DevVersus

Wowza vs api.video(2026)

Wowza is better for teams that need enterprise slas. api.video is the stronger choice if good free tier (100 videos). Wowza is paid (from $149/mo) and api.video is freemium (from $0).

Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.

By Bikram Nath

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Wowza logo

Wowza

paid

Wowza Streaming Cloud and Streaming Engine provide enterprise-grade live streaming, VOD, and video hosting with SLAs, low-latency streaming, and on-premises or cloud deployment.

Starting at $149/mo

Visit Wowza
api.video logo

api.video

freemium

api.video is a developer-first video API platform with simple REST APIs for upload, hosting, live streaming, and analytics — with generous free tier and transparent pricing.

Starting at $0

Visit api.video

How Do Wowza and api.video Compare on Features?

FeatureWowzaapi.video
Pricing modelpaidfreemium
Starting price$149/mo$0
Low-latency live streaming✓—
VOD hosting✓—
Transcoding✓—
Multi-CDN delivery✓—
DVR and recording✓—
REST API✓—
On-premises option✓—
Video upload + hosting—✓
Live streaming—✓
Player SDK—✓
Captions (auto + manual)—✓
Webhooks—✓
Analytics—✓
Private videos—✓

Wowza Pros and Cons vs api.video

W

Wowza

+Enterprise SLAs
+Low-latency (WebRTC)
+On-premises option
+Long track record
−Very expensive
−Not developer-first
−Complex setup
a

api.video

+Good free tier (100 videos)
+Simple API
+Competitive pricing
+Easy to integrate
−Less mature than Mux
−Limited advanced features
−Smaller ecosystem

Should You Use Wowza or api.video?

For most teams, Wowza is the better default: it offers enterprise slas and is paid (from $149/mo). Choose api.video instead if good free tier (100 videos) matters more than very expensive. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value enterprise slas or good free tier (100 videos) more.

Choose Wowza if…

  • •Enterprise SLAs
  • •Low-latency (WebRTC)
  • •On-premises option

Choose api.video if…

  • •Good free tier (100 videos)
  • •Simple API
  • •Competitive pricing

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