Video infrastructure, built for speed
Rend is the video platform for developers. One API call to upload, one playback URL that starts fast. Encoding, storage and delivery, handled for you.
Rend serves generated HLS from Tigris-backed origin through Rend-controlled playback URLs today, so private object-store links stay out of the browser. Rend is open source, so you can inspect the stack and run it on your own infrastructure.
Everything a video platform should be
The hard parts of video: encoding, cold starts, global delivery, pricing. Handled for you, so you can ship.
One call in, one link out
Send a file or a URL in a single API call. Rend encodes, packages and stores it, then hands back one playback URL that plays anywhere.
Fast starts, even cold
Rend generates HLS during media processing and serves it from Tigris-backed origin through Rend-controlled URLs, so playback works without active edge nodes.
Simple pricing
You pay for delivered watch minutes and stored video minutes. Encoding is included, with no base fee, resolution multiplier, or egress charge.
100% open source
Every line is open: AGPL server, MIT player and SDKs. Run the same binary we run, on your own machines, with no phone-home and no licence to expire.
Easy for you and your AI
The whole guide fits on one page, with llms.txt, OpenAPI and a generated SDK, so you or the model in your editor can wire up Rend right the first time.
Speed you can check
Don't take our word for it. Upload a video, press play from anywhere in the world, and time the first frame yourself. That's the number that matters.
Why it's fast
When a video feels slow, it's rarely the server. It's the round trips before the first frame can show. Rend keeps those trips few and predictable with generated HLS served from Tigris-backed origin today.
Tigris-backed HLS by default
Rend Cloud serves generated HLS directly from Tigris-backed origin today. The bare-metal edge path stays in the codebase for future reactivation when regional coverage makes it worthwhile.
No edge dependency
Uploads, readiness, watch pages and embeds do not require active edge nodes. Playback stays behind Rend-controlled URLs without exposing private object-store links.
Ready before anyone presses play
Rend builds playback artifacts during media processing so the player can start from real HLS media as soon as the asset reaches hls_ready.
Read every line
The server is AGPL; the player and SDKs are MIT, and it's the exact code that runs Rend Cloud. Host the whole thing yourself for free, or fork it and make it your own.
It installs as one binary, with no database to set up and nothing phoning home. We don't charge for the software. We charge for the network that makes it fast.
Self-host it in one command
docker run rend --domain video.yoursite.comHow Rend compares
Two flat prices: one for minutes viewers watch and one for minutes you store. Here's how that compares to the usual ways of paying for video.
Pricing model
- RendTwo flat per-minute rates
- Managed video platformsPer minute, plus tiers
- Budget per-GB CDNsPer GB, by region
- Roll your ownWhatever the bill says
Plans
- RendSimple pay as you go
- Managed video platformsMonthly bundles
- Budget per-GB CDNsUsage commitments
- Roll your ownYour own budget
Encoding included
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
Warmed opener for cold video
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
Open source
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
Self-host, free forever
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
Bare-metal edge nodes
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
Agent-ready, OpenAPI + llms.txt
- Rend
- Managed video platforms
- Budget per-GB CDNs
- Roll your own
The other three columns are broad strokes for how each kind of platform usually bills and runs, not a quote from any one vendor. Rend's own rates are listed live in the dashboard.
See the full comparisonSimple, flexible pricing
Two transparent per-minute rates, with no base fee, resolution multiplier, or egress surprise. Encoding is always included.
Delivery
$0.001 per minute viewers watch. Usage is measured precisely, so you only pay for what is actually delivered.
Storage
$0.003 per minute of video stored for a month, prorated precisely. Delete an asset and the meter stops.
Encoding
Included, every time. We transcode each upload into the renditions players need, and it never shows up on the bill.
Pay as you go, with no base fee
Delivered minutes plus stored minutes, with no lock-in or minimum.
Delivery
$0.001/min
Storage
$0.003/min-month
Built by the team behind Cap
We didn't set out to sell video infrastructure. We built Rend because Cap, our open source screen recorder, needed the fastest video infrastructure we could possibly build. Hundreds of thousands of people record with Cap, and every one of those videos has to be stored and served fast: petabytes of footage, played back the instant someone opens a share link.
Cap runs entirely on Rend.