The Best Wowza Alternative
for Organizations That
Need Streaming Without the Dev Work
Dacast vs Wowza
Dacast is the professional live streaming and video hosting platform for organizations that broadcast on a schedule. It is fully managed: set up channels, go live, and monetize with a built-in paywall, without a video engineering team. Plans start at $39/month billed annually, and real people answer support 24/7 by chat and email on every plan.
Wowza is a developer-first streaming infrastructure company offering two distinct products: a self-hosted server (Wowza Streaming Engine) and a cloud streaming platform (Wowza Video). It is built for engineering teams that need protocol-level control across RTMP, SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, HLS, MPEG-DASH, and CMAF. Wowza does not include native monetization, paywall, or built-in CDN across its products. Pricing varies by product and scales with usage; total cost of ownership for Streaming Engine is substantially higher than the base license fee once infrastructure costs are factored in.
All the Streaming Power. None of the Configuration Overhead.
No Engineers Needed to Go Live.
Wowza is a developer-first platform. Dacast is built for operators: set up channels, schedule events, and embed your player without touching an API or configuring a media server.
Built-In Monetization, No Third-Party Setup Required.
Wowza has no native paywall across any of its two products. Dacast includes SVOD, TVOD, and PPV on the Event plan at $63/month. No billing integration to build or maintain.
Global Delivery, Including Mainland China.
Stream worldwide with reliable CDN delivery. In country delivery inside mainland China is available as a paid add on on Event plans and above, through a licensed China based entity that Dacast owns.
24/7 Human Support that Answers, Not a Ticket Queue.
You’ll always reach a real person, not an automated reply. Our support team is available around the clock to help before, during, and after your broadcasts.
What to Know Before Choosing Wowza
Setup Requires Dedicated Engineering Resources
Wowza's strength is flexibility, but that flexibility comes with complexity. Configuring streams, protocols, and integrations typically requires dedicated developer time, and ongoing maintenance.
Usage-Based Costs Scale Unpredictably
Wowza Video bills per hour of stream processing, per viewer hour, plus CDN bandwidth, making monthly costs hard to forecast for teams running regular events. Wowza Streaming Engine adds infrastructure costs on top of the $195/month license fee.
Support Is Ticket-Based, Not Available 24/7
Standard Wowza support is ticket-based, backed primarily by documentation. For teams running live events where issues need immediate resolution, this can be a real risk.
Wowza vs Dacast
Dacast vs Wowza: Pricing
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Dacast vs Wowza: Live Streaming
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Talk to SalesDacast vs Wowza: Monetization
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Branding & Player Control
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Support & Reliability
Talk to Sales How to Choose Between Dacast and Wowza
- Transparent, predictable pricing from day one
- Go live without engineering resources
- Built-in paywall and monetization on day one
- 24/7 human support before and during broadcasts
- Fully managed CDN delivery
- RTSP camera ingest support
- Advanced integrations
- Self-hosted infrastructure
- A developer API for custom streaming apps
- Full configurability over your stack
Migrate from Wowza in 3 Steps
Migration Requirements
- Migrating large video libraries
- Preserving monetization workflows
- Maintaining playback quality
- Reducing infrastructure costs
Migrate Safely
- Export and organize video assets
- Upload via bulk tools or API
- Test live streaming performance
- Transition workflows gradually
Stream Worry-Free
- Our team will support you 24/7
- Go live with confidence
- Share & embed your content
- Enjoy all the features
Start Safely, Stream Worry-Free
Starter
Affordable for small audiences
$39 /month
Billed Annually
2.4 TB per year
500 GB storage
Top Features include:
- Live Streaming
- Full 1080p HD Broadcasting
- Unlimited Concurrent Viewers
- Transcoding Allowance of 2x Storage
- RTMP and HLS channels
- Live transcoding channels
- Browser based / mobile streaming
- Simulcast
- Video Hosting (VOD)
- VOD to Live
- Bulk upload from Google Drive
- Domain/Country Restriction
- Advanced Analytics
- 24/7 Support
Event
One time or occasional events
$63 /month
Billed Annually
6 TB upfront
250 GB storage
Everything in Starter +
- Live stream monitoring
- Video Availability Scheduling
- Live Countdown
- Paywall
- Pre, Mid & Post Roll Advertising
- Multi-CDN*
- China Live*
- China Streaming for VOD*
Scale
Business & organizational video
$165 /month
Billed Annually
24 TB per year
2000 GB storage
Everything in Event +
- Unlimited Channels
- VOD Chapter Markers
- DRM for VOD
- AES for VOD
- Advanced Library Management
- 3 team members
- Player CNAME
- Phone Support
Custom
High volume plans of any size
Contact us for a custom plan tailored to your enterprise.
