RTMP vs SRT for Live Streaming: Differences and Uses
How RTMP and SRT differ, how each behaves on unreliable networks and which to use for sending your stream to a relay.
Use RTMP (or RTMPS) when you want the simplest, most compatible connection. Use SRT when your network is unreliable, such as venue Wi-Fi, a cellular uplink or long distances, and your encoder supports it. Multistream Platform accepts both for ingest.
RTMP was designed for streaming to Flash players and became the standard way to send live video to platforms. It runs over TCP, which guarantees delivery by re-sending lost data. On a clean connection that works well; on a connection with packet loss, re-sends can delay the stream. RTMPS wraps RTMP in TLS so the stream is encrypted in transit. YouTube, Twitch and Facebook all accept RTMP or RTMPS from encoders.
SRT is an open-source protocol that runs over UDP and adds its own retransmission and timing, so it can recover from packet loss without waiting on TCP. It includes AES encryption and a latency setting that trades a little delay for resilience. A common rule of thumb is to set the SRT latency to a few times the round-trip time between sender and receiver, and to increase it if you see lost packets.
| RTMP / RTMPS | SRT | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMPS adds TLS encryption) | Secure Reliable Transport |
| Transport | TCP | UDP with its own error recovery |
| Behaviour on a lossy network | Lost packets are re-sent by TCP, which can stall the stream | Recovers lost packets within a configurable latency window |
| Encryption | RTMPS only | Built-in AES encryption (optional passphrase) |
| Support | Nearly every encoder and every major live platform | Growing in encoders and production hardware; platforms mostly accept RTMP(S) |
When you stream through Multistream Platform, the protocol you choose applies to the leg between your encoder and our edge node. From there the relay delivers to each destination using the connection that platform accepts, which for YouTube, Twitch and Facebook is generally RTMP or RTMPS. That means you can use SRT from a difficult location and still reach platforms that only take RTMP.
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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