Last updated: 2026-01-20

Most people can connect streaming software to YouTube by either linking their YouTube account directly in the app or pasting YouTube’s RTMP/RTMPS server URL and stream key. If you want the simplest path for guests and multi‑streaming, using a browser-based studio like StreamYard to connect to YouTube is usually the fastest way.

Summary

• Most tools connect to YouTube using your channel’s RTMP/RTMPS URL and stream key, or by authorizing your Google account.
• StreamYard lets you connect your YouTube channel directly, schedule streams, and even connect to YouTube RTMP events on paid plans. (StreamYard)
• You find your YouTube stream key and RTMP URL inside YouTube Studio under Stream Settings after you click Go live. (Restream)
• OBS, Streamlabs, Riverside, and Restream all work with YouTube; StreamYard is usually the easiest option when you care about guests, reliability, and low-friction setup.

What do you need before connecting streaming software to YouTube?

Before you touch any settings in your streaming software, make sure YouTube is ready to go.

1. A YouTube channel with live streaming enabled

If live streaming is not yet enabled, you’ll need to verify your channel and wait for YouTube to unlock live streaming. You may need to wait up to 24 hours after verification before live streaming is enabled. (StreamYard)

Quick prep checklist:

• Sign in to YouTube.
• Create or select the channel you want to stream from.
• Verify the channel with a phone number if prompted.
• Wait up to 24 hours for live streaming access to activate.

2. The right permissions on the YouTube channel

If you are connecting a YouTube channel to StreamYard, you must be either:

• The Owner of the channel, or
• The Manager/Owner of the Brand account associated with that channel. (StreamYard)

If you are using a Brand account, some users also need to manually select “Manage your YouTube account” on the Google permissions screen when linking StreamYard so we can access the channel. (StreamYard)

Most desktop encoders like OBS and Streamlabs do not require specific channel roles beyond being signed in with the right Google account, but if you hit errors, always double‑check you are logged into the correct YouTube profile.

3. A stable internet connection and a basic plan for your software

For most of the tools in this article:

• StreamYard: free plan is available, with Core at $35.99/mo and Advanced at $68.99/mo billed annually. We also offer a 7‑day free trial and special offers for new users.
• OBS Studio and Streamlabs Desktop: free downloads.
• Riverside and Restream: paid and free tiers; check their plan pages for details.

One important StreamYard detail: connecting an existing scheduled YouTube Live stream via RTMP is available on our paid plans. (StreamYard)

Once you have YouTube access, the rest of the process comes down to either:

• Authorized connection (log in with Google), or
• Manual RTMP (server URL + stream key).

Let’s walk through both.

How do you find your YouTube stream key and RTMP URL?

Almost every live streaming app will ask you for two pieces of information at some point:

• Stream URL (or Server URL)
• Stream Key

YouTube exposes both inside YouTube Studio.

Here’s the general path that works for OBS, Streamlabs, Riverside, Restream, and RTMP in StreamYard:

1. Go to YouTube Studio in your browser.
2. Click Create in the top right.
3. Click Go live.
4. In the streaming interface, look for Stream Settings.
5. Under Stream Settings, you will see your Stream key with options to copy or reset it. (Restream)
6. In the same area, you will see the RTMP or RTMPS server URL for YouTube.

YouTube recommends using the RTMP(S) streaming protocol when you are using third‑party encoders. (YouTube Creator Academy)

A couple of practical notes:

• Treat your stream key like a password. Anyone with it can stream to your channel.
• If you think it has been exposed, reset it inside Stream Settings.
• Depending on your account, you may see options labeled differently (like “Stream” vs “Encoder”), because YouTube rolls changes out gradually and not all creators see the same UI at the same time. (YouTube Creator Academy)

Once you have the URL and key, you can plug them into almost any encoder.

How do you connect StreamYard to YouTube (the simple way)?

At StreamYard, our goal is to make this part almost boringly easy.

Instead of copying keys around, the default flow is to link your YouTube channel directly to your StreamYard account.

Step 1: Connect your YouTube channel to StreamYard

1. Sign in to your StreamYard account.
2. Go to Destinations.
3. Click Add a destination.
4. Select YouTube.
5. Choose the Google account that owns or manages the channel.
6. When the Google permissions page appears, make sure the channel you want is selected. Some users need to manually check “Manage your YouTube account” to see all eligible channels. (StreamYard)
7. Confirm and return to StreamYard.

