Good lighting is an essential part of any streaming or content creator setup.
You need dedicated lighting equipment in order to ensure superb video quality that viewers will stick around for, whether you’re looking to show your face or a product – or both – in an appealing way.
There’s no point in spending your hard-earned cash on a fancy camera and other streaming gear, if your lighting is shocking, after all.
Solid quality lighting ensures a consistent webcam feed from your stream, or natural and accurate colours for your b-roll.
Whatever your budget, we’re here to help find the right lighting solution just for you.
Best Streaming Lights: Our Top Picks
Razer Key Light Chroma
Best overall
The Razer Key Light Chroma is superbly bright and capable with loads of tweakable settings. It’s also highly adjustable and easy to use.
- Enormous key lighting solution
- Incredibly bright
- Massively height adjustable
- Easy to position
If large, bright and highly adjustable lighting appeals, then the Razer Key Light Chroma is a brilliant option.
This is a large key light which a solid and easily adjustable desk clamp. It comes with a long, height adjustable pole which you can get into all sorts of positions with ease. The ball head means it’s easy to adjust and manipulate too.
It’s brightness and colour adjustable, with 2800 Lumens of brightness and a colour temp from 3,000 to 7,000K. Unlike other lights, this one also has RGB lighting. It’s compatible with Razer Chroma so you can sync it with your favourite Razer peripherals or just bathe yourself with a colourful hue if the mood suits.
All this is controllable via Razer’s Synapse software or an app on your phone. So it’s perfect for streaming but also works wonderfully for capturing b-roll.
Elgato Key Light Mini
Compact option
The Elgato Key Light Mini is brilliantly portable but also incredibly useful. It offers powerful lighting whenever you need it and in a tiny form factor.
- Tiny and portable
- Lots of battery life
- Easy on the eye
- Lacks any included stand or mount
If space is at a premium or you just need something portable and pocketable then the Elgato Key Light Mini is a great option.
This is a battery-powered light that has surprisingly good battery life and great controls both via an accompanying app and hardware buttons too.
It’s tiny, but also bright at up to 800 lumens. You can also adjust the colour range between 2,900 and 7,000K which is ideal for footage capture.
It’s magnetic, so will stick to surfaces, but with a standard thread mount, you can also mount it on a camera, tripod or another system to position it where you need it.
The Key Light Mini is brilliantly handy, especially if you just need a small portable light for adding some extra light to a scene, a product shoot or to light up your face as you talk to the camera.
It’s multi-purpose and a great option for the money.
Elgato Key Light Air
Excellent option
This light gives you superbly diffused lighting that you can tweak quickly via software or from your phone. It’s not too big, so ideal for streamers.
- Bright and easily adjustable lighting
- Nicely diffused and easy on the eye
- Solid stand system
- You need two for best results
Elgato’s Key Light Air LED panels are a great solution for streamers. These are snazzy little light panels that can top out at 1400 lumens and manage a cool to warm colour range from 2,900 to 7000K.
Better still you can control these lights from software on your PC, an app on your phone or an Elgato Stream Deck.
They’re simple to set up, easy to manage and adjustable too – with a tiltable head and height adjustable pole that helps you easily get them into the right place, no matter what you’re doing.
The best thing about these key lights is they’re filtered through multiple layers of diffusers, meaning you have a soft and gentle light on your face that isn’t painfully blinding you while you play.
Logitech Litra Glow
For small spaces
We love this one for its compact design and the fact it can run simply off a USB port. It’s simple to use and doesn’t break the bank, so that’s a bonus too.
- Small and easy to use
- Powered by USB and doesn’t need mains power
- Easily tweakable lighting
- The stand doesn’t sit well on curved monitors
If you’re looking for something more affordable but still able to deliver great diffused lighting then Logitech’s Litra Glow is a great offering.
This is a compact, monitor mountable diffused lighting solution aimed at creators. Especially those looking to start upping their streaming quality but with a limited budget and space.
It includes “True Soft” technology that gives you radiant, but easy-on-the-eye lighting that’s flattering and easy to tweak. You can easily change brightness levels and colour temps from the light itself or from the Logitech G Hub software and this light plugs straight into your PC making life much easier as there’s no need for an extra wall socket.
Elgato Ring Light
Flattering light
Ring lights come in all shapes and sizes but often lack quality. Elgato’s option is high-quality and has a lot more to offer than most too.
- Complimentary lighting
- Highly adjustable mount
- Can be fiddly to get into the right position
Ring lights are great for content creators who need close-up and personal lighting that’s flattering and satisfying.
Elgato’s Ring Light is great for a number of reasons. Firstly it’s supplied with a sturdy desk stand, height-adjustable pole and ball head system. Secondly, it also has a camera mount right in the middle, so you can easily place your camera where it’s most useful.
This ring light is highly adjustable via the Elgato Control Center app and from buttons on the ring itself. More importantly, it also has an edge-lit design so it’s not harsh on your eyes.
Large, solid and sturdy it’s a great lighting solution for those who need to be on-camera regularly and want to look great doing it.
