Last checked October 6, 2026 against the public pages listed under Sources. Each statement about Shotstack describes what those pages say on that date and goes no further; products and prices change, so if anything here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it. Shotstack is a trademark of its owner, and Video Piper is not affiliated with it.
Different starting points
Shotstack is built around its Edit API: you describe a video as JSON (tracks of clips, each with an asset, a start and a length, plus transitions, effects and filters), and it renders that into an mp4, gif, jpg, png, bmp or mp3 file. Shotstack's own index of its products also lists a Create API for AI generation, an Ingest API for source footage, a Serve API to host and distribute renders, and a white-label video editor SDK.
Video Piper starts from a video someone already has. It transcodes uploads to web-ready MP4 (and HLS on Pro and Scale), then lets you trim, stitch, splice, redact and caption them, and put recording and editing components in your own pages.
At a glance
| Capability | Video Piper | What Shotstack's pages say |
|---|---|---|
| Main model | Process uploaded or recorded videos. | Render a video from a JSON timeline, templates and merge fields. |
| Maximum output quality | Up to 4K (Pro and Scale). | Max resolution 1080p on pay as you go and Starter, 4K on Pro, Scale and Volume. |
| Trim, stitch and transitions | Frame-accurate trim during the encode; edits of up to 50 clips with cuts, crossfades or fades. | Clips with a start and length, a trim start point in seconds, and in and out transitions. |
| Embeddable editor | <video-piper-editor>, a timeline for trimming and stitching your videos. | Studio SDK, "a JavaScript SDK for browser-based video editing with timeline, canvas preview, and export." |
| Captions | Speech to text on Pro and Scale: WebVTT, SRT and plain text files. | Caption assets sourced from SRT, VTT or TTML files, or auto-transcribed from audio or video. |
| Hosting | Signed playback links, allowed domains and an embeddable player. | Renders are sent to Shotstack's hosting and CDN by default, or to other destinations. |
| SDKs | REST API and OpenAPI spec. | Node.js, Python, PHP and Ruby SDKs. |
What Video Piper offers
- Your users' videos are the input. Uploads go straight to storage in parts, a URL can be imported, and recordings upload while they are made. Everything downstream (trim, redaction, captions, playback links) works on those videos.
- Redaction with tracking. On Pro and Scale, up to 20 blur or black-bar regions per video, rectangular or oval, each with its own time window and optional keyframes for moving subjects.
- A recorder component.
<video-piper-recorder>records the screen, the camera or both on your site (Pro and Scale) and uploads to your account. - Scoped tokens for browser components. The recorder and editor use one-use tokens made by your server, so the API key never reaches the page.
What Shotstack documents
- Creating videos, not only processing them. Its API reference lists text, rich text, HTML, shape, SVG and luma matte assets, motion effects such as zoom and slide, and filters such as blur, greyscale and contrast. Its guides cover templates with placeholders and merge fields.
- AI generation. Generate video, images, speech and music from a text prompt, inside a render or on their own. The pricing page says AI generation is "charged per model, at the same rate on every plan."
- A sandbox and sign-up credits. New accounts get 10 free credits, valid for 30 days. Sandbox renders are free but watermarked, and need at least one credit in the balance.
- Destinations for renders, including Shotstack's own hosting and CDN, S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, Google Drive, Akamai NetStorage and Vimeo.
- A white-label editor that its pricing page says is source-available under a PolyForm Shield License.
Where Video Piper falls short
Video Piper does not compose videos from text, graphics, templates or AI-generated media. Its API is for on-demand video: it does not offer live streaming, it does not provide viewer analytics, it does not offer DRM, and it produces H.264 and AAC output only.
How pricing differs
Shotstack prices by minutes of rendered video. Its pricing page lists pay as you go at $10 for 50 minutes (20¢ a minute), and monthly plans: Starter at $39 for 250 minutes, Pro at $99 for 750, Scale at $199 for 2,000 and Volume at $499 for 10,000 (5¢ a minute). Minutes are counted "by the second, rounded down." AI generation is charged separately, per model.
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. A processing minute is one minute of finished output; trimming makes it cheaper.
Because the two products do different jobs, their prices are not like for like: one charges for rendered minutes, the other for processing and keeping your users' videos.
Which should you choose?
Choose Shotstack to generate videos from templates and data, with text, effects and AI, which is what its documentation describes. Choose Video Piper if your product handles videos your users upload or record and you need to trim, redact, caption and play them back. Some products use both.
Sources
Read on October 6, 2026. Figures are those shown on each page on that date and may have changed.
- Pricing: shotstack.io/pricing
- Product index: shotstack.io/llms.txt and guide index: shotstack.io/docs/guide/llms.txt
- API reference: shotstack.io/docs/api
- Sandbox and keys: shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/request-api-keys
- Studio SDK: shotstack.io/docs/guide/studio-sdk/studio-sdk
- Hosting: shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/hosting
- Video Piper claims: this site's pricing and documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Are Video Piper and Shotstack direct competitors?
Only partly. Shotstack's Edit API renders a video from a JSON description of tracks and clips, and its documentation adds templates with merge fields and AI generation of video, images, speech and music. Video Piper processes uploaded or recorded videos and offers editing of them. Which fits depends on whether you are generating videos or handling your users' videos.
What does Shotstack document that Video Piper does not offer?
Shotstack documents text, rich text, HTML, shape, SVG and luma matte assets, motion effects and filters, templates with merge fields, AI generation and delivery to destinations such as S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage and Vimeo. Video Piper does not offer these.
How do the pricing models differ?
Shotstack prices by minutes of rendered video, from $10 for 50 minutes on pay as you go to $499 a month for 10,000 minutes. Video Piper sells monthly plans with included processing minutes, storage and delivery, for processing and keeping your users' videos.