There is no universal monthly price for relaying a local OBS loop to YouTube. A managed relay charges for its plan and permitted use; a self-managed VPS charges for the server and may charge for outbound traffic above its regional allowance. The stream bitrate is the key input for estimating that traffic: before overhead, a continuously relayed 6 Mbps stream sends about 1.94 TB in 30 days, while a 10 Mbps stream sends about 3.24 TB. Those are calculated estimates, not provider quotes.
Which costs belong in the comparison?
A cloud relay changes where OBS sends its YouTube-facing feed; it does not make the whole production independent of your local setup. Your local OBS computer and internet connection must still deliver the source feed to the relay. The relay then sends output to YouTube. Either leg can fail, so compare both the bill and the failure paths.
| Cost or responsibility | Managed relay service | Self-managed cloud VPS |
|---|---|---|
| Base charge | Subscription tier and billing period | Server type, region and billing period |
| Traffic | Check included transfer, usage caps and whether the plan permits the duration and loop you need | Compare estimated outbound volume with regional included egress and any excess rate |
| Continuous prerecorded loop | Confirm that the exact plan permits prerecorded looping and 24/7 operation | You configure the relay process and watchdog, and must confirm the workload meets provider terms |
| Encoding | Check whether it forwards or re-encodes, and what quality it supports | Forwarding generally needs less CPU than transcoding; transcoding needs depend on codec and resolution |
| Operations | Typically less server administration; service support and plan limits still apply | You handle updates, restarts, monitoring, security and recovery |
| Failure paths | Local OBS-to-service and service-to-YouTube connections both matter | Local OBS-to-VPS and VPS-to-YouTube connections both matter |
Do not assume a public subscription price proves that a service allows an unattended 24/7 loop. Confirm duration, prerecorded-content rules, traffic terms and recovery behavior for the exact plan before paying.
How much outbound traffic will the loop use?
A 30-day month has 2,592,000 seconds. At a steady bitrate of R Mbps, ideal decimal traffic is R × 0.324 TB over 30 days. This arithmetic estimates relay-to-YouTube output before transport overhead; it is not a measurement of any provider. For a 31-day calendar month, multiply the estimate by 31/30.
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| Stream bitrate | Estimated output in 30 days |
|---|---|
| 5 Mbps | About 1.62 TB |
| 6 Mbps | About 1.94 TB |
| 10 Mbps | About 3.24 TB |
| 14 Mbps | About 4.54 TB |
These figures assume one continuous output at the stated bitrate. Add room for protocol overhead and other traffic, and check how the provider defines and meters GB or TB. If a relay forwards the same encoded feed, output volume is approximately driven by the incoming bitrate. If it creates multiple outputs or transcodes to different bitrates, estimate each output separately.
Count the outbound relay-to-YouTube leg for this estimate. Do not also count the incoming feed as outbound unless the provider’s tariff or network design specifically bills it that way.
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Choose a bitrate before estimating a bill
Bitrate affects both the traffic estimate and how much upload capacity your local connection needs to reach the relay. YouTube’s official live encoder guidance recommends RTMPS, constant bitrate (CBR), a two-second keyframe interval (not exceeding four seconds), and bitrates that vary by codec, resolution and frame rate. Its H.264 guidance includes 6 Mbps for 720p60 and 5 Mbps for 1080p30. Choose settings for the actual source and available bandwidth rather than selecting a bitrate solely to fit an allowance.
- Leave upload headroom on the local OBS-to-relay connection. YouTube’s network guidance recommends 20% room.
- Test a realistic section of the loop, including motion and audio, and monitor stream health before relying on it.
- If the relay re-encodes, its output bitrate may differ from the OBS input; estimate egress from the output or outputs actually sent to YouTube.
Managed relay or VPS: how to make the cost decision
Managed relay
A managed service may reduce server administration, but its subscription is only one part of the decision. Verify that the selected plan supports OBS input, prerecorded looping, the planned continuous duration, your desired quality, and any applicable traffic or usage caps. Ask about what happens if the local feed or YouTube connection drops; a relay is not an uptime guarantee.
Rank #3
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Restream’s official pricing page showed a free plan and paid monthly plans at $19 Standard, $49 Professional and $239 Business in the result accessed in 2026. Pricing can vary with region, billing cycle or promotions, so check the live page. Restream’s help article says active channel limits depend on subscription and that higher plans unlock features including prerecorded streaming. That does not establish that a particular plan allows an unattended 24/7 loop, its maximum duration or its usage limits; confirm those details directly before treating it as suitable.
Self-managed VPS
A VPS bill combines compute rental with applicable traffic charges. As one regional example, Hetzner’s traffic documentation lists 20 TB included for EU CX, CPX and CAX Cloud Server products; US and Singapore allowances vary by product and can be materially lower. On a simple volume comparison, an estimated 10 Mbps output of about 3.24 TB per 30 days fits below that 20 TB allowance, before overhead and other traffic. This is not a universal allowance or an all-in price: verify the region, server product, current price and terms.
Rank #4
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Hetzner says a cloud server continues to be billed while it exists, even if powered off, and outgoing traffic beyond included amounts can be charged. Its billing documentation describes those mechanics; its Cloud API documentation says server prices depend on type and location and on the project’s currency and VAT treatment. Turning a server off is therefore not necessarily the same as stopping its bill. Deleting a resource may stop server charges, but creates restoration and availability tradeoffs.
No single all-in VPS monthly cost can be stated without the target region, server SKU, encoding load and traffic terms. Get a current price for the actual configuration and add any expected egress charge to the compute cost.
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Account for YouTube setup and failure limits
- Confirm live eligibility. YouTube says live streaming requires a verified channel and no live-streaming restriction in the preceding 90 days. Check the current live streaming requirements before designing around a scheduled loop.
- Protect the stream key. In YouTube’s encoder setup, use the stream URL and key in the encoder or relay. YouTube describes the key as a password-like credential that directs the encoder feed and can be reset. Treat it as secret and reset it if exposed; see set up your encoder.
- Test the whole path. Check OBS-to-relay upload, relay-to-YouTube ingest, stream health and audio/video using the intended settings. YouTube warns that a network disruption can break a stream, and recommends leaving upload headroom; see its encoder guidance.
- Plan for long-running events explicitly. YouTube states that streams under 12 hours will be automatically archived in its encoder setup instructions. That statement is not a guarantee that a longer stream will stay live or be archived as one video. Do not infer indefinite operation from it; verify current YouTube limits and plan an operational strategy.
A relay can move the YouTube-facing upload to a data center, but it cannot recreate missing input if local OBS, the local ISP or the upstream feed fails. The relay, local connection and YouTube ingestion remain separate dependencies.
Or let it run in the cloud
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