Radio Bandwidth Calculator
Find out how much data your SHOUTcast or Icecast stream uses and how fast a connection it needs. Set your bitrate, listeners and hours on air: the results update as you go.
Your average number of people listening at once. For network speed, enter your busiest moment.
100 listeners at 128 kbps, 24 hours a day for 30 days.
An estimate: real listeners come and go. Prices are monthly, from our store.
How Radio Bandwidth Is Calculated
Every listener receives your stream at its bitrate for as long as they listen. Multiply the three together and divide by 8 to turn bits into bytes.
Example: 128 kbps × 100 listeners × 86,400 seconds a day × 30 days ÷ 8 = 4.15 TB a month. The speed you need is bitrate × listeners: 128 kbps × 100 = 12.8 Mbps.
We use decimal units, the way bandwidth is billed: 1 kbps is 1,000 bits per second and 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Use your average listeners for monthly data and your peak listeners for network speed.
| Bitrate | Per hour | Per day (24 h) | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 kbps | 14.4 MB | 0.35 GB | Speech |
| 64 kbps | 28.8 MB | 0.69 GB | Talk, AAC music |
| 96 kbps | 43.2 MB | 1.04 GB | Music |
| 128 kbps | 57.6 MB | 1.38 GB | Most music stations |
| 192 kbps | 86.4 MB | 2.07 GB | High quality |
| 320 kbps | 144 MB | 3.46 GB | Best quality |
Which Bitrate Should You Use?
Pick the lowest bitrate that sounds right for your content. Halving the bitrate halves the data.
Talk and speech
News, sport, talk shows and podcasts. Voice stays clear, and listeners on mobile data use very little.
Most music stations
The usual balance of sound and data. With AAC, 64 to 96 kbps often sounds as good as MP3 at 128 kbps.
High-quality music
For audiences on good connections who care about detail. Uses up to two and a half times the data of 128 kbps.
Radio stream, with engineers on call
A silent stream loses listeners fast. Every radio stream includes Free Basic Managed Support, and if something bigger breaks, or you want new features, you can call in a streaming engineer for one job without signing a support contract.
Free Basic Managed Support
Complimentary, best-effort help with quick tasks of about 5 minutes: panel access, stream and port checks, encoder connection help, DNS pointing, service restarts and first-level troubleshooting.
What is included →Plug-and-play expert help
AutoDJ setup, migrations, relays, custom players or emergency recovery. From $8 per 15 minutes or $28 per hour, only when you need it.
See on-demand support →AI, automation & custom builds
Grow the station: automated scheduling, listener stats dashboards, website and app players, and n8n or AI workflows for show prep and social posts.
Plan a project →Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about the plans, support and billing.
Ready to Go On Air?
Tell us your bitrate and audience and we will suggest the right radio plan, from shared hosting to a dedicated server.