Virtual Cameras

The "make my OBS scene appear as a webcam in Zoom" trick. For OBS itself see Live Streaming Software. For physical capture see Capture Cards. For the meeting platforms consuming the virtual cam see Real-time Video. For NDI, the network-video standard powering many of these, see Streaming Protocols.

Free / OSS

• ★ OBS Virtual Camera — GPL OSS; bundled in OBS Studio since 26.x on Win/Mac/Linux. One-click "Start Virtual Camera" — your active scene shows up in any UVC-aware app (Zoom, Teams, Meet, Chrome getUserMedia, FaceTime, Slack). The default. Free, no signup.
• ★ NDI Tools — NDI Virtual Input — closed source, free; turns any NDI source on the LAN (NDI HX Camera on iPhone, OBS NDI output, BirdDog cam) into a system webcam. Pairs perfectly with iPhone-as-webcam workflows.
• VLC Virtual Camera (via plugin) — free OSS; rough; OBS path is smoother.
• DroidCam / DroidCam OBS — freemium; phone webcam over USB/Wi-Fi; ad-supported free tier.
• Iriun Webcam — freemium; phone-as-webcam.
• v4l2loopback + ffmpeg (Linux) — free OSS; create a /dev/video* device fed by anything ffmpeg can read.

Paid / freemium

• Camo (Reincubate) — paid free tier; iPhone / Android as a high-quality Mac/Win webcam; the polished commercial version of DroidCam.
• EpocCam (Elgato/Corsair) — paid free tier (with watermark); Mac/Win iPhone webcam.
• ManyCam — paid free tier; multi-source virtual camera with effects; older but still around.
• ChromaCam (Personify) — paid free tier; AI background removal virtual cam.
• XSplit VCam — paid free tier; AI background removal.
• NVIDIA Broadcast — free closed (NVIDIA RTX only); virtual cam with AI noise removal, eye contact, auto-frame, virtual background. The free Mac/Win RTX must-install.

macOS Continuity / built-in

• ★ macOS Continuity Camera — free; iPhone-as-webcam over USB or Wi-Fi; Center Stage, Studio Light, Desk View. Just works in Mac apps — no install. 2026 default for Mac users.
• iPadOS Stage Manager + Universal Control + camera — pairs nicely.

Mobile-as-webcam picks

• ★ NDI HX Camera (iOS) — free closed; iPhone → NDI source on LAN; pair with NDI Virtual Input.
• Continuity Camera — Mac, free, best quality.
• Camo — paid; cross-platform (Mac/Win); strong DSLR-grade controls.
• DroidCam OBS — free with watermark; Win/Linux/Android pairing is the popular cheap path.

Use-case patterns

• Zoom / Teams / Meet shows your fancy OBS scene → OBS → Start Virtual Camera → pick "OBS Virtual Camera" in Zoom's camera dropdown.
• Use your iPhone as a Mac webcam → Continuity Camera (built in) or Camo (more control).
• Use your iPhone as a Windows webcam over Wi-Fi → NDI HX Camera + NDI Virtual Input, or Camo.
• AI background removal on a non-RTX laptop → OBS-Backgroundremoval plugin (free) + OBS Virtual Camera.
• AI background removal on RTX → NVIDIA Broadcast → Zoom; or layer through OBS for more control.
• Multi-source virtual cam without OBS → ManyCam (paid).

Linux specifics

• OBS Virtual Camera on Linux ships via v4l2loopback. Most distros: sudo apt install v4l2loopback-dkms then start virtual cam in OBS.
• ffmpeg | v4l2loopback — pipe any video source (a screen capture, a video file, an RTSP stream) into a virtual /dev/videoN.
• Pipewire has been the audio/video backbone since 2023; most virtual-cam tools work transparently.

Watch-out

• Browser virtual-cam policy — Chromium asks the user to pick a camera; can't be set programmatically.
• DRM apps (Netflix etc.) — virtual cams are blocked from anything running Widevine.
• Apple Silicon code-signing — virtual cam plugins require notarized installers; OBS handles this; some niche tools don't.
• FaceTime camera index changes if you plug/unplug capture devices — pick again after changing hardware.

Pick this if…

• Default for OBS users: OBS Virtual Camera (built-in).
• iPhone as a Mac webcam: Continuity Camera.
• iPhone as a Win/Linux webcam: NDI HX Camera + NDI Virtual Input, or Camo.
• NVIDIA RTX, want AI cleanup free: NVIDIA Broadcast.
• Background removal without RTX: OBS-Backgroundremoval plugin into OBS Virtual Cam.
• Multi-source effects, no OBS, paid: ManyCam.
• Linux pipeline: v4l2loopback + ffmpeg or OBS Virtual Camera.