Practice you want to know the all-time bitrate for streaming to Twitch or YouTube? Read through this detailed guide and you'll have the answers you need.

Before nosotros get started, please understand that Twitch and YouTube will bargain with the information you ship them differently, then we will divide this guide into two sections. We will have suggestions for Twitch first and so a guide for YouTube.

If you use a re-streaming service to stream to two platforms at once, it'due south all-time that you use the suggestions provided in the Twitch section. Alternatively, some services will allow yous to choose separate settings for different platforms.

Remember that all of these settings we will talk about will be inside your streaming software, not on Twitch or YouTube.

How To Choose The Best Bitrate For Twitch

Twitch limits all uploads to 6000kbps, which means you cannot get any higher than that. All the same, in many cases it'south better to go lower.

Twitch will always reserve its bandwidth for its partners, and so unless you stream during non-tiptop hours, your viewers won't go admission to quality options. This means that when you stream on Twitch, your viewers may be forced to view your stream in the quality that you upload to Twitch's servers.

If you stream at a certain bitrate, your viewers need to have the download speed to exist able to lucifer your upload. For most viewers, a bitrate for 6000kbps volition be as well high. Unless yous are guaranteed to get quality options on your stream, yous should opt for lower settings instead.

A good starting bespeak would be to stream at 720P at 60FPS. If you are playing a shooter game or any game with high paced action, 60FPS is highly recommended. For this, Twitch recommends the following settings.

  • Bitrate: 4500kbps
  • Keyframe interval: 2 seconds
  • Preset: Max Quality
  • B-frames: 2

If y'all are playing a game that doesn't take much action, you could choose to go for 30fps and 720P resolution. For this, proceed the same settings as above, simply limit your bitrate to 3000kbps.

In the hereafter, your channel may grow to the point where y'all go partnered. At that point, you will be given quality options. This means viewers will get to choose what quality to stream in, so it'southward all-time to become for the highest quality possible. In this case, you lot will have two options on Twitch – 1080p or 900p.

Once over again, the settings in a higher place are suggested, but for both 1080p and 900p, vi,000kbps is recommended.

What If My Upload Speed Is Too Slow?

Twitch recommends iii,000kbps (around 0.4MB/s) for 720p at xxx frames per 2nd. If your upload speed is lower than this, y'all should try to find an alternative cyberspace solution. You lot could opt for a lower resolution, but the quality would not be satisfactory.

If your upload speed is college than 3,000kbps but lower than 6,000kbps, you tin utilise the following information equally a guide.

The Best Bitrate Based On Your Upload Speed For Twitch:

  • 4,000kbps or less – 720p 30fps
  • 5,000 kbps or less – 720p 60fps
  • 6,000 kbps – 900p 60fps
  • 6,000kbps with partner – 1080p 60fps

How To Choose The Best Bitrate For YouTube

YouTube automatically transcodes your stream, no thing how many viewers you lot have. That means viewers will have all quality options from 360p to the highest quality you are streaming.

That ways you should stream at the highest bitrate possible. Your viewers can and then choose which quality option they desire and they won't have any issues with buffering.

Notwithstanding, if you want to stream at a certain resolution, YouTube does recommend the post-obit ranges. Information technology's highly recommended to choose the college range in this list for the most optimal experience for your viewers.

YouTube Recommended Bitrate (kbps)

  • 4K 60fps – 20,000-51,000
  • 4K – 13,000-34,000
  • 1440p 60fps – nine,000-xviii,000
  • 1440p – half dozen,000-13,000
  • 1080p 60fps – 4,500-9,000
  • 1080p – three,000-6,000
  • 720p 60fps 2,250-6,000
  • 720p – 1,500-iv,000
  • 480p – 500-2,000