Show Twitch Chat as an Overlay on Stream
Here's how to put your Twitch chat right on your stream — visible to all viewers, optionally with emotes, badges, and animation.
Show Twitch Chat as an Overlay on Stream
Chat on stream is one of the biggest engagement hooks — viewers see their own messages on screen and feel more involved. With FizzyPeak's Cloud-OBS you can set up the overlay in 5 minutes, no local software needed.
Option 1: Kapchat (simple, free)
Kapchat by NightDev is the classic. Free, quick to set up, and works with FizzyPeak out of the box.
Setup
- Open nightdev.com/kapchat{target="_blank"}
- Get it → enter your Twitch channel
- Customize:
- Theme: Dark (default), Light, or Transparent - Hide Bot Messages: check this if you don't want your FizzyPeak bot or Nightbot to appear on stream - Fade Time: 10 s (default) — messages disappear after this time - Prevent Clipping: leave unchecked (otherwise no clip button for viewers)
- Generate → copy the link
Add it in FizzyPeak Cloud-OBS
- Dashboard → Cloud OBS → Scenes
- Switch to your main scene → Add Source → Browser
- Paste the URL → Width 400, Height 600
- Adjust the position (usually top right or bottom)
Done. Chat appears in every stream broadcast from this scene.
Option 2: StreamElements (more features)
If you want more customizable themes and animations, use the StreamElements chat widget.
- Log in to streamelements.com{target="_blank"} with Twitch
- My Overlays → New Overlay → Chatbox
- Widget settings:
- Animations (fade, slide, pop) - Badges on/off - Emote rendering (incl. BTTV and FFZ) - Custom CSS for advanced users
- Copy the widget URL
- Add it to Cloud-OBS as a browser source (same as with Kapchat)
Option 3: FizzyPeak Native Chat Widget (recommended)
We have our own chat widget that's wired directly into our Cloud-OBS.
Advantages over external widgets
- No browser source needed — runs as a native layer in Cloud-OBS
- Lower latency — chat appears in under 500 ms (vs. 1–2 s with external widgets)
- Auto-hide on privacy — on
!privacythe overlay disappears automatically - Highlights — important messages (mod, VIP, sub) stay visible longer
Enable it
- Dashboard → Overlays → Chat Widget → Enable
- Select a channel
- Pick a design preset (Minimal, Gaming, IRL-Bold)
- Place it in your scene
Design tips
Position: The right side is standard. Use the left side if your content has a lot of action on the left. The bottom is risky — FizzyPeak alerts collide there.
Size: At least 400 px wide so usernames don't wrap. No more than 500 px, otherwise it takes up too much of the picture.
Font size: At least 18 px. Otherwise mobile viewers have to squint.
Colors: White text on a semi-transparent dark background is the most readable.
Emotes and badges
Modern widgets render these automatically:
- Twitch native emotes
- BTTV (BetterTTV)
- FFZ (FrankerFaceZ)
- 7TV
In Kapchat you enable this under the Generate options. In the FizzyPeak widget it's on by default.
Performance notes
Browser sources in Cloud-OBS cost CPU cycles. Rule of thumb:
- 1 chat widget: negligible
- 2–3 widgets: still fine
- 5+ widgets: Cloud-OBS can start to lag
With many overlays we use GPU compositing in the background. On the Starter plan this can be limiting — upgrading to Creator or IRL Pro gets you more GPU power.
Troubleshooting
Chat doesn't appear — check the browser source: is the URL correct? Enable cache busting (append ?r=1234 to the end of the URL).
Chat lags badly — reduce latency in the browser source: enable Refresh on Scene Active.
Emotes show empty boxes — BTTV/FFZ is disabled in the widget. Check the Kapchat settings.
Noch Fragen? Öffne das Dashboard oder schreib im Discord #support.