Frequently Asked Questions

ReedTV is an affordable video hosting platform for creators. Upload videos, live stream, generate AI captions, track analytics, customize your player, and embed your content anywhere — all starting at $5/month. Think of it as a simpler, more affordable alternative to Vimeo or Wistia.

ReedTV offers the same core features — video hosting, embeds, analytics, live streaming, and AI captions — at a fraction of the price. Plans start at $5/month compared to $20+/month on other platforms. There are no bloated enterprise tiers or hidden upsells. You get the tools you actually need without paying for features you don't.

The original ReedTV (2021-2024) was a simple tool for users who already had their own Cloudflare Stream accounts — it just generated embed-friendly links for their existing videos. The new ReedTV is a full video hosting platform: you can upload videos directly, live stream, get AI captions, view analytics, and more — no Cloudflare account needed. Legacy embed links continue to work, and you can still access the legacy tool at the Video page.

Yes! ReedTV supports live streaming via multiple protocols: RTMPS (for OBS and streaming software), SRT (low-latency), and WebRTC/WHIP (stream directly from your browser). Your live streams get the same embeddable links as regular videos.

ReedTV can generate captions for your videos with AI in one click. Captions are created in the language spoken in your video (detected automatically), and videos in other languages also get an English translation. Captions help make your content accessible to more viewers, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Yes! With embed customization, you can change the player color to match your brand, set autoplay, mute, loop and controls, choose a poster and start time, and restrict which domains can embed your videos. These settings apply to all your videos or can be configured per-video.

Yes. Connect your Patreon account in Embed Settings, then turn on Patrons only for all your videos or for individual videos. Anyone who opens the video's link sees an Unlock with Patreon screen. Patrons sign in with Patreon and watch. ReedTV follows your Patreon posts: if the video is in a post for certain tiers, patrons on those tiers can watch, and if it isn't in a post yet, any active paying patron can. Everyone else is invited to join or upgrade. That means you can share the link anywhere, such as Facebook, X, Discord or email, without giving the video away. Embeds inside your Patreon posts keep working as before.

Patreon's mobile apps only play YouTube and Vimeo videos inside a post; videos from other hosts appear as a link that opens in a browser. On the web, Patreon shows the ReedTV player in the post as usual. If the video is Patrons only, patrons tapping the link in the app unlock it with Patreon once, and after that it plays straight away on that phone for 30 days.

Only their Patreon user ID and membership details (which creators they support, membership status, tier, and pledge amount). ReedTV never sees their Patreon password, email address, or payment details. Memberships are re-checked about once an hour, so a patron who cancels loses access to patrons-only videos. Patrons can revoke ReedTV at any time in their Patreon settings. See our Privacy Policy.

Every ReedTV account includes a public page at reedtv.com/@yourname, a home for your work that you control, a bit like your own Patreon page. Add a banner, avatar, short bio, links and your brand color, then post videos, images, audio, text and polls. Set it up under Page in your dashboard. It stays private until you turn on Publish my page.

Text posts with simple formatting, image posts (up to 10 images), video posts (pick a video from your library or upload a new one), audio posts (MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG or WAV up to 200 MB, with an optional cover image) and polls (2–6 options, with an optional closing time). You can save drafts, schedule a post for later, and pin one post to the top of your page.

Yes. Connect Patreon in Embed Settings, then choose who can see each post: Public, All patrons, or Selected tiers. Other visitors see a blurred preview with an Unlock with Patreon button. Patrons sign in with Patreon once and it's remembered for 30 days. The images and audio in a patrons-only post are only ever sent to patrons. For a video post, the player is shown only to patrons. The video's own watch link follows that video's Access Control setting, so turn on Patrons only for the video as well if you share its link elsewhere.

Visitors can comment signed in with Patreon or anonymously, and every comment waits for your approval before anyone else sees it. Approve, reject, reply, or block a commenter under Page → Comments, or pause comments on your whole page. You'll see a count in the sidebar and a notification when comments are waiting. To protect commenters' privacy, names are shortened (for example john***) and everyone gets the same avatar. Likes and poll votes need a Patreon sign-in, one per person. See our Privacy Policy.

No. Your Page is included in every plan. Images and audio you post are free, with a fair-use limit of 10 GB per account. Video posts use videos from your library, so they count toward your plan's storage minutes like any other upload.

Yes. Change your handle in your Page settings at any time. Your old address stops working straight away, so update any links you've shared.

ReedTV offers three plans: BYOA ($5/mo) for users who have their own Cloudflare Stream account, Starter ($5/mo) with 1,000 minutes of shared video storage, and Pro ($15/mo) with 3,000 minutes plus BYOA access. Storage is measured in minutes of video duration, not file size or video count. Views, bandwidth, and delivery are free on every hosted plan — there are no per-view or per-GB charges. All plans include a free 7-day trial.

No. On the Starter and Pro plans you pay for the minutes of video you store, and that's it — views, bandwidth, and delivery are free no matter how many people watch. A video watched a million times costs the same as one watched once. Many other hosts charge per minute delivered or per GB of bandwidth, or cap your monthly bandwidth; see our cost comparison. The only things that can add to your bill are storage beyond your plan ($8 per 1,000 minutes, with a spending cap you control) and the optional Ultra HD add-on. On the BYOA plan your videos stay on your own Cloudflare Stream account, which Cloudflare bills you for directly.

Yes! All plans include a free 7-day trial. No credit card is required to sign up. You can upload videos, try live streaming, and explore all features during the trial period. (The paid Ultra HD add-on becomes available once the trial ends, or as soon as you subscribe to the Starter or Pro plan.)

BYOA stands for Bring Your Own Account. It lets you connect your existing Cloudflare Stream account to ReedTV. Your videos remain stored on your Cloudflare account (and you pay Cloudflare directly for storage), but you get ReedTV's dashboard, embed links, analytics, and all other features. BYOA is available on the BYOA plan ($5/mo) and the Pro plan.

If you exceed your included minutes, additional storage is billed at $8 per 1,000-minute block (rounded up). You can set a spending cap in your settings to limit how much overage you're willing to pay per billing cycle. Set it to $0 to use only your included minutes with no overage.

All videos play in up to 1080p as part of your plan. Ultra HD is an optional, paid add-on for the Starter and Pro plans that adds 2K and 4K versions to the videos you choose, so viewers on big screens get full resolution. You only pay for videos you turn it on for. Your original must be 1440p or larger and uploaded with High Speed upload; you can turn Ultra HD on when uploading or later from the video's page. It becomes available once your free trial ends — or right away if you subscribe to the Starter or Pro plan during your trial, so you don't have to wait.

There are two parts. A one-time processing fee per video: $0.10 per minute for 4K (which includes a 2K version) or $0.05 per minute for 2K (originals between 1440p and 2159p). Plus monthly storage while Ultra HD stays on: $0.01 per minute for 4K or $0.005 per minute for 2K. For example, a 10-minute 4K video costs $1.00 once, then $0.10 a month. You always see the exact cost before anything is charged, charges count toward your spending cap, and turning Ultra HD off stops the storage charge from your next billing period. The processing fee is non-refundable.

Yes! All existing legacy embed links will continue to work indefinitely. There's no need to update any links you've already shared.

Sign up for a new ReedTV account, then connect your existing Cloudflare Stream account using the BYOA feature in Settings. Your videos will appear in your dashboard, and you can manage everything from the new interface. Your old embed links continue working alongside new ones.