Transcodely vs Cloudflare Stream
Dead-simple hosting with free encoding on Cloudflare’s network. Here’s an honest, side-by-side comparison — features and cost, including the workloads where Cloudflare Stream wins.
Where Cloudflare Stream wins
- The simplest possible "just host my videos" flow with zero encoding cost.
- Predictable per-minute pricing that is independent of resolution — high-bitrate 4K is cheap to deliver.
- One vendor if you already live on Cloudflare’s edge.
Where Transcodely fits better
- You need to choose the codec, profile and ladder — Stream gives you a fixed, automatic ladder with no codec choice.
- Low-bitrate or long-tail catalogues: per-GB billing is cheaper than per-minute when your bitrates are modest.
- You want to own the output — encode into your bucket, template the paths, or run transcode-only.
00:20 Feature by feature
What each platform can do
| Capability | Transcodely | Cloudflare Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Encoding control | ||
| Codec & profile control Choose H.264, H.265, VP9 or AV1 with explicit profile, CRF and bitrate. | H.264 · HEVC · VP9 · AV1, CRF/bitrate | Fixed ladder |
| Custom ABR ladders Define exactly which renditions to produce. | Automatic | |
| HLS · DASH · CMAF Multi-variant adaptive streaming formats. | Multi-variant ABR | HLS/DASH |
| Subtitles Passthrough and convert into HLS. | Passthrough & convert → HLS | Captions |
| Thumbnails & sprites Single, interval, sprite sheet and timestamp modes. | Single · interval · sprite · timestamps | |
| HDR HDR10 and HLG on HEVC. | HDR10 / HLG (HEVC) | |
| Output path templates Control the storage keys of every output. | Managed storage | |
| Encode into your own storage Transcode directly into your GCS / S3 / R2 bucket. | GCS · S3 · R2 · HTTP | |
| Delivery & hosting | ||
| Managed hosting + CDN | BunnyCDN delivery | |
| Embeddable player | Embed + poster | |
| Signed / private playback Authenticated playback of private videos. | Signed tokens | |
| DRM Widevine, PlayReady, FairPlay. | DASH (Widevine/PlayReady/FairPlay); HLS in final validation | |
| Platform | ||
| Signed webhooks Stripe-style signed, retried event delivery. | HMAC-signed, retried | Basic notifications |
| Create from URL / API-first | ||
Supported Partial / paid add-on In final validation Not offered
00:48 How each is priced
Two pricing models
Transcodely
Encoding at €0.010/min (H.264 1080p base, per rendition), storage at €0.020/GB·month, and CDN egress at €0.010/GB. No monthly fee, no minimums — every add-on is a transparent multiplier.
Full rate cardCloudflare Stream
Encoding is free; you pay $5 per 1,000 minutes stored and $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered — priced per minute of video, not per GB.
Cloudflare Stream pricing01:04 Run your numbers
Cost calculator
Transcodely, Cloudflare Stream, and the rest of the market — priced side by side on your workload. Cloudflare Stream is highlighted for this comparison.
Scenario
A growing library on the universal codec with real delivery.
Currency
Bunny Stream is cheapest here — $110.00/mo.
That’s an honest result: Bunny Stream leads on raw price for this shape of usage. Transcodely’s edge is control — codec, profile, ladder, HDR — and efficient-codec / high-volume workloads. Try the other scenarios above.
Transcodely
$178.20 /mo
Encoding $48.60
Storage $21.60
Delivery $108.00
- Full codec, profile, CRF & ladder control
- Encoding billed per rendition (3-rung ladder)
- Storage & egress metered per GB — no per-request fees
Bunny Stream Lowest
$110.00 /mo
Encoding $0.00
Storage $10.00
Delivery $100.00
- H.264 up to 1080p encodes free
- HEVC/AV1, VP9 & >1080p need premium encoding (extra $/min)
- ≈$0.01/GB storage & delivery (EU/NA rate; other regions higher)
- DRM (MediaCage) is an enterprise add-on
Mux
$220.15 /mo
Encoding $0.00
Storage $47.08
Delivery $173.07
- Basic-quality encoding is free (fixed ladder, no codec choice)
- First 100k delivered minutes/month are free (3,662 GB here)
- Per minute of video: $0.0010/delivered, $0.0030/stored·mo at this resolution
- Cold-storage discount up to 60% after 30d inactivity (not modelled)
Cloudflare Stream
$351.53 /mo
Encoding $0.00
Storage $78.47
Delivery $273.07
- Free encoding — but a fixed ladder, no codec/profile choice
- Billed per minute of video, not per GB
- High-bitrate content is cheap here; low-bitrate is relatively pricey
Coconut transcode only
$90.00 /mo
Encoding $90.00
Storage —
Delivery —
- Transcode only — no hosting, storage or CDN
- $0.015 per output minute (3 renditions here)
- Bring your own storage + CDN (added cost, not shown)
How this is calculated
Ladder 480p · 720p · 1080p (3 renditions). Cloudflare and Mux free tiers are per minute of video, converted at an assumed 5.0 Mbps delivered (1080p (Full HD) / H.264 / AVC) — so Mux’s free allowance is ≈ 3,662 GB here. Transcodely bills in EUR; converted at €1 = $1.08 (as of July 2026). Competitor list prices verified July 2026; negotiated/committed volume discounts are not modelled. Estimates, not quotes — every meter bills on actual bytes.Frequently asked questions
- Is Transcodely cheaper than Cloudflare Stream?
- It depends entirely on your workload — which is why the calculator on this page is honest about it. Cloudflare Stream wins some scenarios outright; Transcodely wins configurable, efficient-codec and high-volume-per-GB workloads. Plug in your own numbers to see.
- What does Cloudflare Stream do better?
- The simplest possible "just host my videos" flow with zero encoding cost.
- What can Transcodely do that Cloudflare Stream can’t?
- You need to choose the codec, profile and ladder — Stream gives you a fixed, automatic ladder with no codec choice.
- Can I migrate from Cloudflare Stream to Transcodely?
- Yes. Point Transcodely at your existing source URLs with Create-from-URL, or upload directly. You keep control of the codec, ladder and output paths, and can encode into your own storage or use managed hosting.
Try it on your own footage
No monthly fee, pay only for what you use. Point Transcodely at a URL and see the output — the codec control is yours.