SRT Cloud vs AWS MediaConnect: a flat-rate alternative

If "AWS MediaConnect alternatives" brought you here, you are probably already running — or evaluating — AWS's live video transport service and wondering whether there is a simpler way to get one SRT feed out to several downstream destinations. There is a good, honest case for MediaConnect, and there is a good, honest case for a purpose-built alternative. Here is both, with real numbers.

What AWS Elemental MediaConnect actually is

MediaConnect is Amazon's live video transport service. You point a source at it — SRT, RTP, Zixi, RIST, NDI, or CDI/JPEG XS for uncompressed workflows — and MediaConnect runs it as a "flow" that can fan out to multiple outputs: other AWS services like MediaLive or MediaPackage, other AWS accounts via entitlements, or destinations on the public internet. It is a mature, general-purpose transport layer, not a single-protocol tool.

Where MediaConnect genuinely wins

Give credit where it's due:

• Protocol breadth. SRT, RTP, Zixi, RIST, NDI, CDI and JPEG XS all land on the same platform. If your sources and destinations are a mixed bag of protocols, MediaConnect converts and routes between them in one place.
• Native AWS ecosystem integration. If you already run MediaLive for encoding or MediaPackage for packaging, MediaConnect is the connective tissue AWS built for exactly that stack, with CloudWatch metrics, IAM, and VPC peering already wired in.
• Entitlements. MediaConnect can grant another AWS account read access to your flow without you managing that account's credentials — a genuinely useful pattern for distributing to partners who are also AWS customers.
• Global reach and reliability. It runs on AWS's regions and inherits AWS's operational maturity — no small thing for a broadcast-grade dependency.
• No hardware, pay-as-you-go. Like most cloud transport tools (including SRT Cloud), there's nothing to rack, and you only pay for what's running.

If your team is already deep in the AWS media stack and needs protocol conversion beyond SRT, or entitlement-based sharing to other AWS accounts, MediaConnect is a legitimate, well-supported choice. We are not going to pretend otherwise.

Where the cost model gets complicated

MediaConnect prices by resource, and a distribution workflow touches several resource types at once: a running-flow hourly rate, a per-output hourly rate, a per-gigabyte data-transfer charge for anything leaving the region or going to the internet, and an optional 12-month reserved-bandwidth commitment to bring the per-GB rate down. AWS publishes its own worked examples, and they're worth reading directly rather than taking anyone's summary of them.

One of AWS's own published examples: a 24/7, 12-month reserved-bandwidth output at 50 Mbps in US East (N. Virginia) comes to $951.12/month for a single destination, even with the 42% reserved-bandwidth discount already applied. On-demand (no 12-month commitment), the same 50 Mbps output works out closer to $1,540/month — a $0.16/hour flow charge plus roughly 15.8 TB/month of internet egress at AWS's published $0.09/GB on-demand rate.

Scaling that down to a more typical SRT contribution bitrate — 10 Mbps, one output, 24/7, single region, on-demand — the same published rates work out to roughly $115/month in flow-running charges plus about $285/month in data-transfer charges: around $400/month for one destination. Add a second taker, a cross-region hop, or a destination outside AWS entirely, and each is a separate metered line item. None of this is hidden — AWS documents it clearly — but it means the final bill depends on exactly how many outputs you run, where they sit, and how much data crosses each one.

Where SRT Cloud is different

SRT Cloud does one thing on purpose: one live SRT input in, unlimited bit-exact 1:1 copies out, each delivered to a separately configured taker. No transcoding, so every output is frame-for-frame identical to the source. Pricing is flat — €99 per output per month, one license per destination, with no separate flow-hour charge, no per-gigabyte data-transfer metering, and no 12-month commitment required to get a predictable number. Add a taker, the bill goes up by one license. Remove one, it goes down. There is nothing else to calculate.

SRT Cloud also isn't tied to AWS. Because the input and every output are standard SRT, takers can sit on AWS, another cloud, or a broadcaster's own on-prem infrastructure — real current takers include FreeSat, Pyur, Eutelsat, SES, Etisalat, Swisscom, UIG and KiwiSat, across exactly that mix of networks.

Who each one actually fits

If you're already committed to the AWS media stack, need protocol conversion beyond SRT (RTP, Zixi, RIST, CDI/JPEG XS), or need entitlement-based sharing to other AWS accounts specifically, MediaConnect's breadth earns its complexity. If your job is simpler — take one SRT contribution feed and fan it out to a fixed roster of takers, on any network, at a cost you can predict before the month starts — that's the exact problem SRT Cloud was built to solve, and it's typically cheaper than MediaConnect at any meaningful output count once data-transfer charges are counted.

Already running MediaConnect and just need to add an SRT-caller output to an existing flow? our AWS MediaConnect SRT output tutorial covers the exact setup. For the broader picture of copying one feed to many destinations, see SRT distribution: one feed, unlimited bit-exact copies, or compare against a different incumbent on SRT Cloud vs Haivision SRT Gateway.