Understanding Plans and Pricing

How Pricing Works

playout.video has five plans built around what your channel does, not just how sharp the video is:

• Free ($0): build and rehearse a channel; run it casually with a watermark

• Creator ($19/mo billed annually, $29 monthly): a persistent, unbranded 24/7 channel

• Channel ($39/mo billed annually, $49 monthly): a calendar-programmed channel with broadcast automation, and the plan the website embed add-on attaches to

• Business ($119/mo billed annually, $149 monthly): everything in Channel, plus website embedding at adaptive quality for a much larger audience

• Enterprise (custom): negotiated caps and support for media operations

Video quality is an add-on, not a tier: every plan streams 1080p30 by default, 60fps is +$10/mo (Channel and up), and 4K is +$40/mo (Business and up). Website embedding is an add-on too: +$29/mo on Channel, or included on Business.

Paid plans are priced per stream, where one stream is one live channel. Every plan starts with one, so one channel running around the clock needs nothing extra. Add a second stream to your plan when you want two channels live at the same time, and so on. Team members are separate: everyone in your workspace is included on every plan at no extra cost.

Starting a stream while all of yours are already live is refused, and the message names which one is holding the slot. Stopping it frees the slot right away, or you can add another stream in Settings → Billing (see Adding Streams below) and the new slot is available immediately.

The Plans in Detail

Free: $0

• 1 live stream at 1080p30 with the playout.video watermark

• 2 destinations, 2 Live Studio guests

• Sessions up to 2 hours, then auto-stop (restart when a free slot is open)

• 10GB storage, uploads up to 1 hour per video, 10 overlay templates

• Build calendars and schedules (running them needs Channel)

Free is a permanent plan, not a trial. It's made for building: the full editor, playlists, overlays, and calendar design all work. See The Free Plan: What's Included and Where the Limits Are.

Creator: $19/mo (annual) or $29 monthly

Everything you need to run one channel seriously:

• No watermark, and no session cap: true 24/7 streaming

• Multistream to 5 destinations, including custom RTMP endpoints

• Live Studio with 8 guests (on air up to 24 hours at a time)

• Recording your sessions to the media library

• 100GB storage, uploads up to 4 hours per video

Creator streams at 1080p30; the 60fps and 4K add-ons are not available on this tier.

Channel: $39/mo (annual) or $49 monthly

Everything in Creator, plus broadcast automation, the ability to run your channel from the Calendar:

• Calendar-run streams: your channel goes live on schedule, unattended

• Auto-start and auto-stop around scheduled windows

• Scheduled playlist swaps and automated actions

• Recurring programming (daily, weekly, monthly)

• 8 destinations, 10 studio guests, 150GB storage, 8-hour uploads

• 60fps add-on available (+$10/mo)

• Website embed add-on available (+$29/mo, flat): your channel on your own site at source quality, for up to 100 people watching at once

If you think of your stream as a programmed channel (shows at fixed times, a schedule your audience can rely on), this is your plan. See The Channel Plan: Run Your Channel Like a TV Network.

Business: $119/mo (annual) or $149 monthly

Everything in Channel, plus your channel on your own turf:

• Website embedding included, at full strength: hosted player, adaptive quality (ABR), DVR rewind, viewer counts, domain/signed access control, and up to 1,000 people watching at once. The Channel add-on covers the same iframe at source quality for up to 100 viewers, so Business is the step up when your audience grows or you need adaptive quality and signed links (see How to Embed Your Live Stream on Any Website)

• RTMP & WHIP source input into Live Studio: push a hardware encoder, OBS, or vMix in as a source (see Add RTMP Source)

• 4K add-on available (+$40/mo), alongside the 60fps add-on

• 24/7 Live Studio: the studio can stay on air around the clock, over your channel's playlist or as its own stream

• 10 destinations, 20 studio guests, 250GB storage, 12-hour uploads

• Priority support

Enterprise: custom

For media operations running many channels: negotiated concurrency, quality, storage, SLA, and dedicated support. Contact us.

