Upstream.so Review: Can You Rely On It For 24/7 Live Streams?

In my Upstream.so review, I’ll be dissecting this tool to the bone. So, forget about Reddit forums or Quora answers, you’ll get everything you need right here.

Why trust me? I’ve been using Upstream.so uninterruptedly for 6 months for my relaxing music YouTube channel, so I know its strengths and weaknesses.

While it’s not completely perfect by any means (no software is, btw), you’ll barely notice its imperfections if you intend to create 24/7 live streams on YouTube.

In this review, I’ll show you everything important to know before buying, including price, my experience, relevant features, and more.

Pros and Cons

Based on my experience with the tool and reviews from Trustpilot, here are some benefits and drawbacks actual users are experiencing:

Upstream Pros

• User-Friendly: It’s very easy to use, even for those not tech-savvy, with no complications in setting up and going live.
• Excellent Support: Responsive customer service with real people, not bots, quickly solving issues.
• Streamlining Made Simple: From setup to going live, Upstream simplifies the process, doing almost everything for you.
• 24/7 Streaming: Keeps your stream running round the clock without needing additional hardware.
• Content Management: Although some pointed out missing features, the platform allows for effective content organization and scheduling.
• Satisfaction & Reliability: New customers have expressed high satisfaction with the service quality and reliability, noting a significant improvement over previous solutions.

Upstream Cons

• Advanced Scheduling: Some users are looking for more options to schedule their streams.
• Integration Options: Some would like it if Upstream played nicer with other services they use.
• Detailed Analytics: There’s a need for deeper insights into how the streams are performing.

Overview of Upstream

Upstream.so is a handy tool that changes the game for those who create content on YouTube. Imagine being able to host your own live stream, non-stop, any time of day—that’s now possible.

What is it? It’s a tool that lets you host pre-recorded videos as live streams 24/7 without stopping.

Who is it for? It’s made for YouTubers who want to bump up their subscriber count and reach new audiences using the power of live streams without server setup, maintenance, or any technical knowledge.

You can also schedule your videos to go live when you want and queue and reorder them in the drag-and-drop dashboard.

And if you get stuck, there’s help available via live chat 24/7. At the beginning of my live streams, I had to talk to them to resolve some issues, and they responded immediately.

Why I Love Upstream

After using Upstream for months, here’s what I love the most about this great tool:

• Uninterrupted live streams: My live stream has been running without stopping for months, and I couldn’t be happier.
• No maintenance: Yes, you read that right. After you publish your live stream, there’s no need to do anything (unless you want to stop it).
• No tech setups: Before using Upstream, I bought a VPS (virtual private server) from a hosting company and tried to create my own stream. Boy, was that a challenge! And in the end, I couldn’t even get it up and running, as the technical side was huge—too many issues occurring. Investing in Upstream was the best thing I did for my live streaming.
• 24/7 live chat: Upstream had trouble with my video’s codec. But all it took was a quick chat message, and just like that, no more problem.

This guy on Trustpilot had a similar issue:

Not sure about the 4-star rating, though! Why not 5?

24/7 Video Streaming

The most sought-out feature of Upstream is its ability to queue several video files in your chosen order (or shuffled) for creating your perfect live stream.

You may order your videos to your liking and add transition effects like fades, slides, swipes or scale-outs (and even control how long the transition lasts).

And if your videos don’t have music (imagine landscapes and nature videos) and you wish to play different music tracks to go along, that’s possible. Just upload your tracks and that’s it.

A cool feature is that it allows you to mix both video and audio sound volumes, letting you achieve a perfect blend of both files. For example, if your video channel volume is set at 50 and the audio also at 50, you’ll hear both sounds simultaneously at the same level.

Want to schedule your livestream start and end dates? No problem.

Audio Playlists

Upstream is not limited to video files. It allows you to create playlists of your favorite songs or radio streams.

24/7 Live Streaming Music

Yes, with Upstream you don’t have to create live streams with video files only.

You can upload an unlimited number of audio tracks (as long as you don’t exceed your account’s limits in gigabytes) and select different background images to go along.

Then, in the Stream Designer, you can choose to add a song name display that changes with each track.

This is a great way to create song playlists to play uninterruptedly, even while you sleep.

24/7 Live Radio Streaming

Got a radio stream of your own and want your YouTube audience to find out? No problem! Just paste your stream URL and you’ll get a live stream in just a few minutes minutes.

Stream Designer

The Stream Designer offers a Photoshopish-like dashboard where you can play around with your live stream. From adding shapes and text with custom fonts to dynamically displaying song names and animations, this is the place to go.

