The platform layer that cheap infrastructure is missing.
| Feature | host.video | Bunny Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plans | Pure pay-as-you-go per GB |
| Analytics | Heatmaps, completion, geography, referrers | Basic view count and geography only |
| AI search inside videos | Included on all plans | Not available |
| Auto transcription | Included, no per-minute fee | $0.10/language/min |
| Live streaming | Not currently offered | Not available |
| Password protection | Included | Token auth and domain restrictions |
| Marketing features (CTAs, gating) | Password protection, signed URLs | None |
| DRM | Not currently offered | $99/mo add-on (MediaCage) |
Bunny Stream provides basic analytics only — view count, geography, and bandwidth. No viewer-level data, no engagement heatmaps, no drop-off analysis, no A/B testing. host.video includes engagement heatmaps, completion rates, geographic breakdowns, device data, and referrer tracking.
host.video automatically transcribes every upload and makes your entire library searchable at no extra cost. Bunny Stream charges $0.10 per language per minute for transcription and offers no in-video search capability.
Bunny Stream pay-as-you-go pricing is cheap but unpredictable. Encoding costs ($0.05-0.15/min), storage ($0.01/GB/mo), and delivery ($0.01-0.03/GB) add up in ways that are hard to forecast. host.video charges a flat monthly rate with clear limits.
Bunny Stream has no minimum monthly fee beyond $1. For very small libraries with low traffic, the pay-as-you-go model can cost significantly less than a flat plan. If you need to host a few videos with minimal views, Bunny is hard to beat on raw price.
Bunny operates 119+ PoPs worldwide with 250 Tbps+ backbone capacity and sub-29ms average global latency. Their CDN infrastructure is purpose-built and highly optimized, with an EU-headquartered company offering data sovereignty options.
Bunny Stream has no fixed plans — pricing is pure pay-as-you-go. Storage is $0.01/GB/month, delivery is $0.01/GB (EU/NA), and encoding is $0.05/minute (1080p). For 200 GB stored and 2 TB delivered monthly, Bunny costs roughly $22/mo before encoding fees. host.video Starter is $20/mo ($200/yr) for 200 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth, plus AI search, transcription, heatmap analytics, and a white-label player — all included. At the Business tier, host.video is $100/mo ($1,000/yr) for 500 GB storage and 5 TB bandwidth with custom domains. The equivalent on Bunny is cheaper on raw infrastructure but requires you to build analytics, search, transcription, and access controls yourself.
Bunny Stream is the right choice for developer teams that need the cheapest possible video infrastructure and are comfortable building their own analytics, access controls, and management layer on top. If your usage is very low volume and you do not need engagement analytics, AI search, or a non-developer-facing dashboard, Bunny offers excellent price-to-performance. For developers who want programmatic control over media processing without assembling their own infrastructure, the same team behind host.video also builds ittybit.com — fully customizable tasks via API, SDK, CLI, and AI agents.
Choose host.video if you need a complete platform, not just infrastructure. If your team needs engagement heatmaps, AI search across your video library, automatic transcription, or a dashboard that non-developers can use, host.video includes everything Bunny does not. The flat monthly pricing also means no surprises when traffic spikes.