Plan Comparison

Add-Ons

• Website embed (+$29/mo, Channel only): your channel on your own site at source quality, up to 100 concurrent viewers. Flat per workspace, not per seat. Business includes embedding already, with adaptive quality, signed links and 1,000 viewers, so the add-on is not sold there

• 60fps (+$10/mo, Channel and up): for fast-motion content like gaming and sports

• 4K (+$40/mo, Business and up): for cinematic and high-detail content

• Extra storage ($25 per 100GB per month): added in 100GB increments on any paid plan

For choosing quality, see Stream Quality Settings. As a rule of thumb, uploaded 1080p video uses roughly 2-4GB of storage per hour. Videos imported from a link are usually smaller, under 1GB per hour.

Adding Streams

Every paid plan includes one stream, which is one channel live at a time. Only streams that are live count: a stopped stream uses no slot, and neither do a stream's destinations, so one stream can send to several platforms. To run more channels at once, raise the stream count on the plan you already have:

1. Go to Settings → Billing.

2. Under Streams live at the same time, click Add a stream.

3. Set the number of channels you want on air together. The dialog shows what you pay today and your new total before you confirm.

The new streams are available as soon as the change goes through. If your bank asks you to verify the payment, finish that step first.

Each stream costs your plan's per-stream price:

So three streams on Creator monthly come to $87 a month, and three on Channel monthly to $147 a month. Quality add-ons such as 60fps are charged per stream; the website embed add-on is flat per workspace. On the day you add streams you pay only for the days left in your current billing period, and the confirmation screen shows that amount before anything is charged. Lowering the count works from the same screen: stop any streams above the new number first, and the unused days come back as credit on your account (see Moving to a Lower Plan below).

A few things that are easy to mix up:

• Moving to a higher plan does not add streams. Channel and Business add features (calendar automation, website embedding, 4K), not slots. If all you need is more channels live at once, add streams to the plan you are on.

• Don't buy a second subscription to get a second stream. It works, but you end up with two bills and two renewal dates. Raising the count keeps everything on one subscription.

• Team members are not streams. Inviting colleagues from Settings → Team is free on every plan. You only need extra streams if several of you want separate channels live at the same time.

Annual vs Monthly Billing

Annual billing is the headline price and saves roughly a third compared to paying monthly:

A monthly plan can move to annual billing from Settings → Billing with Switch to annual. The annual term starts that day.

Legacy Plans

If you subscribed before the current plans launched (the $29 quality-tier era), your workspace is grandfathered onto the Channel tier at your existing price. You keep everything you had, including calendar automation. No action needed.

A legacy plan can add streams or move up to Business, but it cannot move down to Creator from the billing page: any current plan would end the grandfathered price for good. If you want to change it anyway, contact support.

Managing Your Subscription

• Upgrading takes effect immediately, and the new plan replaces the one you are on rather than being added to it. You are charged only the prorated difference for the rest of the current period, and the days you already paid for are credited back automatically.

• Moving to a lower plan works the same way and also takes effect immediately. See the next section.

• Canceling keeps the plan active until the end of the period, after which the workspace returns to the Free plan: the watermark returns, sessions are capped at 2 hours, and calendar runs pause. Your content stays in storage (within Free's 10GB; you'll be prompted if you're over).

• Refunds are not automatic. Plans are billed in advance, so cancelling stops the next charge but does not send back the period you are in. We look at refund requests case by case, and where we do refund, paid access ends at that point rather than running to the end of the period. See the Refund Policy.

Each workspace has its own plan and billing: if you run several brands, see Multiple Workspaces: Separate Brands, Separate Billing.

Moving to a Lower Plan

You can move to a cheaper plan yourself, for example from Channel to Creator:

1. Go to Settings → Billing and click Change plan.

2. Pick the lower plan and the number of streams you want, then click Review Changes.

3. The review screen lists what the lower plan takes away, and the credit you get. Tick I understand, change my plan and confirm.

What to expect:

• It applies straight away, not at the end of the billing period. Your renewal date stays the same.

