How to Multistream with OBS Studio: Step-by-Step

Before you start

You need OBS Studio installed, a Multistream Platform account with your destinations added, and the ingest URL and stream key from your dashboard. Treat the stream key like a password: anyone who has it can stream to your channel.

You also need to know your upload speed. Run a speed test at the time of day you usually stream, and read the bandwidth guide to choose a bitrate.

1. Add your destinations

In your Multistream Platform dashboard, connect YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Kick or TikTok with OAuth, or add each platform’s server URL and stream key manually. For anything else, add a custom RTMP or SRT destination.

2. Point OBS at your ingest

1. Open OBS Studio and go to Settings → Stream.
2. Set Service to Custom….
3. Paste your ingest URL into Server and your key into Stream Key, then click OK.

To use SRT, OBS Studio can send to an srt:// address entered as a custom server. Use the exact connection details shown in your dashboard.

Pick the edge location nearest you: US East, US West, EU Central, Tokyo or São Paulo.

3. Choose output settings

Open Settings → Output and set Output Mode to Advanced to see every option.

In Settings → Video, set the base (canvas) resolution to your screen or scene size, the output (scaled) resolution to the size you want viewers to see, such as 1920×1080 or 1280×720, and the frame rate to 30 or 60 fps.

4. Go live once

Click Start Streaming. OBS sends one stream to the relay, and the relay delivers it to every destination you enabled. In the dashboard, check that each destination shows as live.

Do a private or unlisted test first: platforms let you stream to a private event or test broadcast, and you can check video, audio and chat before the public show.

Troubleshooting

• Dropped frames (network) in the OBS status bar. Your connection cannot keep up. Lower the bitrate, close other uploads or use a wired connection.
• Encoding overloaded. Your computer cannot encode fast enough. Lower the resolution or frame rate, or use a hardware encoder.
• One platform shows an error and the others do not. Check that platform’s stream key, account eligibility and its own live control panel.
• Stream keeps disconnecting. Try SRT, which is designed for unreliable networks, or a closer edge location.

What about OBS plugins for multiple outputs?

Plugins that add more than one RTMP output let OBS send to several servers, but your connection still uploads one copy per destination. A relay avoids that by creating the copies in the cloud. For a comparison of the approaches, see What is multistreaming?

Sources

• OBS Studio knowledge base
• YouTube Help: Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions
• Twitch Help: Broadcasting Guidelines

Platform figures were checked on October 3, 2026. Platforms change their recommendations, so confirm against the current documentation before you go live.