Dacast vs Red5 (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dacast grades higher than Red5: 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.
Dacast
Live streaming and video hosting with bandwidth-based plans
Red5
Self-hosted ultra-low latency streaming server and SDKs
Which one is for you
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
Pick Red5 if
- Fits if you have developers building a live product
- Works for teams that need autoscaling on their own cloud
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a ready webinar tool, as there is no registration
- Tight on Developer Pro: 100 connections with no clustering or autoscaling
- Watch out: hosting and data transfer are billed by your cloud provider
- Pricey if you want mobile SDKs: $349 a month per launched project
- Watch out: extra fees may apply for Castaway, custom SLAs and custom development
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADacastFair | 1.8GPARed5Weak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | DDeveloper Pro is $29.99 for 100 connections with no clustering; unlimited connections start at $109, over the $99 dearer-quarter mark. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial needs no card, and there is no free plan. | C30-day trial of Red5 Pro. The listing does not say whether it needs a card. |
| Features | CLive channels with RTMP and HLS, a video library, paywall and ads from the Event plan, and analytics. It lists no webinar tools. | CLow-latency streaming, autoscaling, SDKs and an open-source server. No registration or reminders. |
| Ease of use | CWeb only, with no rating on record, and the encoder side is yours to set up. | DIt is developer infrastructure that you deploy and configure. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but there is a public API and Google Analytics and Google Drive links. | BWeb and mobile SDKs, with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Akamai. |
| Best for | live streaming and video hosting by bandwidth | developers building low-latency streaming |
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: Dacast and Red5. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dacast starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Red5 starts at $29.99 a month and scores 2.0.
Dacast scores higher, and starts $9.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other webinar and live streaming tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Dacast for less, and 10 score higher than Red5 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
- Red5 is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Dacast also covers reports and multistreaming.
- Red5 also covers video calls.
At a glance
| Dacast | Red5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $39 per month, billed annually | $29.99 per month for 100 connections |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial of Red5 Pro |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dacast | Infrared5, Inc. |
| Price read from | dacast.com | red5.net |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Red5
- It is developer infrastructure, not a finished webinar product with registration or email reminders.
- Hosting is separate: you pay your cloud provider for servers and data transfer.
- Developer Pro is capped at 100 connections with no clustering or autoscaling.
- Pricing says additional fees may apply for services such as Castaway, custom SLAs and custom development.
Key features
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.
Red5
- Low-latency streaming
- Delivers live video over WebRTC, RTMP, RTSP and HLS, with recording and video on demand on every listed plan.
- Autoscaling
- Startup and above autoscale across AWS, Google Cloud, Azure or DigitalOcean; Developer Pro has no clustering.
- Instance-based licensing
- The FAQ says there is no charge per minute, viewer or bandwidth; price follows the license and number of running instances.
- Client SDKs
- SDKs for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Unreal Engine and Unity are sold per launched project.
- Open-source server
- Red5 also publishes an open-source media server and TrueTime tools such as WatchParty and Studio, including a webinar variant.
Plans
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.
Red5
Developer Pro$29.99
per month, up to 100 connections
Live streaming, recordings and VOD with no clustering or autoscaling; email support.
Startup$109
per month, billed annually ($119 billed monthly)
Unlimited connections, adaptive bitrate and autoscaling on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure or DigitalOcean.
Growth Pro$279
per month, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)
Adds transcoding and a private Slack channel to the Startup features.
Enterprise$3,499
per month and up
Adds offline deployments, 24/7 support and phone support to Growth Pro.
Mobile SDKs$349
per month per launched project, billed annually ($419 monthly)
One fee covers the iOS, Android and Linux SDKs for a single project.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dacast or Red5?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Red5 is cheaper to start with: $29.99 a month, against $39 a month for Dacast. Dacast starts at $39 per month, billed annually, and Red5 starts at $29.99 per month for 100 connections.
Which has a free plan, Dacast or Red5?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Dacast nor Red5 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.