• The money comes back as credit, not a refund. The unused part of what you paid for the higher plan is credited, the lower plan is charged for the days left, and the difference stays on your account. It comes off your next invoices automatically; it is not paid back to your card. For example, moving from Channel with 2 streams ($98 a month) to Creator with 3 streams ($87 a month) a few days into the month leaves a credit of a few dollars, so the next renewal costs that much less than $87.

• Features above the new plan stop. Leaving Channel stops calendar streams from starting (on schedule or by hand); your calendars stay and you can still edit them. Destinations above the new plan's limit, AI allowances and the other caps follow the new plan too. The review screen lists exactly what applies to your workspace.

• Add-ons the new plan can't have are removed: 60fps and the website embed add-on when you move to Creator, 4K when you leave Business.

• Storage drops to the new plan's allowance (Creator includes 100GB per stream, Channel 150GB) unless you keep extra storage. If your library is bigger than the new total, nothing is deleted while you are on a paid plan, but new uploads are refused until it fits. If the workspace goes back to Free, the oldest files are removed after 30 days: see When Your Library Is Over 10GB.

• Streams live right now must fit. If more streams are running than the new plan allows, stop the ones you can do without first. The review screen tells you which are live.

Changed your mind? Moving back up works the same way, and you pay only the difference for the rest of the period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free trial? There's something better: the Free plan never expires. Build your channel first, pay when it's ready to run without limits.

Do I need a separate plan for each stream? Each concurrent live channel is a seat on your plan. Running one 24/7 channel is one seat; you only add seats to run several streams at the same time. Add them to your existing plan from Settings → Billing → Add a stream rather than buying a second subscription.

Will upgrading to Channel or Business let me run more streams at once? No. Higher plans add features, not streams. Every paid plan, Creator included, can run as many channels at once as you have streams on it, so add streams to the plan you are on.

Is there a limit on how many videos I can import? Only per hour. Free imports up to 3 videos an hour; paid plans import up to 50 an hour for each stream on the plan. A larger playlist imports in batches: the import window shows when the next batch can start. Each video must also fit your plan's upload length (1 hour on Free, 4 hours on Creator), and imported videos count toward storage. There is no limit on how many videos a stream's playlist can hold.

Can I build a calendar on Free or Creator? Yes, fully. Only running calendar streams and their automation requires Channel. See Build Your Schedule Free, Hit Run When You're Ready.

I already pay for Creator. If I move to Channel, do I pay both? No. The Channel price replaces the Creator price, it is never charged on top. Moving from Creator ($29 monthly) to Channel ($49 monthly) with the website embed add-on ($29 monthly) makes your ongoing bill $78 a month, not $78 plus the $29 you were already paying. On the day you switch, you are charged only the difference for the days left in the month, because the unused part of what you already paid is credited back. The confirmation screen shows that exact amount before anything is charged.

Can I move to a cheaper plan, and when does it take effect? Yes, from Settings → Billing → Change plan, straight away. The review screen shows what the lower plan takes away before you confirm. Legacy plans are the exception: contact support for those. See Moving to a Lower Plan above.

Do I get money back when I move to a cheaper plan? You get credit, not a refund. The unused part of the higher plan stays on your account and comes off your next invoices automatically. It is not paid back to your card.

Can I embed on my website while I'm on Creator? Not directly. The embed add-on attaches to Channel, so the move is Channel plus the add-on. If you want to try it before committing, contact support and we can enable it temporarily.

Why can't I buy 60fps on Creator? Creator is deliberately the lean "one 24/7 loop" plan at 1080p30. Fast-motion and high-detail quality options live on Channel (60fps) and Business (4K).

What's the difference between "Custom RTMP" and "RTMP source input"? They point in opposite directions. Custom RTMP destinations (Creator and up) send your finished stream out to any RTMP endpoint. RTMP/WHIP source input (Business and up) brings a feed in, letting you push a hardware encoder, OBS, or vMix into Live Studio as a source. Browser (WebRTC) cameras and guest invites work on every plan regardless.

Are there per-viewer or bandwidth fees? No. The plan, seats, and any add-ons are the only charges.

Next Steps

• The Free Plan: What's Included and Where the Limits Are

• Managing Your Team and Permissions

• How to Create Your First 24/7 Live Stream