Live Stream API pricing

This page describes pricing details for the Live Stream API.

If you pay in a currency other than USD, the prices listed in your currency on Cloud Platform SKUs apply.

Pricing overview

For the Live Stream API, you pay on demand for live encoding and live streaming, which means you pay for the resources you use.

Rates are charged hourly based on how long each channel has been active (in any StreamingState other than STOPPED or STOPPING), and vary based on the resolution of your inputs and outputs. A channel can be active even if it doesn't have an input stream.

Beyond the ten-minute minimum charge, the duration of each active channel is rounded up to the nearest minute.

The following resolutions are available for Live Stream API:

  • SD resolution (less than 1280x720)
  • HD resolution (from 1280x720 up to 1920x1080)
  • UHD resolution (greater than 1920x1080 up to 4096x2160)

Input pricing

Our Live Stream API offers a range of input tiers, ensuring you get the right quality and codec support for your live content.

Choose the right resolution:

  • SD: Standard Definition (H264)
  • HD: High Definition (H264)
  • UHD: Ultra High Definition (H264)

Unlock H265 (HEVC) for Enhanced Efficiency:

For superior video quality and efficiency, select one of our dedicated H265 tiers. These tiers accept both H265 (HEVC) and H264 (AVC) encoded streams, giving you more flexibility. Standard tiers are designed for H264 only and won't accept H265 content.

  • SD_H265: Standard Definition (H265 & H264)
  • HD_H265: High Definition (H265 & H264)
  • UHD_H265: Ultra High Definition (H265 & H264)

Output pricing

Live Stream API output pricing is determined by each video stream's resolution, and codecs as specified in the channel configuration. Higher resolutions (e.g. UHD) and advanced codecs (e.g. H.265 HEVC) increase costs due to greater processing requirements.

Distribution pricing

You can send your live streams to remote locations using either Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) or Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP).

When you set this up, each distribution stream is treated as an additional output. You'll be charged for these extra outputs based on their resolution and codec, similar to your main outputs. These charges apply for the entire time your channel is active, even if the distribution itself isn't actively streaming.

There's also an hourly fee for each distribution endpoint. This fee is calculated from when you start the distribution (using the StartDistribution API call) until it's stopped (either by StopDistribution or StopChannel API calls).

Auto-captioning and auto-translation pricing

When configuring automatic captions and translations, you'll be charged a per-minute fee for each unique, auto-generated text output language. This charge applies whenever your channel is active (not in a stopped or stopping state), and the usual ten-minute minimum charge doesn't apply here.

When you're generating automatic captions and translations for multiple input attachments, the maximum number of unique, auto-generated text output languages across all attachments will be counted for billing purposes.

Pricing tables

The following table shows the rates per resource type, resolution, and region:

  • Taiwan (asia-east1)
  • Hong Kong (asia-east2)
  • Tokyo (asia-northeast1)
  • Mumbai (asia-south1)
  • Singapore (asia-southeast1)
  • Sydney (australia-southeast1)
  • Finland (europe-north1)
  • Belgium (europe-west1)
  • London (europe-west2)
  • Frankfurt (europe-west3)
  • Netherlands (europe-west4)
  • Montreal (northamerica-northeast1)
  • Sao Paulo (southamerica-east1)
  • Iowa (us-central1)
  • South Carolina (us-east1)
  • Northern Virginia (us-east4)
  • Oregon (us-west1)
  • Los Angeles (us-west2)

Resource Type

Resolution

SD

HD

UHD

Input Pricing 1

H.264 (AVC)

$0.07 / 1 hour$0.14 / 1 hour$0.85 / 1 hour

H.265 (HEVC)

$0.28 / 1 hour$0.42 / 1 hour$0.42 / 1 hour

Output Pricing 

H.264 (AVC)

$0.22 / 1 hour$0.45 / 1 hour$1.50 / 1 hour

H.265 (HEVC)

$0.88 / 1 hour$1.35 / 1 hour$3.00 / 1 hour

1 Note that live encoding charges are based on the resolution tier you configure for an input endpoint. For example, if you send an SD video signal to an input endpoint you configured to accept HD input, you are still charged based on HD rates.

