Bandwidth and storage needs will vary based on a variety of factors, but it can be helpful to get an estimate of your monthly storage and bandwidth needs.
Getting Started
Each SproutVideo plan includes a different amount of storage and bandwidth per month. Please reference our public pricing page or the Manage Subscription page within your account for specific details about your plan.
To estimate your monthly needs you will need the following information:
- Approximate number of videos you plan to upload
- Average length of videos
- Video resolution
- Approximate number of viewers you will have a month
Calculating Storage
Once you have the resolution and average length of your videos you can use the chart below to figure out the total GBs of storage used per video.
| Resolution | GB per Minute |
|---|---|
| 240p | .00560 |
| 360p | .00992 |
| 480p | .01154 |
| 720p | .02169 |
| 1080p | .03982 |
| 1440p | .06413 |
| 2160p | .11831 |
| 4320p | .16271 |
Please note that two versions of each resolution are created and stored during the encoding process to maximize support for downloading and streaming videos across a wide range of devices and connection speeds. So, the GB per minute listed in the table above for each resolution version accounts for two versions of each resolution.
First, multiply the duration of your video (in minutes) by the GB per minute for your video’s resolution and every resolution below it. Add those together for your total GB usage per video. Then, multiply that total by the number of videos you plan to upload.
For example, if you have ten videos at 1080p with an average length of 20 minutes you would do the following:
| Resolution | Avg duration (minutes) x GB per min | Total GBs per resolution version |
|---|---|---|
| 240p | 20 x .00664 | = .13275 |
| 360p | 20 x .01282 | = .25635 |
| 480p | 20 x .01854 | = .37079 |
| 720p | 20 x .05548 | = 1.10950 |
| 1080p | 20 x .08321 | = 1.66426 |
| Total GBs per video | = 3.534 |
| Total GBs per video | Number of videos | Total Storage |
|---|---|---|
| 3.534 | x 10 videos | = 35.34 GB |
35.34 GB is the total amount of storage you will use for 10 videos at 1080p with an average length of 20 minutes.
NOTE: Storage usage does not reset each month. The more videos you add each month, the more storage you will be using. If you enable the ‘keep source’ option for your account, you will use more storage than this estimate predicts as we will also store your uncompressed original files in your account.
Calculating Bandwidth
Now let’s estimate the bandwidth in GBs you use for streaming per month. Using the chart below take the duration of your video (in minutes) and multiply it by the GB per minute for the resolution of your video. You can then multiply that number by how many views you anticipate.
| Resolution | GB per Minute |
|---|---|
| 240p | .00299 |
| 360p | .00518 |
| 480p | .00560 |
| 720p | .01111 |
| 1080p | .02026 |
| 1440p | .03255 |
| 2160p | .05991 |
| 4320p | .08232 |
For example, if you have 100 viewers all watching a 20 minute video at 1080p, you would do the following:
| Avg Video Duration | GB per min. @ 1080p | Total GB per viewer |
|---|---|---|
| 20 minutes | x .0380 GB | = 0.7605 GB |
| Total GB per viewer | Number of viewers | Total Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|
| 0.7605 GB | x 100 viewers | = 76.05 GB |
76.05 GB is the total amount of bandwidth you would use if 100 viewers watch all 20 minutes of a video at 1080p.
NOTE: Unlike storage, bandwidth does reset every month.
If you have any questions or need help calculating your streaming and storage needs please contact our SproutVideo support team at support@sproutvideo.com.
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