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Bitrate calculator for Twitch and YouTube

Pick your resolution, frame rate and destinations to see a bitrate for each platform, and how much upload you need for one stream or two.

Figures checked
Resolution
Frame rate
Where are you streaming?

x264 is the software encoder built into OBS. OBS generally recommends a hardware encoder for best performance if you have one. Intel Macs must use x264 to stream.

Suggested, per destination

Twitch 6,000 Kbps Within Twitch guidance
Twitch recommends 6,000 Kbps
YouTube 11,500 Kbps Within YouTube range
Range 6,000 to 17,000 Kbps
Two separate streams 17.8 Mbps up One encode per destination, audio included.
One stream with TurboKast 11.7 Mbps up Upload once. TurboKast sends it on.

How the number is worked out

For YouTube we take the middle of its range for your resolution and frame rate, rounded to the nearest 250 Kbps. Twitch gets the figure it lists for your resolution and frame rate, and above 1080p the 6,000 Kbps it lists for 1080p at 60 fps. The totals add audio on top.

Leave room in your upload

Test your upload speed first. Twitch says never to set your bitrate above 80% of your steady upload, and OBS suggests starting at 75%. On a 10 Mbps connection, that means starting at 7.5 Mbps and staying under 8 Mbps.

Why one stream needs less upload

Sending to two platforms yourself means uploading two streams at once. With TurboKast you send one stream from OBS and it goes out to both, so your upload carries only the larger one.

Next: check your ingest URL.