Other Services

Feature

Price (USD)

Distribution endpoint

$0.75 per hour

Auto-captioning and auto-translation

$0.75 per minute

If you pay in a currency other than USD, the prices listed in your currency on Cloud Platform SKUs apply.

Pricing examples

Example 1

Consider a live channel with two UHD inputs producing 7 outputs in the us-central1 region:

Inputs

  1. 2160p UHD = $0.85 per hour
  2. 2160p UHD = $0.85 per hour

H.264 (AVC) Outputs

  1. 2160p UHD = $1.50 per hour
  2. 1080p HD = $0.45 per hour
  3. 720p HD = $0.45 per hour
  4. 576p SD = $0.22 per hour
  5. 432p SD = $0.22 per hour

H.265 (HEVC) Outputs

  1. 2160p UHD = $3.00 per hour
  2. 1080p HD = $1.35 per hour

The total price for this channel is ($0.85 + $0.85 + $1.50 + $0.45 + $0.45 + $0.22 + $0.22 + $3.00 + $1.35 = $8.89).

In other words, the price is $0.1482 per minute with a ten-minute minimum charge of $1.482.

Example 2

Consider a live channel with two HD inputs producing 3 outputs in the europe-west2 region and distributing the highest resolution output to 3 different endpoints:

Inputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.18 per hour
  2. 1080p HD = $0.18 per hour

H.264 (AVC) Outputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.57 per hour
  2. 720p HD = $0.57 per hour
  3. 576p SD = $0.28 per hour

Distribution Streams

  1. 1080p HD (TS) = $0.57 per hour
  2. 1080p HD (FLV) = $0.57 per hour

Distribution Endpoints

  1. Endpoint 1 (TS over SRT) = $0.75 per hour
  2. Endpoint 2 (TS over SRT) = $0.75 per hour
  3. Endpoint 3 (FLV over RTMP) = $0.75 per hour

The total price for this channel is ($0.18 + $0.18 + $0.57 + $0.57 + $0.28 + $0.57 + $0.57 + $0.75 + $0.75 + $0.75 = $5.17).

In other words, the price is $0.0862 per minute.

Example 3

Consider a live channel with one HD input producing 3 outputs in the us-central1 region and generating auto-captions for all outputs:

Inputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.14 per hour

H.264 (AVC) Outputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.45 per hour
  2. 720p HD = $0.45 per hour
  3. 576p SD = $0.22 per hour

Auto-Captioning and Auto-Translations

  1. Auto-captioning from input = $0.75 per minute

The total price for this channel is ($0.14 + $0.45 + $0.45 + $0.22 + $0.75 x 60 = $46.26).

In other words, the price is $0.771 per minute.

Example 4

Consider a live channel with one HD input producing 3 outputs in the us-west1 region and generating auto-captions in English and auto-translations to Spanish for all outputs:

Inputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.14 per hour

H.264 (AVC) Outputs

  1. 1080p HD = $0.45 per hour
  2. 720p HD = $0.45 per hour
  3. 576p SD = $0.22 per hour

Auto-Captioning and Auto-Translations

  1. Auto-captioning from input = $0.75 per minute
  2. Auto-translation to Spanish = $0.75 per minute

The total price for this channel is ($0.14 + $0.45 + $0.45 + $0.22 + $0.75 x 60 + $0.75 x 60 = $91.26).

In other words, the price is $1.521 per minute.

Free usage

There is no free usage tier for the Live Stream API.

What's next

Request a custom quote

With Google Cloud's pay-as-you-go pricing, you only pay for the services you use. Connect with our sales team to get a custom quote for your organization
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