Bitrate Calculator

Streaming

Streamlabs Bitrate Calculator

Tell it your upload speed, where you stream and which encoder you use. You get the values to enter in Streamlabs Desktop: bitrate, output resolution, frame rate, keyframe interval and audio.

Your Streamlabs settings

Streaming to
Resolution you want

Frame rate (fps)
Content

Most games, IRL, vlogs, music

Video bitrate to set

—kbps

Required upload speed

—Mbps

Output
—
Audio
—
Upload used
—
Data per hour
—

Settings → Output (Output Mode: Advanced) → Streaming

Encoder
—
Rate Control
CBR
Bitrate
—
Keyframe Interval
2 s
Preset
—
Audio Bitrate (Output → Audio)
—

Settings → Video

Base (Canvas) Resolution
Your monitor’s resolution
Output (Scaled) Resolution
—
Downscale Filter
Lanczos
FPS Type: Common FPS Values
—

Entering the settings in Streamlabs Desktop

  1. Open Settings → Output and set Output Mode to Advanced.
  2. On the Streaming tab, pick the encoder, set Rate Control to CBR, and enter the bitrate and a 2-second keyframe interval.
  3. On the Audio tab, set the audio bitrate for track 1.
  4. Open Settings → Video: base (canvas) resolution = your monitor, output (scaled) resolution and frame rate as shown above.
  5. Go live, then watch the dropped-frames counter in the bottom bar for a few minutes. If frames drop, lower the bitrate or the resolution.

How the settings are chosen

75% of your upload, minus audio, is the most the video can use. Twitch caps standard streams at 6,000 kbps; YouTube publishes a recommended bitrate per resolution. If the resolution you want can’t get enough bitrate, the calculator steps down to the best one that can.

Frequently asked questions

What bitrate should I use in Streamlabs?

The lowest of three numbers: what your resolution and frame rate need, what your platform accepts (6,000 kbps on Twitch), and about 75% of your upload speed minus audio. The calculator works out all three and shows which one limits you.

Where do I change the bitrate in Streamlabs Desktop?

Open Settings → Output, set Output Mode to Advanced, and on the Streaming tab set Rate Control to CBR and type the bitrate. Resolution and frame rate are under Settings → Video.

Is Streamlabs the same as OBS?

Streamlabs Desktop is built on OBS, so the encoder, bitrate, keyframe and video settings work the same way; a few labels differ. The numbers from this calculator apply to both.

Should I use Software (x264) or a hardware encoder in Streamlabs?

Use a hardware encoder (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD or Intel Quick Sync) when you game and stream on one PC; it barely touches the CPU. x264 on a fast CPU can look slightly better at the same bitrate but costs a lot of CPU time.

What keyframe interval should I set in Streamlabs?

Two seconds. Twitch requires it and YouTube recommends it. Leaving it at 0 (auto) can cause buffering for viewers.

Independent tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube, Twitch, Discord, OBS Studio or Streamlabs; logos are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify each platform.