What's installed on your Owncast server?
- Owncast 0.3 with its stream page, web chat and admin panel
- The default abc123 password and stream key are replaced during install, and the new ones show in your panel
- RTMP input on port 1935/TCP
- HTTPS through Caddy, so viewers open the page on an sslip.io address
- Firewall with ports 22, 80, 443 and 1935 open
What size do you need for Owncast?
Owncast's documentation doesn't give one requirement, because output quality sets the load. In its measured examples, one core can often transcode one quality at 30 fps, 60 fps takes twice the CPU, and passthrough uses very little. Viewer numbers raise traffic, not CPU load. As a rule of thumb, start with 2 GB of RAM and 2 CPUs for one quality, and look at 4 GB and more CPUs for two. Video segments are written to disk briefly and then removed, so disk only grows with the database and your files.
| Use | Size | Price | Choose |
|---|---|---|---|
| New publication | 2 GB RAM · 2 vCore · 40 GB NVMe | $4.51/mo | |
| Growing publication | 4 GB RAM · 2 vCore · 60 GB NVMe | $6.89/mo | |
| Busy publication | 8 GB RAM · 4 vCore · 120 GB NVMe | $13.62/mo |
Who is it for?
- Teachers and communities who want to stream at their own address
- OBS users who want to set the rules of their own page
- Small and mid-sized audiences who want chat alongside the stream
- Anyone sharing a stream without asking viewers for a platform account
What happens after you order?
- Set the size and complete your payment.
- Your server starts and Owncast installs itself.
- Open your server from My servers in the panel and follow the Admin address link. The login is admin, and the password is in the Password row.
- In OBS, enter rtmp://your-server-address/live as the server. The stream key is in your panel's Admin key row.
- In the admin panel's video settings, choose a single output quality and watch your CPU use.
- Go live and share your Site address with viewers. For your own domain, see the article in our knowledge base.
With every server
- Daily backups included in the price
- Unlimited traffic
- Full root access
- Scale RAM and CPU up or down later, and grow the disk
- Location: Istanbul · IST-1.
Good to know
- The server has no graphics card, and Owncast's docs note that hardware encoding isn't available on a VPS. If several qualities or 60 fps are too much for the CPU, viewers will see buffering, so try one quality first.
- Passthrough eases the CPU, but depending on the source, the video may not play at all for some viewers. Test it before you turn it on.
- Set your broadcasting software to what the server can deliver. Sending 1080p and asking for lower qualities adds to the conversion work.
- You hold the legal responsibility for your stream and its chat. Check the rights before showing music, matches or films.
- Owncast is free and open source (MIT), with no paid tier or outside account.
- Anyone with the stream key can broadcast, so don't share it. Keeping Owncast up to date is your job.
Owncast questions and answers
How do I connect OBS to an Owncast server?
Set OBS to a custom streaming service and enter rtmp://your-server-address/live as the server. The stream key is in the Admin key row of your panel. Your stream comes in on port 1935/TCP, and viewers watch the page on ports 80 and 443.
How much RAM does Owncast need?
Owncast gives no single figure, because output quality sets the load. As a rule of thumb, start with 2 GB of RAM and 2 CPUs for one quality, and look at 4 GB and more CPUs for two. You scale up from your panel. The server restarts once and your address stays the same.
Does Owncast work without a GPU?
Yes, video is transcoded on the CPU. In Owncast's measured examples, one core can often handle one quality at 30 fps, and 60 fps takes twice the CPU. Seturack servers have no graphics card, so choose the number of qualities your CPU can carry.
How many viewers can Owncast handle?
There's no fixed number, and the network sets the limit. You need bitrate x viewers in outbound bandwidth: the official table shows 4000 kbps and 25 viewers as 100 Mbps. CPU load doesn't rise with viewers. That same example uses 90 GB in a two-hour stream, and traffic is unlimited.
Does Owncast record my streams?
Owncast writes video segments to disk temporarily and removes them as the stream goes on, so no lasting archive builds up. If you want a recording, turn it on in your broadcasting software too. Chat history and settings stay on the server, which is backed up every night.
How do I log in to the Owncast admin panel?
Open the Admin address link in your panel. The login is admin, and the password is in the Password row. The default abc123 details are replaced during install and no longer work. The Username and Password rows further down the page are for SSH.