Comparison

NDICam vs NDI Player

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NDICam

Transform your iOS device into a professional NDI camera for live broadcasting. Stream high-quality, low-latency video to professional vision mixers and IP video systems. Offers flexible control over camera settings and stream quality.

Highlights
  • Full NDI and NDI HX3 modes
  • High-quality, low-latency NDI streaming
  • Switch between front and rear cameras
  • Auto/Manual focus and exposure controls
  • Adjustable quality/performance levels
  • On-screen tally and flash talent tally
  • Portrait/Landscape rotation support
Features
Read full description

* Special Offer Price * NDICam is the original NDI iOS camera built by the world's leading NDI broadcast infrastructure developers - Sienna. Mature and feature rich, uniquely with both Full NDI and NDI HX3 modes. The NDI (Network Device Interface) protocol connects to professional vision mixers and other devices, and delivers a high quality, low latency connection. NDICam is compatible with All TriCasters, VMix, Wirecast and hundreds of other professional IP video systems, software and hardware, which support NDI. - Simple to use - nothing to configure on your iOS device - Switch between front and rear cameras during broadcast - Auto Focus, AF Lock and Tap to Focus - Auto Exposure, AE Lock and Tap to Expose - Illumination light on/off - Audio Mute Control - Manual Naming of NDI Stream source - 4 quality / performance levels to suit your device and network, plus NDI HX Option - Pinch to zoom (where zoom is supported) - Auto-lens mode for multi-lens cameras - On screen live / preview tally plus optional use of camera flash as talent tally (with red gel cover). - Option to prevent iOS device sleep - Select 25FPS or 29.97FPS standard rate. - Choice of Full NDI or NDI HX3 compression modes (HX2 at 2 to 20 mBit, plus HX3 Ultra) - Rotation support for Portrait or Landscape Video Modes. Front and Rear cameras can be selected at the touch of a button and NDICam features a 4 position quality vs frame rate slider to deliver optimum video suited to the quality of your wifi connection and your iPhone's processing performance. Depending on your iOS device, compression mode selected and Wifi network performance NDICam supports up to 1080 full HD resolution. Control of flashlight, touch to focus, focus lock, pinch to zoom and audio enable are also included. You can even use the phone's torch as a Tally Light, by covering it with a red gel. Note: Depending on the performance of your iOS device and your WIFI network, you may not see full frame rates when operating at maximum 1080 resolution with a full HD camera. Using HX3 mode will help if the bottleneck is your WIFI network. Note: NDI is a high bandwidth protocol designed for local area Gigabit networks. In order to see good results you will need a fast, uncontested wifi connection. If you see slow frame rates, try improving the wifi environment, with a better router, less interference, directional antenna or maybe switch to 5GHz if you are on 2.4GHz. . NB HX3 Ultra will use around 50mBits of bandwidth, so it's lower than full NDI, but still quite high. Use one of the lower bandwidth HX3 modes if your network connection is struggling. NDICam is also compatible with wired ethernet connections to iOS devices which can help deliver smooth video compared to a poor quality Wifi network. Good results have been seen with lightning to ethernet adaptors. You can specify an NDI discovery server in the application settings. Note that you will need to restart the app for any changes to take effect. Specifying a discovery server will disable the standard mDNS (Bonjour) advertisement for the NDI Cam source, so your iOS device must be able to reach the discovery server one the network. If you experience problems - delete the Discovery Server entry and restart the app. NB: NDI HX3 Ultra mode requires a recent NDI compatible receiver.

About

NDI Player

This tool transforms your device into a convenient NDI source for live production. Create customized playlists, support multiple NDI formats, and utilize Apple Pencil for annotations. It offers seamless HDMI and AirPlay output with real-time audio monitoring.

