Restreamer itself has no ongoing licence cost, according to the datarhei project. For a self-hosted YouTube stream, the main recurring cost is the VPS, and the amount depends on the provider, its renewal terms and the resources your setup needs.
As one dated India-facing example, Hostinger listed its KVM 1 plan at ₹599 per month promotional pricing, with renewal shown at ₹999 per month for two years. That is a provider offer, not a universal cost or market average; check the current listing and checkout terms before you commit.
The short answer: budget for the VPS
Separate the software from the machine that runs it. Restreamer is self-hosted software; the VPS is a rented computer that stays online to relay or publish your video. The software licence is not the recurring line item in the example here, but the hosting charge is.
Your practical monthly cost is therefore the VPS charge plus any optional items you choose, such as a backup or domain. Neither is established as necessary for the YouTube-only workflow described here. Your total also depends on the provider’s billing period, renewal price, included data transfer and rules for any usage beyond the allowance.
The available figures below are from one provider’s listing, observed on 3 October 2026. They do not establish what other Indian VPS providers charge, or what a typical market price is. Treat the listed price as a point of comparison, then assess whether the resources and contract terms suit your stream.
A low introductory figure can be useful when you are testing a setup, but it does not tell you the ongoing cost by itself. For a channel intended to run overnight and through the week, look at the renewal price and commitment term before comparing headline offers.
Restreamer’s licence is not the VPS bill
The datarhei Restreamer project describes Restreamer as self-hosted software with no ongoing licence costs. That answers one part of the question: you do not add a recurring Restreamer software licence to the example VPS price. It does not make the computer, network transfer or any optional services free.
Restreamer can publish to YouTube, but setting it up still involves configuring the software and connecting it to your YouTube channel. The official quick-start documentation describes a Docker-based deployment and the main configuration steps. It is a deployment guide, not a promise that every VPS size will suit every source, workload or stream duration.
Be precise about the product name when you compare costs. Datarhei Restreamer is software you host yourself; Restream is a separate hosted live-streaming service with its own plans. A subscription price for the latter is not a licence charge for self-hosted Restreamer, and it should not be added to the VPS estimate.
The project’s description also does not establish that a particular provider is required. The Hostinger example is useful because its India-facing listing names Restreamer, but you can evaluate a VPS on the resources, transfer allowance, support and renewal terms rather than treating a software listing as a general recommendation.
One India-facing VPS offer and what it lists
Hostinger’s India-facing listing showed these KVM plan examples. The prices and resources below are attributed to Hostinger’s site as displayed on 3 October 2026; they are provider-listed terms, not a guaranteed checkout total.
| Plan | Promotional price | Renewal shown | Listed resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| KVM 1 | ₹599/month | ₹999/month for two years | 1 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe storage, 4 TB bandwidth |
| KVM 2 | ₹799/month | ₹1,199/month for two years | 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe storage, 8 TB bandwidth |
| KVM 4 | ₹1,099/month | ₹2,399/month for two years | 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 200 GB NVMe storage, 16 TB bandwidth |
The Hostinger Restreamer listing is the provider source for this example. Its listed plans differ in more than price: they also show different CPU, memory, storage and bandwidth allocations. A larger plan costs more, but may be worth considering if the stream has additional processing demands or you want more headroom. These figures do not prove a universal minimum configuration.
The figures are a snapshot of one provider’s offer, not a ranking of Indian VPS providers. They do not show that every account, billing period or checkout will receive the same price. The listing also mentions a 30-day money-back guarantee for KVM 1; treat that as a provider-specific offer subject to the current terms, not as a substitute for checking the contract before ordering.
When you compare plans, keep each resource in view. A plan with more storage does not automatically include more useful transfer for your stream, and a lower promotional price does not tell you how much you will pay after renewal. If you are weighing other ways to keep a channel live, our overview of low-cost VPS options for an always-on radio stream offers a related comparison framework; check each provider’s current terms independently.
Promotional price and renewal price are different costs
Hostinger’s listing showed KVM 1 at ₹599 per month as the promotional rate and ₹999 per month for two years as the renewal price, as listed on Hostinger’s site on 3 October 2026. The price you see during an introductory period and the price after it ends answer different budgeting questions. Do not assume the first figure will continue, or that either figure is available unchanged at checkout.
The other listed tiers show the same distinction. KVM 2 was listed at ₹799 per month promotional pricing and ₹1,199 per month renewal for two years; KVM 4 at ₹1,099 per month promotional pricing and ₹2,399 per month renewal for two years. Those provider-specific prices are useful for comparing that listing, but they are not evidence of a market average or a long-term price guarantee.
A renewal term can matter as much as a monthly figure. The offer may require you to pay for a defined period, and the billing schedule, tax treatment and any discount conditions can affect the amount charged at checkout. The supplied listing does not establish a universal checkout total for every buyer, so avoid multiplying a monthly headline by a number of months and presenting the result as a confirmed bill.
For a sensible comparison, write down the introductory rate, the stated renewal rate and its commitment term separately. Then confirm how long the promotional price applies, what period is charged upfront, whether taxes are additional, and what the renewal will cost for your account. The guide to whether stream bitrate changes a VPS bill can help you think through how stream settings and hosting costs relate without treating a bitrate as a provider price.
