Mux vs Wistia (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Wistia grades higher than Mux: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mux grades higher on value for money. Wistia grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mux
Video API for storing, streaming and analyzing video in apps
Wistia
Video hosting, recording and webinars for marketing teams
Which one is for you
Pick Mux if
- Fits if you're a developer who needs video inside your own product
- Works for apps that want per-minute billing and playback analytics
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't write code, because there's no app, only an API
- Tight if you stay free, with 10 stored videos and no live
- Watch out: custom domains are $100 a month and live simulcast is $0.020 a minute per target
- Watch out: usage billing means the bill moves with your audience
Pick Wistia if
- Fits if your marketing team wants branded, ad-free video on its own site
- Works for teams that can pay $329 a month to send video leads and viewing data into HubSpot or Marketo
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you only need hosting for one person, at $79 a month billed annually for Business, or $99 monthly
- Pricey if you want HubSpot, Marketo or Pardot hooked up, since that needs Business + Signals at $329 a month
- Skip it if you need SSO or playback protection on a budget, as both are Enterprise-only
- Tight if you're staying free, because it's 1 user, 25 GB and Wistia branding left on the player
- Watch out: extra users are $25 each, dubbing is a paid add-on below Enterprise, and cancellations aren't refunded
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMuxFair | 2.4GPAWistiaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree to start and usage-based after, with Launch at $20 for $100 of credit. Cost depends on minutes, not seats, so it's hard to set against per-seat tools. | DBusiness is $79 a month billed annually for 3 users, with extras at $25 each, against a $10 middle for this category and a dearest tenth starting at $38. The marketing automation hookups need Signals at $329, and webinars start at $429. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 100K delivery minutes a month, but only 10 stored videos and no live video, no card needed. | BFree gives 25 GB of storage, 200 GB of bandwidth, basic analytics, the recording studio and transcript editing, enough for one person to work on. The player keeps Wistia's branding, and it's one user. |
| Features | BHosting, delivery, live, analytics, a free player, AI workflows and signed URLs. The listing shows costs on top: custom domains are $100 a month. | BAn ad-free customizable player that embeds anywhere, a recording studio with each guest on a separate track, timeline and transcript editing, AI clips from a prompt, heatmaps, A/B tests, in-video lead forms and webinars with 9 presenters. No gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record, and it's an API: you write code to use it, and there is no app. | CNo store rating on record, and the work here is building things: player settings, collections, calls to action, embeds and forms. Pushing viewing data into HubSpot or Marketo is a project on its own, on a pricier plan. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb via API, with a free Video.js player and delivery to anything that plays video. | BA browser app and nothing else, with no desktop or phone app listed, but it connects to HubSpot, Marketo Engage, Pardot, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Klaviyo and LinkedIn, and there's an API. |
| Best for | developers building video into an app | video hosting for marketing teams |
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: Mux and Wistia. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mux starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wistia starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7.
Wistia scores higher, and starts $59 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other screen recording and video tools on the chart, 26 score higher than Mux for less, and 13 score higher than Wistia 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
- Mux also covers web analytics.
- Wistia also covers noise cancellation, screen recording and video editing.
At a glance
| Mux | Wistia | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month for $100 in credit (Launch, prepaid) | $79 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), with 3 users |
| Free plan | 100K delivery minutes and 100K Mux Robots units a month, up to 10 videos stored, on-demand video only, no credit card. | 1 user, up to 25 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth, basic video analytics, the recording studio and transcript-based editing. The player carries Wistia branding. |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial of Business with no credit card; the webinar plans state a 14-day trial |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Mux | Wistia |
| Price read from | mux.com | wistia.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mux
- Mux is an API, so using it means writing code; the pricing page lists no desktop or mobile app.
- The Free plan allows 10 stored videos and no live video.
- Custom domains cost $100 a month, and live simulcasting is $0.020 per minute per target.
Wistia
- The Free plan is limited to 1 user, 25 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth, and keeps Wistia branding on the player.
- Marketing automation integrations and lead scoring need Business + Signals, a webinar plan or Enterprise.
- Business includes 3 users and each extra user costs $25; SSO and playback protection are Enterprise-only.
