Twitch Bitrate Chart and Encoding Settings (2026)

Twitch recommends 6000 kbps for 1080p at 60 fps, 4500 for 1080p30 and 720p60, and 3000 for 720p30. Constant bitrate, 2-second keyframe interval, every time.

Those are the only four combinations Twitch publishes. It publishes them as eight blocks of prose spread down a help page, which is probably why nobody links to the chart. Here it is as a chart.

Twitch encoding chart

Encoder settings that go with them, also from Twitch:

• x264 preset: start at veryfast, and move toward medium if your CPU can take it. Twitch's words: "start with veryfast preset, and experiment with them until you find your sweet spot."
• x264 profile: Main or High.
• NVENC preset: Quality. B-frames: 2.
• Rate control: "Twitch suggests that all Broadcasters use CBR."

One oddity worth knowing if you go and read the source. Twitch's own 1080p30 block for x264 says the resolution is 1980x1080. That is a typo on Twitch's page, not a fifth resolution.

Where these go in OBS is Settings, then Output, with Output Mode set to Advanced. Our guide to OBS settings walks through the rest of that panel, and if you are setting Twitch up for the first time, start with streaming to Twitch with OBS and finding your Twitch stream key.

Audio settings, and Twitch disagreeing with itself

From the broadcasting guidelines:

Codec: AAC-LC. Stereo or Mono / Recommended Bitrate (for maximum compatibility) 96kbps / Maximum audio bit rate: 160 kbps (AAC) / Sampling frequency: any (AAC)

So: AAC-LC, 96 kbps recommended, 160 kbps maximum, and Twitch explicitly does not care about your sample rate.

Twitch's music page says something different. It recommends 128 kbps and says you can go to 320 kbps if you have CPU and bandwidth to spare. That is double the maximum the guidelines page states, and Twitch has not reconciled the two.

If you stream music, the practical read is that 160 kbps is the number Twitch commits to in writing. Going higher is undocumented territory rather than a supported setting.

Where "900p at 6000 kbps" came from, and why it is gone

Almost every Twitch bitrate article, including the earlier version of this one, lists a 900p or 936p row. Twitch does not publish one.

That row traces back to stream.twitch.tv/encoding/, a page Twitch used to host. The host no longer resolves. A DNS lookup returns no A record and no CNAME, and a request fails at the name-resolution step, while help.twitch.tv resolves normally. The page is not moved or redirected. It is gone.

So the 936p figure is being copied from article to article with no live source underneath it. We had it too, and it is now out of the post and out of the chart image. If you want a middle rung between 1080p and 720p, pick it yourself and test it. Just do not treat it as a Twitch recommendation.

The 6000 kbps ceiling, and the two ways past it

Twitch states the ceiling plainly on its broadcast health page: "Remember to adhere to a maximum of 6000."

Twitch does not publish different caps for Partners, Affiliates and everyone else. The tier difference is transcoding, not bitrate.

There is one documented route above 6000, and it changed recently. On June 17, 2026 Twitch moved Dual Format and 2K streaming out of testing:

• Dual Format (a vertical and a horizontal feed from one stream) is available to all streamers.
• 2K, meaning 1440p, is limited to Partners and Affiliates.
• Bitrates rose with it: 1440p HEVC went from 7.5 to 9 Mbps, and 1080p AVC from 6 to 7.5 Mbps "when streaming in 2k using Enhanced Broadcasting."

Read that last line carefully, because it is easy to misquote. The 7.5 Mbps applies to the 1080p rendition inside a 2K Enhanced Broadcasting stream. Twitch's Enhanced Broadcasting page still caps an ordinary stream's top rendition at 1080p60 and 6 Mbps, and Twitch has not reconciled the two pages. Neither carries a date.

Two more things Twitch is direct about. Enhanced Broadcasting itself is no longer a beta: "Enhanced broadcasting is available to all streamers on Twitch." And on the formats people keep asking for: "We do not offer 4k or AV1 streaming at this time."

Transcoding decides how much your bitrate matters

Transcoding is what gives viewers the quality menu. Without it, everyone watching gets your source stream at your bitrate, and anyone whose connection cannot carry 6000 kbps buffers.

Twitch's rule:

Partners receive transcodes on every broadcast (first-priority access). Non-partners (Affiliates and all other streamers) receive transcodes based on resource availability each time they go live.

Affiliates get no guarantee. They sit in the same pool as everyone else, and Twitch says availability "is determined by server resource availability at the time your stream starts," not by follower or viewer count.

This is the part most bitrate advice skips. If you are not a Partner, a high bitrate is a bet that transcodes are available. When they are not, you have made your stream unwatchable for part of your audience in exchange for detail most of them will not notice. Streaming at 720p60 and 4500 kbps is often the better trade.

How much upload speed you need

Twitch publishes a headroom rule:

As a general practice, streamers should ensure that their upload speed is equal to the bitrate at which they have set their stream +30%. For example, attempting to stream at 6mbps (megabits per second) may require a network upload speed of at least 8mbps.

