How to get an Instagram stream key

Who can go live with a stream key

Instagram’s Help Centre says that “only Instagram users who have a public account with 1,000 followers or more will be able to start a Live video”. Instagram brought in that rule in August 2025 and confirmed it to TechCrunch at the time. It covers starting any live video, including one from a computer.

• Public account. Private accounts can’t start a live video.
• 1,000 followers or more. Below that, Instagram shows a message instead of starting the live.
• Teen Accounts have live video turned off by default.
• Professional account. Restream and StreamYard both say you also need a professional (creator or business) account to stream from software. Instagram’s own help doesn’t say so, but if Live video is missing on a public account with enough followers, switching to a professional account is the next thing to try.

Instagram calls the computer route Live Producer. When it launched in 2022, Instagram described it as limited access, and it is still only on the website, not in the app.

Get the key on instagram.com

1. On a computer, open instagram.com and sign in.
2. Click Create (the plus icon) and choose Live video.
3. Add a title and choose the audience. Public goes live to your followers; Practice, where your account offers it, broadcasts to no one so you can test.
4. Instagram shows a stream URL and a stream key. Copy both and leave this browser window open.
5. In your streaming software, add a custom RTMP destination and paste both. In OBS: Settings → Stream, Service Custom.
6. Start streaming in the software. When the preview appears on instagram.com, check the picture and sound, then click Go live. Starting the software alone doesn’t put you on air.
7. To finish, end the live on instagram.com first, then stop the software. If you stop the software first, viewers can be left looking at a frozen last frame until Instagram ends the live.

A new key for every broadcast

Instagram’s own guide says “the stream key is not static, and will refresh each time you use Live Producer.” Each live video you set up has its own key, and the old one stops working. You can also reset the key in Live Producer if you think someone has seen it.

Software that remembers your settings keeps the old key, so paste the new one every time. An error when you start the stream nearly always means the key is from an earlier broadcast.

Portrait only, in practice

Instagram Live is a full-screen 9:16 picture on phones. Instagram calls 9:16 “recommended but not required”, but if you send landscape, “the Live viewer will automatically crop the sides and zoom-in to fit 9:16.” A 16:9 game or slide loses its left and right edges, so set your software to portrait.

These are the settings in Instagram’s Live Producer guide. Instagram hasn’t published a newer list.

Note the audio rate: many apps default to 48 kHz, and Instagram’s guide asks for 44.1 kHz. A keyframe every 2 seconds is a safe choice; the guide doesn’t name one.

Time limits and other limits

• Length. Instagram’s help doesn’t give a limit for lives started from a computer. Instagram raised the limit for lives to four hours in 2020, but Restream’s and StreamYard’s help pages (2026) say streams from software end after about an hour. Plan for the shorter limit, or test it on a Practice live.
• Guests and moderation. Instagram’s 2022 Live Producer guide says guests and co-hosts through Live Rooms, and moderation tools, aren’t supported for lives from software.
• Replays. Lives are saved to your archive for 30 days, and you can share a replay to your profile after it ends.

Instagram and other platforms at once

Because Instagram wants portrait, it pairs well with TikTok, and less well with YouTube, Twitch and Kick, which are 16:9 players. Your options:

• One portrait show everywhere. TikTok and Instagram fill the screen; YouTube and Twitch play portrait with bars on computers. Kick takes landscape only.
• Two canvases in OBS. A landscape canvas for YouTube and Twitch, and a 9:16 canvas from the free Aitum Vertical plugin for Instagram and TikTok. See how to multistream with OBS.
• A relay service. Restream has an Instagram channel that takes the key; landscape sent from OBS is cropped unless you use Restream’s Studio or buy transcoding. See Restream pricing and the alternatives.

Using the key in Mucast

Mucast, the Mac app this site is for, takes the same stream URL and key: choose Portrait, add Instagram and paste both. It sends Instagram 44.1 kHz audio and keeps Instagram off for a landscape show rather than send a cropped picture. The same portrait show can also go to TikTok, YouTube and Twitch (see how to get a TikTok stream key).

Mucast needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later. The free version streams to 2 platforms at once, up to 1080p at 30 fps, without a watermark; Pro costs $19.99 a month, $180 a year (with a 7-day trial) or $399 once.

Download Mucast for Mac