How Long Does 1GB Last?

How this calculator works

Enter a data amount and this tool divides it by the data rate of each app or video quality to estimate how many hours it lasts, then divides those hours by how many hours a day you use that app to estimate how many days it lasts. Figures come from official sources where published, or are clearly labeled as derived or estimated — see the sources and notes below the table.

How long does 1GB of data last?

How long 1GB lasts depends entirely on what you're doing with it: at YouTube's official 480p bitrate it lasts about 0.93 hours (56 minutes), at Netflix's official Standard Definition rate it lasts about 1 hour, and at Spotify's official 160 kbps streaming quality it lasts about 14.6 hours — video uses far more data per hour than music or messaging.

Steps to estimate how long your data lasts

1. Enter your data amount and choose GB or MB.
2. Enter how many hours per day you plan to use that app (default 2 hours), so the tool can also show how many days the data lasts.
3. Find the app or activity in the table — YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram Reels, Zoom, web browsing, maps or email.
4. Read the estimated hours in the Hours column: hours = your data in MB divided by that row's MB-per-hour figure.
5. Read the Days column for how many days that data lasts at your chosen hours-per-day usage: days = hours divided by hours per day.

Data duration formula

• Data (MB) = your entered amount, converted to megabytes (1 GB = 1024 MB)
• MB per hour = the data rate for that app or video quality (see table)
• Hours per day = how many hours a day you use that app (default 2)

Quick data duration answers

How many hours of YouTube does 1GB give me?

At 480p (SD), about 0.93 hours (56 minutes). At 720p (HD), about 0.47 hours (28 minutes). At 1080p (Full HD), about 0.29 hours (17 minutes).

How long does 1GB of Netflix last?

About 1 hour at Netflix's official Standard Definition setting (up to 1 GB/hour), or about 20 minutes (0.33 hours) at High Definition (up to 3 GB/hour).

How many hours of Spotify can I stream with 1GB?

At Normal quality (96 kbps), about 24.3 hours. At High quality (160 kbps), about 14.6 hours. At Very High quality (320 kbps), about 7.3 hours.

How long does 1GB last on a WhatsApp voice call?

Roughly 34 to 57 hours, based on an estimate that WhatsApp voice calls use 18-30 MB per hour; WhatsApp does not publish an official figure.

How long does 2GB last watching YouTube in 1080p?

About 0.58 hours (35 minutes), since 1080p uses roughly 3,515.6 MB per hour, derived from YouTube's official 8 Mbps recommended bitrate.

How many hours of TikTok does 1GB give me?

Roughly 0.7 to 1.7 hours, based on an estimated 600-1,500 MB per hour for adaptive-bitrate short-form video; TikTok does not publish an official figure.

How long does 5GB of mobile data last for streaming video?

About 4.7 hours at YouTube 480p, 2.3 hours at YouTube 720p, 1.5 hours at YouTube 1080p, 5 hours at Netflix SD, or 1.7 hours at Netflix HD.

Is 1GB enough for a 1-hour Zoom call?

Yes for a 1:1 high-quality 360p call — Zoom's official bandwidth figures put that at about 527 MB per hour. For 720p HD, it's closer to 1,055 MB, just over 1GB.

Example: how long 1GB lasts

Frequently asked questions

Are these numbers official or estimates?

Where possible, figures come directly from official sources: YouTube's published upload bitrates (support.google.com), Netflix's official data usage help page, Spotify's official audio quality bitrates, and Zoom's official bandwidth requirements. Figures for WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram Reels, web browsing, maps and email are not officially published by those companies, so this tool shows them as estimated ranges rather than a single invented number.

Why does YouTube use different amounts of data at different qualities?

Higher resolutions like 1080p pack in more pixels per frame, which YouTube encodes at a higher bitrate to preserve detail — its official recommended encoding bitrate rises from 2.5 Mbps at 480p to 5 Mbps at 720p to 8 Mbps at 1080p, so data use roughly triples between 480p and 1080p.

Does actual data use always match these figures exactly?

No. These figures are calculated from official bitrates or measured estimates, but real-world use varies with video motion, HDR, codec (H.264 vs. AV1), screen resolution, network conditions and adaptive streaming, so treat the numbers as a close approximation rather than an exact guarantee.

Why is there a range instead of one number for apps like TikTok or WhatsApp calls?

TikTok, Instagram Reels, WhatsApp calls, web browsing, maps and email don't have an official published data-usage figure, so this tool shows a realistic range based on typical adaptive bitrates or independently measured data instead of a fabricated precise number.

How is 'days' calculated from my data amount?

Days = hours the data lasts / hours per day you enter. For example, if 1GB lasts 24.3 hours streaming Spotify at Normal quality and you listen 2 hours a day, that 1GB lasts about 12.1 days.

These figures estimate typical data use per hour for common quality settings; actual usage varies with video resolution and frame rate, codec efficiency (H.264 vs. VP9/AV1), audio bitrate, screen size, adaptive-bitrate streaming that reacts to your network speed, and whether content is cached or downloaded in advance. Ranges shown for WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram Reels, web browsing, maps navigation and email are independent estimates, not figures published by those companies.

Sources: YouTube — Recommended video bitrates for uploads, Netflix — Control how much data Netflix uses, Spotify — Audio quality, Zoom — Calculating bandwidth usage for meetings and phone