, position top-right corner ~480×270
4. BreakTemplate overlay — Browser source, paste your overlay URL, 1920×1080, position top portion of canvas above hand cam

Add the BreakTemplate overlay

The single most underrated thing you can add to your stream is a live break overlay. Viewers know at a glance which teams are still open, who's claimed what, and how full the spot grid is. It also makes screenshots and clips look professional, which drives organic shares.

In BreakTemplate, every break has a unique overlay URL on its detail page. In OBS:

1. Sources → + → Browser
2. Name it "Break Overlay"
3. URL: paste the overlay URL from your BreakTemplate dashboard
4. Width 1920, Height 1080
5. Check "Refresh browser when scene becomes active"

The overlay updates in real time — when a buyer claims a spot, their @username slides into the team's cell on stream within ~2 seconds. The overlay self-sizes so you can crop it tight in OBS.

Audio configuration

Bad audio kills more streams than bad video. Three rules:

• Use a USB mic, not the laptop mic. Even a $40 mic transforms perceived quality.
• Aim for -20 to -10 dB peak levels. Watch the audio meters in OBS while you talk normally — adjust mic gain until you hit that range.
• Add a Noise Suppression filter. Right-click your mic source in OBS → Filters → +Noise Suppression → RNNoise. Eliminates fan hum, AC noise, and pack-rip rustle.

Connect Whatnot's streaming key

1. Open Whatnot Seller Hub → Start a Live
2. Whatnot will give you an RTMP URL and a Stream Key
3. In OBS: Settings → Stream → Service: Custom
4. Paste the RTMP URL into Server, Stream Key into Stream Key
5. Settings → Output → Streaming: 4500 kbps bitrate, x264 encoder, CBR
6. Settings → Video: 1920×1080 base, 30 FPS
7. Click Apply, then "Start Streaming" in OBS, then go live in Whatnot

Common gotchas

• Wifi disconnects mid-show — get on wired ethernet
• Hand cam laggy — phone-as-webcam apps over wifi are a coin flip; use NDI over ethernet or a dedicated USB capture card
• Overlay won't refresh — make sure "Refresh browser when scene becomes active" is checked, or hit the refresh button in the OBS source properties
• Stream looks zoomed in on Whatnot — Whatnot expects 9:16 portrait but you're sending 16:9 landscape; either crop your scene to 1080×1920 or let Whatnot center-crop

Keep reading

• How to run a sports card break on Whatnot — complete guide
• Random vs PYT vs Mixer — break formats compared
• Whatnot fee calculator