Highlights
  • NDI source creation
  • Customized playlist
  • Screen mirroring/AirPlay output
  • Apple Pencil/Finger annotation
  • Multi-NDI source support
  • Real-time audio VU meter
Features
Read full description

- If you are working with NDI, this is your MUST-HAVE tool - Create the most convenient and affordable NDI source instantly - Both landscape and portrait output support - Fully customized playlist, a powerful video player for live production - Supports multitasking on iPad, multiply NDI sources simultaneously - Supports Full NDI, NDI HX H.264, and NDI HX HEVC, display connection tally status - Supports Apple Pencil or Finger markup, drawing, and annotation - Supports full-screen HDMI & ScreenMirroring/AirPlay output - With real-time audio VU meter monitor - No need to register, no subscription fees, one-time purchase for lifetime use

Screenshots

NDICam3 screens
NDI Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: NDI Player at Free against NDICam's $9.99. NDI Player also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). NDICam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (37% vs 25%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

NDI Player is free to download; NDICam costs $9.99 up front. NDI Player sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. NDICam asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for NDICam against 3.8 for NDI Player. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 18 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 37% of NDICam's written reviews are positive against 25% of NDI Player's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NDICam ships an update every 4 months, NDI Player fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
NDICam versus NDI Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNDICamNDI Player
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (14 ratings) — better3.8 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews37.3% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1418 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#77 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark GilbertTopDirector Corporation

Customer experience

NDICam

All ratings14 ratings
Positive64.3%
Neutral21.4%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive37.3%
Neutral10.8%
Negative51.8%

NDI Player

All ratings18 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral5.6%
Negative27.8%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

Bugs and requests

NDICam

Reported bugs

37 issues
  • Lens switching not working
  • Cannot rotate for widescreen
  • UI obstructed on iPhone
  • Controls bunched at top
  • Icons disappear off screen
Show 32 more
  • Scaling issues on iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • NDI HX3 slider is ambiguous
  • App turns off by itself
  • No audio
  • App freezes and is unusable
  • Catastrophic frame drops after a few minutes
  • NDI HX performance not as good as NewTek app
  • Audio interfaces don't work with the app
  • OBS desktop app crashes when adding NDI source
  • App crashes
  • App quits unexpectedly
  • Stream is choppy
  • Application would quit at various times
  • Not compatible with Newtek NDI Video monitor app
  • App freezes, pauses
  • Black screen
  • No image
  • Unstable
  • App doesn't work
  • Laggy video
  • Poor quality image
  • Terrible lagging issue
  • Choppy on dedicated 5G WiFi
  • Frame timing getting jumbled
  • Speed mode is super grainy
  • Mid quality is grainy/low res
  • Quality is extremely choppy with frame jitter
  • If phone put into standby, need to restart app
  • App doesn't work with PC
  • Cannot find NDI source with XSplit
  • High quality looks like 15fps
  • App crashes OBS

Requested features

24 requests
  • Ability to name NDI stream
  • Ability to lock landscape mode
  • Control zoom with Bluetooth gimbal
  • Better documentation
  • Screenshots for documentation
Show 19 more
  • Clarification on NDI vs NDI HX3 slider
  • More image controls
  • Select from all lenses
  • Simultaneously stream all camera angles
  • Add 30fps to settings
  • Add 50/60 FPS support
  • Switch to prevent automatic vertical mode switching
  • Resolution indicator
  • Ability to select lens
  • 4K option
  • 60fps option
  • Ability to select tele lens
  • Simultaneously stream 2 camera angles
  • Disable autofocus
  • Turn iPhone light on/off
  • Turn off sending audio
  • Select focus and exposure
  • Zoom functionality
  • More stable application

NDI Player

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

NDICam

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

NDI Player

One-time4
  • Using Apple Pencil or Finger$4.99
  • Movie Playback$9.99
  • HDMI & ScreenMirroring/AirPlay$9.99
Show 1 more
  • List Playback$14.99

Questions

Is NDICam free?
NDICam costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is NDI Player free?
NDI Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NDICam or NDI Player?
NDICam is rated higher. NDICam averages 3.9 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while NDI Player averages 3.8 from 18 ratings.
Do NDICam or NDI Player have ads?
Neither NDICam nor NDI Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NDICam or NDI Player?
NDICam ships an update every 4 months, and NDI Player fortnightly. Most recently, NDICam was updated on October 17, 2026 and NDI Player on October 14, 2026.

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