Its music page gives a different formulation, that you should never set your bitrate above 80% of your consistent upload bandwidth. The two land close. At 6000 kbps the first wants 7.8 Mbps and the second wants 7.5 Mbps.

Either way, measure the number you actually get at the time you stream, not the number on your bill. Our guide to upload speed for live streaming covers testing it properly.

Fixing a stream that looks wrong

Twitch's broadcast health page is more useful than most troubleshooting guides, because it names the symptom rather than the setting.

A flat bitrate line, with viewers reporting delay. You are hitting the ceiling of the connection even though the graph looks stable. Twitch's fix: "Lower the bitrate by 200 to 500 kbps; this should vastly improve the connection while having minimal effect on visual quality."

Spikes above your average. Twitch's example is a stream averaging 3500 kbps with 4500 kbps spikes, and it says the spikes "will cause viewers to buffer and experience issues." CBR exists to stop this.

Dips. When the bitrate recovers after a dip, viewers buffer as the player tries to reload. So a stream that swings is worse than a stream that sits lower and holds.

A higher number is not a better picture. Twitch's own example is a broadcaster pushing 14,000 kbps: "Simply using a higher bitrate does not necessarily mean better quality; in this case, such a high bitrate is causing instability."

To see any of this, run Twitch Inspector. It keeps the last seven days of your streams and reports bitrate, frame rate, resolution, keyframe interval, encoder and a pass or fail configuration check.

Bitrate for pre-recorded and 24/7 Twitch streams

If you are streaming a pre-recorded video to Twitch or running a channel around the clock, the bitrate question changes shape. There is no live scene to encode, so nothing is competing for your CPU and nothing degrades at 3 AM because a game got busy.

With LiveReacting, the encode happens on our servers rather than your machine. Upload the video, connect Twitch, go live, and your computer is no longer part of the chain. Your home upload speed stops mattering, because the stream is not leaving your house.

The Twitch-side numbers above still apply, since Twitch is receiving the same RTMP stream either way. What changes is that a dropped frame is no longer a question of whether your PC kept up.

Two things worth knowing before you point a 24/7 stream at Twitch. Interactive overlays that read chat back work on Twitch, unlike some RTMP-only destinations. And if you are also sending the same content to YouTube, check the multistreaming rules first.

FAQ

What is the best bitrate for Twitch? 6000 kbps at 1080p60, 4500 at 1080p30 or 720p60, and 3000 at 720p30, all with CBR and a 2-second keyframe interval. If you are not a Partner, 720p60 at 4500 is usually the safer choice, because transcoding is not guaranteed.

What is Twitch's maximum bitrate? Twitch says to keep to a maximum of 6000 kbps. Enhanced Broadcasting with 2K raises the numbers, but 2K is limited to Partners and Affiliates.

Does Twitch support 4K or AV1? No. Twitch's own answer is that it does not offer 4K or AV1 streaming "at this time."

Why is my Twitch bitrate unstable? Usually the connection is at its limit even when the graph looks flat. Drop 200 to 500 kbps and watch whether the delay clears. Spikes and dips both cause viewer buffering, which is why Twitch asks for CBR.

Do I get transcoding on Twitch? Guaranteed only for Partners. Affiliates and everyone else get transcodes when server resources allow, decided each time you go live.

What upload speed do I need to stream at 6000 kbps? About 8 Mbps, following Twitch's rule of your bitrate plus 30%. Measure your real upload speed at the time you stream.

What bitrate should I use for a music or talk stream? Lower than a game needs. Twitch says music streams "generally have less high-speed movement than games, and can use lower bitrates," and puts 2500 kbps at 720p in the good-quality range.

The short version

Pick the row in the chart that matches your resolution and frame rate, set CBR and a 2-second keyframe, and confirm you have 30% more upload speed than the bitrate you chose.

Then check Inspector once, and leave the settings alone. Bitrate is the kind of thing that rewards getting right once, and punishes fiddling with weekly. If you would rather it not depend on your machine at all, stream pre-recorded video from the cloud and the encode stops being your problem.

With the technical side settled, the thing that actually moves your numbers is when you go live. We measured that separately in the best time to stream on Twitch.

Sources

Every Twitch number and quote above was read from Twitch's own pages on September 7, 2026. Twitch does not date its help articles, so re-check before relying on these.

• Twitch broadcasting guidelines: the four resolution and bitrate blocks, encoder presets, profile, keyframe interval and audio settings.
• Twitch guide to broadcast health: the 6000 kbps maximum, the 14,000 kbps instability example, and the fixes for flat lines, spikes and dips.
• Twitch transcoding options FAQ: Partner priority and best-effort transcodes for everyone else.
• Twitch enhanced broadcasting and 2K streaming pages: general availability, the raised bitrates, and the statement that 4K and AV1 are not offered.
• Twitch "How do I stream?" FAQ: the bitrate plus 30% upload rule.
• Twitch music streaming guide: the lower-bitrate guidance for music and the 320 kbps audio figure that conflicts with the guidelines page.
• Twitch blog, June 17, 2026: Dual Format to all streamers, 2K to Partners and Affiliates, and the bitrate increases.