Upload a video you already recorded, paste the RTMP URL and stream key from YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Kick or any other platform, and Streamza broadcasts it as a real live stream from our servers. No OBS. No encoder. No machine humming in the corner of your room.
Pre-recorded live streaming — sometimes called simulated live, scheduled live or "fake live" — is when a video file that was recorded earlier is pushed to a platform's live endpoint instead of a camera feed. On the viewer's side it is a genuine live stream: it carries the LIVE badge, live chat is open, notifications fire, and the broadcast appears in the platform's live sections. The only difference is that the pixels come from a file rather than from a lens pointed at you right now.
Technically, nothing about the delivery is fake. Your video is read frame by frame and sent over RTMP in real time, at 1× speed, exactly the way an encoder sends a camera feed. The destination platform cannot tell — and does not need to — whether the frames came from a sensor or a hard drive.
Open the live dashboard of wherever you want to broadcast — YouTube Studio, Twitch Creator Dashboard, Facebook Live Producer, Kick Settings — and copy the RTMP server URL and the stream key. Our stream key guide has the exact click path for every platform.
Go to streamza.live/studio. There are 10 concurrent live slots; tap a free one. No account and no card are needed to start.
Drop in an MP4 (or MOV, MKV, FLV — up to 1.5 GB). Paste the RTMP URL and stream key. For YouTube, Twitch and Facebook the server URL is filled in for you, so the key is all you need.
Switch on loop forever if you want the video to repeat continuously, then hit go. Once the stream is running you can close the tab — it keeps broadcasting from our servers.
Start the stream on the platform too. Most platforms wait for incoming video before they will let you click "Go live". The usual order is: create the live event on the platform, copy the key, start sending from Streamza, wait for the platform's preview to show your video, then confirm the broadcast on the platform.
| You need | Details |
|---|---|
| A video file | MP4 / MOV / MKV / FLV, up to 1.5 GB. H.264 video with AAC audio streams most reliably. |
| An RTMP URL | Pre-filled for YouTube, Twitch and Facebook. Anything else: paste it from your platform. |
| A stream key | The secret string from your platform's live dashboard. Treat it like a password. |
| A browser | Any modern browser, on any device, just long enough to upload the file and press start. |
That is the whole list. You do not need OBS, Streamlabs, vMix, Wirecast, a capture card, a webcam, a dedicated PC, or a fast upload connection at broadcast time.
Anywhere that accepts RTMP or RTMPS ingest — which is essentially every live platform in existence.
| Platform | Guide |
|---|---|
| YouTube Live | Stream a pre-recorded video to YouTube → |
| Facebook Live | Stream a pre-recorded video to Facebook → |
| Twitch | Stream pre-recorded video and reruns to Twitch → |
| Kick, Trovo, LinkedIn, X, Rumble, Restream, self-hosted | Custom RTMP streaming → |
| Several at once | Multistream one video to 3 platforms → |
These three get confused constantly, and picking the wrong one costs you reach.
| Normal upload | Premiere | Pre-recorded live stream | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shows the LIVE badge | No | Partly | Yes |
| Real-time chat | No | Yes, during the premiere | Yes |
| Can loop forever | No | No | Yes |
| Can multistream to other platforms | No | No | Yes |
| Works on every platform | Yes | YouTube only | Yes — anything with RTMP |
| Needs an encoder | No | No | No, with Streamza |
A premiere is YouTube's own built-in version of this idea, and it is a good option if YouTube is your only destination and you only want to play the video once. Pre-recorded live streaming is what you want when you need looping, other platforms, several platforms at once, or full control over the RTMP feed.
Yes — broadcasting your own recorded content over RTMP is a normal, supported use of every major platform's live infrastructure. Two rules matter, though, and they are worth getting right:
Beyond that, individual platforms have their own quirks — Facebook caps continuous broadcasts, Twitch has bitrate ceilings — and each platform guide above covers them.
Streamza relays your file to the destination without re-encoding it wherever possible. That means the resolution, frame rate and bitrate your video already has are what your viewers get — a 1080p60 export arrives as 1080p60, with no generational quality loss from a second encode, and no CPU-bound frame drops of the kind you get when a laptop tries to encode and stream at once.
The practical implication: quality is decided in your editor, not at broadcast time. Export at the resolution and bitrate your destination recommends, and that is exactly what goes out.
Lo-fi, ambient, chillhop and radio channels that run a looping mix around the clock and grow through the live tab.
Broadcast the edited service at the scheduled hour without a volunteer sitting at a laptop to press play.
Run the same recorded lesson live at the right local hour for a different time zone, with real chat each time.
Loop a product reel or showcase as an always-on live channel, complete with a live badge and pinned links.
Fill the schedule with edited highlight reels and reruns between real sessions so the channel is never dark.
Upload once at whatever speed you have, then broadcast at full quality — your uplink is out of the equation.
Not from the stream itself. It carries the live badge, live chat and live notifications exactly like a camera broadcast. What gives it away is behaviour — if you cannot answer chat in real time, regular viewers will work it out, so it is best to be upfront about it.
No. Streamza does the encoding and the RTMP push on its own servers. There is nothing to download or install. See streaming without OBS.
Yes — that is the point of it running in the cloud. Once the stream has started you can close the browser tab, shut the laptop or power the phone down, and the broadcast continues.
Claiming a slot gives you a free 15-minute trial. To keep broadcasting, the slot converts to a paid 24-hour slot which you can renew for as long as you need — including indefinitely, for an always-on channel.
MP4, MOV, MKV and FLV up to 1.5 GB. H.264 video with AAC audio is the most reliable combination because it passes straight through to the platform without re-encoding.
Yes, up to three destinations simultaneously on the Multistream plan — one upload, three live streams. See multistreaming.
Yes. Turn on "loop forever" before starting and the file replays continuously with no gap between iterations. The 24/7 guide covers how to pick a video that loops cleanly.
No. Every slot claim starts with a free 15-minute trial — no account, no card, no email required.
Upload it, paste your stream key, and watch it go live. Free to try.