If you’re the channel Owner or a Manager/Owner of a Brand account, the channel will now appear as a destination in StreamYard. (StreamYard)

Step 2: Create a YouTube stream from within StreamYard

1. From your StreamYard dashboard, click Create.
2. Choose Live stream or Record (if you want a pre‑recorded video that later goes to YouTube).
3. Select the connected YouTube channel as your destination.
4. Add your title, description, thumbnail, and schedule time if you want to go live later.
5. Enter the studio and set up your camera, mic, and overlays.
6. When you’re ready, click Go live.

That’s it—no stream key copying required.

We hear from users all the time that StreamYard is “more intuitive and easy to use,” that guests “can join easily and reliably without tech problems,” and that it “passes the ‘grandparent test’.” For many creators, that simplicity is more valuable than any advanced setting.

If you still prefer to use raw RTMP details—for example, to connect to a livestream already scheduled in YouTube—you can do that too.

How do you connect StreamYard to a scheduled YouTube Live using RTMP?

Sometimes you create the stream first in YouTube—maybe to use a very specific workflow, custom ingestion settings, or an integration that depends on YouTube’s scheduling tools.

You can still run that show out of StreamYard.

On StreamYard’s paid plans, you can connect to an existing YouTube Live event using RTMP. (StreamYard)

Here’s the high‑level playbook:

1. In YouTube Studio, schedule your live event.
2. After scheduling, open the event and go to Stream Settings.
3. Copy the Stream URL (RTMP/RTMPS) and the Stream key for that event.
4. In StreamYard, create a Custom RTMP destination.
5. Paste the RTMP URL and Stream key from YouTube into the RTMP destination fields. (StreamYard)
6. Save the destination.
7. When you create a broadcast in StreamYard, select this RTMP destination.

Now, when you go live in StreamYard, you will be sending your show directly into the scheduled YouTube event.

Why use RTMP here instead of direct channel linking? Usually because:

• You want very fine‑grained control of the YouTube event inside YouTube itself.
• You have other tools listening to that specific ingest endpoint.
• You’re mapping a complex event setup but still want StreamYard’s studio and guest experience.

For most people, though, direct channel connection is faster and less error‑prone.

How do you connect OBS to YouTube using a stream key?

OBS Studio is a powerful, free encoder. It can also feel intimidating, especially if all you want is to talk to a camera and bring on a few guests.

If you prefer the OBS route, the core steps look like this:

1. Install and open OBS Studio.
2. In OBS, go to Settings → Stream.
3. Set Service to YouTube or YouTube - RTMPS if available.
4. In another browser tab, open YouTube Studio → Go live.
5. Under Stream Settings, copy your Stream key. (Restream)
6. Paste that stream key into the Stream Key field in OBS.
7. If OBS does not auto‑fill the server URL, copy the RTMP/RTMPS server URL from YouTube Stream Settings and paste it into OBS’s Server field.
8. Click Apply, then OK.
9. Build your scenes and sources in OBS.
10. When you’re ready, click Start Streaming in OBS. You’ll see the preview in YouTube Studio, and you can click Go live there to push the stream public.

Many creators start here, then later move to a browser‑based studio like StreamYard because they prioritize ease of use over complex, manual scene building. We hear from people who “looked into OBS and found it was too convoluted” and “discovered StreamYard and jumped on it for its ease of use, user‑friendliness, and clean setup.”

If you love tinkering with scenes, filters, and deeply customized workflows, OBS can be a good fit. But if you care more about getting a reliable show out the door with guests and branding, tools like StreamYard usually get you there faster.

How do you connect Streamlabs, Riverside, and Restream to YouTube?

All of these tools follow the same two patterns: direct authorization or RTMP.

Streamlabs

Streamlabs Desktop is built on top of OBS with extra UX and overlays.

Typical YouTube setup:

• Sign into Streamlabs with your streaming account.
• Go to Settings → Stream.
• Either connect directly to YouTube if Streamlabs offers an account link, or choose Custom RTMP.
• If using custom RTMP, grab the Stream URL and Stream key from YouTube Studio’s Stream Settings and paste them in.

