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On Contabo’s US pricing page, Cloud VPS plans start at $5.28/month and storage-focused plans at $6.63/month, but those are effective monthly prices for a 24-month term—not month-to-month rates. A 24/7 YouTube stream can transfer several terabytes and fill modest disks quickly, so the right total depends on whether the VPS only relays pre-encoded video, how long you keep recordings, and whether you need separate storage.
Contabo VPS prices for a 24/7 YouTube stream
The following are displayed prices on Contabo’s US pricing page, checked October 3, 2026. Contabo presents them as effective monthly prices for a 24-month subscription. Prices and availability vary by location and can change. Contabo VPS pricing
| Plan | Displayed US price | CPU and memory | SSD | Port rate | Availability or note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud VPS 4 | $5.28/month, 24-month term | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM | 100 GB | 200 Mbit/s | General-purpose VPS |
| Cloud VPS 6 | $7.20/month, 24-month term | 6 vCPU, 12 GB RAM | 200 GB | 300 Mbit/s | General-purpose VPS |
| Cloud VPS 8 | $13.44/month, 24-month term | 8 vCPU, 24 GB RAM | 300 GB | 600 Mbit/s | General-purpose VPS |
| Storage VPS 10 | $6.63/month, 24-month term | Not stated on the cited US price listing | 300 GB | Not stated on the cited US price listing | Storage-focused plan |
| Storage VPS 20 | $9.20/month, 24-month term | Not stated on the cited US price listing | 400 GB | Not stated on the cited US price listing | Shown as unavailable |
| Storage VPS 30 | $17.54/month, 24-month term | Not stated on the cited US price listing | 1 TB | Not stated on the cited US price listing | Storage-focused plan |
| Storage VPS 40 | $31.20/month, 24-month term | Not stated on the cited US price listing | 1.2 TB | Not stated on the cited US price listing | Storage-focused plan |
| Storage VPS 50 | $46.10/month, 24-month term | Not stated on the cited US price listing | 1.4 TB | Not stated on the cited US price listing | Storage-focused plan |
These are plan prices, not a guaranteed all-in cost for a particular broadcast. The total can differ with region, billing term, plan availability, retention needs, and any added storage or software licensing. The listed monthly rates should not be read as month-to-month prices.
Estimate bandwidth and recording storage from bitrate
YouTube’s live guidance recommends H.264 at 14 Mbps for 1080p30 and 17 Mbps for 1080p60. Those bitrates let you estimate the scale of a continuous feed; they are not a prediction of actual usage if your stream uses a different resolution, codec, or bitrate. YouTube live encoder settings
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| Assumed continuous video bitrate | Approximate transfer per day | Approximate transfer over 30 days | Approximate recording footprint per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Mbps (YouTube-recommended H.264 1080p30 setting) | 151 GB | 4.53 TB | 151 GB before overhead |
| 17 Mbps (YouTube-recommended H.264 1080p60 setting) | 184 GB | 5.51 TB | 184 GB before overhead |
These are arithmetic estimates using decimal units and a constant bitrate, not figures published by YouTube or Contabo. Actual file sizes vary with bitrate, container overhead, audio and other tracks, and whether you retain duplicate copies.
What the 14 Mbps example means for disk space
At about 151 GB per day before overhead, 100 GB does not hold a full day of continuous recording. A 300 GB disk is roughly two days, and 1 TB is less than seven days. If you need longer retention, plan for a larger capacity or a separate storage destination rather than assuming the VPS’s included disk will suffice.
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What the traffic allowance does—and does not—tell you
Contabo advertises unlimited traffic, but outgoing traffic is subject to fair use; Contabo reserves the right to throttle exceptionally high or disruptive usage. A plan’s port rate is not a guarantee of uninterrupted delivery. For example, Cloud VPS 4’s listed 200 Mbit/s port is well above a 14 Mbps feed on paper, but that comparison alone does not establish that a VPS will sustain a particular broadcast or encode.
Choose a VPS configuration for the actual workload
Relaying pre-encoded video
If the video is already encoded and the VPS only sends the feed onward, CPU requirements differ from a setup that encodes video in software. Cloud VPS 4 can be a plausible low-cost relay baseline for a pre-encoded 1080p30 feed: its listed port rate is 200 Mbit/s and its SSD is 100 GB. This is a sizing inference from the listed specifications and bitrate arithmetic, not a performance or reliability guarantee. It is only a fit if the software and CPU handle your real workload and recordings are stored elsewhere or retained briefly.
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Encoding on the VPS
If your software must encode or transcode the source, do not choose a plan from the port rate alone. The required CPU capacity depends on the codec, resolution, frame rate, encoder settings, software, and concurrent workload. The plan specifications do not establish which configuration will encode a given stream reliably; test your exact setup before relying on it for a continuous channel.
Keeping recordings on a separate storage plan
A Cloud VPS for the streaming process paired with a Storage VPS for archived files can separate compute from retention. At the assumed 14 Mbps recording rate, Storage VPS 10’s 300 GB is roughly two days of video, while Storage VPS 30’s 1 TB is under seven days, before overhead. Neither should be treated as a long-retention archive at that bitrate. Check the transfer path and any associated costs before treating separate plans as a complete total.
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Configure and monitor the YouTube feed
YouTube’s recommendations apply to the outgoing live encoder. Set your encoder to a constant bitrate and use a two-second keyframe interval; do not exceed four seconds. For H.264, YouTube’s recommended video bitrates include 14 Mbps for 1080p30 and 17 Mbps for 1080p60. Leave 20% bandwidth headroom above the total stream bitrate and test the complete feed. YouTube live encoder settings YouTube streaming tips
- Account for the total stream bitrate, including audio, when checking network capacity.
- Confirm that the VPS and software can read the source and send the selected format to YouTube.
- Monitor the broadcast rather than treating a port-rate figure as proof that delivery is healthy.
- If you are recording locally, check that the archive file continues to grow.
Do not rely on YouTube as the only 24/7 archive
YouTube says streams under 12 hours can be automatically archived, but streams exceeding 12 hours may not be captured at all. It recommends recording a local archive as a backup. A continuous 24/7 broadcast therefore needs its own recording and retention plan if preserving the full stream matters. YouTube: Archive live streams
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Or let it run in the cloud
If you do not want to maintain a VPS, encoder, storage, and home connection, StreamNeo keeps an uploaded-video YouTube channel live from the cloud. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live; StreamNeo loops the uploaded video, so nothing at home has to stay on. It supports any uploaded quality up to 4K 60fps at one flat price per slot, without re-encoding or quality tiers, and automatically recovers if YouTube drops the stream. The first day is free with no card. Monthly pricing is $9.99 per month.
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Common cost and reliability pitfalls
- Treating the effective rate as month-to-month: The listed Contabo prices above are for a 24-month term. Check the term and region shown at checkout before budgeting.
- Choosing disk capacity by plan name: Estimate retention from your actual recording bitrate. At 14 Mbps, 100 GB is less than a day and 300 GB is around two days before overhead.
- Assuming “unlimited” means no traffic conditions: Contabo’s outgoing traffic remains subject to fair-use terms, and exceptionally high or disruptive use may be throttled.
- Equating port speed with stream reliability: YouTube recommends 20% headroom and testing; the port rate is not a delivery guarantee.
- Assuming a VPS can encode because it can relay: Encoding and relaying are different workloads. Test the encoder settings and actual source on the intended configuration.
- Expecting YouTube to preserve a 24/7 archive: Streams over 12 hours may not be captured, so use a separate recording plan when a complete archive is important.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
