BoxCast vs Castr (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Castr grades higher than BoxCast: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Castr grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BoxCast
Live streaming platform with encoders, captions and OTT apps
Castr
Multistreaming, video hosting and 24/7 playout in one service
Which one is for you
Pick BoxCast if
- Fits if you broadcast services or events to a large audience and need unlimited viewers
- Works for groups that want captions and TV apps from one vendor
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you stream occasionally: Standard is $109 a month with one broadcast and 90 days of storage
- Not for you if you want webinars with sign-up pages and polls, since it is a broadcast platform
- Watch out: TV apps cost $25 to $200 a month more, and ticketing and the Spark encoder are extra
- Tight if you need more than one live stream at once, because that starts at the $249 Advanced plan
- Skip it if you want a trial you can judge in advance: its length is not stated
Pick Castr if
- Fits if a church or school streams services or events to several platforms
- Works for selling access to live streams behind a paywall
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a studio in the browser without asking Castr to switch it on
- Not for you if you've never used an encoder and don't want to learn
- Tight if you stream a lot to your own player, since each plan has a bandwidth allowance
- Watch out: monthly plans get less bandwidth and fewer concurrent streams than annual ones
- Pricey if you need DRM or phone and TV apps, which are Events add-ons on top of $624.99 a month
How we grade them
| 1.8GPABoxCastWeak | 2.4GPACastrFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$109 a month billed yearly for Standard, more than double the category's middle of $49, and it allows one broadcast at 1080p30. White-labelled embeds start at $169. | BStarter is $16.67 a month billed annually ($199.99 a year, $19.99 by the month) and streams to 6 destinations, enough for three platforms. That's level with Restream and Ecamm, well under StreamYard's Core, and it includes hosting and a paywall. |
| Free plan and trial | DA free trial is offered but its length is not stated; there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, which does not count as free use. | CNo free plan, but a 7-day free trial of Starter with no credit card. The other plans go straight to checkout. |
| Features | CStreaming, storage and viewer-hour allowances are clear, but the TV apps, ticketing and the Spark encoder are separate purchases, and it has no registration or polls. | CMultistreaming to 30 destinations, hosting, a player, cloud recording, 24/7 playout and a paywall on every plan. The gaps: you bring the encoder, as the browser Cloud Production switcher is enabled by Castr on request, and recordings are kept up to three days. |
| Ease of use | CWeb only, with no rating on record, and getting the best from it means setting up an encoder. | CNo App Store rating on record. You set up an encoder such as OBS or a camera, add each destination and embed the player, which takes some know-how. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it lists Facebook, YouTube, X, RTMP and SRT plus a public API. | BA web service with no desktop or phone app listed. It sends to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and LinkedIn, takes RTMP, SRT, RTSP and HLS input from OBS or cameras, and has an API on Premium. |
| Best for | church and school live broadcasts with encoders | multistreaming plus hosting your own video |
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: BoxCast and Castr. How we grade
Price against what you get
BoxCast starts at $109 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Castr starts at $16.67 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Castr starts $92.33 a month lower. Of the other webinar and live streaming tools on the chart, 6 score higher than BoxCast for less, and 2 score higher than Castr 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
- BoxCast also covers ticketing and web analytics.
At a glance
| BoxCast | Castr | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $109 per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly) | $16.67 per month, billed annually ($19.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial offered; the page does not state its length. 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans. | 7-day free trial of the Starter plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | BoxCast | Castr Live Streaming, Inc. |
| Price read from | boxcast.com | castr.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
BoxCast
- Each plan includes at least 10,000 viewer hours a month, though viewer numbers are not capped.
- BoxCast OTT apps are priced separately: $25, $75 or $200 a month billed annually ($35, $100 or $250 billed monthly).
- Ticketing is an add-on, and the BoxCast Spark encoder is bought separately.
- A Premium plan exists but is quoted through sales. It is a broadcast platform, not a webinar tool with registration and polls.
Castr
- Streams come in from encoder software, hardware or IP cameras; the browser-based Cloud Production switcher is enabled by Castr on request.
- Each plan has a player-bandwidth allowance, and monthly plans get less upfront bandwidth and fewer concurrent streams than annual ones.
