Multistreaming Bandwidth and Bitrate Requirements
How much upload speed multistreaming needs, with worked examples and the bitrates YouTube, Twitch and Facebook document.
Your required upload speed is the total bitrate of one stream (video plus audio) multiplied by the number of copies your connection must upload, plus protocol overhead and headroom.
Sent directly from your computer to three platforms, that is three copies. Through a cloud relay, it is one copy, because the relay makes the others. That is the main bandwidth benefit of multistreaming through a relay.
| Example | Video + audio | Sent directly to 3 platforms | Through a relay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 720p30 | 3,000 + 128 kbps = 3.1 Mbps | 9.4 Mbps | 3.1 Mbps |
| 1080p30 | 4,500 + 128 kbps = 4.6 Mbps | 13.9 Mbps | 4.6 Mbps |
| 1080p60 | 6,000 + 128 kbps = 6.1 Mbps | 18.4 Mbps | 6.1 Mbps |
Totals are rounded. Directly to three platforms, the numbers are three times the single-stream bitrate. These figures do not include overhead or headroom. Try your own numbers in the bandwidth calculator.
Never plan to use all of your upload speed. Speed tests show peak speed, not what stays stable for hours, and other devices on your network share the same connection. A common rule of thumb is to keep your total stream bitrate comfortably below your measured sustained upload speed, leaving room for overhead and bursts. Twitch also notes that streaming close to the limit of your connection can add delay and suggests lowering the bitrate if viewers report accumulating delay.
Use a wired connection where possible, and test at the time of day you usually stream.
| Platform | Setting | Documented bitrate |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 1080p at 60fps (H.264) | 12 Mbps recommended |
| YouTube | 1080p at 30fps (H.264) | 10 Mbps recommended |
| YouTube | 720p at 30fps (H.264) | 4 Mbps recommended |
| Twitch | 1080p at 60fps | 6,000 kbps (CBR) |
| 1080p at 60fps | 4,500 to 9,000 kbps range | |
| 1080p at 30fps | 3,000 to 6,000 kbps range | |
| 720p at 30fps | 1,500 to 4,000 kbps range |
These are the figures the platforms document for streams sent from an encoder. Because a relay sends the same encode to every destination, choose a bitrate that works for all of them. For example, 1080p at 60fps and 6,000 kbps sits within Twitch’s recommendation and Facebook’s range, while YouTube’s recommended H.264 bitrate for that setting is higher, so YouTube may show an advisory that the bitrate is lower than recommended. Multistream Platform also offers server-side transcoding for adaptive resolution output.
To estimate data use, multiply Mbps by 0.45 to get gigabytes per hour. A 6.1 Mbps stream uses about 2.8 GB per hour; a 3.1 Mbps stream uses about 1.4 GB per hour. This matters on metered or cellular connections.
Bandwidth is one limit; the other is how many channels and streaming hours you need. Starter allows 2 channels and 20 hours a month, Creator 5 channels and 50 hours, Professional 10 channels and 150 hours, and Business 40+ channels with unlimited streaming under fair use. See pricing.
Try it with Multistream Platform. Send one RTMP or SRT stream and relay it to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok and custom endpoints. Start on the free Starter plan (2 channels, 20 streaming hours a month) and see the pricing page for paid plans.
Platform figures were checked on October 3, 2026. Platforms change their recommendations, so confirm against the current documentation before you go live.
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