To estimate a VPS’s monthly outbound transfer for an FFmpeg stream, multiply the stream’s total outgoing bitrate—including audio—by the actual streaming time. For a continuous 30-day month, each sustained 1 Mbps uses about 324 decimal GB before network overhead, retries, reconnects, or other VPS traffic. This is a transfer estimate, not a hosting price quote: compare it with the exact plan’s outbound allowance and billing rules.
Calculate the stream’s transfer
Bitrate is measured in bits per second. Divide the number of bits sent by eight to convert to bytes, then multiply by the number of seconds the stream runs:
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transfer_bytes = outgoing_bits_per_second × streaming_seconds ÷ 8
For a bitrate in megabits per second and a duration in hours, a convenient decimal-unit estimate is:
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transfer_GB ≈ bitrate_Mbps × hours × 0.45
This uses decimal gigabytes, where 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. For a continuous 30-day period, the multiplier is 30 × 24 × 0.45 = 324, so:
transfer_GB ≈ bitrate_Mbps × 324
A 31-day period uses about 334.8 GB per sustained Mbps. For an actual billing cycle, use its actual hours or seconds rather than assuming it is 30 days. If the provider reports transfer in TiB or another unit, convert the estimate before comparing it.
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Use the configured outgoing rate, not resolution alone
Resolution and frame rate can help you choose encoder settings, but they do not determine transfer by themselves. Use the bitrate FFmpeg actually sends. Include both video and audio rates when they are configured separately.
YouTube’s encoder guidance recommends H.264 video at 10 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps and 12 Mbps for 1080p at 60 fps. Its advanced settings list 128 Kbps for stereo audio. If you use those example video and audio rates, the combined nominal rates are about 10.128 Mbps and 12.128 Mbps, respectively. These are recommendations, not measurements of a particular FFmpeg stream. YouTube’s live encoder settings and bitrate guidance also varies by resolution, frame rate, and codec, and advises a two-second keyframe interval that does not exceed four seconds.
Keep ingestion traffic separate from viewer delivery
The VPS sends its configured feed to YouTube. YouTube transcodes live streams into multiple output formats for viewers, but that viewer-side transcoding does not mean the VPS sends every rendition. Estimate the outgoing feed from the VPS, not the combined playback traffic delivered to the audience. Google’s live-content delivery documentation describes YouTube’s live delivery workflow.
Worked monthly estimates
| Outgoing bitrate | 30-day continuous estimate | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Mbps video only | About 3,240 GB (3.24 decimal TB) | Arithmetic estimate using 10 × 324; excludes audio and operational overhead. |
| 12 Mbps video only | About 3,888 GB (3.888 decimal TB) | Arithmetic estimate using 12 × 324; excludes audio and operational overhead. |
| 10.128 Mbps video plus audio | About 3,281 GB (3.28 decimal TB) | Uses the 10 Mbps video and 128 Kbps audio example rates. |
| 12.128 Mbps video plus audio | About 3,929 GB (3.93 decimal TB) | Uses the 12 Mbps video and 128 Kbps audio example rates. |
| 6.128 Mbps video plus audio | About 1,985.5 GB (about 1.99 decimal TB) | Example of 6 Mbps video plus 128 Kbps audio for 30 continuous days. |
Each figure is calculated from bitrate and elapsed time; none is measured VPS usage. For the 6.128 Mbps example, compare the estimate with the plan’s allowance and add an operating margin for overhead, retries, reconnects, and unrelated traffic.
Check the VPS plan before you rely on it
A stream sent from a VPS to YouTube is outbound traffic from the VPS. There is no universal transfer allowance implied by YouTube’s bitrate recommendations: the terms depend on the provider, plan, and sometimes region. Check the plan documentation or ask the host about the exact service you intend to use.
- Included outbound transfer and the length of the billing cycle.
- Which traffic direction counts, and how the provider measures transfer.
- Overage charges, throttling, suspension, or other consequences of exceeding the allowance.
- Port speed and any sustained-throughput limits.
- Whether other applications or streams on the VPS will use part of the same allowance.
Bitrate estimates transfer volume over time; it is not the same as port speed. A VPS also needs enough sustained outbound capacity and a functioning route to deliver the stream reliably. YouTube recommends testing before going live and monitoring stream health. Its Live API reports health feedback, including bitrate- and keyframe-related conditions. The YouTube Live Streaming API documentation describes stream health and ingestion details.
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The calculation assumes a steady average bitrate and counts one outgoing feed. It does not include protocol overhead, retries, reconnects, other VPS traffic, or a simultaneously sent backup stream. A backup ingestion address being available does not by itself double transfer; sending a duplicate feed to another destination does. YouTube recommends RTMPS for secure live ingestion and documents primary and backup ingestion addresses in its Live Streaming API documentation.
For a closer operational estimate, use a representative run and compare your arithmetic with the provider’s transfer counter. Keep an allowance above the calculated media transfer rather than sizing a plan exactly to the estimate.
Troubleshoot a transfer estimate that does not match billing
- The estimate is too low: Confirm that you added audio to video bitrate, used the actual hours in the billing cycle, and included every simultaneous stream. Check the provider’s counter for other VPS traffic, retries, and reconnects.
- The provider’s number uses different units: Convert your decimal-GB estimate to the provider’s stated unit, such as TiB, before comparing. Also confirm whether its published allowance is measured in decimal or binary units.
- The VPS is within its allowance but the stream is unstable: Transfer allowance and delivery capacity are different. Check sustained throughput, route reliability, encoder output, and YouTube stream-health feedback; test before relying on the stream.
- A backup setup appears to use more data: Check whether it merely provides a backup endpoint or actually sends a second feed at the same time. A separately transmitted duplicate adds its own outbound traffic.
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