- Only Starter has the 7-day trial; the other plans go straight to checkout.
- DRM and native iOS, Android and TV apps for the Events plan are add-ons arranged with sales.
Key features
BoxCast
- Cloud transcoding
- Creates up to 4 adaptive bitrate streams so playback adapts to each viewer's connection.
- Scheduling and simulated live
- Broadcasts can be scheduled in advance, and recordings or uploads can be re-broadcast as simulated live.
- Captions
- Automated captioning is listed for recorded broadcasts, and automated live captioning is listed among the plan features.
- Streaming to social media
- Streams at the same time to Facebook, YouTube and X.
- Viewer chat, overlays and documents
- Viewer chat, graphic overlays and PDF document display sit beside the live player.
- OTT apps
- Branded web, mobile and TV apps can be bought as a separate product, from $25 a month billed annually.
Castr
- Multistreaming
- One RTMP or SRT feed goes out to up to 30 destinations, including YouTube, Facebook pages and groups, Twitch and LinkedIn; TikTok and Instagram connect through custom RTMP.
- Video hosting and player
- An embeddable player with analytics, video storage from 100 GB, and unlimited viewers within each plan's bandwidth allowance.
- Cloud recording and live-to-VOD
- Records streams of up to 72 hours, keeps the recordings for up to three days, and turns live streams into on-demand videos.
- 24/7 playout
- Runs pre-recorded videos as an always-on live channel, like a TV station, on every plan.
- Paywall and monetization
- A paywall comes with every plan, in-stream ads start on Standard, and Events adds subscriptions, pay-per-view and more than 30 payment gateways.
- Ingest protocols and API
- Takes RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MPEG-TS and SRT input, offers pull links from Standard, and adds API access and HLS URLs on Premium.
Plans
BoxCast
Standard$109
per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly)
Up to 1080p30, 1 concurrent broadcast, 90 days of storage, 10,000 viewer hours a month and unlimited viewers.
Deluxe$169
per month, billed annually ($189 billed monthly)
Up to 1080p30, 1 concurrent broadcast, 1 year of storage and white-labeled embeds.
Advanced$249
per month, billed annually ($279 billed monthly)
Up to 1080p60, 3 concurrent broadcasts, 1 year of storage.
4K$449
per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
Up to 4K60, 3 concurrent broadcasts, 1 year of 1080p storage and 30 days of 4K storage.
Castr
Starter$16.67
per month, billed annually ($19.99 billed monthly)
2 concurrent streams (3 on annual), 6 destinations, 200 GB of player bandwidth a month and 100 GB of video storage.
Standard$41.67
per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly)
10 destinations, 500 GB of bandwidth a month and 200 GB of storage, plus SRT and RTMP pull links and in-stream ads.
Premium$166.67
per month, billed annually ($199.99 billed monthly)
5 streams (10 on annual), 20 destinations, 3 TB of bandwidth, 2 TB of storage, adaptive bitrate, API access and 3 team members.
Ultra$291.67
per month, billed annually ($349.99 billed monthly)
10 streams (15 on annual), 30 destinations, 5 TB of bandwidth, 3 TB of storage, failover ingest and low-latency playback.
Events$624.99
per month, billed annually ($749.99 billed monthly)
A branded OTT web app with a CMS, subscriptions and pay-per-view sales, 15 streams, 30 destinations and 10 TB of bandwidth a month.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom stream, bandwidth and storage allocations, enterprise controls and migration help, arranged with sales.
Ways to pay less
BoxCast
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves $10 to $50 a month
Standard drops from $119 to $109 a month and 4K from $499 to $449 when billed annually.
Castr
- Annual discount
Two months free with annual billing
Castr's pricing page says annual billing gives 2 months free plus a larger upfront bandwidth pool: Starter is $199.99 a year against $19.99 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, BoxCast or Castr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Castr is cheaper to start with: $16.67 a month, against $109 a month for BoxCast. BoxCast starts at $109 per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly), and Castr starts at $16.67 per month, billed annually ($19.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, BoxCast or Castr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither BoxCast nor Castr 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.