TL;DR: Live streaming pricing is confusing by design — most providers benefit from your uncertainty. This guide demystifies the three main billing models (traffic packs, pay-as-you-go, and monthly billing), shows you how to calculate your actual needs, and reveals which Tencent Cloud CSS package delivers the best value for your specific use case. Stop overpaying today.
🔗 Transparent Pricing: Tencent Cloud CSS | Current Offers →
Purchase a fixed amount of traffic upfront at discounted rates. Unused traffic remains valid for 1 year.
Best for: Predictable usage, budget-conscious teams, maximum savings.
Pay for exactly what you use, billed daily. Default billing mode for new accounts.
Best for: Unpredictable usage, testing, getting started.
Negotiated rates for high-volume users. Contact sales for custom pricing.
Best for: Enterprise accounts with 100+ TB monthly usage.
Monthly Traffic = Average Bitrate × Concurrent Viewers × Average Session × Days × 30
÷ 8 (bits to bytes) ÷ 1,000,000 (to GB)
| Concurrent Viewers | Avg. Bitrate | Hours/Day | Monthly Traffic | Recommended Package |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 2 Mbps | 4 hrs | ~108 GB | Starter (100 GB) |
| 1,000 | 2 Mbps | 4 hrs | ~1.08 TB | Basic (10 TB) |
| 5,000 | 3 Mbps | 8 hrs | ~16.2 TB | Pro (200 TB) |
| 50,000 | 3 Mbps | 8 hrs | ~162 TB | Pro (200 TB) |
| 500,000 | 3 Mbps | 8 hrs | ~1.6 PB | Enterprise (1 PB) |
💡 With intelligent transcoding enabled, reduce these estimates by 50%. A platform needing 200 TB effectively needs only a 100 TB package.
| Package | Spec | Original Price | Sale Price | Per-GB | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 100 GB | $2.33 | $0.023 | Testing, small events | |
| Basic | 10 TB | $210.45 | $0.021 | SMB, weekly streams | |
| Pro | 200 TB | $3,179.11 | $0.016 | Growing platforms | |
| Enterprise | 1 PB | $14,776.12 | $0.014 | Large-scale operations |
Starter: $0.023/GB ████████████████████████
Basic: $0.021/GB ██████████████████████
Pro: $0.016/GB ████████████████
Enterprise: $0.014/GB ██████████████
The larger the package, the lower the unit cost. Enterprise tier is 40% cheaper per GB than Starter.
This single feature effectively doubles the value of any traffic package by halving your actual bandwidth usage.
Use daily billing to measure your actual usage for 1–2 months, then purchase the right-sized traffic pack.
Current promotional pricing offers up to 40% off standard rates. Lock in promotional rates when available.
If 70% of your viewers are on mobile, you don't need a 4K transcoding tier eating bandwidth.
Auto-archive recordings older than 30 days to cold storage. Save 80%+ on storage costs.
| Hidden Cost | Tencent Cloud CSS | Typical Competitors |
|---|---|---|
| DRM encryption | ✅ Included | 💲 $200–$500/mo extra |
| Content moderation | ✅ Included | 💲 $300–$1,000/mo extra |
| Real-time monitoring | ✅ Included | 💲 $100–$300/mo extra |
| Multi-protocol delivery | ✅ Included | 💲 Per-protocol charges |
| AI features | ✅ Included | 💲 Per-feature charges |
| Package | Spec | Original Price | Sale Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 100 GB | $2.33 | Testing, small events | |
| Basic | 10 TB | $210.45 | SMB, weekly streams | |
| Pro | 200 TB | $3,179.11 | Growing platforms | |
| Enterprise | 1 PB | $14,776.12 | Large-scale operations |
⏰ Promotional pricing is time-limited. Lock in your rate before it expires.
👉 Choose Your Package | 🎁 See Current Promotions
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