What is the Streaming Hours per GB Calculator?
This calculator tells you how many hours of video or audio you can stream from a fixed data allowance, given the bitrate of the stream. It is handy for managing a capped mobile plan, a hotel Wi-Fi quota, or a tethered hotspot. Enter your remaining data in gigabytes and the average bitrate of the stream in megabits per second (Mbps), and you get an instant estimate of streaming time.
How to use it
Enter two values: your data allowance in GB and the stream bitrate in Mbps. Typical bitrates are roughly 1–3 Mbps for SD video, 5 Mbps for 720p, 8 Mbps for 1080p, and 16–25 Mbps for 4K. Music streaming is far lower, around 0.13 Mbps (128 kbps) to 0.32 Mbps (320 kbps). The result shows total hours, the equivalent in minutes, and how much data each hour of streaming consumes.
The formula explained
The core equation is:
$$\text{Hours} = \frac{\text{GB} \times 8 \times 1000}{\text{Mbps} \times 3600}$$
Bitrate is measured in megabits per second while data is measured in gigabytes (bytes). Multiplying GB by 8 converts bytes to bits, and by 1000 converts gigabits to megabits, giving the total megabits available. Dividing by the bitrate gives seconds, and dividing by 3600 converts seconds to hours.
Worked example
Suppose you have a 10 GB allowance and stream 1080p video at 8 Mbps. $$\text{Hours} = \frac{10 \times 8 \times 1000}{8 \times 3600} = \frac{80{,}000}{28{,}800} \approx 2.78 \text{ hours}$$ or about 167 minutes. Each hour uses \(8 \times 3600 \div 8000 = 3.6\) GB.
FAQ
Why does it differ from my real usage? Real bitrates vary moment to moment with scene complexity and adaptive streaming. Use an average bitrate for a closer estimate.
Is 1 GB equal to 1000 MB or 1024 MB? This tool uses \(1 \text{ GB} = 1000 \text{ MB}\) (the SI convention used by most data plans). If your provider uses 1024, multiply the result by about 1.024.
What bitrate should I use for 4K? Around 16–25 Mbps depending on the service, so a single GB lasts only a few minutes.
