Transistor vs api.video Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Transistor | api.video | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $19/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 4 | 5 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | flat-rate | usage-based |
Starter
- Unlimited podcasts
- Unlimited Team members/collaborators
- 50 Private podcast subscribers
- 20K Monthly downloads
- Live customer support
- Advanced analytics
- API Access
- Built-in podcast website
- Podcast network website
Professional
- Unlimited podcasts
- Unlimited Team members/collaborators
- 500 Private podcast subscribers
- 100K Monthly downloads
- Live customer support
- Advanced analytics
- API Access
- Built-in podcast website
- Podcast network website
- Dynamic ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll)
- Dynamic show notes
- Auto-post to YouTube
Business
- Unlimited podcasts
- Unlimited Team members/collaborators
- 3K Private podcast subscribers
- 250K Monthly downloads
- Live customer support
- Advanced analytics
- API Access
- Built-in podcast website
- Podcast network website
- Dynamic ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll)
- Dynamic show notes
- Auto-post to YouTube
- Remove branding
Enterprise
Video Encoding
- FREE for unlimited minutes
Video Hosting
- $0.00285 per minute of video stored
Video Delivery
- $0.0017 per minute of video delivered
Pay as you go
- 100 Upload API calls/min
- 200 Write API calls/min
- 500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 5 days)
- 99.999%
- Public Terms
- Credit Card, Apple Pay, SEPA (on request), Monthly Billing
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
Enterprise plan
- 200 Upload API calls/min
- 1000 Write API calls/min
- 2500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 60 days) & Domain Referrer
- Isolated storage
- Security Reviews
- 99.999% + SLA credits
- Signed MSA, SLA, DPA
- Wire Transfer, Annual Billing, Payment schedules
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
Transistor vs api.video FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- api.video has a free plan. Transistor doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Transistor uses flat-rate pricing, while api.video goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Transistor: Transistor sits in the mid-market sweet spot — not as cheap as Buzzsprout or Anchor/Spotify for Creators, but well below enterprise podcast platforms. They're clearly targeting professional creators and small media companies who've outgrown the free tier tools but don't need a full enterprise solution. api.video: They're positioning as the developer-friendly, transparent-pricing alternative to Mux and Cloudflare Stream — similar usage-based model but with free encoding as a differentiator. That $0 encoding line is a direct shot at competitors who charge for transcoding, targeting cost-conscious dev teams building video into their apps.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Transistor and api.video and let you know when something moves.