BoxCast vs Wowza (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, BoxCast grades higher than Wowza: 1.8 against 1.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
BoxCast grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan 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
Wowza
Streaming server software you run yourself, plus a cloud platform
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 Wowza if
- Fits if your team builds its own streaming service
- Makes sense if you need a server you can run in your own setup
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you stream occasionally: $195 a month, or $295 for a single month
- Not for you if you want webinars with registration and polls
- Watch out: extra transcoded channels cost $25 each beyond the 10 per instance, and extra instances cost $195 each
- Watch out: Wowza Video, the managed cloud, is priced separately, and Perpetual and Enterprise licenses are quoted by sales
How we grade them
| 1.8GPABoxCastWeak | 1.4GPAWowzaWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | D$195 a month for Streaming Engine, right at the dearest tenth of the category ($195 and up). One month costs $295. |
| 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. | DA free trial is offered but its length is not stated, and there is no free plan. |
| 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. | DIt is infrastructure: it streams and transcodes video, but gives no registration, polls or attendee chat, so you build the rest. |
| Ease of use | CWeb only, with no rating on record, and getting the best from it means setting up an encoder. | DA server product that needs setup and configuration, with no rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it lists Facebook, YouTube, X, RTMP and SRT plus a public API. | BWeb platform listed, with RTMP, SRT, HLS, WebRTC, Docker and an API. |
| Best for | church and school live broadcasts with encoders | self-run streaming server software |
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 Wowza. 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. Wowza starts at $195 a month and scores 1.7.
BoxCast scores higher and starts $86 a month lower. Of the other webinar and live streaming tools on the chart, 6 score higher than BoxCast for less, and 24 score higher than Wowza 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
- Wowza is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- BoxCast also covers ticketing, web analytics and multistreaming.
At a glance
| BoxCast | Wowza | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $109 per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly) | $195 per month for Streaming Engine, 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. | Free trial for Streaming Engine and for Wowza Video; the page does not state its length |
| Web | ||
| Made by | BoxCast | Wowza Media Systems, LLC |
| Price read from | boxcast.com | wowza.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Wowza
- It is infrastructure, not a webinar tool: there is no registration page, polls or attendee chat out of the box.
- Additional transcoded channels cost $25 each beyond the 10 included per instance.
- Wowza Video, the managed cloud product, is priced separately; this listing records the Streaming Engine plans shown on the pricing page.
- Perpetual and Enterprise licenses are quoted by sales, with no published price.
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.
Wowza
- Self-hosted streaming server
- Wowza Streaming Engine runs on premises, in a private or public cloud, behind a firewall or fully offline, and can be deployed as a Docker container.
- Many protocols
- It ingests and delivers WebRTC, SRT, RTMP, RTSP and HLS, and supports low-latency HLS and DASH.
- APIs and SDKs
- A REST API and a Java SDK let developers script the server and add custom modules.
- Transcoding
- Each paid Streaming Engine instance includes 10 concurrent transcoded channels; extra channels are $25 each.
- Security options
- DRM, watermarking and encryption are offered, and the company says it holds a SOC 2 Type II report.
- Managed cloud option
- Wowza Video is a separate cloud platform that handles ingest, transcoding, delivery, analytics and a player without running servers.
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.
Wowza
One Month of Streaming$295
one-time purchase for one month, first instance included
Streaming Engine for occasional events: up to 10 concurrent transcoded channels on the first instance, extra instances $295 each.
Basic Monthly$195
per month, billed monthly, first instance included
Streaming Engine for steady use: up to 10 concurrent transcoded channels on the first instance, extra instances $195 each per month.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual plans and discounted rates, hybrid cloud services (CDN, Flowplayer, analytics), offline keys and professional services.
PerpetualCustom
A license with no expiration for containerized, air-gapped or self-hosted deployments, scoped and quoted by Wowza.
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.
Wowza
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, BoxCast or Wowza?
As of Nov 12, 2026, BoxCast is cheaper to start with: $109 a month, against $195 a month for Wowza. BoxCast starts at $109 per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly), and Wowza starts at $195 per month for Streaming Engine, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, BoxCast or Wowza?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither BoxCast nor Wowza 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.