How much data does streaming use per hour? Netflix, YouTube, music and video calls

Mobile plans are sold in gigabytes, but apps talk about quality settings and kilobits. Here's how they connect, so you can tell whether 10 GB will last a week or a weekend.

Data per hour, by activity

Typical rounded figures, not measurements of any particular app. Real use changes with the programme (fast action and grain need more bits than a talking head), the app version and your settings. GB here means 1,000 MB, the way mobile networks count.

What the big services publish

• Netflix says per hour, per device: Low up to 0.3 GB, Medium up to 0.7 GB, High up to 1 GB in standard definition, 3 GB in HD and 7 GB in 4K. Its mobile “Automatic” setting gives about 4 hours per GB, and “Save Data” about 6 hours per GB.
• Spotify lists its music quality as roughly 24 kbps (Low), 96 kbps (Normal), 160 kbps (High) and 320 kbps (Very high), plus a Lossless option for Premium that needs far more.
• YouTube doesn't publish GB per hour; it recommends connection speeds for each resolution, and its app picks the quality automatically unless you choose one. That's why the same video can use very different amounts on Wi-Fi and on mobile data.

Turning a bitrate into gigabytes

Bitrates are in megabits per second; allowances are in gigabytes. There are 8 bits in a byte and 3,600 seconds in an hour, so GB per hour = Mbps × 3600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1000 = Mbps × 0.45. A 5 Mbps stream is 2.25 GB an hour; a 160 kbps (0.16 Mbps) song stream is 72 MB an hour. The same arithmetic in reverse explains why a 40 Mbps line downloads at 5 MB/s.

Why your data runs out faster than you expect

• Autoplay. Feeds that start every video as you scroll quietly stream in HD. Most apps have a “data saver” or “autoplay on Wi-Fi only” switch.
• Auto quality on a good signal. On fast 5G an app may pick 1080p even on a small phone screen where 480p looks almost the same. Capping mobile quality often halves video data with little visible difference.
• Background updates and backups. Photo backup and app updates can run on mobile data unless set to Wi-Fi only.
• Hotspotting a laptop. Laptops assume they're on broadband and download updates freely.

Making a plan last

Download episodes and playlists on Wi-Fi before you leave (downloads use no mobile data when played), set video apps to a lower mobile quality, and switch feeds to data saver. The planner in the streaming data calculator shows which single change saves the most for your own habits, and on which day of the month you'd run out.

Related

Broadband speed calculator: what your household needs · Speed needed for HD and 4K · Recorded video size per minute · Hotspot slow or eating data · Why song recognition misses · Mobile data running out fast · Why videos start blurry, then sharpen · Video keeps buffering · Upload speed needed for video calls · Interactive: be the video player

Questions

Published 10 November 2026 · updated 11 November 2026.