Video bitrate and file size, worked out for you
Give any two of file size, bitrate and duration to get the third. Audio is counted separately and you can add container overhead, so the number matches the file you export.
| Resolution | 24 to 30 fps | 48 to 60 fps |
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Source: YouTube Help, recommended upload encoding settings, checked October 2026. YouTube also recommends 128 kbps audio for mono and 384 kbps for stereo. Streaming and social apps re-encode your upload, so these are upload targets, not what viewers receive.
Video file size equals total bitrate times duration, divided by 8 to turn bits into bytes. A video at 8 Mbps plus 128 kbps of audio for 3 minutes is (8,000,000 + 128,000) × 180 ÷ 8 = 182.9 MB, or about 184.7 MB with 1% container overhead. To hit a target size, work backwards: multiply the size in bytes by 8, divide by the duration in seconds and subtract the audio bitrate.
3 steps, a few seconds
Pick what to work out
File size, the bitrate that fits a target size, or the duration that fits.
Enter the other two
Duration in hours, minutes and seconds; bitrate in Mbps or kbps; size in MB or GB.
Read the answer
See the result, total bitrate, size in MiB and size per minute.
What the Video Bitrate Calculator does
Any two give the third
Size from bitrate and time, bitrate from size and time, or time from size and bitrate.
Audio counted separately
Set the audio bitrate on its own, or 0 for a silent video.
Container overhead
Add 1 to 3% for the MP4 or WebM container so estimates aren't short.
Target size mode
Find the video bitrate that fits a 3-minute video in 25 MB, or any size you need.
YouTube's upload table
Click a recommended upload bitrate from YouTube's help page to use it.
Free
No account, nothing to install.
- Formula
- Size (bytes) = (video + audio bitrate in bits/s) × seconds ÷ 8 × (1 + overhead)
- Units
- Mbps = 1,000,000 bits/s, kbps = 1,000 bits/s; MB = 1,000,000 bytes, GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes
- Also shown
- Size in MiB (1,048,576 bytes), size per minute and total bitrate
- Overhead
- 0 to 3%; MP4 and WebM containers usually add about 1 to 2%
- Reference
- YouTube's recommended SDR upload bitrates, from support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171, checked October 2026
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Questions about the Video Bitrate Calculator
How do I calculate video file size from bitrate?
What bitrate do I need to fit a video in 25 MB?
What bitrate does YouTube recommend for 1080p?
Why is my file smaller in Windows than the calculator says?
Does a higher bitrate always look better?
Can QuickVeed make the video for me?
Link to this tool
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