Live streaming cost down

Hi,

If you don't need any advanced features like catch-up, timeshift, repackaging, live to VOD or DRM, you can simply use the foundational live streaming solution on AWS, that uses S3 instead of AWS Elemental MediaPackage : https://docs.aws.amazon.com/solutions/latest/live-streaming-on-aws-with-amazon-s3/architecture-overview.html

You can also reduce the number of outputs you have and/or reduce the bitrate on some (or all) of those outputs to reduce costs.

Thanks

There are three main patterns for live-streaming video on AWS:

1. Live Streaming on AWS [1]
2. Live Streaming on AWS with Amazon S3 [2]
3. Amazon Interactive Video Service (IVS) [3]

As noted by Pedro, the specific features you would like to offer in your service will drive you towards on solution or another.

As a general statement, the largest cost factor in live-streaming is video viewership (network output).

As a managed service, IVS video output pricing is very straightforward based on the video quality (SD, HD, Full HD) as follows:

• SD = $0.0375 per viewer * hour
• HD = $0.0750 per viewer * hour
• Full HD = $0.1500 per viewer * hour

Cost example 2 for both of the other live streaming solutions make the same general assumptions and come out with a slightly higher rate: $0.153149 per viewer * hour.

As a general statement, if you want to stream Full HD (eg 1080p), it will cost right around $0.150 - $0.153 per viewer * hour (network output costs) regardless of solution.

To reduce overall costs, you must reduce the bitrate your viewers see, ideally without impacting the user experience. This is where the two Livestreaming solutions can help reduce your costs, by using Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) [4] and Quality-defined Variable Bitrate [5].

Both of these solutions utilize ABR and the full Live Streaming solution also uses QVBR during the MediaPackage stage, effectively reducing the average bitrate your viewers will see without impacting the quality of their experience.

This is why the cost estimate for both solutions indicates:

The examples provided are likely higher than the actual costs of running this solution. The intent was to provide a guide to the pricing that is easily understood. Where assumptions were needed, we used factors that were straightforward to calculate and also likely be more expensive than the actual cost.

This is expanded upon later in cost example 2:

QVBR and variable video complexity can result in an output bandwidth that is 10-50% lower than the price estimate provided

In short, livestreaming network output costs are primarily driven by viewer bitrate. The solution examples provide the max network costs for the scenario; using the solutions as directed will likely result in much lower network output costs, with the exact impact dependent on the types of devices your viewers use and the quality of their internet connection.

1. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/solutions/latest/live-streaming-on-aws/architecture-overview.html
2. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/solutions/latest/live-streaming-on-aws-with-amazon-s3/welcome.html
3. https://aws.amazon.com/ivs/
4. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/mediaconvert/latest/ug/auto-abr.html
5. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/mediaconvert/latest/ug/cbr-vbr-qvbr.html