Live Streaming YouTube

What is live streaming on YouTube?

Live streaming on YouTube is a real-time broadcast where viewers watch your video feed and react in live chat as events happen. Unlike a regular upload, a live stream gives you direct contact with the audience: viewers ask questions, you answer on air, and the recording stays on the channel afterwards.

YouTube supports 4 ways to stream: mobile, webcam, encoder, and game console. You can also stream with no camera at all — from pre-recorded videos: that is how 24/7 broadcasts run on SubSub Live.

Who can go live: requirements

To go live, you need a verified channel with live streaming enabled and no live streaming restrictions in the past 90 days. You must be at least 16 years old to live stream on YouTube.

Mobile live streaming has extra requirements:

• at least 50 subscribers;

• no live streaming restrictions within the last 90 days;

• a verified channel;

• live streaming turned on — you may need to wait 24 hours before your first stream;

• an Android 8.0+ or iOS 8+ device.

Stream 24/7 without a camera: SubSub Live

You don't have to go on air in person. SubSub Live turns the videos you already have into round-the-clock broadcasts: your catalog streams 24/7 in up to 4K and earns views, watch time, and revenue while you rest or work on new content.

SubSub Live is a YouTube-verified streaming tool (Verified Software Encoder), so these streams follow the platform's rules and earn like any live broadcast: ads, Super Chat, and channel memberships. Horizontal streams grow total watch time and ad revenue; vertical streams reach the Shorts feed and bring in new subscribers.

It works on real channels: a Shorts compilation stream on Mr. Clabick (7.19M subscribers) collected over 2 million views in 10 days, and SubSub estimates 24/7 streams add at least 30% to channel revenue.

How to launch a 24/7 stream: 3 steps

1. Create a live stream in YouTube Studio as usual: title, description, thumbnail.

2. In SubSub Live, upload your videos, arrange them into playlists, and set the order and schedule.

3. Hit start — your content streams 24/7 while you track views, watch time, and revenue in one dashboard.

You pay only for what you use: from $0.06 per streaming hour, with no monthly slot subscription. When nothing is streaming, you pay $0 — and you can start with free credits.

Rules and limits

All live content must follow YouTube's Community Guidelines. A strike blocks live streaming for 14 days, and streaming from another channel during a restriction counts as circumvention and can lead to account termination. A channel can run up to 10 active streams at once, with up to 3 active streams per stream key.