Video Hosting Cost Calculator

How the estimate works

Hosting bills come from three places, and this calculator models each one. Delivery is viewers × hours watched × average bitrate, converted to gigabytes (1 Mbps for one hour is 450 MB). Storage is your library's hours × the total bitrate of every rendition you keep. Encoding is the minutes of new video you add each month, multiplied by the number of renditions and your encoder's per-minute price.

For most services, delivery dominates. That is why tuning your bitrate ladder usually saves more than hunting for cheaper storage. Our breakdown of video hosting costs explains each part with worked examples, and the encoding settings guide shows how to lower delivered bitrate without visible loss.

Choosing realistic inputs

• Average delivered bitrate is lower than your top rendition, because many viewers watch at 720p or on phones. 2 to 3.5 Mbps is typical for 1080p libraries.
• Ladder size is the sum of all renditions. A standard H.264 ladder from 1080p down to 234p adds up to around 11 Mbps.
• Prices vary widely. Enter your provider's real figures to compare plans side by side.

For live events rather than a library, use the streaming bandwidth calculator, which models concurrent viewers and peak capacity.