api.video vs Bunny Stream (2026): which should you pick?

Pick api.video if

• Fits if you build video features into your own app through an API
• Works for teams that want live streams simulcast to YouTube, Facebook or Twitch

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you don't write code, as the product is an API
• Tight if you want free hosting: the sandbox deletes videos after 24 hours
• Pricey if you need a custom domain, at $60 a month per domain
• Watch out: analytics beyond a month cost $12 to $299 a month, and AI transcription is $0.10 per minute
• Watch out: pay as you go caps API calls at 100 uploads and 500 reads a minute

Pick Bunny Stream if

• Fits if you host video on your own site and want pay-as-you-use pricing
• Works for developers who upload through an API

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a free plan, because it has only a 14-day trial
• Tight if you need DRM or premium encoding: they are priced separately
• Not for you if you want a finished marketing video tool, as this is hosting and a player
• Watch out: the bill moves with storage and traffic, so a viral video raises it

api.video

• The free sandbox caps videos at 30 seconds, watermarks them and deletes them after 24 hours; production needs a paid account.
• Custom domains are an add-on from $60 a month per domain (the add-ons list shows 60 euros); domain referrer restrictions are $20 a month.
• Analytics retention beyond one month costs from $12 to $299 a month depending on plays; AI transcription is $0.10 per minute.
• Pay as you go allows 100 upload, 200 write and 500 read API calls per minute; Enterprise raises these limits.

Bunny Stream

• Billing is usage-based: the page shows a $1 monthly minimum, then per-GB storage and traffic prices.
• Multi-DRM, Premium Encoding and Transcribe AI are listed as separate products and their prices are not on the Stream pricing page.
• There is no separate free plan; the page offers a 14-day trial.
• A web dashboard and API only; the page lists no desktop or mobile apps.

api.video

Video on demand API

Upload by file or URL, with HLS and MP4 output, encoding from 240p to 4K, trimming, watermarks, captions, chapters and thumbnails.

Live streaming

Concurrent and 24/7 streams over RTMPS or SRT, DVR, recording, low latency and simulcasting to platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitch.

Analytics

Viewing analytics for videos and live streams with one month of retention free, and longer retention sold by play count.

AI transcription and summaries

Transcription in 33 languages is priced at $0.10 per minute of video; summaries and takeaways are billed per minute too.

Access control

Private videos and streams, delegated upload tokens, domain referrer restrictions and AES 128-bit encryption.

Bunny Stream

Upload and transcoding

Upload through the API or the web video manager; videos are transcoded into several resolutions with no transcoding fee.

Replicated storage

Choose up to 8 storage regions to balance speed and cost, with files replicated across the network and served through a global load balancer.

Customizable player

The included player lets you change controls, colors and language or apply your own CSS, and you can use a third-party player instead.

Content protection

Hotlinking protection, token authentication and watermarking are listed, and an enterprise multi-DRM option targets downloads and screen recording.

AI captions and tagging

Transcribe AI generates captions, and the feature list also names AI content tagging.

api.video

• Pay as you go$0

  No monthly fee. Hosting from $0.00285 and delivery from $0.0017 per minute of video; encoding is free.

• Enterprise planCustom

  Higher API rate limits, 99.9% SLA with credits, signed MSA and DPA, security review, annual billing, wire transfer.

Bunny Stream

• Pay as you go$1

  per month minimum, plus storage and traffic used

  Storage from $0.01/GB and delivery from $0.005/GB. Encoding, the player and security features carry no extra fee.