Because it’s still a desktop encoder, you handle more of the scene‑building and CPU management yourself.

Riverside

Riverside is designed primarily around high‑quality remote recordings and local tracks, with live streaming as an option.

To go live to YouTube from Riverside, you typically:

• Create a studio or session.
• Add YouTube as a live destination, either by connecting your Google account or pasting RTMP details, depending on your workflow.
• Start the live session inside Riverside, which pushes the feed to YouTube.

Riverside can be a good choice if your top priority is multi‑track local recording of guests and you only occasionally go live. When your main goal is live streaming with multiple guests and multi‑streaming, many creators find browser‑based studios like StreamYard “more intuitive and easy to use” and appreciate “the option to have multiple seats.”

Restream

Restream focuses on sending one broadcast to multiple platforms.

The usual YouTube connection flow is:

• In Restream, add YouTube as a channel, typically by logging into your Google account.
• Optionally, use YouTube’s Stream URL and Stream key if you prefer RTMP.
• Go live from Restream Studio or from an external encoder connected to Restream.

Some users who have tried both tell us StreamYard is “easier than ReStream,” especially for onboarding non‑technical guests and running a clean production.

In practice, you can also point StreamYard into Restream via RTMP or vice versa, but for most creators, that added complexity isn’t necessary.

Can you stream to YouTube and Facebook at the same time from OBS?

Yes, but you’ll need extra plumbing.

OBS itself is built to stream to one destination at a time. To stream to YouTube and Facebook simultaneously, you would typically:

• Use a multi‑stream service like Restream or StreamYard as the RTMP destination, then have that service relay your stream to YouTube, Facebook, and others.
• Or run multiple instances/virtual outputs of OBS and send to different platforms, which is more advanced and hardware‑intensive.

With StreamYard, multi‑streaming is built in. Many users “default to StreamYard when they have remote guests or need multi‑streaming” because they can:

• Connect YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more as destinations.
• Create one broadcast.
• Check the boxes for all the platforms they want.
• Go live once and hit every destination at the same time.

For most creators, that’s far simpler than managing multiple RTMP outputs from OBS.

When is StreamYard a better choice than OBS, Streamlabs, Riverside, or Restream?

Let’s zoom out and look at the real‑world trade‑offs.

When StreamYard shines

From what we hear from customers, people choose StreamYard because:

• They “prioritize ease of use over complex setups like OBS or StreamLabs.”
• They “love the clean interface” and say it’s “easier than other platforms” they’ve tried.
• Guests “can join easily and reliably without tech problems” and they don’t have to download an app.

You open a browser, share a link with your guest, and you’re both in the studio. It’s that simple.

Creators also call out:

• “Easy RTMP setup” when they need custom connections.
• “Production control” with layouts, banners, and brand elements.
• “Higher quality of the recordings” and automatic live‑to‑VOD conversion for repurposing.
• “Embedded live streams on branded portal” and a “consistent user experience (same link always)” when running recurring events.
• The ability to have multiple remote producers in a single studio.

If you’re running:

• A weekly live show.
• Webinars with Q&A.
• Multi‑guest interviews or panel discussions.
• Multi‑stream broadcasts to YouTube + other platforms.

StreamYard is often the best default choice.

When another tool might be better

There are still valid reasons to pick a different app:

• If you absolutely need ultra‑deep scene scripting and low‑level control, OBS is stronger in that specific niche.
• If your top priority is local multi‑track recording over live streaming, Riverside can make sense.
• If you want to pipe one encoder into many platforms from a single RTMP input, Restream’s hub model is helpful.

The trade‑off is that these tools can introduce more complexity, more setup time, and more chances for tech confusion—especially for non‑technical guests.

For many teams, that extra complexity does not translate into better outcomes. They care more about reliability, simplicity, and getting a great show out the door on time.

What we recommend

• Default to StreamYard for YouTube live if you want the simplest way to connect, bring on guests, and multi‑stream without fighting your tools.
• Use YouTube’s RTMP URL and stream key when you need to connect an existing scheduled YouTube event, whether that’s from StreamYard on a paid plan or another encoder. (StreamYard)
• Pick OBS or Streamlabs only if you know you need that level of manual scene control and you’re comfortable managing encoders.
• Keep your setup as simple as possible so you can spend more energy on your content, not your config.