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A 24/7 stream running at a steady 1 Mbps uses about 324 decimal GB (302 GiB) over 30 days, before network overhead or retransmissions. For a quick estimate, multiply the stream’s average outgoing bitrate in Mbps by 324. For a stream that runs fewer hours, use its actual streaming time instead.
Calculate the stream’s monthly data use
Data use depends on the total bitrate sent by FFmpeg and how long the stream is actually online—not just its resolution. For a 30-day month, use:
Monthly decimal GB ≈ average bitrate (Mbps) × streaming hours × 0.45
For uninterrupted 24/7 streaming over 30 days, there are 720 hours, so the shortcut is:
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Monthly decimal GB ≈ average bitrate (Mbps) × 324
The conversion is based on bits sent over time, divided by eight to get bytes, then divided by 1,000,000,000 for decimal GB. In binary units, 1 Mbps sustained for 30 days is about 302 GiB. These are calculated estimates, not figures published by YouTube.
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Use actual uptime for shorter runs
For a different duration, calculate from seconds:
GB ≈ Mbps × 1,000,000 bits/second × seconds ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000,000,000
If the stream pauses on a schedule or experiences outages, use its actual online time rather than assuming 720 hours. To use a bitrate in kbps, divide it by 1,000 to convert it to Mbps first.
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Choose the right bitrate for an FFmpeg estimate
Use the average total bitrate of the outgoing FFmpeg feed. If your stated video bitrate excludes audio, add the audio bitrate. For example, 8 Mbps of video plus 128 Kbps of stereo audio is approximately 8.128 Mbps before protocol overhead.
YouTube’s official live encoder guidance recommends H.264 bitrates of 8 Mbps for 720p at 30 fps and 14 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps. It also recommends constant bitrate (CBR), 128 Kbps audio for stereo, and a two-second keyframe interval, not exceeding four seconds. These are platform recommendations, not a guarantee that a particular FFmpeg command sends that exact rate. Check your encoder settings and, for variable-rate output, measure a representative average of total outgoing traffic rather than relying on a peak or nominal target. YouTube’s live encoder settings provide guidance across codecs, resolutions, and frame rates; the page does not display a publication year.
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Resolution alone cannot determine monthly usage: codec, frame rate, bitrate, audio, and time online all affect the result. YouTube transcodes an incoming live stream into multiple formats for viewers. For your own upstream transfer estimate, count the encoder’s outgoing feed; viewer playback is a separate direction and is not multiplied by viewer count in your ingest upload.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Examples for a continuous 30-day stream
The following estimates assume a steady bitrate for all 720 hours. They exclude protocol overhead, retransmissions, startup tests, and any concurrently transmitting backup encoder.
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| Bitrate used in estimate | Decimal data | Binary data |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mbps | 324 GB | 302 GiB |
| 6 Mbps | 1,944 GB (1.94 TB) | 1,811 GiB (1.77 TiB) |
| 8 Mbps | 2,592 GB (2.59 TB) | 2,415 GiB (2.36 TiB) |
| 10 Mbps | 3,240 GB (3.24 TB) | 3,019 GiB (2.95 TiB) |
| 14 Mbps | 4,536 GB (4.54 TB) | 4,226 GiB (4.13 TiB) |
The 8 Mbps and 14 Mbps examples match YouTube’s listed H.264 recommendations for 720p30 and 1080p30 respectively. The other rows illustrate the calculation; none is a measurement of a specific FFmpeg setup.
Separate monthly transfer from upload-bandwidth headroom
YouTube recommends leaving about 20% extra room in available upload bandwidth. That is connection-capacity headroom, not an automatic 20% addition to the monthly data estimate. Your stream’s nominal payload remains based on its outgoing bitrate and duration. YouTube’s streaming tips also say to account for primary and backup streams when sizing available upload bandwidth.
A backup stream that transmits at the same time does add data usage, so calculate it separately and add it to the primary stream’s estimate. Actual metered transfer can also be higher than the nominal estimate because of protocol framing, encryption, retransmissions, brief rate variation, and testing. The official guidance does not quantify a fixed overhead percentage. If you have a strict data cap or usage-based bill, budget a prudent margin or measure the host’s actual network transfer over representative operation.
Estimating and reducing uncertainty in a real setup
- Identify what FFmpeg sends. Find the output’s total bitrate, including audio. If video and audio are configured separately, add them.
- Account for variable rates. For variable-rate output, measure total outgoing traffic over a representative period that includes the content and operating conditions you expect to stream.
- Use realistic online hours. Multiply by expected hours rather than automatically using 720 if there are planned pauses or likely outages.
- Include concurrent feeds. Add any backup encoder that transmits at the same time; do not confuse capacity headroom with transferred bytes.
- Keep units consistent. The formulas and decimal totals use GB (1,000,000,000 bytes); binary totals use GiB (1,073,741,824 bytes). A provider may bill in decimal GB/TB or binary GiB/TiB, so check its stated unit.
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