Bitrate Calculator

Codecs

H.264 Bitrate Calculator

Pick a resolution, frame rate and type of content. You get the H.264 bitrate to use, its range, the upload a stream needs and a ready-to-run ffmpeg command.

Your H.264 bitrate

Resolution

Frame rate (fps)
Content

Most games, IRL, vlogs, music

Recommended video bitrate

—kbps

Required upload speed

—Mbps

Range (acceptable–high)
—
In Mbps
—
Video per hour
—
Compared with H.264
—

From our bitrate model for H.264 (AVC); a starting point, not a guarantee. Test with your own footage.

Same quality in each codec

Video bitrate for this resolution, frame rate and content.

  • H.264 (AVC) —
  • H.265 (HEVC) —
  • AV1 —

HEVC and AV1 need less bitrate for the same picture, but only where your encoder, platform and viewers’ devices support them.

ffmpeg command at this bitrate

Operating system

A two-pass encode hits the average bitrate accurately. Run both lines in order and rename input.mp4 to your file. 

  
 
    
 
H.264 bitrates by resolution
 

Medium-motion content, video only. For talking heads multiply by about 0.7; for fast games and sports, by about 1.35.

 
 
  
 Resolution H.264 (AVC) Range  Per hour 
   
  360p 30 · 640×360  1,100 kbps 800–1,500  495 MB 
  360p 60 · 640×360  1,800 kbps 1,400–2,500  810 MB 
  480p 30 · 854×480  1,700 kbps 1,200–2,300  765 MB 
  480p 60 · 854×480  2,800 kbps 2,100–3,900  1.26 GB 
  720p 30 · 1280×720  3,000 kbps 2,300–4,200  1.35 GB 
  720p 60 · 1280×720  5,000 kbps 3,700–7,000  2.25 GB 
  1080p 30 · 1920×1080  5,400 kbps 4,100–7,600  2.43 GB 
  1080p 60 · 1920×1080  9,000 kbps 6,700–12,500  4.05 GB 
  1440p 30 · 2560×1440  8,300 kbps 6,200–11,500  3.74 GB 
  1440p 60 · 2560×1440  13,500 kbps 10,500–19,000  6.08 GB 
  4K 30 · 3840×2160  15,000 kbps 11,000–21,000  6.75 GB 
  4K 60 · 3840×2160  24,500 kbps 18,500–34,500  11 GB 
  
 
 
 
About H.264
 

H.264, also called AVC, is the most widely supported video codec: every browser, phone, TV and streaming platform plays it, and almost
        every GPU can encode it in hardware. That makes it the safe choice for live streaming and for files you share.

 

Newer codecs reach the same quality with less bitrate: HEVC needs roughly 30% less and AV1 about 40% less in our model. Use them where your
        platform and viewers support them; see the HEVC bitrate calculator.

 
 
 
 
Frequently asked questions
 
 
  What is a good H.264 bitrate for 1080p?   
 
For typical content, about 5,400 kbps at 30 fps (range 4,100–7,600) and 9,000 kbps at 60 fps (6,700–12,500). Talking-head video needs less and fast games or sports need more. Twitch caps streams at 6,000 kbps, so 1080p60 there is tight.
 
 
  Does a higher H.264 bitrate always look better?   
 
Only up to a point. Once the encoder has enough bits for the detail and motion in your video, extra bitrate mostly makes the file bigger. The range shown runs from acceptable to high quality; going far beyond the top rarely helps.
 
 
  CBR, VBR or CRF for H.264?   
 
Use CBR for live streaming, where platforms expect a steady rate. For files, a two-pass average bitrate (as in the ffmpeg command) hits a size target; CRF gives constant quality when the size doesn’t matter.
 
 
  Which x264 preset should I use?   
 
Slower presets pack more quality into the same bitrate but take more CPU time. medium is the ffmpeg default and a good balance for files; veryfast is common for live streaming on a gaming PC.
 
 
  Why use H.264 when newer codecs exist?   
 
Compatibility. Every browser, phone, TV and streaming platform plays H.264, and hardware encoders for it are everywhere. HEVC and AV1 save bitrate but aren’t accepted everywhere.