Live streaming CDN
Deliver live video globally with a live streaming CDN you never operate.
Send one stream to Castr and it plays worldwide from Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront edges, with HLS playback, monitoring, and recording attached.
Built for broadcasters, agencies, media platforms, and organizations reaching geographically distributed live audiences.
Trusted across professional media, enterprise, and public organizations
Business outcomes
The workflow should create value, not more operational risk.
01Scale without CDN operations
No CDN contract to negotiate, no origin to run, no multi-vendor routing to maintain.
02Reach global audiences
Viewers in Sydney and São Paulo stream from a nearby edge, not from your origin.
03Connect delivery to the workflow
Keep ingest, playback, recording, and analytics attached to the stream.
Capabilities that matter
A live streaming CDN, with the workflow already attached.
Castr is a live video streaming CDN service: reach a global audience over a multi-CDN backbone without contracting and integrating a network yourself. Multi-CDN delivery is included on every plan. Bandwidth allowance and advanced controls scale with the tier, from 200 GB a month on Starter to 10 TB on Events, with custom volume beyond that.
Multi-CDN delivery
Every stream is delivered across Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront, so playback never depends on a single network.
Adaptive bitrate
Serve each viewer the rendition their connection can sustain. Adaptive bitrate transcoding is available on Premium and higher.
Global ingest
Choose from 40+ ingest locations worldwide, so your encoder pushes to a nearby server and the first mile stays stable.
Embedded playback
Embed livestreams on your site via link or iframe, or take an HLS URL into OTT apps (Premium and higher).
Audience controls
Password-protect any stream on every plan. Domain allowlisting and geographic blocking are available on Premium and higher.
Analytics and recording
Track live viewer counts and playback analytics, and record up to 72 hours per stream for replay.
Need the complete matrix? See capability availability and plan tiers in one place.
Compare plans and capabilities →Choosing a live streaming CDN
What a live streaming CDN does, and how to choose a provider.
A live streaming CDN (content delivery network) caches and serves your live video from edge servers close to viewers, so streams start quickly and hold up as the audience grows. Castr delivers over multiple CDNs, so you get that reach without contracting and integrating a network yourself.
What a live streaming CDN does
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Edge delivery
Serves your live stream from locations near each viewer to cut buffering and startup time.
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Scale for spikes
A viewer count that jumps 10× mid-event is handled by the edge, not by your origin. Size the bandwidth allowance for the peak you expect.
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Adaptive bitrate
Delivers multiple renditions so each viewer streams the quality their connection supports.
Adaptive bitrate transcoding on Premium and higher.
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Global reach
Routes viewers to nearby capacity for consistent playback across regions.
How to choose a provider
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Single vs multi-CDN
Multi-CDN delivery adds resilience, and Castr delivers across Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront.
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Live-tuned, not just files
Look for low-latency live delivery, not only static file caching.
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Bundled workflow
Castr pairs delivery with ingest, an embedded player, recording, and analytics instead of leaving them separate.
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Security controls
Password-protect any stream on every plan, then add domain allowlisting and geographic blocking for tighter control.
Domain and geographic controls on Premium and higher.
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eCDN for internal audiences
For big audiences on one corporate network, eCDN peer-to-peer delivery shares stream segments between nearby viewers instead of pulling every copy over the office connection.
eCDN eligibility on Ultra and Events plans.
Multi-CDN delivery is included on every plan. Bandwidth allowance and advanced controls scale with the tier, from 200 GB a month on Starter to 10 TB on Events, with custom volume beyond that.
Why use a CDN for live streaming?Inside the network
How Castr's live streaming CDN works, from encoder to edge.
One feed in, global playback out. This is how CDN live streaming video moves through Castr: contribution lands at a nearby ingest point, transcoding builds the bitrate ladder, and multi-CDN edges serve every viewer. The same live video CDN path covers website players, OTT apps, and continuous TV channels.
From your encoder to every viewer
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Ingest nearby
Send RTMP or SRT to one of 40+ global ingest locations, or pull an existing HLS, RTSP, or MPEG-TS feed.
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Transcode once
Castr builds the adaptive bitrate ladder in the cloud, so your encoder sends a single feed.
Adaptive bitrate transcoding on Premium and higher.
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Deliver over HLS
Stream segments cache on Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront edges, and each player pulls from the closest one.
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Play anywhere
Embed the player on your site, or use a direct HLS URL in Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV apps.
HLS output URL on Premium and higher.
Four ways to get live delivery
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Social platforms only
YouTube and Facebook deliver for free, but you stream on their pages, under their ads, algorithms, and takedown rules.
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Direct CDN contract
Raw delivery from a network like Akamai leaves ingest, transcoding, packaging, the player, and analytics for you to build.
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DIY origin plus CDN
Running your own media servers adds control and a 24/7 operations burden, and one origin failure hits every viewer.