Everything in Scale +
- M3u8 links for Live channels and VOD
- Added Support
- Special Features
- Custom SLAs
- Migrations / Integrations
- Large Scale Events
- 5 team members
We've Been In the Market 16+ Years Helping Companies Just Like Yours
Imperial College London Hosted a Virtual Graduation for 50,000+ Guests
- 290+ Videos
- Audiences in 153 countries
- 12,334 hours of engagement
Callahan & Associates has established itself as an indispensable resource in the ever-evolving landscape of finance.
- 3,200+ Videos
- Audiences in 3 countries
- 582+ plays
Dacast has empowered CPH:DOX to continue their mission of promoting documentary films to a wider audience.
- 30,000+ plays
- Audiences in 60 countries
- 13,000 hours of engagement
Frequently Asked
Questions
- Is Dacast easier to use than Wowza?Yes. Dacast is a fully managed platform built for broadcast and events teams that need to go live without engineering support. Wowza Streaming Engine requires server provisioning, Java-based configuration, and ongoing maintenance. Wowza Video reduces that overhead but still requires technical setup for monetization and integrations. Dacast is designed to be operated by non-technical teams from day one.
- What is the difference between Wowza Streaming Engine and Wowza Video?Wowza Streaming Engine is self-hosted server software installed on your own infrastructure, giving full protocol-level control but requiring dedicated engineering to run. Wowza Video is a fully managed cloud-based platform for live and on-demand video at scale. It removes the infrastructure layer but still requires technical setup for monetization and integrations.
- How does Dacast pricing compare to Wowza?Dacast starts at $39/month billed annually with transparent bandwidth-based tiers and no per-viewer fees. Wowza Streaming Engine starts at $195/month for the software license alone: server hosting, CDN bandwidth, SSL, and DDoS protection are separate costs. Wowza Video bills approximately $2.50 per hour of stream processing plus $0.10 per viewer hour plus CDN, making monthly costs difficult to forecast for teams running regular events.
- Does Wowza support video monetization?No. Wowza does not include native paywall, pay-per-view, or subscription billing tools across either of its products : Streaming Engine or Wowza Video. Teams that need to charge for video access must integrate third-party billing and monetization platforms, which adds development time and ongoing maintenance overhead. Dacast includes a built-in paywall with SVOD, TVOD, and PPV support starting on its Event plan at $63/month.
- Which platform is better for live event streaming?For live event streaming where the primary requirements are reliability, delivery at scale, and built-in monetization, Dacast is typically the better operational fit. It’s a managed platform with a native paywall, 24/7 support, and no infrastructure setup required. Wowza Video is a capable alternative for technically resourced teams that prefer usage-based pricing. Wowza Streaming Engine is the right choice when self-hosted control and multi-protocol flexibility are the actual requirements.
- Can a non-technical team use Wowza?Wowza Video is a managed cloud platform but still requires technical setup for monetization and integrations. It is not designed for non-technical teams out of the box. Wowza Streaming Engine requires server setup, Java-based configuration, and ongoing maintenance, so a dedicated engineering resource is necessary to operate it effectively. Dacast is a fully managed platform built to be operated by broadcast and events teams without engineering support.