Online Tool Store
Livestream Bitrate Calculator
Enter your resolution, frame rate, and target platform to get a recommended video and audio bitrate range for a stable livestream.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Recommended video
—
kbps
Total stream bitrate
—
kbps (video + audio)
Data per hour
—
GB, upload & storage
How it works
- Choose your target resolution, frame rate, and audio bitrate.
- The calculator looks up the recommended video bitrate range for that resolution/frame-rate combination.
- It adds your audio bitrate to get the total stream bitrate, then estimates data usage per hour and the upload speed you'll want.
The formula
Total bitrate = Video bitrate + Audio bitrate
Data per hour (GB) = Total bitrate (kbps) × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000,000
Example: 1080p at 30 fps (4,500 kbps video) plus 160 kbps audio gives a 4,660 kbps stream — about 2.1 GB of data every hour, and you'd want a sustained upload speed of roughly 7 Mbps for stable delivery.
FAQ
Where do these bitrate numbers come from?
They follow the recommended video bitrate ranges widely published by streaming platforms and encoders like OBS for standard-motion H.264 content — e.g. roughly 4,500 kbps for 1080p30 and 6,000 kbps for 1080p60. Fast-motion content (games with a lot of camera movement) benefits from the higher end of each range.
Why does it recommend more upload speed than my stream bitrate?
Your connection needs headroom above the stream's bitrate to absorb real-world fluctuations — network jitter, other devices on the same connection, ISP throttling — without dropped frames. The tool suggests 50% more sustained upload speed than the stream itself uses.
Does this include audio?
Yes — set your audio bitrate (default 160 kbps, a common stereo AAC/Opus setting) and the total stream bitrate and per-hour data usage both include it alongside the video bitrate.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | Platform help docs | OBS auto-config wizard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instant lookup across resolutions and fps | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Shows data usage per hour | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free, no software install | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Platform docs bury this in a support article and OBS's wizard needs the software installed first — this gives you the same numbers in one page before you've opened your streaming software.