Ant Media Server vs Dacast (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dacast grades higher than Ant Media Server: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dacast grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ant Media Server
Low-latency WebRTC streaming server you run or rent by the hour
Dacast
Live streaming and video hosting with bandwidth-based plans
Which one is for you
Pick Ant Media Server if
- Fits if you have developers who will build their own streaming product
- Works for teams that want a license with no viewer cap
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a finished webinar tool, as there are no rooms or reminders
- Pricey if you run it all month: $0.35 an hour is about $255 a month
- Watch out: cloud marketplace prices cover the license only, from $0.49 an hour on AWS
- Watch out: a Black Friday offer of 25% off runs until 27 November 2026
- Too heavy for non-developers, who must run the server
Pick Dacast if
- Fits if you stream and host video for a paying audience
- Works for events where you can estimate the bandwidth you will use
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want registration, polls or attendee chat, because none are listed
- Watch out: overage costs $0.30 per GB of bandwidth and $0.15 per GB of storage
- Pricey if you need paywalls or ads, since they start on the $63 Event plan
- Tight if you pay monthly, as that carries a three-month minimum
- Watch out: extra team seats are $10 each a month, and multi-CDN and China streaming are add-ons
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAnt Media ServerWeak | 2.2GPADacastFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$109 per instance a month on annual billing, above the $99 dearer-quarter mark. Cloud compute and bandwidth are billed on top. | C$39 a month billed yearly for Starter, between the cheaper quarter ($27) and the middle ($49) of webinar tools, with only 2.4 TB of bandwidth a year. |
| Free plan and trial | C14-day trial with no card, and no free plan. | CA 14-day trial needs no card, and there is no free plan. |
| Features | CWebRTC and other protocols, transcoding, REST API and SDKs. No registration pages, rooms or reminders out of the box. | CLive channels with RTMP and HLS, a video library, paywall and ads from the Event plan, and analytics. It lists no webinar tools. |
| Ease of use | DYou deploy and configure a server yourself, which is developer work. | CWeb only, with no rating on record, and the encoder side is yours to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and SDKs for Unity, React Native and Flutter, with AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. | BWeb only, but there is a public API and Google Analytics and Google Drive links. |
| Best for | low-latency WebRTC streaming you run yourself | live streaming and video hosting by bandwidth |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Ant Media Server and Dacast. How we grade
Price against what you get
Ant Media Server starts at $109 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Dacast starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3.
Dacast scores higher and starts $70 a month lower. Of the other webinar and live streaming tools on the chart, 25 score higher than Ant Media Server for less, and 2 score higher than Dacast for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Ant Media Server is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Ant Media Server also covers video calls.
- Dacast also covers reports and multistreaming.
At a glance
| Ant Media Server | Dacast | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $109 per instance / month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly) | $39 per month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Ant Media, Inc. | Dacast |
| Price read from | antmedia.io | dacast.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Ant Media Server
- It is server software: there are no registration pages, webinar rooms or email reminders out of the box.
- Cloud marketplace prices cover the license only; compute, storage and bandwidth are billed by the cloud provider.
- Marketplace listings start from $0.49/hr on AWS, $0.44/hr on Azure and $0.56/hr on Google, with a free trial of 5 to 7 days.
- A Black Friday offer of 25% off the first month or first year runs until November 27, 2026.
Dacast
- Overage runs $0.30 per GB of bandwidth and $0.15 per GB of storage.
- Monthly payment carries a three-month minimum, and extra team seats cost $10 per user per month.
- Multi-CDN, China Live and China VOD are paid add-ons.
- The page lists no webinar-specific features such as registration or polls.
Key features
Ant Media Server
- WebRTC and other protocols
- Lists WebRTC, LL-HLS/DASH, CMAF, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, SRT, WHIP/WHEP and Zixi, with about 300 ms latency claimed for WebRTC.
- Transcoding
- Adaptive-bitrate transcoding is included in every paid license listed on the pricing page.
- REST API and SDKs
- REST APIs plus SDKs for iOS, Android, Unity, React Native, Flutter and JavaScript for building your own viewer or publisher apps.
- Flexible deployment
- Runs on-premises, in a private or public cloud, or in air-gapped networks; cloud marketplace images exist for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
- No viewer cap in the license
- The FAQ says licensing sets no fixed limit on connections or concurrent viewers; capacity depends on your own infrastructure.
Dacast
- Live streaming
- Full 1080p broadcasting with RTMP and HLS channels and browser or mobile streaming.
- Video hosting
- VOD library with bulk upload from Google Drive and VOD to Live.
- Monetization
- Paywall and pre, mid and post roll advertising start on the Event plan.
- Security
- Domain and country restriction on all plans; DRM and AES for VOD on Scale.
- Analytics
- Advanced analytics and a Google Analytics integration are listed.
- Support
- 24/7 support on all plans, with phone support on Scale.
Plans
Ant Media Server
Flex$0.35
per instance-hour, metered while the server runs
No signup fee or monthly commitment; idle running time is billed. Transcoding and SDKs included.
Monthly$129
per instance / month, billed monthly
One Enterprise instance with standard support and updates. A 25% first-month promotion is running.
Annual$109
per instance / month, billed annually ($1,308)
One Enterprise instance with standard support and updates for the term.
Perpetual$3,499
per instance, one-time
One-time license with year-one support and updates; support then $499 a year. Offline licensing available.
EnterpriseCustom
Volume and cluster licensing, architecture planning, SLA and managed services by agreement.
Dacast
Starter$39
per month, billed annually
2.4 TB bandwidth a year and 500 GB storage, with live streaming, simulcast and VOD hosting.
Event$63
per month, billed annually
6 TB upfront and 250 GB storage; adds paywall, ads, countdown and stream monitoring.
Scale$165
per month, billed annually
24 TB a year, 2,000 GB storage, unlimited channels, DRM, 3 team members and phone support.
CustomCustom
High-volume plans with custom SLAs, migrations and extra support.
Ways to pay less
Ant Media Server
- Other savings
Black Friday: 25% off first term
Ant Media's site advertises 25% off the first month of the Monthly plan or the first year of an Annual plan, with the offer ending November 27, 2026.
Dacast
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ant Media Server or Dacast?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dacast is cheaper to start with: $39 a month, against $109 a month for Ant Media Server. Ant Media Server starts at $109 per instance / month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly), and Dacast starts at $39 per month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Ant Media Server or Dacast?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Ant Media Server nor Dacast has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.