The best Cloudflare Stream alternative for teams tired of the bandwidth bill
Cloudflare Stream is a simple video product on Cloudflare's network, billed by minutes stored and delivered. It bills $5 per 1,000 minutes stored and $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered. That means your cost grows every time a video gets watched. Reelm meters one thing, storage, and makes streaming free, so your bill stays flat whether a video gets 10 views or 10 million.
Why teams look for a Cloudflare Stream alternative
- Delivery is still metered per minute delivered, so your cost rises with every view.
- Minute-based billing is hard to forecast when watch time varies across your library.
- The player and analytics are intentionally simple, so you can outgrow them.
Reelm vs Cloudflare Stream, side by side
Numbers will be specific to your workload. Run your storage and views through the calculator to see your real monthly difference.
Choose Cloudflare Stream if
- You are already all-in on Cloudflare and want video in the same dashboard and bill.
- You want the simplest possible setup and your volume is low.
- You do not need deep analytics or a fully custom player.
Choose Reelm if
- Your delivered minutes are climbing and the per-minute charge is adding up.
- You want a bill tied to a number you control (storage), not to viewership.
- You want a stylable open-source player and built-in playback analytics.
The honest pricing picture
Cloudflare Stream is refreshingly simple: a flat $5 per 1,000 minutes stored and $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered, with no egress surprises hidden underneath. The catch is the delivered-minutes meter, which still grows with viewership. Reelm keeps the simplicity but removes the part that scales with success: streaming is free, you only pay for storage.
Calculate your own bill →Moving from Cloudflare Stream to Reelm
- Re-upload your source files. Drag them in or push them through the API. They go straight to storage.
- We transcode automatically. Each file becomes an adaptive HLS ladder, no settings to tune.
- Swap the embed. Use the open-source
<reelm-player>or your own player, with the same signed-playback pattern you already use.
Cloudflare Stream alternative FAQ
What is a good Cloudflare Stream alternative?
Reelm is the closest alternative if your concern is that delivered-minute billing grows with viewership. Reelm charges for storage and streams for free, so your bill is flat. Cloudflare Stream is still a great pick if you want the simplest setup inside the Cloudflare ecosystem at low volume.
Is Reelm cheaper than Cloudflare Stream?
For libraries that get a lot of watch time, yes, because Reelm charges $0 for delivery while Cloudflare Stream charges $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered. At very low volume the two can be close. The cost calculator shows your exact numbers.
Does Reelm run on Cloudflare?
Yes. Reelm is built on Cloudflare Workers and R2, which is exactly why we can offer $0 egress: R2 has no egress fees, and we pass that through to you as unlimited free streaming.
Stop paying more every time a video does well.
Pay for what you store. Stream it unlimited. $0 egress, forever.
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