How to stream to YouTube and Twitch at the same time

This is what Upstream was built for. Upload your videos once, and Upstream plays them from its own servers as one live stream to YouTube and Twitch at the same time, around the clock. You don't need OBS, a VPS or a PC left running at home: your computer can be off.

1. Upload once. Add your videos and music to the Media Library with Upload file, or import them from a Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive link (the cloud storage guide shows how). Any of your streams can use them, so nothing gets uploaded twice.
2. Create the stream. Press Create stream, pick Prerecorded and/or 24/7, then add YouTube as the main platform and Twitch next to it, as in steps 2 and 3 above.
3. Loop video and audio separately. Put your videos on the Background tab and your music on the Audio tab. Each playlist loops on its own, in order or shuffled, so a handful of videos can play under hours of music, like a radio station with visuals.
4. Keep it running. Leave Playback mode on Loop continuously. The stream then plays your playlists until you stop it or a schedule ends.
5. Start once for both. Press Start stream, or set a schedule. YouTube and Twitch get the same stream at the same time, and you can close the laptop.

Twitch's 48 hour limit. Twitch ends a broadcast after 48 hours, and that can't be changed. Upstream reconnects on its own, so viewers see a short break every 48 hours instead of an ended stream. Our guide on how to run a 24/7 Twitch stream covers the rest.

YouTube's rules for long streams. YouTube has no set maximum length for a live stream: one YouTube broadcast on Upstream, Final Fantasy LoFi Radio, has run without a restart since July 27, 2024, 800+ days so far. What YouTube limits is the replay. It archives streams shorter than 12 hours, and a longer one may not be saved at all. Everything you stream, prerecorded or not, has to follow YouTube's Community Guidelines.

YouTube's own help page on streaming across platforms describes this route: send one stream to a cloud service, and it sends that stream on to every platform, which keeps the load off your computer. With a playlist on Upstream, nothing streams from your computer at all. Upstream is on YouTube's list of verified encoders.

What it costs. You pay for the stream, and every stream goes to up to 10 of the 30+ supported platforms at once, so YouTube and Twitch together cost the same as YouTube alone. One stream is $30 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, at 1080p and 30 fps. From 4 streams, each one is $20 a month, or $16 billed yearly. The free plan includes 24 hours of streaming a month, enough to test the setup, and a stream that never stops needs a paid plan. See pricing.

As of October 2026, Twitch's written Terms still bar merged chat from other platforms on the Twitch stream, but Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said in February 2026 that Twitch would no longer take enforcement action for showing combined chat. For zero risk, show Twitch chat only, or none, in the video you send to both. You can still read both chats in one place: Upstream combines YouTube, Twitch, Kick and Rumble chat into one feed while you stream, and that feed is for you, not part of the video. So Twitch's rule only matters if you put a chat overlay in the video yourself.

Twitch also asks that the Twitch stream isn't worse than the others. Sending one stream through Upstream gives both platforms the same picture. For Twitch's full rules, see does Twitch allow multistreaming.