How to Choose the Best Twitch Bitrate

What bitrate should you stream at?

by
Jennifer Allen
Jennifer Allen
Writer
Jennifer Allen has been writing about technology since 2010. Her work has appeared in Mashable, TechRadar, and many more publications.
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Jennifer Allen
Updated on February 10, 2021
reviewed by
Jessica Kormos headshot
Jessica Kormos
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
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Article reviewed on Jan 25, 2021
Jessica Kormos

What to Know

  • Open Twitch Studio and then select Settings > Stream > Re-Optimize Settings.
  • Wait for the test to complete.
  • Choose Apply Settings to automatically select the best settings for your system.

This article explains how to find the optimal Twitch bitrate using Twitch Studio. It also includes general recommendations about basing settings on your upload speeds.

How to Select the Right Streaming Bitrate for Twitch

It's important to choose the right streaming bitrate for your Twitch stream to get the highest quality audio and video. There's no one best bitrate for Twitch as it's affected by multiple different factors such as your internet connection and computer specifications.

However, the Twitch Studio app offers an way of finding out the best settings for your system. Here's how to do it.

  1. Open Twitch Studio.

  2. Click Settings in the lower-right corner.

    Twitch Studio app with the Settings cog highlighted

  3. Click Stream.

    Twitch Studio options with Stream highlighted

  4. Click Re-Optimize Settings.

    Twitch Studio Stream Settings with Re-Optimize Settings highlighted

  5. Wait for the test to complete.

    Twitch Studio conducting Stream Quality Settings test

  6. Click Apply Settings to choose the optimal settings for your system.

    Twitch Studio with Stream Quality Settings completion message displaying

    If you'd prefer to manually change the settings, you can change the Stream Settings from the same section by clicking the drop-down menus.

The Recommended Upload Speed

Upload speed is a pivotal part of streaming to Twitch. It dictates how quickly you can send your data to the Twitch servers for others to watch your stream. It's important to know what your upload speed is by running a Speed Test. Twitch recommends an upload speed of 3,000 kbps (around 0.4 MB/s) for 720p at 30 FPS. If the recommendation for your system is lower than that, you can change your bitrate accordingly or call your ISP to arrange a higher upload speed. 

Ultimately though, the key is to adjust your bitrate so that it doesn't overwhelm your upload connection. ISPs tend to charge more for higher upload rates, so the cheapest alternative is to choose a bitrate based upon your upload speed.

Choose a Bitrate Based Upon Your Upload Speed

Upload speed is an important thing to consider when figuring out the best settings for streaming on Twitch. Here's general advice on what works for many users. 

Run an internet speed test so you know what your upload speed is and bear in mind that your computer hardware may mean you still need to stream at a lower quality.

  • When your bitrate is 4,000 kbps or less. Expect to only be able to stream at 720p and 30 FPS at most.
  • 5,000 kbps or less means a small boost. With an extra 1,000 kbps at your disposal, you can bump your settings up to 720p and 60 FPS.
  • What to do with 6,000 kbps upload speed. An upload speed of 6,000 kbps enables you to run your stream at 900p with 60 FPS. If you're a Twitch partner, you can increase that to 1080p. 
  • Don't be afraid to experiment. It's worth seeing what works best for you, as well as your viewers. Lower settings can often reap better rewards, even if you're able to stream at a high rate. 
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