The best lights for YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch in 2025: pro lighting to help you become an influencer with influence

If you want to make your content stand out from the crowd then you need to spend some of your cash to shine a light on your YouTube (or TikTok or Twitch) productions. Lighting also expands your ability to shoot footage in a wider range of locations, making your channel’s content more visually interesting.

Just one LED light will help you take a step up from an amateur using available light to a pro who can shoot wherever they want. Professional YouTubers may want to use a more advanced setup, such as a three-point lighting kit; one light will be the key light that’s the dominant light source, the second fill light will fill in harsh shadows caused by the key light, and a third backlight placed behind the subject will add a rim of lighting that helps make them stand out from the background. This classic lighting setup enables you to produce more cinematic-looking results. Professional content creators will also want a light with an adjustable color temperature so that they can set their light to match the color of other light sources on location.

Lighting options are many and varied, including panels that have an array of LEDs over a large area, COB (chip-on-board) lights that densely pack multiple LED chips together for a powerful singular light source, or strip lights where the lights are arranged in a tube. Whether you’re streaming live to YouTube from your PC or planning a location shoot, this buying guide is designed to help you find the right light for your video requirements. I've balanced my picks with budget lights at one end of the spectrum to more expensive kits at the other, so there’s something here for every YouTube content creator to help them ‘up their game’ and grow their subscriber base.

George Cairns

George has been freelancing as a photo fixing and creative tutorial writer since 2002. A lighting expert and silver-tongued video presenter, he knows a thing or two about how getting the right lighting gives productions a professional air, and is your guide to the very best LED lights for YouTubers, TikTokers, and influencers in general.

The quick list

The best lights for YouTube videos

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Best LED panel

Although the FIVRAY M20C may not rival the top COB lights in sheer power, its array of features more than compensates for this shortfall. It boasts nearly everything a creative individual could desire in a compact LED light panel. This light's performance seldom disappoints, making it a must-have for any vlogger, YouTube content creator, or filmmaker.

Its luminosity proves more than sufficient for close-up tasks like vlogging, portrait photography, or product shots. The M20C truly excels when delving into creativity, offering a full HSI color spectrum, imaginative lighting effects, and precise color adjustment.

Crafted with exceptional build quality, the M20C features convenient elements like magnetic attachments, enabling users to affix the light to metal surfaces or attach light-shaping accessories effortlessly. With decent battery life lasting several hours under conservative usage, and the added convenience of USB-C PD power, its operational duration can be extended considerably.

See our full Zhiyun Fiveray M20C review

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Best in shot

The Harlowe Micro is a highly portable, mini bi-color LED light that features a stylish retro design with faux leather panels and knurled control knobs, reminiscent of 1960s aesthetics. As such, you won't mind the light appearing in your shot, rather than just lighting it. The Micro is the smallest light in the company's range, but its miniature stature makes it the perfect portable accessory for location shoots where you want to travel light.

Despite its compact 8W output (500 lumens), the Hobolite Micro is sufficient for close-up shoots and delivers accurate color rendering, evidenced by its high CRI and TLCI metrics. Light intensity is adjustable, and has a variable color temperature range of 2700K to 6500K. It also offers eight preset lighting effects for enhanced creativity. The device incorporates a smart thermal response fan, which can be somewhat noisy, but this can be managed via the Hobolite app. Power is supplied by a dedicated dock with three batteries, providing up to 150 minutes of illumination at maximum brightness.

I tried the Creator Kit, which is a step up from the Standard Kit and includes additional creative accessories, such as colored gels that mount to the light magnetically, like other accessories in the range. Note that the Harlowe company was previously known as Hobolight – including during the time of my review – so you may see the Micro with either branding, but it's the same product.

See our full Harlowe / Hobolite Micro review

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Best for pros

The Rotolight NEO 3 builds on the success of the preceding NEO 2, adding a raft of impressive new features. Both models deliver flash output as well as constant lighting, but the NEO 3 delivers a full range of color in both modes, with full RGBWW options. It comes in various configurations and kits with bundled accessories, but I think that the basic three-light kit is a great setup for professional-looking YouTube videos

Small but powerful and extremely versatile as a constant LED light, the NEO 3 delivers a full-color range for video use, but also offers useful flash modes for stills photography. It has a huge range of electronic color filters and special effects, all available via a simple and intuitive color touchscreen menu.

See our full Rotolight NEO 3 review

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Best for products

Some YouTube channels are devoted to the unboxing of the latest products, from action figures to trainers, and l think the SmallRig RM01 Mini LED Video Light Kit is particularly suited to this purpose.

