ApsaraVideo Live offers standard, Narrowband HD™, and audio-only transcoding. Transcoding fees are calculated based on the transcoding type, output resolution, and total daily transcoding duration.
Billing methods
ApsaraVideo Live provides two billing methods for transcoding: pay-as-you-go and resource plan.
Billing method | Description | Use case |
Pay-as-you-go | No upfront purchase is required. The system calculates your daily fees based on the actual transcoding usage and deducts the amount from your account balance. | Ideal for businesses with fluctuating usage or for new users. |
Resource plan | Purchase a resource plan with a fixed amount of transcoding duration in advance. The system prioritizes this plan to offset usage during settlement. Resource plans typically offer a lower unit price than the pay-as-you-go method. For more information, see Resource plans. | Ideal for businesses with stable usage looking to reduce long-term costs. |
Billing rules
You are billed for each transcoded stream:
Billable items: The fee for a single transcoded stream is determined by its specifications (transcoding type, codec, and resolution) and total duration. Billing is independent of the number of viewers watching the transcoded stream.
For example, If you transcode one original stream into three different resolutions, you will be billed for three separate streams.
Formula: Daily transcoding fee = Σ (Unit price of each transcoded stream × Duration of each transcoded stream)
Duration calculation: Duration is measured and billed in minutes. Each transcoding task is calculated independently. Any duration less than one minute is billed as a full minute.
Billing cycle: Each day after 00:00, the system generates a bill for the previous day's usage and deducts the fees from your account. The system first uses valid resource plans to offset usage. Any remaining usage is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
RTS rules: ApsaraVideo Live charges fees for the original-quality stream that uses Real-Time Streaming (RTS). It is billed as standard transcoding.
On-demand transcoding: If this feature is enabled, transcoding starts only when the first viewer pulls a specific transcoded stream. If it is disabled, transcoding starts as soon as the original stream is published. For more details, see Live stream transcoding.
Pricing
ApsaraVideo Live offers three types of transcoding: standard transcoding, Narrowband HD™ transcoding, and audio-only transcoding. Fees vary based on the transcoding type, codec, output resolution, and the region of your live center. Refer to the ApsaraVideo Live pricing page for final prices.
The prices are tiered by output resolution. The system matches the output to a tier based on the width and height defined in your transcoding template, using the following rules:
A stream falls into a tier if neither its short edge nor its long edge exceeds the maximum dimensions for that tier.
If either the short or long edge of the output exceeds the maximum dimensions for a tier, ApsaraVideo Live bills the stream at the next higher tier. For example, if the output resolution is 1300×700, ApsaraVideo Live bills the stream at the 1080P tier because its long edge (1300) exceeds the 720P tier's maximum long edge of 1280.
Standard transcoding pricing
Unit: USD per minute
H.264 | Chinese mainland | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia | Output specifications |
480P (LD) | 0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.0025 | 0.003 | Short edge ≤ 480 and long edge ≤ 640 |
720P (SD) | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.006 | Short edge ≤ 720 and long edge ≤ 1280 |
1080P (HD) | 0.0099 | 0.0099 | 0.0099 | 0.0056 | 0.0099 | 0.01188 | Short edge ≤ 1080 and long edge ≤ 1920 |
2K | 0.0198 | 0.0198 | 0.0198 | 0.0112 | 0.0198 | 0.02376 | Short edge ≤ 1440 and long edge ≤ 2560 |
4K | 0.0396 | 0.0396 | 0.0396 | 0.0224 | 0.0396 | 0.04752 | Short edge ≤ 2160 and long edge ≤ 3840 |
H.265 | Chinese mainland | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia | Output specifications |
480P (LD) | 0.0125 | 0.0125 | 0.0125 | 0.013 | 0.0125 | 0.015 | Short edge ≤ 480 and long edge ≤ 640 |
720P (SD) | 0.025 | 0.025 | 0.025 | 0.025 | 0.025 | 0.03 | Short edge ≤ 720 and long edge ≤ 1280 |
1080P (HD) | 0.0495 | 0.0495 | 0.0495 | 0.028 | 0.0495 | 0.0594 | Short edge ≤ 1080 and long edge ≤ 1920 |
2K | 0.099 | 0.099 | 0.099 | 0.056 | 0.099 | 0.1188 | Short edge ≤ 1440 and long edge ≤ 2560 |
4K | 0.198 | 0.198 | 0.198 | 0.112 | 0.198 | 0.2376 | Short edge ≤ 2160 and long edge ≤ 3840 |
Narrowband HD™ transcoding pricing
Narrowband HD™ transcoding uses high-performance transcoding clusters and advanced encoding algorithms. It offers higher compression efficiency for the same visual quality, which reduces traffic by 30% to 50% on average compared to standard transcoding. Narrowband HD™ transcoding supports both H.264 and H.265.
