StreamYard’s published limits for prerecorded streams to YouTube vary by plan: Core allows videos up to 2 hours and 10 GB, Advanced up to 4 hours and 25 GB, and Teams and Business up to 8 hours and 25 GB. The feature is not available on Free, so you need a paid plan to use it.
These are StreamYard plan limits, not YouTube plan limits, and the help pages behind the table were crawled several months before the research checked on 3 October 2026. Treat the figures as a useful reference, then confirm them in StreamYard’s current help centre or your account before you choose a plan or schedule a broadcast.
StreamYard prerecorded limits at a glance
The figures below come from StreamYard’s dedicated file-limit table and its prerecorded-streaming guide. The guide also lists how many prerecorded streams can be scheduled at once. Those scheduling counts are separate from the duration and file-size caps: “unlimited” for Teams and Business means no stated cap on the number of concurrently scheduled prerecorded streams in that guide, not unlimited video length or platform capacity.
| Plan | Prerecorded streaming | Maximum video length | Maximum file size | Scheduled at once |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Core | Available | 2 hours | 10 GB | 5 |
| Advanced | Available | 4 hours | 25 GB | 10 |
| Teams | Available | 8 hours | 25 GB | Unlimited |
| Business | Available | 8 hours | 25 GB | Unlimited |
This is a snapshot of what StreamYard’s official material documented for the research checked on 3 October 2026, not a guarantee that every number will remain current. The source pages had been crawled roughly four to five months earlier. Because plan features can change, use the table to narrow your questions rather than as a substitute for checking the current plan details.
A limit is an upper bound, not a recommendation for every programme. If your recorded devotional set is 90 minutes and below the file cap, Core’s published figures cover that specific file. If you want to send a six-hour ambience recording, the duration alone points to Teams or Business among the listed tiers; file size, scheduling needs and current eligibility still need checking.
Also keep the metric straight. This table is about the length and size of a prepared video uploaded for a prerecorded stream. It does not describe ordinary live-stream recording limits, storage, or YouTube’s own handling of broadcasts. StreamYard’s general live/recording help article discusses separate limits, so do not use those figures to infer how long a prerecorded file can be.
Free plan availability
StreamYard’s Free plan does not include prerecorded streaming, according to its free-plan feature information. There is therefore no Free duration or file-size cap to compare with the paid tiers: the feature is unavailable rather than included with a smaller allowance.
That distinction matters if you are planning a channel on a budget. A file that is small and short does not become eligible simply because it falls below Core’s caps. Before preparing a workflow around a particular tool, check that the plan includes the feature itself, then check the limits for your proposed video.
A prerecorded stream is useful when you have a finished programme and want it to start at a set time without being online in a live studio. For example, a small business might schedule a product demonstration while the person who recorded it is away. If you need to speak to viewers, show comments on-screen or change visual elements while the broadcast runs, check the workflow trade-offs below; prerecorded playback is not the same as operating a live studio.
Core plan length and file-size cap
The published Core maximum is 2 hours per video and 10 GB per file. The guide says up to five prerecorded streams may be scheduled at once on Core. That count can matter if you are preparing several broadcasts, but it does not increase the permitted duration or size of any one upload.
Suppose you have a 100-minute local news recap. Its length is within the listed Core maximum, but you still need to check the actual file size and confirm the current limit. A video can be under two hours and exceed the file cap if its encoding produces a large file. Conversely, a smaller file does not make a video longer than the plan’s duration allowance acceptable.
If your normal programme is close to the two-hour ceiling, leave room for editing changes rather than exporting right at the maximum. The research does not state how StreamYard handles a file that exceeds the cap, so do not assume it will trim or compress it. Check the current upload guidance and test a representative export before relying on it for a scheduled broadcast.
Core may suit a straightforward occasional prerecorded show when its limits and feature set match your plan. If you routinely publish a longer programme, compare the extra headroom on Advanced with your real schedule instead of assuming that separate shorter videos will be treated as one continuous upload. The published file maximum applies to a video file, not to a playlist assembled elsewhere.
Advanced plan length and file-size cap
The published Advanced maximum is 4 hours and 25 GB per video. StreamYard’s prerecorded-streaming guide lists up to ten streams scheduled at once on this plan. That is a larger scheduling allowance than the Core figure in the same guide, while the duration and file size are the figures to check against each individual video.
For a study channel preparing a three-hour recorded lesson, Advanced is the first of the listed plans whose documented duration covers that length. That does not establish that Advanced is the right choice overall: confirm the file’s size, check any team or destination requirements, and make sure the plan’s current feature description matches the way you intend to broadcast.
The four-hour limit should not be read as a monthly streaming-hours allowance. It describes the maximum length of the prerecorded video. A schedule with several separate videos raises a different question: how many can be queued at once, and when each can be scheduled. The help guide gives a concurrency count, but plan-specific scheduling rules can also change, so verify those separately.
For a channel that publishes a single long programme, duration may be the deciding axis. For a channel that keeps multiple events queued, concurrent scheduling may matter more. Write down both needs before comparing plans. If you are considering a continuously repeating channel rather than separate scheduled programmes, our guide to building a 24/7 study stream from recorded videos covers a different kind of workflow and should not be treated as evidence that a single StreamYard file can run indefinitely.
Teams and Business plan caps
The researched table lists the same maximum file specifications for Teams and Business: up to 8 hours and 25 GB per prerecorded video. The prerecorded-streaming guide says Teams and Business can each have an unlimited number of prerecorded streams scheduled at once. That wording concerns simultaneous scheduled items only; the video length and file size remain capped.
