You looked up the best encoder for YouTube live streaming and got three answers: one guide says OBS, the next says NVENC, a third says AV1. They are all right about a different thing. "Encoder" can mean the app that sends your stream, the part of your computer that compresses the video, or the video format that comes out. This guide explains each choice from YouTube Help and the OBS documentation as they read on 8 November 2026. For the numbers to type into OBS, use our YouTube Live encoder settings guide; this post is about which encoder to pick.
Quick answer: For most streamers the best encoder for YouTube Live is OBS Studio, which is on YouTube's own list of verified encoders, set to the hardware encoder of a recent graphics chip: NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, Intel Quick Sync or Apple VideoToolbox. OBS recommends hardware encoders for performance because they take the work off the CPU, but warns that older generations look worse at the same bitrate. Use the software encoder x264 when you have no good hardware encoder, or when the CPU has nothing else to do, such as on a separate streaming machine. Send H.264 when in doubt, HEVC or AV1 when your hardware can encode them, and connect over RTMPS, which YouTube recommends.
Three Choices Hide Behind the Word "Encoder"
YouTube Help says an encoder "converts your video into a digital format to stream on YouTube" and adds: "Some encoders are software apps on your computer, while others are standalone hardware." When you set up a stream you make three separate choices:
- The app or box that sends the stream. OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit, Wirecast, or a standalone device such as a Blackmagic Web Presenter.
- The video encoder inside that app. In OBS this is x264, which runs on the CPU, or a hardware encoder built into your graphics chip.
- The codec and the protocol. H.264, HEVC or AV1, sent over RTMP, RTMPS or HLS.
The first sets your workflow, the second how hard your computer works, the third how much picture you get per megabit of upload. Most "which encoder is best" arguments are about the second.
YouTube's Own List of Verified Encoders
YouTube keeps a list of "YouTube Live verified encoders" on its page Create a YouTube live stream with an encoder. YouTube notes that none of these products are made by YouTube. On 8 November 2026 the list had three groups:
- Software encoders, among them Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), Streamlabs, XSplit Broadcaster, Wirecast, Ecamm for Mac, PRISM Live Studio, Elgato Game Capture Software, StreamYard and Restream, plus cloud services for 24/7 streams such as Gyre and Upstream.
- Hardware encoders, among them the Blackmagic Web Presenter 4K (streams "up to 2160p60 directly to YouTube", per its entry), Teradek VidiU Go (1080p60 over SDI and HDMI) and AJA HELO Plus (a "standalone H.264 encoder"). Nvidia is in this group too, with an entry about the NVENC encoder inside its GPUs.
- Mobile encoders, among them Larix Broadcaster, PRISM Live Studio and Streamlabs.
Two things stand out. First, "hardware encoder" covers two different products on that one list: a box you plug a camera into, and the encoder chip on a graphics card that software like OBS uses. Second, OBS is on it, so a free app meets YouTube's bar.
A standalone box fits a camera production where you want no computer in the chain; YouTube's own example of an advanced setup has "more than one microphone, camera, mixer, and hardware encoder." For gameplay, screen capture and overlays you use software, so the real decision is the encoder inside it.
Software Encoding: x264 on the CPU
VideoLAN describes x264 as "a free software library and application for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression format." OBS includes it as its software encoder, and its documentation names veryfast as the default preset. x264 runs on any computer and needs no particular graphics hardware for the encoding itself.
The price is CPU time. On a gaming PC the game, OBS and x264 all share one processor. When the encoder cannot keep up, OBS warns that encoding is overloaded. Its troubleshooting guide says lowering the output resolution "can be beneficial in terms of reducing the load on the encoder" and that frame rate "impacts both rendering and encoding performance", so dropping from 60 to 30 fps is the other lever.
Two limits to know:
- x264 makes H.264 and nothing else, so sending HEVC or AV1 means switching to another encoder. The OBS change that added those codecs to its YouTube output was tested with AV1 on the NVENC, Quick Sync and AMF hardware encoders.
- On an Intel Mac, OBS says you must use x264 for streaming, because Apple's hardware encoder there lacks the constant bitrate that most streaming services require.
x264 is the right pick when there is no usable hardware encoder, when the hardware encoder is an early generation, or when the CPU has spare room, as on a second PC or a server that does nothing but run OBS. For a direct comparison on one PC, read x264 vs NVENC in OBS.
