GamePad Viewer alternatives: how the OBS controller overlays compare

GamePad Viewer has been the default answer to "how do I show my controller on stream" for years. People go looking for an alternative for a few recurring reasons: it stopped moving after an OBS update, they want to change the look without writing CSS by hand, they need the keyboard on screen too, or they stream from a Mac. This page compares the options we know well. We make one of them, so we have tried to be specific about where each one is the better pick.

Three ways to put a controller on stream

Browser source overlays are web pages that read the controller through the browser's Gamepad API. You paste a link into OBS and that is the whole install. The catch is that they live inside OBS's built-in browser and inherit its rules: you press a button before the page sees the controller, and they only work where that browser can reach controllers. GamePad Viewer and gamepad.lol work this way.

OBS plugins read input natively, outside any browser. They keep working in the background by design and can show the keyboard and mouse as well. In exchange you install a plugin that has to match your OBS version, and you update it when OBS updates.

Desktop apps draw the controller in their own window, which you add to OBS with a Window Capture. They work with any streaming software that can capture a window, but it is one more program to keep running, and transparency usually means a chroma key.

GamePad Viewer

A free browser source overlay with no account. You configure it through the URL: a player number, a skin, scale, a deadzone and an input delay. Its skin list goes well beyond modern controllers, with GameCube, NES, N64, fight stick and fight pad layouts, and it supports up to four players. To change the look beyond that, you write a CSS file, host it somewhere and pass its address in the URL.

Good for retro layouts and fight sticks, and for anyone happy to edit CSS files. Watch out for the browser source caveats below.

input-overlay

An open-source OBS plugin that shows keyboard, mouse and gamepad input. Because it reads input natively, there is no "press a button first" and no dependency on OBS's browser. It is distributed for Windows and Linux, and layouts come as presets you can adapt.

Good for keyboard-and-mouse streamers, and for anyone who would rather install a plugin than depend on a browser source. Expect to reinstall or update it alongside OBS.

Open Joystick Display

A free, open-source desktop app for gamepads and arcade sticks, with themes for common layouts and support for several controllers at once. The original project was archived in 2020; community forks keep it going, one of them adding a transparent window so you can skip the chroma key.

Good if your streaming software cannot use browser sources or plugins. Check that the fork you pick still works with your controller.

gamepad.lol

A browser source overlay built around a visual editor. You pick a skin (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro or a neutral one), change colors, size, labels and deadzones, and drag or hide any element in the preview. Saving updates the overlay in OBS within a moment, without refreshing the source, so you can adjust it mid-stream. You can start without an account; an anonymous overlay lasts 7 days, a free account keeps three, and Pro adds unlimited overlays and custom CSS.

Where it falls short today: four skins rather than a long list of retro ones, one controller per overlay, and the same browser source limits as GamePad Viewer on macOS and with two-PC setups.

Side by side

What every browser source overlay has in common

GamePad Viewer and gamepad.lol share the same foundations, so they share the same problems and the same fixes:

• Press a button first. Browsers hide controllers from a page until one is used.
• Use OBS 31.0.2 or newer on Windows. OBS 31.0.0 and 31.0.1 only passed controller input to browser sources while OBS itself was focused.
• macOS is out for now. OBS on macOS does not give browser sources access to controllers at all.
• The controller must be on the OBS PC. A browser source cannot see a controller plugged into a separate gaming PC.

The troubleshooting guide goes through each of these in detail.

Which one should you use?

• You want the keyboard and mouse on screen too: input-overlay.
• You play with a GameCube, N64 or fight stick layout in mind: GamePad Viewer.
• Your streaming software has no browser source: Open Joystick Display or another desktop app.
• You want to design the overlay visually and tweak it without touching OBS: gamepad.lol.

Whichever you choose, run your controller through the gamepad tester first. If a button or stick misbehaves there, it will misbehave in every overlay.