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Neither OBS Studio nor FFmpeg is established as cheaper to run for 24/7 YouTube streaming. Both avoid a software-license charge in this comparison. Your actual cost comes from the computer or cloud host, electricity, internet service, reliability measures and the time spent setting up and maintaining the stream. To find a winner for your setup, run both with the same source and output settings and compare measured whole-system power and operating costs.
What actually determines the cost?
Compare the complete monthly cost, not just the streaming application:
Monthly total = host amortization or hosting charge + electricity + any incremental internet charge + backup and reliability costs + operator time.
OBS Project describes OBS Studio as free and open-source software, usable commercially subject to GPLv2 terms (OBS Help Portal; OBS Studio project). FFmpeg is an open-source multimedia framework with tools for reading, filtering, encoding and outputting media (FFmpeg documentation). The reviewed project documentation does not establish a paid license fee as a cost difference between them.
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FFmpeg can suit a fixed, scripted media loop; OBS can suit streams that need scene composition, capture sources, transitions and graphical controls. These are workflow distinctions, not proof that one program consumes less electricity or costs less to operate.
How to calculate your own electricity cost
For an owned computer, estimate monthly electricity using this formula:
Rank #2
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Average measured wall power (watts) Ă· 1,000 Ă— 24 hours Ă— 30.4 days Ă— local electricity price per kWh.
Measure the whole computer at the wall while it runs the actual stream workload. A plug-in wall meter or trustworthy whole-system measurement is more useful than CPU utilization alone. GPU encoding, decoding, capture hardware, scene composition, idle system draw and other running services all affect power use.
Rank #3
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- If you already own a suitable computer, its purchase price is sunk for a marginal comparison; its additional power use and reliability still count.
- If buying a dedicated host, include its purchase price and expected useful life, alongside power, compatibility and reliability.
- For cloud hosting, include the cost of a machine capable of your actual codec and workload for about 730 hours in a 30.4-day month, plus network egress or service limits.
- Internet charges depend on your location and plan. A bitrate recommendation is not an ISP price or a guarantee of the upload capacity you need.
There is no defensible universal monthly total without your local electricity rate, actual measured watts, host cost and internet terms. The available evidence also does not establish that FFmpeg inherently draws less power than OBS.
How to make a fair OBS-versus-FFmpeg comparison
- Match the workload. Use the same source video or scene, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, codec, encoder and other running services in both configurations.
- Measure the complete system. Record wall power while each configuration is running, rather than comparing application CPU percentages or relying on a short idle reading.
- Run for representative periods. Include the real 24/7 scene or playlist loop and record stream-health interruptions, restarts and recovery, not just steady-state watts.
- Include operating effort. Track setup, monitoring, troubleshooting and maintenance time. A script may be convenient for a fixed loop; a graphical workflow may matter when a stream depends on scenes or capture sources.
- Compare the full monthly bill. Add host cost, electricity, any incremental internet expense, reliability costs and operator time. If you use different machines, describe the result as a comparison of systems, not just OBS and FFmpeg.
No published matched-hardware test or measured power comparison here establishes a cost winner. Your measurement can answer which of your two configurations costs less; it should not be generalized to all OBS and FFmpeg setups.
Rank #4
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Encoder settings can change the workload
Resolution, frame rate, codec, source decoding and scene complexity affect what the host must do. OBS supports hardware-encoding options including NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, Intel Quick Sync and Apple VideoToolbox, subject to platform and hardware-generation qualifications. OBS says hardware encoders can move encoding work off the CPU to a specialized component; that statement concerns performance, not a proven OBS-versus-FFmpeg power or cost advantage (OBS hardware encoding). OBS also cautions that CPU requirements vary with the encoder, resolution, frame rate and scene complexity (OBS system requirements).
FFmpeg documents hardware-acceleration and encoder controls, but their availability and behavior depend on the build and system (FFmpeg all documentation). Compare compatible encoders on your hardware and keep the encoder itself matched where possible; changing encoders along with the application confounds the comparison.
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Plan the upload for YouTube’s stream settings
YouTube recommends RTMPS for ingest, CBR, keyframes every two seconds (no more than four seconds apart), and supported H.264, HEVC or AV1 video options. Its published H.264 recommendations include these examples; choose the row for your intended resolution and frame rate (YouTube live encoder settings and bitrates):
| Output | YouTube-recommended H.264 video bitrate |
|---|---|
| 720p30 | 3 Mbps |
| 720p60 | 8 Mbps |
| 1080p30 | 5 Mbps |
| 1080p60 | 6 Mbps |
| 4K30 | 42 Mbps |
| 4K60 | 50 Mbps |
These are YouTube’s published encoder recommendations, not measurements of your connection or monthly internet cost. Confirm that your sustained upload can support the selected stream, including any other network use, and test the actual audio and motion while monitoring YouTube stream health. YouTube’s encoder setup guidance is at Create a YouTube live stream with an encoder.
Account for 24-hour streams and archives
YouTube says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived. A single uninterrupted 24-hour broadcast exceeds that window, so do not assume the entire broadcast will be automatically archived. If keeping the recording matters, plan how to segment sessions and manage the resulting archives before choosing an always-on workflow.
Common cost-comparison mistakes
- Picking a winner from CPU usage: CPU percentage does not measure whole-system electricity. Measure at the wall under the actual streaming workload.
- Changing several variables at once: Different resolutions, encoders, sources or machines make it impossible to attribute a cost difference to OBS or FFmpeg alone.
- Ignoring host and network costs: A low-power setup can still have a costly host, paid cloud egress or an internet plan that does not support the required sustained upload.
- Counting only steady-state power: Restarts, dropped streams, backup arrangements and the time needed to fix failures belong in a 24/7 operating-cost comparison.
- Assuming an archive will cover a full day: YouTube’s automatic archive condition is for streams under 12 hours; plan session boundaries if retention matters.
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