Hardware Encoders: NVENC, AMF, Quick Sync and VideoToolbox
The OBS page on hardware encoding says hardware encoders "are generally recommended for best performance as they take the workload off the CPU and to a specialised component in the GPU." It adds: "Modern hardware encoders provide very good quality video with minimal performance impact." Earlier generations, though, give "a lower-quality image" at the same bitrate as x264 on veryfast. For those older chips OBS calls hardware encoding a last resort.
What OBS says you need for each one (its page is dated 11 January 2022), and where AV1 came in:
| Encoder | Vendor | Requirements per OBS | AV1 encoding arrived with |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVENC | NVIDIA | Windows or Linux; GeForce 750 Ti, 900 series (Maxwell) or newer; best results with 6th generation NVENC (Turing), GTX 1650 rev 2 and up | GeForce RTX 40 series, 8th generation NVENC, on Windows (OBS 28.1) |
| AMF | AMD | Windows or Linux; compatible GPUs listed in the AMF plugin docs | RX 7000 series on Windows (OBS 29.0) |
| Quick Sync (QSV) | Intel | Windows or Linux; Intel HD Graphics on a Core i 2xxx (Sandy Bridge) or newer, 4xxx (Haswell) or newer recommended | Arc GPUs on Windows (OBS 29.0) |
| VideoToolbox | Apple | Apple Silicon and Intel Macs; streaming with H.264 on Apple Silicon, no streaming on Intel Macs | Not listed by OBS |
OBS 29.0 (January 2023) also added the Intel HEVC encoder on Windows and native HEVC encoders on macOS. If your PC has both an NVIDIA or AMD card and Intel graphics, OBS says to use the encoder of your main graphics adapter, so NVENC or AMF rather than Quick Sync.
One catch: a hardware encoder moves the compression off the CPU, but OBS still uses the graphics chip to draw your scenes. Its troubleshooting guide says OBS "needs GPU time and resources because it has to composite and render a scene." A game that runs the GPU at full load can starve OBS even with NVENC on, which is why that guide suggests capping the game's frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate.
Which Codec: H.264, HEVC or AV1
YouTube's page Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions lists three video codecs for RTMP and RTMPS: H.264, H.265 (HEVC) and AV1. The rest of the basics are the same for all three: constant bitrate (CBR), frame rate up to 60 fps, a keyframe every 2 seconds and never more than 4, and AAC or MP3 audio. The bitrate table has separate columns per codec, and the newer codecs need less:
| Resolution and frame rate | AV1 and H.265, minimum to recommended | H.264, minimum to recommended |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p at 30 fps | 4 to 10 Mbps | 5 to 14 Mbps |
| 1080p at 60 fps | 4 to 12 Mbps | 6 to 17 Mbps |
| 1440p at 60 fps | 6 to 24 Mbps | 8 to 34 Mbps |
| 4K at 60 fps | 10 to 35 Mbps | 14 to 50 Mbps |
That gap is the main reason to care. YouTube's recommended bitrate for 1080p60 is 12 Mbps with AV1 or H.265 against 17 Mbps with H.264, so an upload that is tight for H.264 can be enough for a newer codec. The full table for every resolution is in our settings guide.
What else decides the codec:
- H.264 is the safe default. It is the only codec x264 makes, and every row of YouTube's table has an H.264 column.
- Streaming HEVC and AV1 from OBS arrived in OBS 29.1 (2 May 2023) through "Enhanced RTMP", which the release notes describe as "only supported by/enabled for YouTube as a beta feature" at that time. Your encoder has to make them, and x264 does not; the last column of the hardware table shows where AV1 encoding started.
- HDR needs H.265. YouTube lists HEVC as the HDR codec, says "AV1 is not supported for HDR" and asks for 10-bit video. OBS 30.1 (March 2024) enabled HDR for HEVC over RTMP.
- Your viewers are not affected. YouTube says it will "automatically transcode your live stream to create many different output formats", so the codec you send changes what reaches YouTube, not which devices can watch.
Which Protocol: RTMP, RTMPS or HLS
The same YouTube page lists the protocol as "RTMP/RTMPS Streaming" and recommends RTMPS. Here is how the three options differ.
RTMP is what the Live Control Room shows by default. It is the plain version of the protocol, without the encryption RTMPS adds.
RTMPS is, in YouTube's words, "RTMP over a Transport Layer Security (TLS/SSL) connection." To get the address, open the Live Control Room, go to the Stream tab and click the lock icon in the Stream URL field, then paste that URL and your stream key into your encoder. If you get an SSL error, YouTube's RTMPS page says to check that both the protocol and the server read rtmps, and to try port 443. If you need help finding the key itself, see where to find your YouTube stream key.
