Streaming is all about the interaction. Having a favourite creator right there in real time is a much more social experience than simply watching a video online.

While a creator can work to ensure they are engaging with their community, sometimes it takes a little more management. This is where companies like Streamlabs come in.

Streamlabs is one of the names behind all of the bells and whistles you see on streams. The overlays, the widgets and gadgets, the little pop-ups when a fan donates or subscribes - they're all made by someone.

Streamlabs' tools give creators the freedom to customise and personalise the experience they provide to fans online.

The company provides support to the biggest creators, huge Twitch names like such as Ninja, Dr Disrespect, LIRIK and Dakotaz are among some of Streamlabs' many users.

We caught up with Streamlabs CEO Ali Moiz to learn more about the services that Streamlabs provide, and why these sorts of tools are so important to a creator's work.

InfluencerUpdate.biz: What is StreamLabs and what services do you offer?
Ali Moiz: Streamlabs is a technology startup based in San Francisco. We build tools and software allowing streamers to engage with viewers, monetize their broadcasts, and grow their channels.

Our services include a streaming software, Streamlabs OBS, a free reliable streaming app with the fastest setup process on the market. Streamlabs OBS provides the best streaming experience, with tools built to engage and make the user's stream the best it can be, allowing streamers to get paid doing their dream job.

With access to hundreds of free overlays, widget themes in our library, video encoding, easy setup, and coming soon face masks, Streamlabs OBS is the most feature packed, easy to use streaming application on the market today.

Other services include a mobile streaming app, available on Android and iOS. Our latest feature is our merch platform.

Streamers can now make extra revenue with our merch tool. The streamer uploads their design and we take care of the rest. We handle all printing, shipping, fulfillment, and customer service, so the streamer can keep streaming. This new service is an easy set up and allows the streamer to make extra revenue.

How did StreamLabs get started?
Streamlabs started in 2014, originally as a set of separate streaming tools TwitchAlerts, StreamPro and others.

The mission was and always has been to enable Streamers to turn their passion into a career. We started with a single streamer, and today generate supplemental income and jobs for over one million monthly active channels on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Mixer and other platforms.

Which platforms are you compatible with already, and do you intend to extend?
Streamlabs widgets integrate seamlessly with Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, Facebook Live, Periscope, and Picarto. Streamlabs OBS can be used on Twitch & YouTube.

What excites you about the streaming space?
It's really exciting for us to make a product that allows people to make money while living out their passion, and doing what they love.

It really resonates when you have people in parts of the world they may not have access to employment, and we make it possible for them to live, and take care of their families, pay for school, etc. It's really exciting to see where the space goes in the future and have more people get involved.

What sets Streamlabs apart from other open source software? i.e: XSplit/OBS?
Streamlabs OBS is the easiest set up on the market. In 60 seconds you are ready to go live, as opposed to other softwares on the market.

In addition, all of the Streamlabs features that are already popular by streamers are now built into one platform, so combining multiple windows like chat, stream labels, dashboard, and more into one live view. Also the largest library of overlays and widget themes are only found on Streamlabs OBS, all for free.

Can you tell us a bit about StreamLab merch and the incentive for creators to use it?
Streamlabs merch presents an additional opportunity to make money, while doing what they love, streaming. By using this feature provided by us, there's no overhead, inventory needed, or upfront cost for the streamer. Additionally, the profit made from a t-shirt, for instance, is 2x average of a donation size, providing more income.

Why are these sorts of features (widgets, plugins etc) important to creators?
The more ways you can keep your viewers and fans engaged, the better. Our features allow for more interaction between streamer and viewer.

They can do that through chatbots, giveaway widgets, song request extension, and of course merch, all work together to allow the streamer to have a more robust channel and engaged audience, which in turn can turn into more money for the streamer, but also making streaming more fun.