Integrate video into apps easier using new tech from Cloudflare

Cloudflare announced the general availability of Cloudflare Stream, a new way for content owners and app developers to integrate video into any application or website.

Prior to Cloudflare Stream, if businesses wanted to move beyond just uploading videos to a consumer service like YouTube, they had to use at least three different services: one to encode video into a streamable format, another to act as the content delivery network delivering the bytes, and another to provide the player code that runs on the client device. Cloudflare is fixing both the technical and business issues that have plagued the video streaming market to date.

“Now that Cloudflare Stream has democratized the video technology that was previously only available to the likes of Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook, we can’t wait to see what developers will build,” explained Matthew Prince, co-founder, and CEO of Cloudflare. “A developer on our team was literally able to build a full-featured video sharing service over a weekend. Get ready for an explosion of apps that use video in innovative, new ways - all powered by Cloudflare Stream.”

Cloudflare Stream gives content owners a new way to integrate video into any app or website, without dealing with technical complications or giving up control to platforms like YouTube or Facebook. Cloudflare handles the infrastructure setup to give developers an independent platform, which enables owners to retain their own data, own branding, and keep viewers on their own pages instead of referring them back to other major sites. This allows creators and developers to have full control over their content.

Cloudflare Stream features include:

Cost-Effective Pricing: With zero-cost encoding and a per-minute pricing model, Cloudflare Stream is one of the most cost-effective ways to deliver high-quality video anywhere around the world.

Adaptable Workflow: Users can now focus on their content and customers, with Cloudflare Stream removing the need to be an expert in video processing and delivery.

High-Quality Video: Adaptive bitrate streaming serves the highest-quality video through Cloudflare’s robust network of 150+ data centers spanning the globe.

Customizable Player: Content creators can increase profit by keeping visitors on their site, resulting in higher advertising revenue.

Stream’s ease-of-use and affordability are its killer features. Stream is priced on a per-minute viewed basis, aligning Cloudflare’s interests in continuing to innovate with Stream’s users. Stream costs $1 per 1,000 minutes viewed. Cloudflare customers pay $5 per 1,000 minutes of video files stored. Discounts are available at higher volumes and there are no additional encoding, bandwidth, or player license fees.

“Stream was designed to be the high-quality, low-cost solution in the video market,” said Dane Knecht, Head of Product Strategy at Cloudflare. “It’s typical for users of legacy video solutions to save more than half their costs by switching to Stream.”

Cloudflare first announced the Cloudflare Stream beta in September. Since then, more than 4,000 customers have signed up and are using Stream for a variety of uses. Cloudflare customers who were previously using other video streaming services have reported savings of up to half of their prior bills.