Last checked October 6, 2026 against the public pages listed under Sources. Each statement about api.video describes what those pages say on that date and goes no further; products and prices change, so if anything here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it. api.video is a trademark of its owner, and Video Piper is not affiliated with it.
At a glance
| Capability | Video Piper | What api.video's pages say |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand encoding | H.264 and AAC MP4 on every plan, plus HLS on Pro and Scale. Up to 4K on Pro and Scale. | "Encoding from 240p to 4K", with HLS and MP4 output. |
| Trim and clip | Frame-accurate trim applied during the encode, with no extra processing time. | A clip parameter with a start and end time, passed when you create the video object, before the file is uploaded. |
| Screen and camera recording | Ready-made <video-piper-recorder> component that uploads while recording (Pro and Scale). | An open-source TypeScript library that uploads from a MediaStream, such as a webcam or a screen recording. |
| Upload tokens for end users | One-video upload tokens, so your API key stays on your server. | Delegated upload tokens "so that end-users can upload videos on your behalf." |
| Captions | Speech to text on Pro and Scale: WebVTT, SRT and plain text. | Set transcript to generate a transcript, available as WebVTT captions; the language is detected if you do not set one. |
| Private playback and domain limits | Signed links and up to 20 allowed domains. Not DRM. | Private videos with a one-time private token; domain referrer restrictions at $20 per month on pay as you go. |
| Live streaming | Not offered through the API. | RTMPS or SRT, with DVR, simulcasting and 24/7 streaming. |
| Viewer analytics | Not offered. Usage is metered for billing only. | Video analytics, with 1 month of retention free and 3 or 12 months as paid options. |
What Video Piper offers
- Editing and redaction in one API. A trim is applied during the encode with frame accuracy. An edit builds one new video from up to 50 clips of your finished videos, with hard cuts, crossfades or fades through black. On Pro and Scale you can blur or black out up to 20 rectangular or oval regions, each for its own time window, with keyframes for moving subjects.
- A finished recorder and editor.
<video-piper-recorder>and<video-piper-editor>are complete interfaces your page drops in, authorised by one-use tokens made on your server. - Plans with included usage. Processing minutes, storage and delivery are bundled into monthly plans (see below).
What api.video documents
- Live streaming using RTMPS or SRT, with DVR, recording of live streams, 24/7 streaming and simulcasting to other platforms.
- Analytics on viewing behaviour, with 1 month of retention free; 3 months costs $12 to $99 a month and 12 months $36 to $299 a month, by number of plays.
- Player SDKs for the web (its own player SDK and React), React Native, Flutter, Swift and Android, and API clients for Node.js, Python, PHP, Go, C#, Java, Swift and Android.
- AI features: transcription "for a total of 33 languages" and video summarization, each priced per minute.
- Other video features on its pricing page include watermarks, chapters, uploading your own captions and a customizable player.
Where Video Piper falls short
Video Piper's API is for on-demand video: it does not offer live streaming, it does not provide viewer analytics, it does not offer DRM (playback links are signed and domain-limited, which is not DRM), and it produces H.264 and AAC output only. If any of those is a requirement, choose a service that documents it.
How pricing differs
api.video lists video encoding as free for unlimited minutes, hosting "as low as $0.00285" per minute of video stored and delivery "as low as $0.0017" per minute of video delivered. Transcription is listed at "$0,1 per minute of video" (the page's notation), and domain referrer restrictions at $20 per month on pay as you go. Its free sandbox limits videos to 30 seconds, watermarks them and deletes them after 24 hours.
Video Piper sells monthly plans: Free ($0, 30 processing minutes, up to 720p), Starter ($49, 400 minutes, up to 1080p), Pro ($199, 1,500 minutes, up to 4K) and Scale ($699, 6,000 minutes, up to 4K), each with included storage and delivery. Beyond a paid plan, usage is $0.09 per processing minute, $0.15 per GB-month of storage and $0.55 per GB of delivery. Captions cost 2 extra processing minutes per captioned minute.
The units differ (minutes of video stored and delivered versus processing minutes, GB stored and GB delivered), so we do not give a single comparison figure. Run your own volumes through both pricing pages.
Which should you choose?
If you need live streaming, viewer analytics or native mobile players, api.video's pricing page lists them and Video Piper does not offer live streaming or viewer analytics. If you are building a product where users upload, record, trim, stitch and redact video on a web page, Video Piper packages those as an API and components. You can try the free plan by signing up with your email.
Sources
Read on October 6, 2026. Figures are those shown on each page on that date and may have changed.
- Pricing and feature list: api.video/pricing
- Clipping: docs.api.video/vod/clip-a-video
- Transcripts: docs.api.video/vod/generate-transcripts
- Private videos: docs.api.video/delivery/video-privacy-access-management
- Media recorder library: docs.api.video/sdks/vod/apivideo-typescript-media-recorder
- Player SDKs: docs.api.video/sdks/player
- API clients: docs.api.video/sdks/api-clients
- Video Piper claims: this site's pricing and documentation.
Frequently asked questions
What does api.video document that Video Piper does not offer?
api.video's pricing page lists live streaming over RTMPS or SRT with DVR, simulcasting and 24/7 streams, video analytics with 1, 3 and 12 month retention, and native Android and iOS players. Video Piper does not offer live streaming through its API or viewer analytics.
Does api.video have a recorder?
api.video documents an open-source TypeScript media recorder library that uploads from a MediaStream, such as a webcam or a screen recording, and its pricing page lists progressive upload for simultaneous recording and uploading. Video Piper's recorder is a ready-made web component with its own interface.
How do the pricing models differ?
api.video lists encoding as free and storage and delivery per minute, with "as low as" rates. Video Piper sells monthly plans with included processing minutes, storage and delivery, and bills usage beyond a paid plan at published overage rates.