Things worth knowing before you install
Why Firefox for cookies
StreamStash never asks for platform passwords. It reads your existing browser session cookies for the platforms you want to monitor. Firefox stores cookies as a plain SQLite file the app can read in milliseconds. Chrome, Edge, and Brave (since v127) encrypt cookies with Windows DPAPI and keep an exclusive lock while the browser or any background process is running, so the app reads zero cookies even though everything looks healthy. Use Firefox or Librewolf and the friction disappears.
GPU encoders, in priority order
StreamStash auto-detects what your machine can do and cascades down: NVIDIA NVENC first, then Intel QuickSync (QSV), then AMD AMF, finally CPU-only libx264 if nothing else is available. The CPU fallback works on any machine but uses noticeably more energy and time per recording. NVENC is the smoothest path, which is why it's our top recommendation.
RAM and the AI search model
Power-tier AI semantic search loads a CLIP model into memory the first time it runs and keeps it warm. On 8 GB systems this is workable but tight; 16 GB makes it comfortable, and you'll feel the difference if you're running a browser, OBS, or anything else at the same time. AI search is a Power-only feature, so this only matters if you're on Power.
Storage planning
The app itself is small. Recording archives are not. A few monitored TikTok creators can produce hundreds of GB over a year; multi-platform archiving scales accordingly. We recommend pointing the recordings folder at a dedicated HDD or SSD (the in-app Storage settings let you change the location at any point without re-downloading anything). As of v1.10 you do not have to commit to one disk up front: you can register more than one local drive and let StreamStash spill new downloads onto the extra drives as the main drive fills, so capacity grows without moving the whole library. The multi-drive library guide walks through the model.
If StreamStash feels slow
The most common cause is disk speed. StreamStash keeps a database of everything you track and reads from it constantly, which is fastest on an SSD. By default that database lives on your system drive — usually your quickest disk — so most setups are fine. Pages can feel sluggish to open, especially the first time you visit one, if the database or your library sits on a mechanical (HDD) drive, and more so when it's the same drive StreamStash is actively downloading to, because reading and downloading then compete for the disk. Keeping the app's data on an SSD gives the snappiest experience; the large recording archive itself is perfectly happy on a bigger HDD. A couple of other things can make it feel slow while they're happening: a lot of simultaneous downloads or recordings will tax whichever drive they share, and if the whole PC is busy — several browsers, an editor, or a game open at once — StreamStash shares the CPU with everything else. None of these are bugs; they're the ordinary signs of disk or CPU pressure, and they ease as soon as the load does.
macOS, Linux, Docker
Windows is our current platform. macOS, native Linux, and Docker images (Synology, QNAP, Unraid) are on the roadmap in that order. If you buy a paid licence now, the upgrade path to those platforms is included; there is no separate charge.
Older or low-end machines
StreamStash will run on hardware below the minimum spec; we just can't promise the same experience. Live recording in particular is bandwidth- and CPU-sensitive: an older laptop with no hardware encoder can still capture a TikTok Live, but post-processing will lean on the CPU and take longer. Try the free tier first to see how your machine handles it.