You can host on the free trial, Basic or Studio. Basic lets one Guest in at a time; Studio allows up to 50 people. A free Member account can join Sessions but can't host. See Plans and prices.

On the free trial you can host for 40 minutes in any 24-hour period. When you reach it, the Session ends and you can't start or rejoin one until the 24 hours are up.

Before your first Session, make sure you've verified your email address. Guests can't join until you have.

Open your Studio and set up your devices

1. Open Sessionwire and click the Studio icon in the left sidebar.
2. Click the arrow next to Talkback and choose your microphone and the speakers or headphones you'll hear people through.
3. Click the arrow next to Camera and choose your camera.
4. Click the arrow next to HQ Audio. For HQ Audio Source, choose the Send plugin if you're streaming from your DAW. For HQ Audio Destination, choose where you want to hear other people's HQ Audio.
5. Talk and watch the talkback meter move. If you're using the Send plugin, press play in your DAW and watch the HQ Audio meter move.

To stream your mix, put the Send plugin on your DAW's main stereo output. The plugin setup for each DAW is in the HQ Audio and your DAW section.

Invite someone

1. Click Session Invite at the bottom of your Studio.
2. Leave the type set to Guest Link.
3. Click Copy Invite Link and send it however you like: text, email or chat. Or type their email address under Or send via email, press Enter, and click Send Invite Emails.
4. Click Close.

The link takes them straight to your Studio in their browser. They don't need an account or a download. Send them Join a Session as a Guest if it's their first time.

Already connected with them in Sessionwire? Click the phone icon next to their name in your Connections list to call them in instead.

Advanced Options lets you add a password and a start and expiry time. Setting any of these makes a separate link, which expires 24 hours after you create it unless you set an expiry time. On Studio, you can also make an Audience Link, which lets people watch and listen without being seen or heard. If an audience member is the first to arrive before your Studio is open, click Turn On Audience Link at the top of your Studio to let them in.

Let them in

When your Guest arrives, they call your Studio. Answer the call to bring them in.

On Studio, once one Guest is in, anyone else who arrives waits in the Waiting Room. Click Waiting Room at the bottom of your Studio to let them in.

Hear their HQ Audio

Guests can hear your HQ Audio straight away, but they can't send their own until you turn it on for them. Click Mixer, then click the Sessionwire wire icon above their stereo meters. On Basic you can do this for your one Guest; on Studio, for anyone in the Session.

If you're on the trial

Trial Sessions are limited to 40 minutes in any 24-hour period, and the time counts against your account as the Host, not your Guests'. When you reach it, the Session ends and nobody can rejoin your Studio until the 24 hours are up. See Your free trial and what happens when it ends.

End the Session

Click End. Your Studio link stays the same, so you can reuse it next time. It only changes if you change your Display Name.