Cloudflare Stream is a pay-as-you-go video hosting and streaming service built on Cloudflare's global network, designed for developers who want reliable adaptive bitrate video delivery without managing their own encoding infrastructure. Uploaded videos are automatically transcoded to multiple resolutions for HLS and DASH streaming, delivered from Cloudflare's 300+ global Points of Presence, and served via a customizable HTML5 player that embeds with a single iframe. Pricing is usage-based — charged per minute of video stored and per minute of video delivered — with no monthly seat fees, making it cost-effective for sites with variable or unpredictable video traffic. Cloudflare Stream integrates with WordPress via REST API or community plugins. Compared to Vimeo, Stream offers greater control over player customization and direct access to raw delivery data, but provides less of a built-in video marketing platform: there are no native audience management dashboards or collaboration workflow features.
Glossary entry