If you’ve ever tried to set up a live stream using OBS, Streemzy, or any other streaming software, you’ve probably come across the term RTMP. But what is RTMP streaming, and why does it matter for live streamers? This beginner-friendly guide explains everything you need to know about RTMP — what it is, how it works, and how to use it to stream to any platform.
What Does RTMP Stand For?
RTMP stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol. It was originally developed by Macromedia (later acquired by Adobe) as a protocol for transmitting audio, video, and data over the internet in real time. RTMP is the technology that connects your streaming software to platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook Live, and hundreds of other destinations. When you “stream” a live broadcast, RTMP is almost always the technology doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes.
How Does RTMP Streaming Work?
RTMP streaming works in two parts: your streaming software (like OBS or Streemzy) encodes your video and audio into a compressed format, then sends that data to a streaming platform’s RTMP ingest server using a Stream URL and Stream Key. The ingest server receives your stream, re-encodes it as needed, and distributes it to viewers around the world via a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
Think of RTMP as a pipeline: your encoder is at one end filling the pipe with your video data, and the streaming platform’s server is at the other end — receiving that data and pushing it out to everyone watching your live stream.
RTMP Server URL and Stream Key Explained
Every streaming platform provides two pieces of information you need to stream via RTMP: a Server URL (also called an ingest URL or RTMP URL) and a Stream Key. The Server URL tells your software where to send the stream — for example, YouTube’s RTMP server URL is rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2. The Stream Key is a unique private code that tells the platform which specific channel to broadcast to. You’ll find both in your streaming platform’s dashboard settings.
How to Set Up RTMP Streaming with OBS
- Open OBS Studio and go to Settings → Stream
- In the “Service” dropdown, either select your platform (YouTube, Twitch, etc.) or choose “Custom” for any RTMP destination
- Enter the Server URL in the Server field
- Paste your Stream Key in the Stream Key field
- Click OK, then click “Start Streaming” in the OBS main window
Custom RTMP Streaming: Stream Anywhere
One of the most powerful aspects of RTMP is that it’s an open protocol — any platform that supports RTMP can receive your stream, not just the major consumer platforms. This means you can stream to private servers, enterprise video platforms, custom CDNs, niche streaming sites, and even your own website if you run an RTMP server. Using a custom RTMP destination in Streemzy, you can stream to any RTMP-compatible endpoint alongside your standard platforms.
RTMP vs Other Streaming Protocols
While RTMP is the dominant protocol for live stream ingestion (sending from encoder to server), other protocols handle stream delivery to viewers. HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and DASH are the most common protocols used to deliver streams from servers to viewers’ browsers and devices. RTMP is still the preferred choice for the encoder-to-server leg of live streaming because of its low latency, reliability, and near-universal support across streaming platforms and software.
Multistreaming via RTMP
Using RTMP, you can send your stream to multiple platforms simultaneously through a multistreaming service. Instead of configuring multiple RTMP outputs manually, Streemzy handles the distribution for you — you send one RTMP stream to Streemzy, and Streemzy simultaneously forwards it to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and any other destinations you’ve connected. This is far simpler than managing multiple stream keys and connections yourself, and it puts much less strain on your upload bandwidth and computer hardware.
Ready to put RTMP streaming to work? Sign up for Streemzy free and start sending your stream to every major platform at once.