Introduction
Bandwidth is a measurement of the volume of data that a network or server receives/ transmits over a given amount of time. When you watch a one-hour video, it takes around 500 MB of bandwidth in SD and 2 GB in HD mode, please check our help article on encoding and resolution for more details. You can calculate bandwidth based on this. For example, if 2000 people watch one hour of SD video, it will consume 1000 GB = 1 TB and so on.
How We Charge for Bandwidth
We have different free usage limits for different plans. After you exceed the free bandwidth limit(According to your plan), we will charge for any extra bandwidth used by you. For example, if you have a Muvi Standard plan, then after a 100 GB free bandwidth limit you will be charged for any extra bandwidth used by you. You can only choose any one of the following bandwidth plans for your store. To know the bandwidth charges, please click here.
- On a Per GB Basis - Pay for the actual bandwidth consumed in GB (Gigabytes)
- Per-User Basis - Pay the bandwidth fee on per per-user basis.
- When You Use Your Own CDN - If you are using your own CDN, then you only need to pay us the Bandwidth Management fee.
Unlike other companies in the market, we don't offer unlimited bandwidth for free. We let you know the cost upfront so that you know the total cost and can plan your strategy accordingly. Whereas few companies in the market offer unlimited bandwidth but with a clause in their terms mentioning the upper limit which may surprise you in the end.
Free Bandwidth Usage Limits as Per Plans
To know more about our bandwidth pricing details please Click Here.
How to Calculate Bandwidth Usage
Below we have mentioned bandwidth usage of 4K, (HD (High Definition) and SD (Standard Definition) videos with the specific file size (5 GB) and duration. Based on that you can calculate bandwidth usage of different sizes of videos with different watch duration. To calculate your bandwidth charge please Click Here, and ROI(Return On Investment), please Click Here.
| Video Duration (In Minutes) | Resolution (In Pixel) | Bandwidth Used (In GB) |
| 90 | 2160p | 3.5 |
| 90 | 1080p | 2.5 |
| 90 | 480p | 1.5 |
| Note: For live streaming (Using Camera), 1 hour of streaming consumes approximately 500 MB of bandwidth. However, it will differ according to the upstream of live streaming content. |
Factors That Influence Bandwidth Usage
Bandwidth usage on your platform depends on several content, user, and system-level activities. Below are the key factors that contribute to monthly bandwidth consumption:
- Streaming Quality & Bitrate: Higher video/audio quality and bitrate consume more data.
- Content Duration: Longer playback or repeated views increase usage.
- Concurrent Users: More simultaneous streams lead to higher bandwidth consumption.
- Trailers, Auto-Preview Videos & Video Banners: Every play counts toward usage.
- Images, Posters, Thumbnails & Banners: Downloaded when users browse or open the app.
- Asset Library Downloads: Videos/audios downloaded from the library are included in monthly usage.
- Encoding Transfers: Data moved between encoding servers and storage (e.g., S3) may add to bandwidth.
Optimizing these factors helps manage bandwidth efficiently and control costs.