What is restreaming?
Restreaming is the practical way to send one live feed to multiple platforms without multiplying upload or CPU. You send one stream in and a relay fans it out to every destination you configure.
How restreaming works
You publish a single stream from your encoder to a restreaming service over RTMP, RTSP or SRT. The service then relays a copy of that feed to each destination you’ve configured — Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, a custom endpoint — from its own servers.
The key idea is that the duplication happens on the service’s infrastructure, not your machine, so reaching more platforms does not cost you more upload or CPU.
Restreaming vs multistreaming vs simulcasting
In practice these are the same thing: one source, many simultaneous destinations. “Simulcasting” emphasises the “at the same time” part; “multistreaming” the “many platforms” part; “restreaming” the relay itself. Do not overthink the labels.
When you need it
When your audience is split across platforms, when you want a backup destination, when you want to record or embed centrally, or when you simply don’t want to manage several encoders and a strained upload connection.
What a good relay does for you
A good relay keeps your source stable, fans out to each destination independently, and gives you one place to monitor health, restarts, recording and public watch pages. That is the practical difference between a hobby setup and a service you can depend on.
Frequently asked questions
Is restreaming the same as multistreaming?
Effectively yes — both mean relaying one inbound stream to multiple destinations at once.
Does restreaming cost extra bandwidth?
Not on your side — a server-side relay duplicates the stream on its own servers, so your upload stays at a single stream.
Is restreaming legal?
Usually yes, if you have the rights to the content and the destination platforms allow the type of stream you are sending. Always follow the platform terms and your content rights.