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How to Stream to Kick with Castream (RTMP)

How to Stream to Kick with Castream (RTMP)

Kick has become the go-to live platform for a lot of gaming and IRL streamers — and if you're building there, you probably don't want to abandon your YouTube or Twitch audience to do it. The fix is multistreaming: one broadcast, every platform, no extra PC required.

Kick doesn't have a native Castream integration, but it doesn't need one. Your Kick creator dashboard hands you an RTMP server URL and a personal stream key, and Castream's custom RTMP destinations accept exactly that. Ten minutes of setup, then Kick is a toggle like everything else.

What you need

  • A Kick account with access to the creator dashboard (where your stream key lives)
  • Your Kick RTMP server URL and stream key
  • The Castream app — set up your account here if you're new
  • A stable connection (Kick viewers notice drops fast, especially on fast-moving gameplay)

Step 1 — Grab your Kick stream key

  1. Sign in to Kick on desktop and open your Creator Dashboard
  2. Head to Settings → Stream (or wherever Kick currently surfaces ingest settings — they move it around occasionally)
  3. You'll find two values:
    • RTMP server URL (Kick's ingest endpoint)
    • Stream key
  4. Copy both

Your stream key is the keys-to-the-kingdom credential: anyone holding it can broadcast to your Kick channel. Never share it, don't show it on stream, and if it ever leaks, reset it in the dashboard immediately.

Step 2 — Add Kick as a destination in Castream

  1. Open the Castream app
  2. Go to Settings → Destinations
  3. Tap Add destination → Custom RTMP
  4. Name it Kick
  5. Paste the RTMP server URL
  6. Paste the stream key
  7. Save

Done. Kick now lives in your destination list permanently. Pair it with Twitch over OAuth or YouTube and you've got the classic dual-platform grind running off one phone.

Step 3 — Go live

  1. Set up your stream in Castream (camera or screen, title, the works)
  2. Toggle Kick ON, plus any other destinations
  3. Tap Go Live
  4. Open your Kick channel and confirm video is coming through before you start playing for real

Desktop streamers: you can run the whole thing through OBS feeding Castream over RTMP, then launch from the Castream Web Go Live Dashboard. Same Kick destination — just with scenes, alerts, and overlays.

Recommended encoder settings for Kick

  • Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080p)
  • Frame rate: 60 FPS for gameplay, 30 FPS for just-chatting/IRL
  • Bitrate: 6,000–8,000 Kbps for 1080p60; 4,500–6,000 Kbps for 1080p30
  • Keyframe interval: 2 seconds
  • Encoder preset: favor quality over speed if your device handles it without dropping frames

Two rules of thumb: never set your bitrate higher than about 75% of your actual upload speed (run a speed test first), and when in doubt, choose stability over max quality. A clean 720p60 stream keeps viewers; a stuttering 1080p60 loses them.

Kick-specific things to know

  • Expect a short ingest delay. Kick typically takes 10–30 seconds to pick up a new RTMP feed. Start the stream, verify it's live on your channel, then begin your content.
  • Stream key resets kill the connection. If you reset your key in the Kick dashboard, you must paste the new one into Castream's Kick destination or your next stream won't connect.
  • Chat lives on Kick. Keep your Kick chat open — on a second device or in a browser — so you're actually talking to the audience that's there.
  • VODs and clips are Kick's department. Castream saves your recordings to your profile, but anything Kick-side (VOD settings, clips) is managed in the Kick dashboard.

Pro tips for Kick streams

  • 60 FPS matters more on Kick than most platforms. If you're streaming gameplay and your phone and connection can handle it, bump to 60 FPS — motion-heavy content looks dramatically better.
  • Bitrate: 6–8 Mbps for 1080p60 if your upload supports it; drop to 4–6 Mbps at 30 FPS on weaker connections.
  • Landscape, always, for gaming — Kick is a desktop-first viewing experience.
  • Test before prime time. Do a 2-minute private test stream to check audio levels and frame drops; game audio that's too hot is the #1 rookie mistake.

That's the whole setup. Once Kick is saved as a destination, your pre-stream routine is just toggles — and your stream hits Kick, Twitch, YouTube, wherever, all at once.