What multi-DRM actually costs
Published self-serve prices for Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay video hosting, with a link to the page each figure came from. The useful comparison is not the headline number — it is whether DRM is included in the plan or sold as an add-on on top of one.
These are self-serve prices. Several of these vendors also sell unpublished enterprise pricing that can be lower at volume, and prices move — Gumlet cut theirs by up to 70% in May 2026. Check the source links before relying on anything here.
| Platform | Entry price for DRM | How it is sold | Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| StreamVault 250 GB storage and 1 TB delivery per month on the entry plan. Plays beyond the allowance are metered. Our pricing | $12/mo | Included on every plan | 1,000 protected plays/mo (Starter) · 5,000 (Pro) |
| VdoCipher Annual credit: the term ends when the bandwidth is consumed or the year is up, whichever is first. 100 GB storage. Source | $149/yr | Included in the plan | 1 TB delivery per year |
| DynTube Base plans start at $20/mo without DRM; the DRM-protected tiers start a little above that. Source | from ~$25/mo | Included on DRM plans | Per-plan storage and bandwidth |
| Gumlet A large included allowance — better value than ours if you are protecting a big audience. Gumlet cut prices up to 70% in May 2026. Source | $99/mo add-on | Add-on, on top of a hosting plan | 100,000 views, then $1 per 1,000 |
| Bunny Stream (MediaCage) Billed per device per key, so a video protected with several keys can bill more than once for one viewer. Source | $99/mo base | Add-on, on top of Bunny Stream | Then $0.005 per licence |
| Dacast DRM appears on the higher self-serve tier rather than as a separate add-on. Source | $165/mo | On the Scale tier | Per-plan allowances |
| Vimeo DRM and geo-blocking are listed as Enterprise features; you talk to sales and sign an annual agreement. Source | No published price | Enterprise only | Quoted |
Which one is cheapest for you
Work out roughly how many protected plays you serve in a month, then look at the shape of the bill rather than the headline. Below about 5,000 protected plays a month, an included allowance wins comfortably — a $99/month add-on is a lot to pay to protect one course. Above about 100,000, the add-on platforms' large included allowances start to win, and Gumlet in particular is good value at that size.
We have written that down even though it sends some readers to a competitor, because the alternative is a comparison page you cannot trust — and because someone who signs up on the wrong side of that line churns in a month anyway.
Questions
What does DRM video hosting cost in 2026?
Published self-serve prices split into two shapes. Some platforms include multi-DRM in the plan — StreamVault from $12/month, VdoCipher from $149/year, DynTube from around $25/month. Others sell it as an add-on on top of hosting — Gumlet at $99/month and Bunny's MediaCage at $99/month plus $0.005 per licence. Dacast puts it on a $165/month tier. Vimeo does not publish a price and sells DRM only on Enterprise. Checked 14 September 2026.
Why do some vendors charge per licence?
Because a DRM licence request hits a licence server, and that has a real per-request cost — roughly $0.005 to $0.05 depending on volume and vendor. Charging per licence passes that through honestly. Including an allowance in the plan averages it instead. Neither is wrong; the per-licence model just makes the cheapest way to try DRM a three-figure monthly commitment.
Do I pay three times for Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay?
No, and you should be suspicious of anyone who quotes it that way. One CMAF file encrypted once with the cbcs scheme serves all three through Common Encryption, so a managed platform packages once and serves whichever DRM the viewer's device asks for. Every platform in the table above includes the systems it supports at no per-DRM charge.
Which is cheapest?
It depends on the shape of your audience, which is why the table shows the shape of the bill rather than just a number. For a course creator with a few hundred students, an included allowance on a $12/month plan is far cheaper than a $99/month add-on. For someone serving 100,000 protected views a month, Gumlet's add-on allowance may well come out ahead of our metering. Work out your protected plays per month first, then compare.
What does DRM not do, at any price?
It does not stop someone filming the screen with a phone camera, on any platform in the table. What it does is remove the clean, redistributable file, so the only copy anyone can make is visibly worse — and a viewer-identifying watermark makes that copy traceable. Budget for DRM as the thing that keeps your course off download sites, not as something that makes copying impossible.
How current are these numbers?
They were checked on 14 September 2026 against each vendor's published pricing page, linked in the table. Two caveats worth stating plainly: these are self-serve prices, and several of these vendors also sell unpublished enterprise pricing that can be lower at volume; and prices move — Gumlet cut theirs by up to 70% in May 2026. If you find a figure here that is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.