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Meerkat vs. Periscope: What's the difference?

Christina Medici Scolaro
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Meerkat vs. Periscope: What's the difference?
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Meerkat vs. Periscope: What's the difference?

The streaming wars have begun.

Live-streaming app Meerkat became a media sweetheart at South by Southwest this month. And this week Twitter unveiled its answer to the upstart streaming company: Periscope.

Meerkat and Periscope are very similar. Both apps are built for users to send videos to followers. Those streams could show anything, such as a product demonstration or taking your dog for a walk.

Periscope app, left, and Meerkat app
Source: Periscope, Meerkat

Neither app works without Twitter; you'll need an account to get started. The differences between the two may seem slight for the uninitiated.

Read MoreTwitter launches live broadcasting app Periscope

Meerkat streams are live-only, but watchers can restream anything to their viewers in real time. Periscope streams can be saved to replay up to 24 hours after they are filmed. As of now, neither app allows comments, but Periscope allows users to send heart icons, similar to Facebook's "Like" button, to live-streamers.

Meerkat announced this week that it scored an additional $14 million in venture capital funding.