HLS is for HDR or for codecs your encoder cannot send over RTMP. YouTube's HLS page lists HEVC in addition to H.264 and AAC, AC3 and EAC3 audio, and names OBS among the encoders with HLS output. The trade is latency: "HLS has higher latency because it sends segments of video, instead of a continuous stream like RTMP", and the Ultra low-latency option turns off. HLS also has its own segment and playlist rules, listed on that page.
SRT is not on YouTube's encoder settings page, nor on its RTMPS and HLS pages. If you use SRT from a phone or a backpack, plan to convert the feed to a protocol those pages list, such as RTMPS, before it reaches YouTube; our RTMP vs SRT comparison covers that setup.
How to Choose for Your Setup
- Gaming PC with a recent NVIDIA, AMD or Intel graphics card: use that card's hardware encoder in OBS. Send H.264, or AV1 if the card encodes it (for example a GeForce RTX 40 series card, or an RX 7000 series or Intel Arc card on Windows) and your upload is the limit.
- Older graphics card: run two private test streams, one with the hardware encoder and one with x264 on veryfast, and compare. OBS itself calls early hardware encoders a last resort.
- Mac: on Apple Silicon use VideoToolbox with H.264. On an Intel Mac use x264, as OBS requires.
- Cameras and a switcher, no computer wanted: a standalone hardware encoder from YouTube's list.
- A second PC or a server that only streams: x264. Nothing else needs the CPU, and you avoid depending on a particular graphics chip.
Whatever you pick, test it. YouTube asks you to test before you go live, with "audio and movement in the video similar to what you'll be doing in the stream", and to monitor stream health during the event. A private or unlisted test stream on your own machine tells you more than any comparison chart. If YouTube's health panel shows warnings, our health dashboard guide explains them.
Where Space-Node's Streaming Plans Fit
On our streaming plans, set OBS to the x264 software encoder, which runs on the CPU. The graphics on those machines are mostly shared and differ per machine, so do not plan around a hardware encoder there; choose the plan by resolution and frame rate instead. The plan page lists 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps for Platinum, 1080p at 60 fps or 1440p at 30 fps for Emerald, 1440p at 60 fps for Diamond and two 1080p 60 fps streams for Sapphire. You use the server from your web browser, and the stream keeps running while your own PC is off.
FAQ
What is the best encoder for YouTube live streaming?
For most people it is OBS Studio with the hardware encoder of a recent graphics card, because OBS recommends hardware encoders for performance and OBS is on YouTube's verified list. On a machine without a good hardware encoder, or a machine that only streams, x264 is the better choice.
Is NVENC better than x264 for YouTube Live?
On a gaming PC with a recent NVIDIA card, usually yes: OBS generally recommends hardware encoders because they leave the CPU free for the game. Early generations are the exception: OBS says they look worse than x264 on veryfast at the same bitrate. On a machine that does nothing but stream, x264 is a sound choice. Our x264 vs NVENC guide goes deeper.
Does YouTube Live accept AV1 and HEVC?
Yes. YouTube lists H.264, H.265 (HEVC) and AV1 as video codecs for RTMP and RTMPS, and its recommended bitrates for AV1 and H.265 are lower, for example 12 Mbps against 17 Mbps with H.264 at 1080p60. For HDR it lists H.265 only and says AV1 is not supported for HDR.
Should I use RTMP or RTMPS for YouTube?
RTMPS. YouTube recommends it because it is RTMP over an encrypted TLS connection. Click the lock icon next to the Stream URL in the Live Control Room to get the RTMPS address. Use HLS only when you need HDR or a codec your encoder cannot send over RTMP, and accept the higher latency.
Can I stream to YouTube without a graphics card?
Yes. x264 runs on the CPU and needs no graphics card for the encoding, and it is the encoder OBS requires for streaming on Intel Macs. Keep in mind that OBS still needs GPU time to draw your scenes, and that x264 sends H.264, so the H.264 column of YouTube's bitrate table applies.
Sources
All opened on 8 November 2026:
- YouTube Help: Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions, Create a YouTube live stream with an encoder (verified encoder list), Encrypt your stream using RTMPS, Set up an HLS stream
- OBS: Hardware Encoding, Encoding Performance Troubleshooting, release notes for OBS Studio 28.1, 29.0, 29.1 and 30.1, pull request 8522: Enable AV1, HEVC via RTMP to YouTube
- NVIDIA: AV1 streaming on GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs with OBS Studio 29.1 and YouTube
- VideoLAN: x264