Bitrate calculator for streaming

Published figures for every output

Each platform’s own H.264 figure, the codec every platform here accepts. A range means the platform leaves the exact value to you. YouTube prints a recommended figure and, in brackets here, a minimum.

TikTok publishes no figure: LIVE Studio sets the bitrate itself. Full tables with audio and keyframe settings: streaming settings by platform.

Why motion changes the bitrate

A still picture changes little from one frame to the next, so the encoder can describe it with fewer bits. Fast motion changes most of the frame every time, and the same bitrate then shows as blocks and smearing. Twitch makes the same point about its own streams: bitrate spikes in high-motion scenes such as team fights.

Where a platform publishes one figure (Twitch, and YouTube’s recommended figure), use that figure for any content. Where it publishes a range for the output (Facebook), the calculator puts still content at the bottom, some movement in the middle and fast motion at the top. Kick prints one range, 1,000 to 8,000 kbps, for every output, so for Kick the calculator takes the other platforms’ figures for the output you chose, keeps them inside Kick’s range (for 1080p at 60 fps, 4,500 to 8,000 kbps) and places the stream in that band the same way. Twitch also notes that raising the bitrate helps only up to a point.

When your upload is short

Stay inside what the platform publishes. YouTube prints a minimum as well as a recommended figure for each output, so on YouTube the calculator first offers the highest output whose minimum fits your upload, at as much bitrate as the upload allows, and says how far that is below the recommendation: the stream works, and fast motion looks softer. Facebook prints ranges, and the calculator moves down the range the same way; on Kick it moves down to the bottom of the band above, not to Kick’s own 1,000 kbps.

Where nothing published fits, or Twitch’s single figure is too high, lower the resolution or frame rate rather than squeezing the bitrate. A 1080p stream below its figure looks worse than a 720p stream at its own figure, because the encoder has fewer bits for each pixel: at 1080p and 60 fps it describes about 124 million pixels a second, four and a half times as many as 720p at 30 fps. The calculator names the highest lower output that fits at its own figure.

The upload check adds the platform’s audio bitrate, then keeps 20% of your connection free, the margin YouTube recommends; for Twitch it uses Twitch’s own rule instead, an upload of the stream’s bitrate plus 30%. The upload calculator does the same sum with a backup stream as well.

Questions