If you manage a channel with colleagues, the plan name alone may not tell you whether its account structure or permissions fit your operation. Check the current plan page for what each tier includes and who can use the relevant tools. The research did not establish current prices or exact eligibility conditions, so this guide does not try to compare those.
Business has an additional scheduling-window question worth checking. StreamYard’s general prerecorded article says streams can be scheduled up to 365 days ahead, and its destinations article also gives 365 days. However, the Business Plan Details page says Business can schedule up to 90 days in advance. Those official statements conflict. Do not treat either figure as definitive for Business without checking your account or asking StreamYard.
The discrepancy is a useful reminder that plan limits are not all the same kind of limit. A file may meet the duration and size caps yet still run into a scheduling-window rule. If you are organising a seasonal worship series or a year-long lesson calendar, check that window before announcing dates. For a channel that uses playlists and language-specific schedules, see the practical guide to scheduling playlists for different languages, while verifying the product-specific scheduling rules separately.
Supported file and stream specifications
The prerecorded-streaming guide says the upload should be an MP4 with H.264 video encoding. It states that paid-plan prerecorded streams can be up to 1080p, with a maximum bitrate of 10 Mbps. These are the supplied format, resolution and bitrate details; they are not a guarantee that every export at those settings will upload successfully, nor do they specify audio settings.
Check an export’s actual properties rather than relying on its filename. “MP4” identifies a container, while H.264 describes the video encoding inside it. If your editing software offers several export presets, choose one that matches the published guidance and inspect the finished file before uploading. Do not infer a higher bitrate allowance from the file-size cap, or a higher resolution from the fact that your source footage was recorded at one.
Duration, bitrate and file size are related but not interchangeable. A higher bitrate generally means more data is used over the same running time, but the research does not provide a formula or guarantee for the resulting upload size. If a video approaches both the duration and file-size ceilings, check the exported file and leave practical margin rather than relying on an estimate.
For a YouTube destination, the guide says a shareable link appears when the scheduled announcement post is published; without an announcement, the link appears when the stream goes live. If you need to send viewers a link earlier, set an earlier announcement time and check that the post is visible as expected. YouTube’s official help on creating a live stream explains its own live-streaming workflow; check YouTube’s current guidance as well as StreamYard’s upload limits.
The guide describes prerecorded playback as automatic rather than a controllable live studio. You cannot show comments on-stream or control overlays and media assets during playback, although comments remain viewable on the destination platform. If responding to viewers or changing scenes during the programme is central to your format, a live broadcast may be a better fit than prerecorded playback.
It also says prerecorded outputs are no longer automatically saved to the StreamYard library. That statement concerns the output of a prerecorded stream; it does not mean other original StreamYard content is removed. The guide describes replacing the video before a scheduled stream goes live and ending an active prerecorded stream early as supported workflow options. Check the current instructions before depending on either option for a time-sensitive programme.
Verify current plan details before scheduling
The plan table is based on official StreamYard help material located in research checked on 3 October 2026. The relevant pages had been crawled roughly four to five months earlier, which makes a fresh check important if you are using this after that point. The figures are useful as a reference, but they should not be presented as guaranteed current indefinitely.
Before paying for a plan or publishing a schedule, check the current StreamYard prerecorded-streaming guide and the file length and size limits table. Confirm the plan name, duration, file size, simultaneous scheduling count, destinations, and any scheduling-window restriction that matters to you. If the pages disagree, use the account interface or ask StreamYard for clarification rather than selecting the more convenient number.
A short preflight can prevent a failed night-time start. Confirm the destination is the correct YouTube channel, upload the final export, check that it is accepted, and review the scheduled time and announcement settings. Open the destination link at the time it is meant to become available. StreamYard’s guide says the link may not exist for viewers until the announcement post time, or until go-live if there is no announcement.
Keep the final export available locally until you have confirmed the scheduled item is correct. If you change the file before it begins, use the current replacement workflow rather than assuming a previous upload was updated. For a 24/7 station, prerecorded scheduling is not automatically the same as a continuous looping channel; compare it with approaches such as a cloud-hosted recorded lesson stream or an always-on stream using a spare PC according to the operational control you need.
If your main concern is being online to start each broadcast, a hosted workflow can remove that particular chore: StreamNeo lets you upload a video and schedule a YouTube broadcast without keeping your own computer switched on. It is a separate YouTube-only service, so consider it only if that operating model fits; it does not change StreamYard’s plan caps or answer which StreamYard tier you need.
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 StreamYard Free include prerecorded YouTube streaming?
No. StreamYard’s free-plan feature information says prerecorded streaming is not available on Free. The listed duration and file-size caps begin with paid Core, so check current plan information before preparing an upload around that feature.
How long can a prerecorded video be on each paid plan?
The researched table lists 2 hours for Core, 4 hours for Advanced, and 8 hours for Teams and Business. These are StreamYard plan limits for prerecorded video, not YouTube’s limits. Verify the current table before scheduling because the source pages may have changed.
What file size and format does StreamYard list?
The researched maximum file sizes are 10 GB on Core and 25 GB on Advanced, Teams and Business. StreamYard’s guide specifies MP4 with H.264 video encoding, up to 1080p on paid plans, and a maximum bitrate of 10 Mbps. Check the current upload guidance and your exported file’s properties.
Can I schedule a Business stream far in advance?
Official StreamYard material is inconsistent: its general prerecorded guide and destinations article say up to 365 days, while the Business details page says 90 days. Do not rely on either as definitive for Business without checking your account or confirming with StreamYard.