Live stream to Instagram and Facebook at the same time

Multiply your viewers and boost your engagement by streaming your video live to both your Facebook and Instagram accounts simultaneously. With Restream, you can go live on both platforms without needing extra bandwidth.

Restream is a multistreaming service that allows you to stream to multiple destinations at once. All you have to do is sync your Facebook, Instagram or other accounts with Restream (it takes less than three minutes). Then, you can go live from your web browser using Restream’s live streaming studio, or you can integrate Restream with your favorite encoding software, such as OBS Studio. You can start streaming to Facebook and Instagram for free with Restream.

1. Connect your Facebook and Restream accounts.

  1. Create a Restream account and log in.
  2. Navigate to your Restream Dashboard and click Add destination.
  3. Select the Facebook icon.
  4. Select whether you want to connect to your Facebook profile or a group/public page that your profile manages. Note that you need a Restream paid plan if you want to stream to a group or page.
  5. You will automatically be led to the Facebook website, where you can enter your Facebook credentials and allow Restream to access your Facebook account.
  6. Select the visibility of your streams as public to prevent any issues with Restream's permissions and click Continue.
  7. Allow Restream to manage your pages and groups. Ensure you are granting access and checking all groups and pages you'd like to stream to.

2. Connect your Instagram and Restream accounts.

Note that to stream to your Instagram profile from your desktop, you’ll need a Professional Instagram account with access to Instagram Live Producer.

  1. Open instagram.com on your desktop, click the Create button (a plus in a square), and select Live video from the drop-down menu. You won’t see this option if you don’t have access to Instagram Live Producer.
  2. Enter the title of your live video and select your audience: Private will keep your stream private, and Public will broadcast to all your followers.
  3. You’ll then see a screen that contains your unique RTMP URL and stream key. The stream key is not permanent. It will refresh for each new stream.
  4. In a separate tab, open Restream.io. Click Edit/Add Destinations and click on the Instagram icon.
  5. Copy your unique RTMP URL and stream key from Instagram Live Producer into the fields of your Instagram channel and click Add channel.

3. Go live on Facebook and Instagram using Restream Studio.

  1. From your Restream dashboard, click Stream with Studio.
  2. Enter your name as you want it to appear on-stream (you can toggle it off later) and give access to your camera and microphone. Click Enter Studio.
  3. Inside the Studio, you can set your preferences for your stream. Make sure you’re streaming to both Instagram and Facebook by clicking Edit Destinations at the top of the screen. You can toggle your destinations on and off here.
  4. Click Go live in Restream Studio. Within Instagram Live Producer, you'll see a preview of what your stream will look like on Instagram Live. The preview can take a few seconds to display on the preview screen. Once you start to preview the broadcast, you have up to 5 hours to go live.
  5. Click Go live in Instagram Live Producer to start the stream. The Comments tab lets you read and respond to comments from viewers. Note that the Instagram comments will not appear in your Restream Chat. You don’t have to navigate to Facebook to start the stream there as well. It starts automatically when you click Go live in Restream Studio.
  6. To stop the stream, click End live video in Instagram Live Producer.
  7. If you end your stream in Restream before you end your Live Producer broadcast, the live video will continue while displaying the last frame received from the streaming software. To end your live video smoothly, stop the stream on Live Producer first before ending it on Restream.

Pro Tip: If you’re planning to stream to Facebook and Instagram at the same time, it's best to stream in portrait mode.

If you optimize the format of your stream to Facebook (horizontal mode), it could look cropped on Instagram. When your stream is optimized for Instagram, Facebook will show black bars on the edges rather than cropping your video.

FAQs

Is it better to go live on Facebook or Instagram?

It depends on your goals, and how many followers you have on each platform. Facebook is better for streams with a longer duration and has more features to help you control the quality of your stream and the experience for your viewers. However, if you want to do a more informal, conversational stream, Instagram is a better choice.

Can I go live on Facebook and Instagram at the same time?

You can go live on Facebook and Instagram at the same time if you use a multistreaming service like Restream. You’ll need to be able to go live on Instagram from a computer, which requires a Professional Instagram account with access to Instagram Live Producer.

How do I go live on multiple platforms?

To go live on multiple platforms at once, you need to have an account on each platform. You also need software that lets you multistream, such as Restream.