OBS to OBS

Send a low-latency feed from one OBS instance to another.

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Overview
Requirements
Step-by-step
Notes
Next steps

Overview

Use Meshcast as the relay: OBS A publishes, OBS B pulls the stream using the watch links from Meshcast.

Requirements

Registered Meshcast account (WHIP or RTMP ingest).
OBS Studio on both machines; OBS 30 or newer for WHIP publishing.

Step-by-step

Choose your ingest path Use WHIP for low latency (OBS 30+) or RTMP for broad compatibility.
Publish from OBS A For WHIP, set Settings > Stream > Service to WHIP, copy the complete WHIP URL from the Meshcast dashboard into Server, and paste the private pk_... Publishing Key into Bearer Token. For RTMP, choose Custom, enter the dashboard URL only through /live in Server (for example, rtmp://host:1935/live), and enter the private pk_... Publishing Key in Stream Key.
Pull into OBS B Use the Meshcast Embed link as a Browser Source, or the HLS link as a Media Source.

Required for Embed/Browser Source playback

The Embed link uses WebRTC/WHEP. In OBS A, use H.264 with B-frames set to 0 (or clear Use B-Frames). With x264, use bframes=0 in Custom x264 Options. Otherwise OBS A may say it is streaming while OBS B remains black or loading. Stop and restart the stream after changing the encoder.

Notes

Latency

The Embed link uses WebRTC/WHEP and does not automatically switch to HLS. The separate HLS link adds buffering. Use the same receive method for feeds you intend to switch between live.

Switching between several 1080p60 feeds

Use a separate Browser Source for each complete Embed URL, including its ?server=... selection when present.
Set each Browser Source to 1920 × 1080 and verify its render frame rate is 60 fps. Use the custom frame-rate option when needed.
To keep feeds connected between cuts, leave Shutdown source when not visible and Refresh browser source when scene becomes active off. Inactive feeds will continue consuming bandwidth and decoding resources.
Check OBS Stats on both publishing and receiving computers for rendering lag, encoding lag and dropped frames. A fixed audio sync offset cannot correct a delay that keeps changing.

Mac encoder choice

Apple-silicon Macs can use Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder with FFmpeg Opus audio for WHIP. Intel Macs may need CPU-heavy x264. See the Mac OBS guidance before choosing WHIP or RTMP.

RTMP and HLS require a registered (free) account. WHIP publishing is supported for registered accounts.

Next steps

Want multi-destination output? See Restreaming.