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About CroStream Built for one streamer. Made for all of them.

CroStream started as a labor of love: I built it for my wife, to make her streams easier. It grew into a promise every streamer deserves. Your stream, your data and your tools stay yours.

Built it @Crothers Twitchtwitch.tv/crothers Built for @Haliebug13 Twitchtwitch.tv/haliebug13

01 · How it started

It began with one streamer I love.

My wife streams on Twitch as Haliebug13, and I'm Crothers. CroStream is the app I built to help her out.

Watching her go live, I saw how much of streaming isn't streaming at all. It's juggling. A chat bot in one tab, alerts in another, OBS hotkeys to remember, a clip to grab before the moment is gone, all while trying to actually be there for the people in her chat. Every tool did part of the job, and none of them talked to each other.

So I started building something for her. One app on her own computer that listens to her chat and her channel points, and does the busywork for her: saves the clip, switches the scene, thanks the raid, plays the sound, keeps the points. Something she could set up once and then forget about, so she could get back to the part that matters.

That's CroStream. It's shaped by what a real stream needs, not by a roadmap or a sales target. If it makes your streams a little easier too, that's the best thing I could hope for.

Crotherstwitch.tv/crothers
Something she could set up once and then forget about, so she could get back to the part that matters.
Built for @Haliebug13

02 · The question that kept me up

What if it goes away again?

In 2026, a lot of streamers learned how much of their stream lived on someone else's servers. StreamElements, which more than 23 million creators had used for overlays, alerts, chat bots and viewer points, came close to shutting down.1

  1. "Keep It Live" StreamElements launches a crowdfunding campaign after years of layoffs, down from more than 200 employees in early 2022.1
  2. "Close its doors" A staff member tells creators the company is preparing to shut down, with the site staying up about 30 days so they can save their overlays, alerts and assets. The company says it is in "positive discussions with potential acquirers."1
  3. "We are not shutting down!" StreamElements says it has secured funding while a partner deal comes together.2
  4. Sold to Razer Razer buys substantially all of the assets used to run StreamElements, including its intellectual property and platform data, from its former holding company. Its tipping balance feature, SEPay, is phased out, with balances to be withdrawn by December 31, 2026.3,4

For a week in May

Millions of streams had alerts, bots, overlays and viewer points that depended on one company finding a buyer. The advice going around was to log in and download your assets before the lights went out.

The happy ending

It was saved, and the tools kept working. But the rescue was itself a sale, and the platform's data changed hands with it. The next service in trouble might not get one.

This isn't a knock on StreamElements. Its team built tools a whole generation of streamers grew up on, and it's still running today. The lesson is about where your stream lives, not who runs it.

03 · What I believe

Streamers should own their stream.

Big platforms answer to investors, acquirers and quarterly numbers. That's not a scandal, it's a business model. But it means that when their plans change, your stream changes with them. CroStream is built the other way around.

  • Your data lives with you

    Your settings, viewer records, points, history and media are files on your computer. Back them up, move them, or delete them. Nobody else holds a copy.

  • No server of ours in the middle

    CroStream talks to Twitch and OBS directly from your PC. There is no CroStream account and no CroStream server, so there is nothing of ours to shut down under you.

  • No tracking

    No telemetry and no analytics. What happens on your stream, and who was in your chat, stays between you and your viewers.

  • Easy in, easy out

    Bring your viewers' points over from a StreamElements or Streamlabs export, and export your viewers, macros and triggers to files whenever you like.

  • Built by streamers

    Made by a streamer, for a streamer, around what a real channel needs from one stream to the next.

  • Made with care

    It has to be good enough for the person I love most, and that's the bar for everyone who uses it.

Sources

  1. Alexander Lee, "StreamElements prepares to shut down website and creator platform (updated)", GamesBeat, May 14, 2026, updated May 21, 2026.
  2. StreamElements, "Official update for our community: We are not shutting down!", X, May 21, 2026.
  3. Mike Straw, "Razer Acquires Streaming Utility Platform StreamElements", Insider Gaming, July 31, 2026.
  4. CTech, "Razer acquires StreamElements in rescue deal after months of uncertainty", Calcalist, August 1, 2026.

StreamElements, Streamlabs, Razer and Twitch are trademarks of their owners. CroStream isn't affiliated with any of them.