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Managed CDN streaming service
Castr runs the full path behind a 99.9% uptime SLA. Plans start at 200 GB of monthly bandwidth and scale to 10 TB and beyond with custom volume.
Latency depends on protocol, player, geography, and plan. For sub-second interactive playback, WebRTC ultra-low latency is available as a plan add-on.
Compare low latency optionsSeen enough to test it? Start a 7-day trial with no credit card, or talk through your exact setup first.
Customer workflows
See how video teams put the platform to work.
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Read the storyOperator fit
Designed for recurring, accountable video work.
Operational complexity matters more than company size. The strongest fit is a team with a named owner, a repeatable schedule, and a real consequence if delivery fails.
Review your workflow with CastrStrong qualification signals
- Geographically distributed audiences
- High-importance event delivery
- Owned website playback
- Live plus post-event VOD
Switching to Castr
Move off your current platform without dropping a broadcast.
You do not have to cut over blind. Run Castr in parallel with your current provider while you test, and let our video team confirm the fit before anything switches.
Run in parallel
Publish a parallel feed to Castr and put the embed on a staging page while your current CDN keeps serving production. Compare startup time and rebuffering with real viewers before you swap the embed.
Map the workflow
Our video team reviews your ingest, player embeds, video library, security, and monetization setup, then confirms plan fit for your concurrency and destinations.
Cut over with support
Switch your embeds and destinations when you are confident, with 24/7 human support on hand during your first live events on Castr.
Build the complete workflow
Connect this capability to the rest of your operation.
Questions before you choose
Evaluate the workflow with confidence.
Feature and plan availability changes by tier. Use the full matrix for comparison, or let our team validate a complex setup.
What is a live streaming CDN?
A live streaming CDN, also called a live stream CDN, is a network of edge servers that caches and delivers your live video close to viewers, so playback starts fast and stays smooth as the audience scales. Castr delivers live streams over a multi-CDN backbone rather than a single network.
How does a CDN work for live streaming?
Your encoder sends one RTMP or SRT feed to a nearby Castr ingest point. Castr transcodes it into an adaptive bitrate ladder, packages it as HLS, and pushes the segments to Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront edge servers. Each viewer's player fetches the stream from the closest edge, so ten viewers or a hundred thousand pull from the network, never from your encoder.
How do I choose a live streaming CDN provider?
Compare global reach, low-latency live delivery, adaptive-bitrate support, resilience (single vs multi-CDN), security controls, and analytics. A managed option like Castr bundles delivery with ingest, an embedded player, recording, and analytics, so you do not integrate live streaming CDN providers separately.
What is the best CDN for live streaming?
For most teams the best CDN for live streaming is a multi-CDN service rather than a single network, because live traffic is unforgiving: a regional outage mid-broadcast loses the audience with no second chance. Castr routes live video across Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront and pairs delivery with ingest, transcoding, a player, and analytics in one platform.
Does Castr use only one CDN?
No. Castr delivers over multiple CDNs (Akamai, Fastly, and CloudFront), so an outage at one provider doesn’t take your stream down. Confirm network design and SLA details during technical discovery.
Can Castr deliver streaming TV and IPTV channels?
Yes. Castr works as a streaming TV CDN and an IPTV CDN: push RTMP or SRT, or pull an existing HLS, RTSP, or MPEG-TS feed, run it as a continuous channel with 24/7 playout scheduling, and deliver it to websites and apps over the multi-CDN network. A live TV CDN setup runs around the clock, so size the bandwidth with the sales team.
Is there a free CDN for live streaming?
A genuinely free CDN for live streaming comes with hard trade-offs: viewer caps, forced platform branding, no support, and no delivery commitment. Castr offers a 7-day Starter trial with no credit card, so you can test the live stream CDN with your real encoder and audience before paying.
Can we use our own player or OTT app?
Yes. Embed Castr's player on your site via link or iframe, or take a direct HLS URL into your own player and OTT apps on Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV (Premium and higher).
What latency should we expect?
Standard delivery uses HLS, which favors stability and adaptive quality at scale. Latency depends on protocol, player, geography, and plan. For sub-second interactive playback, Castr offers WebRTC-based ultra-low latency as a plan add-on.
Is viewer scale unlimited?
No platform is truly unlimited. Each Castr plan bundles a bandwidth allowance, from 200 GB monthly on Starter to 10 TB on the top self-serve tier, and large audiences are sized with the sales team so delivery holds up on event day.
Can Castr help us validate our current workflow?
Yes. Castr’s video team will walk through your current setup, from sources and destinations to audience scale, security, and monetization, and confirm the fit before you migrate.
Move from evaluation to a working broadcast
Map Castr to the workflow your team runs today.
Discuss protocols, concurrency, destinations, bandwidth, storage, security, monetization, migration, and support with a video expert.