Once you’ve unzipped the attractive, branded SmallRig carry case, you’re presented with three mini COB LEDs that you can use to add professional three-point light ‘modelling’ to a range of products. Each LED has a host of accessories that magnetically clamp to the lamp. These include diffusers to create a softer, more flattering light source and colored filters for more creative lighting setups. Mini tripods extend each light’s height to 17 cm.

As well as lighting product/unboxing videos, you can place the three LEDs on your desktop to light your to-camera presentations more attractively. Instead of using the 1/4in thread for tripod-mounting, you can use a supplied cold shoe mount to attach an LED to a camera as a portable key light, though, as they emit a fairly low 300 LUX at 1 meter, they are best suited to close-up work.

See our full SmallRig RM01 mini LED Video Light Kit review

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Best compact power

The Zhiyun Molus X60 RGB COB light fits into the palm of your hand, and is still light and portable even when you clip the supplied battery onto it. At full brightness, the X60 RGB emits an eye-searing 2680 lux, so it is powerful enough to act as a key or fill light on a typical shoot.

The Molus X60 RGB has a cheaper cousin: the standard Molus X60. Both can emit a color temperature between 2700K (warm candle) to 6500K (cool daylight). This enables them to complement (or contrast with) the color temperature of the location’s available light. However, the X60 RGB has the additional bonus of emitting a wide range of hues at the twist of one of its two control dials. The dials also act as buttons, enabling you to quickly jump between increments in color temperature and brightness with a few clicks (rather than having to twiddle them, which takes longer). The color changes are also incorporated into animated effects such as Disco or Hue Loop, to liven up video productions.

As with other lights in the Zhiyun Molus range, you can link the X60 RGB via Bluetooth to a smartphone and then use the ZY Vega app to adjust its colors and intensity. The app can also sample the color temperature present in your shoot’s location (via your smartphone’s camera) and then match that color temperature with speed and precision.

See our full Zhiyun Molus X60 RGB review

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Most pocketable

There are many mini light panels on the market, but the RM120 stands out from the crowd for several reasons. For starters, I was impressed by its construction. It feels more robust (and heavier) than many flimsy plastic LED panels due to its metal body, and this quality is reflected in its comparatively expensive price.

A color OLED display on the rear makes it easier to view the many menu modes this mini LED panel has to offer. You can dial in a range of color temperatures using the main dial at the side (which also doubles up as a mode-changing button). You can also select a wide range of creative colors from the HSI menu, rather than having to pop a gel over the light, as is often the case with cheaper models.

If you shoot drama content for your YouTube channel, you’ll enjoy using 12 animated lighting presets, including Paparazzi, Fire, or Lightning. A 1/4in threaded hole enables you to mount the light on a stand or tripod, or you can use the supplied cold shoe adapter to pop the panel above your DSLR or mirrorless camera for a key light on the go.

See our full SmallRig RM120 review

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Most versatile

The Zhiyun Fiveray F100 is an upgraded LED light stick that boasts more LEDs (324) compared to its Fiveray F100C predecessor’s 256. The newer model also sports a set of barn doors, so you can control the spread of light more easily. You can dial in a range of color temperatures or adjust Hue, Saturation, and Lightness for a more creatively colorful output.

Its design emphasizes portability, weighing 950g, with intuitive controls for adjusting light settings. Notable features include adjustable color temperature, variable intensity, a 100W output, and quiet cooling fans. The F100 offers a run time of 31 minutes at maximum output and supports extended use via Type-C and DC charging ports. It also boasts six pre-programmed special lighting effects, such as SOS, TV, Faulty Bulb, Candle, Flash, and Fire.

My real-world shoot conducted on a windy Scottish hill demonstrated its effectiveness in providing modeling light and its durability in challenging conditions. While not officially waterproof, I found it resilient to some light drizzle during my testing.

Read our full Zhiyun Fiveray F100 review

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Best tube light

The Lume Cube RGB Tube Light Mini is a compact and versatile LED tube light, ideal for videographers seeking creative and portable lighting solutions. Measuring one foot in length, it inherits the advanced LED technology of the Lume Cube RGB Panel Pro 2.0, offering over 16 million color options, a color temperature range of 2700K-7500K, and a high CRI rating of 96+.

Its robust aluminum construction is weatherproof and drop-resistant, and hexagonal magnetic end caps that prevent rolling and allow for secure attachment to metal surfaces. These end caps also house 1/4-inch threads for versatile mounting. While it has a small LCD screen and physical buttons, the Lume Control app offers a more seamless and effective way to operate the light, especially when grouping multiple Lume Cube devices.

It delivers an impressive beam of light that is suitable for video work, such as to-camera interviews and product lighting. It can also function as a power bank should your phone run low during your video shoot.

Read our full Lume Cube RGB Tube Light Mini review

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