If you want to tell your audience to listen to your music track on Spotify or Apple Music, there are neat labels for that, also.

This feature lets you customize your livestream appearance to match your style.

You can get your creativity flowing and turn your live stream into something awesome. Don’t let any snags in the setup stop you from going live and showing off your skills to the world.

Stream Settings

Continuing with my Upstream review, let’s check the stream settings. This is where you’ll tell Upstream how your live stream will work.

These are the most important settings you can select and choose:

• Resolution: Choose from 720p or 1080p, both horizontal or vertical. If you don’t know, for a video frame with a 16:9 aspect ratio, you should select 1080p horizontal.
• Platform: Upstream is not limited to YouTube. You can also live stream 24/7 to Twitch, Facebook, Mixcloud, Rumble, and Kick.
• Source URL: This is the URL of your YouTube live stream.
• Stream Key: It can be found when you’re setting up your YouTube stream. For a detailed step-by-step guide, you can read here.

How to Set Up a Live Stream 24/7 on YouTube Using Upstream

Here’s a simplified guide on setting up your stream using Upstream.

1. Get Your Content Ready

1. Create Content: Produce new content specifically for your live stream. This can include filming new videos or repurposing existing content from your channel.
2. Download Content: Alternatively, download royalty-free music and images from websites like Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay to use in your streams.

2. Set Up YouTube for 24/7 Live Streaming

1. Create a YouTube Channel: Start by creating a YouTube channel if you don’t have one already.
2. Verify Your Account & Enable Live Streaming: Go to your channel settings, click on “Feature eligibility,” and verify your phone number to unlock all features.
3. Set Up YouTube Live: Go to the “Go Live” option and set up a new stream, choosing the start time and whether your content is made for kids or adults.

3. Set Up Your Streaming Software for 24/7 Live Streaming

1. Sign Up for Upstream: Visit Upstream’s website and sign up for an account.
2. Create a New Stream: Click on “Start Your First 24/7 Stream,” fill in the stream information, connect the stream key from YouTube, and enter the Stream URL.

4. Build Your 24/7 Live Stream

1. Select a Stream Type: Choose between “24/7 Image/GIF Background” or “24/7 Video Background.”
2. Upload Video & Audio: Add a background video or image and audio files related to your content.
3. Organize & Edit Your Content: Use the drag & drop builder to organize your playlist, adjust volume, and add custom overlays and transitions.

5. Start Your Stream

1. Go Live: Click the “Start stream” button in your streaming software. After one minute, your stream will be live.
2. Check Your Stream is Live: Verify in YouTube Studio and YouTube.com that your stream is correctly running.

That’s it!

For a more detailed guide on setting up a 24/7 live stream on YouTube, you can look into Upstream’s blog.

Upstream Pricing

All Upstream plans offer live streaming in Full HD (1080p) and 320kbps audio quality non-stop. Basically, the only features that change with each plan are the number of streams and storage.

Right now, I’m using the Basic plan, although one of my livestreams isn’t getting much traffic. That’s because I’m trying to get seen for a specific search term, but none of my videos show up for it yet.

So, just because you’re live, it doesn’t mean you’re going to have viewers.

But the only way to know for sure is to try first.

And here's a sweet deal: Through this link only, add the code UPT20 and get a 20% discount on your Upstream subscription. You can thank me later.

Free Trial

You can sign up for a free trial and start a live stream immediately without paying a penny. If you decide to keep it, you must then subscribe to a paid plan.

Upstream’s free trial only lasts 24 hours, but that’s more than enough to evaluate the tool.

Alternatives to Upstream

If you’re considering building 24/7 live streams on YouTube, it’s best to inspect other tools, don’t you think? However, you’ll soon realize that Upstream is the most affordable.

• LiveReacting: They charge $349.99 /mo for one 24/7 live channel. That’s a bit too much, in my opinion!
• Gyre: While they offer 4K live streaming, you must subscribe to their higher plans to get the same features Upstream offers in its Lite plan. Less storage and platforms.
• Permastream: Has limited features but lets you run one live stream for $30. You can have multiple accounts, but that soon adds up, so Upstream is much more affordable and feature-rich.

Wrapping Things Up

I hope my Upstream.so review has cleared any doubts about this great platform for hosting your live streams.

One thing I forgot! Do you need to keep your computer on while live streaming? Of course not! Everything is done in Upstream servers around the globe.

In my 6-month streaming, I have never had a downtime. But even if I did, they provide a backup stream as a fallback to the main stream. That’s why I’m confident about this tool, and I’m sure you’ll be too.

Don’t forget to use your 20% discount when signing up for an account.

If you’re already an expert on live streaming, let me know if I’m missing something here.