What is Multistreaming?
Multistreaming is broadcasting one live stream to several platforms at the same time, so the same show appears on YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn or others simultaneously.
Updated · Editorial policy
How it works technically
Multistreaming means sending one live broadcast to several destinations at once, for example Twitch, YouTube and a Facebook page from a single session. Your encoder sends one RTMP stream to a relay service, and the relay duplicates it to each platform's ingest. The alternative, pushing separate streams from your own machine, multiplies your upload bandwidth by the number of destinations and is why most setups use a relay rather than a local fan-out.
What it costs you
The trade is reach against attention. One chat window per platform means you cannot read them all, so either you accept that most viewers get no response or you run a tool that merges the chats. Platform-specific features go too: channel point redemptions, subscriber emotes and polls behave differently on each service, and anything you build around one of them stops working for the others. Quality is shared as well, since the relay sends the same bitrate and resolution everywhere, so a platform with a lower ceiling gets the stream your highest-ceiling platform needed.
Check the terms, not the tooling
Whether you may multistream is a contract question with each platform rather than a technical one, and it is the part most guides get wrong. Platforms have changed their positions on simultaneous streaming, and some have attached conditions to affiliate, partner or monetisation status rather than banning it outright. Read the current terms of service and monetisation terms for each destination before building a workflow on it, and check again if you sign a partner or affiliate agreement, because that agreement is usually where any restriction lives. We state no platform's current policy here, because the answer changes and a stale answer is worse than none.
What to stream with
Restream lists Standard at $19 per month and StreamYard lists Core at $44.99 per month, both checked 1 October 2026, and both have free tiers that usually cap destinations and add branding. OBS Studio is free and open source and handles the encoding, though sending to multiple destinations from it still needs a relay or a plugin. The StreamYard and Restream comparison covers the browser-based and relay-first approaches, the live streaming software category lists the alternatives, and our live streaming platform comparison covers the destinations themselves. Our creator calculators will total a year of relay fees against the extra reach.
Frequently asked questions
Is multistreaming allowed?
It is a question for each platform's current terms, and for any affiliate or partner agreement you have signed, which is usually where restrictions sit. Positions have changed over time, so read the live terms for each destination rather than relying on a guide, including ours.
Is it legal to multistream?
Streaming your own content to several platforms is not a legal question; it is a contractual one with each service. Legality only enters if you broadcast material you do not hold the rights to, which is true of a single stream as much as of several.
Is multistreaming a good idea?
It suits shows where the content stands alone, such as a scheduled interview or a music set. It suits interactive streams poorly, because you cannot answer three chats at once. A common compromise is one primary platform with live chat and the others as a simulcast you do not promise to monitor.
Do you need a paid tool to multistream?
Not always. Free tiers of relay services cover two or three destinations with branding attached, and OBS Studio is free for encoding. Paying buys more destinations, higher bitrates, merged chat and recording. Start free and upgrade when the destination cap, not the features, is what stops you.