PRODUCTS
Whether it's a sports match, a breaking news feed, or a virtual class if the stream stutters, users bounce. In fact, over 60% of viewers leave after just two buffering interruptions. And yet, most live apps still struggle with delay, jitter, and unpredictable playback.
The problem isn’t getting video to play it’s making sure it plays well, at scale, and in real-world network conditions. That’s where the real engineering effort kicks in.
If you're building with Python, FastPix makes this easier. Our SDK handles the hard parts stream setup, delivery, low-latency playback, real-time analytics so you can focus on the app, not the plumbing.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to build a production-grade live streaming app using FastPix's Python SDK. Step by step.
Before we dive into building, let’s look at what usually goes wrong with live streaming apps. These aren’t edge cases they’re the norm:
1. Latency that kills the moment: Ever watched a “live” stream where the comments hit before the action? That’s latency. The longer the delay between capture and playback, the more out-of-sync everything feels especially during live sports or interactive sessions.
2. Buffering, stalling, and sudden freezes: Even a momentary drop in connection can trigger buffering. Slower networks? Expect stalls, pixelation, or frozen screens. Most viewers won’t wait around to see if it recovers.
3. Scaling that doesn’t scale: As your audience grows, so does the demand on your infrastructure. Without auto-scaling and optimized delivery, performance degrades fast especially under peak traffic.
4. Too many moving parts: From ingest to playback, you’re often stitching together multiple services: encoding tools, CDNs, storage, analytics. It’s easy to get stuck debugging config mismatches instead of building the actual app.
FastPix.io gives you the tools to build and scale live streaming apps without piecing together a dozen services. It’s a video infrastructure platform that handles the heavy lifting so you can focus on the product, not the pipeline.
Here’s what it offers out of the box:
Live streaming APIs: Create and manage streams, generate stream keys, and handle live-to-VOD workflows all through a simple API.
Python SDK: No need to wrangle raw HTTP requests. The SDK lets you manage streams, monitor sessions, and trigger workflows directly in Python.
Global performance, built In: Whether you’re streaming to hundreds of millions, FastPix routes video through optimized delivery paths with autoscaling support no extra config required.
You’ve got the idea. Now let’s turn it into a working live streaming app using FastPix.io’s Python SDK.
Make sure you’re running Python 3.7 or higher. You can verify with:
bash
python --version
Next, install the FastPix Python SDK:
pip install git+https://github.com/FastPix/python-server-sdk
Create an account at FastPix and grab your Access Token and Secret Key.
Then connect using the SDK:
python
from fastpix import Client
client = Client(username="your-access-token-id", password="your-secret-key")
You’re now ready to start creating and managing streams.
Let’s spin up a new live stream instance:
python
stream = client.livestreams.create({
"name": "My First Live Stream",
"record": True, # Auto-record the stream
"simulcast": False # Set to True to stream to multiple platforms
})
You’ll get a response with:
You’ll need these to broadcast using OBS or any other RTMP-compatible encoder.
OBS Studio is a free, open-source app for broadcasting live video.
To stream using OBS:
1. Open OBS and go to Settings > Stream.
2. Choose Custom as the service.
3. Paste the RTMP URL and Stream Key from your FastPix response.
4. Hit Start Streaming.
That’s it you’re live.
Click here for step by step guide of using OBS studio.
You can fetch live stream status, viewer counts, or recording state like this:
python
stream_info = client.livestreams.get(stream["id"])
print(stream_info)
Need to stop or delete a stream? The SDK has you covered:
python
client.livestreams.stop(stream["id"])
client.livestreams.delete(stream["id"])
FastPix.io isn’t just about getting video online. It includes advanced capabilities that help your live app perform better in the real world:
1. Adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR): Streams automatically adjust quality based on each viewer’s network conditions reducing buffering and keeping playback smooth, even on slower connections.
2. Simulcasting to multiple platforms: Want to go live on YouTube, Facebook, and your own app all at once? Just set simulcast=True when creating your stream. FastPix handles the rest.
3. Built-in real-time analytics: Track active viewers, session duration, and stream health without integrating third-party tools. Everything is available via API and SDK.
Here’s how different industries use FastPix to stream in production, with just a few lines of code.
A teacher streams a live lecture using OBS. It’s simulcast to YouTube and recorded automatically for students who miss the session.
from fastpix import Client
client = Client(username="your-access-token-id", password="your-secret-key")
stream = client.livestreams.create({
"name": "Intro to Algorithms – Live Class",
"record": True, # Saves session for later viewing
"simulcast": True # Stream also goes to YouTube (if configured)
})
What it does:
An influencer or brand hosts a product drop, streamed live on your app and simultaneously simulcast to social platforms.
Python
stream = client.livestreams.create({
"name": "Smartwatch Launch – Live Shopping",
"record": True,
"simulcast": True
})
What it does:
A gaming creator or tournament organizer broadcasts a live match, simulcasted to Twitch and YouTube.
stream = client.livestreams.create({
"name": "Esports Finals – GameZone League",
"record": True,
"simulcast": True
})
What it does:
4. Virtual talent show
Performers go live from their own devices. Streams are auto-optimized and simulcast to social for broader reach.
Python
stream = client.livestreams.create({
"name": "Talent Entry – Singer John D",
"record": True,
"simulcast": True
})
What it does:
Setting up a live stream used to mean stitching together encoders, servers, CDNs, and dashboards. Now, with Python and FastPix.io, you can get from zero to production-ready streaming in just a few lines of code.
Here’s what we covered:
Head over to sign up, and get free $25 credits. The SDK takes care of the infrastructure so you can focus on shipping a better stream.
FastPix supports adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR) out of the box. This means the stream automatically adjusts video quality based on the viewer's real-time network conditions — reducing buffering, stalling, and playback failure, especially on mobile or slower connections.
Yes. With the FastPix Python SDK, you can fetch real-time stream metrics like active viewers, recording status, and session health. This allows you to trigger alerts or make UI changes dynamically during a live broadcast.
Absolutely. When creating a stream, you can set both record=True and simulcast=True. This enables simultaneous multi-platform broadcasting (like YouTube, Twitch) while auto-recording the session for on-demand playback later — all from a single API call.
The simplest way is to use FastPix’s Python SDK, which abstracts away the complexities of video ingestion, encoding, delivery, and monitoring. With just a few lines of code, you can go live using OBS and manage your stream with built-in analytics and scalability.
FastPix is designed for low-latency, production-grade streaming with developer-first APIs and Python SDK support. It offers features like adaptive bitrate, autoscaling, and global delivery, making it ideal for apps that need high-performance live video without the operational overhead.
.png)
.png)