Check transfer, storage and the work your stream does
Bandwidth is not an abstract extra for a live channel: the VPS sends video data, and the provider’s included transfer allowance and billing policy determine whether that traffic could affect your bill. Hostinger’s KVM listing displayed allowances of 4 TB, 8 TB and 16 TB for the three plans above, respectively, as listed on Hostinger’s site on 3 October 2026. The cited listing does not establish overage charges or how a particular account is billed if it exceeds its allowance, so verify those details with the provider.
There is no defensible monthly data total without knowing how your stream is configured. Relevant inputs include the video bitrate, how many hours you run, whether the VPS relays or re-encodes the source, whether you publish to other destinations and how the provider counts outbound traffic. The Restreamer network documentation describes controls for outgoing HLS traffic, but that is not the same thing as the VPS provider’s transfer allowance or its billing rules.
The project’s FAQ gives a qualitative warning that an HD stream can consume over 1 GB per day, but that should not be treated as a calculation for your channel. A specific stream’s use depends on its settings and duration. If you need a cost estimate, use your actual configuration and operating hours, then check with the VPS provider how its allowance applies to the traffic in your workflow.
Storage matters in a different way. The listed KVM tiers provide different amounts of NVMe disk, but the right amount depends on what you keep on the VPS: application data, temporary files, media assets or other material. The supplied sources do not establish a universal Restreamer storage requirement. If your workflow keeps its source video elsewhere and only uses the VPS for a live relay, that is a different storage need from keeping a library of files on the same machine.
Compute is also workload-dependent. The Hostinger listing names vCPU and RAM allocations, but the cited material does not provide a tested result or minimum VPS size for every combination of stream source, resolution, encoding and destinations. If you intend to re-encode video on the VPS rather than relay a prepared source, assess that extra work rather than assuming a plan suitable for one workflow will suit another. You can also compare the practical setup choices in this article on streaming protocols and what they do.
Verify the offer at checkout
A provider listing is a starting point, not the final invoice. Before paying, confirm the exact plan, the term being purchased, the promotional period, the renewal price and whether taxes or other charges apply. Check that the listed resources and transfer allowance are attached to the plan you are selecting, rather than relying on a search excerpt or an older comparison.
Also read the provider’s current billing and bandwidth terms. The cited Hostinger page does not give enough information to state what overage traffic would cost, and a plan’s stated allowance alone cannot answer that. If your channel is expected to run continuously, ask how usage is measured, what happens when you approach the allowance and whether there are limits or account actions that matter to your workflow.
The listing’s wording and availability may change between research and purchase. The numbers here are dated to the provider’s site as observed on 3 October 2026; they are not a promise that the same promotion, renewal figure, payment schedule or guarantee will be offered when you visit. Check the current official page and checkout before relying on any amount in a budget.
A useful comparison is not simply “which monthly number is smaller?” It is whether the renewal and commitment fit your budget, whether the included resources suit your actual workflow, and whether the provider’s transfer and billing rules are clear. If any of those terms are ambiguous, resolve that before moving a channel that needs to stay on overnight.
Other costs and choices to account for
The VPS is the main recurring cost in this example, but you may choose to pay for other things. A domain or a separate backup could be useful for some setups; the cited material does not establish either as required for publishing a YouTube stream with Restreamer. Treat them as optional decisions, not unavoidable additions to the monthly estimate.
Your time is another practical consideration, even if it is not a line on the provider invoice. A self-hosted setup means you take responsibility for deployment, configuration and checking that the stream is still behaving as intended. The official Restreamer YouTube publication guide explains the publication workflow. Read the current instructions before choosing a plan, especially if you have not deployed software on a VPS before.
You may also need to solve issues outside the price calculation, such as making sure the YouTube channel can go live and that the stream source is prepared correctly. If YouTube reports that live streaming is unavailable, this guide to checking YouTube live-stream availability is relevant before you pay for a machine to carry a broadcast that cannot yet be started. For a music channel, a clean loop is a separate content task; the guide to making a seamless 24/7 music loop covers that side of the work.
If the specific pain you are trying to remove is keeping your own computer on to sustain the broadcast, StreamNeo turns an uploaded video into a YouTube live stream that continues with your computer switched off; that avoids the VPS setup and management work, but it is a separate YouTube-only hosted route rather than self-hosted Restreamer.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
Does Restreamer have a monthly fee?
The datarhei project describes Restreamer as self-hosted software with no ongoing licence costs. You still pay for the VPS and any optional services you choose, and those costs are separate from the software licence.
What is the VPS renewal price?
For the Hostinger India-facing example listed on 3 October 2026, KVM 1 showed a renewal price of ₹999 per month for two years. That is a provider-specific listing, not a guaranteed checkout total; verify the current term and amount with Hostinger before ordering.
How much bandwidth does a YouTube livestream use?
There is no single total for an unspecified stream. It depends on bitrate, operating hours, whether the VPS relays or re-encodes, any other destinations and how the provider counts transfer; check both your configuration and the provider’s current bandwidth terms.
Is the ₹599 price the cost of running Restreamer in India?
No. It was Hostinger’s listed promotional price for KVM 1 as displayed on 3 October 2026, with a different renewal price shown. It is not a universal or guaranteed cost, and it does not establish a market average for Indian VPS hosting.