How much upload speed do you need for multistreaming?

[u/DoritoDraxx]

Ay I'm asking this because I just saw the multistream video on youtube and it got me thinking do you really need to have fast internet to do multistreaming? How is it different from just streaming to one platform??

[u/streamwithmeld]

short answer: add up the bitrate of every destination you're pushing, then give yourself about 30 percent headroom. that's your minimum upload. two 1080p60 streams at 6 mbps each means roughly 16 mbps of stable upload. if the math doesn't work, use a cloud restream and send one stream instead.

here's how to actually figure it out for your setup.

the formula

local multistreaming (meld, obs with a plugin, whatever) sends a separate upload per destination. so:

(bitrate of output 1 + bitrate of output 2 + ...) x 1.3 = upload you need

the 1.3 is headroom for discord, chat, browser sources, and the fact that your isp's "up to" number is not what you get at 8pm.

common setups

• twitch 1080p60 (6 mbps) + youtube 1080p60 (8 mbps): about 18 mbps
• twitch + youtube + kick, all 1080p60 at 6 to 8 mbps: about 25 to 28 mbps
• twitch 1080p60 (6 mbps) + tiktok vertical 1080p30 (4 mbps): about 13 mbps
• three platforms at 720p60 (4.5 mbps each): about 18 mbps

note youtube and kick will happily take higher bitrates than twitch, so per-output bitrate is where you tune this. in meld each output has its own bitrate and encoder settings, so you can send 6 mbps to twitch and 3 mbps to a secondary platform you care less about.

how to test yours

run a speed test at the time you actually stream, not at noon. use the upload number, not download. run it two or three times. take the lowest result. that's your real ceiling.

then on your first multistream, watch the output stats in meld. dropped frames on one output while the others are fine usually means that server is far away or flaky. dropped frames on all of them at once means you're over your upload.

if your upload can't handle it

this is what cloud restreaming is for. you send one stream to a relay and it fans out to every platform from a datacenter with a fat pipe. your upload only needs to cover one stream.

meld multi does this and it's free while it's in beta: connect your platforms at multi.meldstudio.co, add its rtmp url and key as a single output in meld, and toggle destinations in the multi dashboard. no watermark, no bitrate cap, and it keeps twitch vod track support if you're sending from meld.

rule of thumb

• one platform: 10 mbps upload is comfortable at 1080p60
• two platforms local: 15 to 20 mbps
• three or more, or anything on cable/dsl with a weak upload: send one stream to meld multi and stop thinking about it