# Red5 review (2026): is it worth $29.99 a month? > Self-hosted ultra-low latency streaming server and SDKs Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Red5 Pro is licensed streaming server software that developers deploy on their own cloud accounts to deliver live and on-demand video over WebRTC and other protocols. It is a building block for custom apps such as webinars, auctions and surveillance viewers, with a separate managed option, Red5 Cloud. - **Category:** Webinars & Live Streaming - **Made by:** Infrared5, Inc. - **Website:** https://www.red5.net - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want a ready webinar tool, as there is no registration. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Red5 is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $29.99 per month for 100 connections. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of Red5 Pro. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://www.red5.net/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Red5 before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Developers who need real-time video inside their own app - Teams that want predictable licensing instead of per-viewer fees - Organizations that need offline or on-premises streaming ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Red5 is self-hosted, ultra-low latency streaming infrastructure with SDKs, aimed at developers. It is not a finished webinar product, hosting is separate, and the plan that scales starts at $109 a month. - **Value for money: D.** Developer 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: C.** 30-day trial of Red5 Pro. The listing does not say whether it needs a card. - **Features: C.** Low-latency streaming, autoscaling, SDKs and an open-source server. No registration or reminders. - **Ease of use: D.** It is developer infrastructure that you deploy and configure. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web and mobile SDKs, with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Akamai. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Red5's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among webinar and live streaming tools - Red5's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 9 of the 60 other webinar and live streaming tools we grade, and level with 16. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 20 of 60) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $29.99 a month, against a middle price of $47 for the category: 15 of the 45 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 10 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/webinars ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Red5 you would be making live video to hundreds of people at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 35 of the 60 other webinar and live streaming tools grade higher. It costs $359.88 a year. - You could not: Live video to hundreds of people at once. - You could not: Video calls. - You could not: It plugs into other products, AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud among them, and has an API. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Akamai, Zixi, PubNub, Unity **Tags:** Webinars, Video calls, Public API, Self-hostable ## Alternatives - [Ant Media Server](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ant-media-server): Low-latency WebRTC streaming server you run or rent by the hour. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ant-media-server-vs-red5) - [Wowza](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wowza): Streaming server software you run yourself, plus a cloud platform. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/red5-vs-wowza) - [Flussonic](https://toolgpa.com/tools/flussonic): Streaming media server for IPTV, CCTV and corporate video. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/flussonic-vs-red5) - [Nimble Streamer](https://toolgpa.com/tools/nimble-streamer): Software media server for live and VOD streaming, billed per server. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nimble-streamer-vs-red5) - [Dacast](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dacast): Live streaming and video hosting with bandwidth-based plans. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dacast-vs-red5) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.red5.net/pricing/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/red5 Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).