# Mux review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Video API for storing, streaming and analyzing video in apps Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Mux is a video infrastructure service that developers use through APIs to upload, store, stream and analyze video. Billing is by minutes of video, with a free plan, a usage-based plan and prepaid credit plans. It includes a free player, video analytics and AI workflows called Mux Robots. - **Category:** Screen Recording & Video - **Made by:** Mux - **Website:** https://www.mux.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you don't write code, because there's no app, only an API. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Mux has a free plan, and paid plans start at $20 per month for $100 in credit (Launch, prepaid). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** 100K delivery minutes and 100K Mux Robots units a month, up to 10 videos stored, on-demand video only, no credit card. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | | Enterprise | Custom | Steeper volume discounts over $3k a month, account security features, SLAs and 24/7 support. | Read from https://www.mux.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Mux before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Developers adding video to an app through an API - Products with spiky or unpredictable video usage - Teams that want AI captions or summaries per video ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Mux is video infrastructure you use through code: upload, store, stream and analyze video, billed by the minute. The free plan stores 10 videos and has no live, and you need to write code to use any of it. - **Value for money: C.** Free 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. - **Free plan and trial: C.** A free plan with 100K delivery minutes a month, but only 10 stored videos and no live video, no card needed. - **Features: B.** Hosting, delivery, live, analytics, a free player, AI workflows and signed URLs. The listing shows costs on top: custom domains are $100 a month. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record, and it's an API: you write code to use it, and there is no app. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web via API, with a free Video.js player and delivery to anything that plays video. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Mux's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among screen recording and video tools - Mux's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 19 of the 84 other screen recording and video tools we grade, and level with 16. - It stands best on features (B, above 49 of 84) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $20 a month, against a middle price of $12 for the category: 48 of the 62 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 26 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/video ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Nothing Mux does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 5 things listed below take a company. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 49 of the 84 other screen recording and video tools grade higher. It costs $240 a year. - You could not: Speech turned into text you can trust. - You could not: A tracking script and a database that counts every visit. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Video.js among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Video.js **Tags:** Public API, AI features, Transcription, Web analytics ## Alternatives - [Brightcove](https://toolgpa.com/tools/brightcove): Enterprise video hosting, player and live streaming platform. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/brightcove-vs-mux) - [JWX (JW Player)](https://toolgpa.com/tools/jw-player): Video streaming, delivery and ad monetization platform. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/jw-player-vs-mux) - [Vimeo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/vimeo): Ad-free video hosting with a customizable player and review tools. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mux-vs-vimeo) - [Wistia](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wistia): Video hosting, recording and webinars for marketing teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mux-vs-wistia) - [Kaltura](https://toolgpa.com/tools/kaltura): Video platform for education, enterprise and media, sold by quote. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kaltura-vs-mux) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://www.mux.com/pricing Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/mux Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).