Unit: USD per minute
H.264 | Chinese mainland | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia | Output specifications |
480P (LD) | 0.0097 | 0.0099 | 0.0099 | 0.0056 | 0.0099 | 0.01188 | Short edge ≤ 480 and long edge ≤ 640 |
720P (SD) | 0.0191 | 0.0198 | 0.0198 | 0.0112 | 0.0198 | 0.02376 | Short edge ≤ 720 and long edge ≤ 1280 |
1080P (HD) | 0.0382 | 0.0396 | 0.0396 | 0.0224 | 0.0396 | 0.04752 | Short edge ≤ 1080 and long edge ≤ 1920 |
2K | 0.0775 | 0.0792 | 0.0792 | 0.0448 | 0.0792 | 0.09504 | Short edge ≤ 1440 and long edge ≤ 2560 |
4K | 0.1550 | 0.1584 | 0.1584 | 0.0896 | 0.1584 | 0.19008 | Short edge ≤ 2160 and long edge ≤ 3840 |
H.265 | Chinese mainland | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia | Output specifications |
480P (LD) | 0.0194 | 0.0198 | 0.0198 | 0.0112 | 0.0198 | 0.02376 | Short edge ≤ 480 and long edge ≤ 640 |
720P (SD) | 0.0382 | 0.0396 | 0.0396 | 0.0224 | 0.0396 | 0.04752 | Short edge ≤ 720 and long edge ≤ 1280 |
1080P (HD) | 0.0764 | 0.0792 | 0.0792 | 0.0448 | 0.0792 | 0.09504 | Short edge ≤ 1080 and long edge ≤ 1920 |
2K | 0.155 | 0.1584 | 0.1584 | 0.0896 | 0.1584 | 0.19008 | Short edge ≤ 1440 and long edge ≤ 2560 |
4K | 0.31 | 0.3168 | 0.3168 | 0.1792 | 0.3168 | 0.38016 | Short edge ≤ 2160 and long edge ≤ 3840 |
Audio-only transcoding pricing
Unit: USD per minute
Item | Chinese mainland | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia |
Audio-only transcoding | 0.0015 | 0.0046 | 0.0046 | 0.003 | 0.0046 | 0.00552 |
Billing examples
Scenario: On June 17, in the Singapore live center, you run two standard transcoding (H.264) streams at 1080P for 45 minutes and 55 minutes, respectively. You also run three Narrowband HD™ transcoding (H.264) streams at 2K, each for 30 minutes.
Calculation: According to the pricing table, the price for 1080P standard transcoding (H.264) is 0.0099 USD per minute, and the price for 2K Narrowband HD™ transcoding (H.264) is 0.0792 USD per minute.
Result:
Standard transcoding (H.264) fee: 0.0099 USD per minute × (45 + 55) minutes = USD 0.99
Narrowband HD™ transcoding (H.264) fee: 0.0792 USD per minute × 30 minutes × 3 streams = USD 7.128
Total transcoding fee: USD 0.99 + USD 7.128 = USD 8.118
The total transcoding fee for your usage in the Singapore live center on June 17 is USD 8.118. A bill for this usage is generated after 00:00 on June 18, and the fee is automatically deducted from your account balance. The exact time of bill generation and deduction may vary.