- Dubbing and AI audio descriptions are a paid add-on below Enterprise, and cancellations are not refunded.
Key features
Mux
- Video hosting by the minute
- Prices are per minute of content, not file size, with no rounding up to the next minute. Input is free and storage starts at $0.0024 per minute.
- Video delivery
- 100K delivery minutes a month are free, then rates start at $0.0008 per minute.
- Mux Robots AI workflows
- AI jobs priced per minute or per job, including caption translation, summaries, chapters, key moments, content moderation and audio translation.
- Live video
- Live streaming on the paid plans, with live captions free for 6K minutes a month and simulcasting charged per target.
- Analytics and player
- Mux Data video analytics and the Video.js player are listed as free.
- Content security
- Signed URLs and domain and referrer restrictions are free. Media-grade DRM costs $100 a month plus $0.003 per play.
Wistia
- Hosting and embedding
- Videos are stored in one library and played through an ad-free, customizable player that embeds on any site. Paid plans add collections, channels and playlists.
- Recording studio
- Record the screen, a webcam or both in the browser, or invite guests by link. Each participant is recorded locally on a separate track with a cloud backup.
- Editing and AI clips
- A timeline editor plus transcript-based editing, AI background-noise removal and silence trimming. Remix turns a prompt into highlight reels, cut-downs and social clips.
- Analytics and lead capture
- Paid plans add heatmaps, engagement graphs, A/B testing and CSV export, along with calls to action and in-video forms that collect leads.
- Webinars
- Webinar plans cover live, simulive and pre-recorded events with registration pages, chat, Q&A and polls, and up to 9 presenters on screen.
- Automation Suite
- Puts video and webinar engagement on contact records in HubSpot, Adobe Marketo Engage and Pardot for lead scoring, segmentation and triggered campaigns.
Plans
Mux
Free$0
100K free monthly delivery minutes and Mux Robots units, up to 10 stored videos and on-demand video only.
Pay as you go$0
per month plus usage
Usage-based billing with all API features, on-demand and live video, no storage limit and a $20 monthly usage credit.
Launch$20
per month for $100 in credit
Prepaid credits that apply to usage, with the 100K monthly delivery minutes and Robots units. Usage billing applies after the credits run out.
Scale$500
per month for $1,000 in credit
Prepaid credits for larger volumes, with the same monthly free delivery minutes and Robots units. Usage billing applies after the credits run out.
EnterpriseCustom
Steeper volume discounts over $3k a month, account security features, SLAs and 24/7 support.
Wistia
Free$0
1 user, up to 25 GB of storage, 200 GB of bandwidth, basic video analytics and Wistia branding on the player.
Business$79
per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
3 users with more at $25 each, 250 GB of storage, no Wistia branding, collections and playlists, CTAs and forms, heatmaps and A/B testing.
Business + Signals$329
per month, billed annually ($412 billed monthly)
Business plus the Automation Suite: HubSpot, Marketo and Pardot integrations, lead scoring, triggered campaigns and revenue attribution.
Webinars$429
per month, billed annually ($537 billed monthly)
Everything in Business plus live webinars for up to 500 attendees, 1.5-hour streams, registration pages and the Automation Suite.
Webinars Plus$829
per month, billed annually ($1,037 billed monthly)
1,000 attendees, 3-hour streams, webinars embedded on your own site, simulcast to social platforms and Wistia branding removed.
EnterpriseCustom
Storage from 1 TB, custom users, team accounts, SSO, video playback protection and a dedicated customer success manager.
Ways to pay less
Mux
No public discounts listed.
Wistia
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Wistia's pricing page labels annual billing as saving 20%: Business is $79 a month billed annually against $99 billed monthly, and Business + Signals is $329 against $412.
- Nonprofit
Discount for nonprofit organizations
Wistia's help center says it offers a discount to nonprofits that email its support team with documentation of their status. The size of the discount is not stated.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mux or Wistia?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Mux is cheaper to start with: $20 a month, against $79 a month for Wistia. Mux starts at $20 per month for $100 in credit (Launch, prepaid), and Wistia starts at $79 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), with 3 users.
Which has a free plan, Mux or Wistia?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Mux and Wistia have a free plan.
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.