For creators, freelancers, educators, and small teams — flat-term video encoding and hosted playback
Professional video delivery without building the pipeline yourself.
Whether you're a Patreon creator who doesn't want YouTube between you and your audience, a freelancer encoding client deliverables, a course builder hosting lectures, or a small team managing training content — Stewardware replaces the DIY stack with a predictable, flat-term service.
Reliable 1080p encoding, downloadable outputs, optional embedded playback, and no metered billing surprises.
- Flat-term pricing — one payment, no monthly renewal, no surprise bills.
- Starts at $21 for 3 months. Less than a single month of Vimeo Pro.
- Embedded player included on Premium — no YouTube branding, no competitor ads.
Who it's for
Built for the operators between DIY and enterprise.
If you've outgrown Handbrake but Brightcove is built for a team ten times your size, this is the gap Stewardware fills. Real delivery infrastructure at a price a solo operator can justify.
Patreon, Substack & direct creators
You monetize your audience directly and don't want YouTube's algorithm deciding who sees your work. Stewardware gives you a hosted player you control — no platform branding, no "up next" sending viewers elsewhere.
Freelancers & small agencies
You deliver encoded video to clients and need professional outputs without a monthly SaaS bill eating your margin. Pay once per term, encode everything within it, pass clean files or embed codes to every client.
Course creators & educators
You have recorded lectures, tutorials, or training content. You need them hosted and playable without a learning platform taking a revenue cut or locking you into their ecosystem.
Shop owners & ecommerce
Product demo videos embedded on your site without YouTube showing competitor ads next to your listing. Your video, your player, your page. Works with any website that accepts an iframe.
Internal training & HR teams
Onboarding videos, compliance training, recorded all-hands. Needs to be accessible to staff but not sitting on a public YouTube channel. Private hosted playback with no public URL.
Media teams too small for enterprise
You produce video for clients or internal stakeholders on a recurring basis. You need a cost you can predict and pass through — not a bill that spikes when a campaign goes live or a client uploads more than expected.
How it works
A straightforward service model for predictable delivery.
Fixed-term plans cover recurring encoding and playback needs. Usage pack units handle overflow, one-off jobs, and catalog spikes — without forcing a plan change or triggering metered billing.
Choose your delivery model
Normal for encoding and downloadable outputs. Premium for embedded player delivery. Usage Pack units for variable or overflow demand.
Upload and process
Normal handles short-form 1080p outputs up to 15 minutes. Premium extends to 60-minute videos and unlocks the hosted player with monthly playback minutes per video.
Deliver to your audience
Download the encoded file or copy the embed code. Premium plan includes 1000 monthly hosted playback minutes per video. Add units when you need more capacity.
Plans & pricing
Flat-term pricing. No monthly renewal. No metered surprises.
Plans are one-time payments for a fixed term — not subscriptions. They do not renew automatically. After payment, your account is activated immediately.
Normal starts at $21 for 3 months — that's $7/month for professional 1080p encoding and downloadable delivery. Premium starts at $45 for 3 months and adds the embedded hosted player with 1000 monthly playback minutes per video. All prices in USD.
Normal
Download-ready encoding for short-form delivery.
For freelancers, educators, and small teams that need clean professional outputs — without an embedded player.
3 months
$21
6 months
$36
12 months
$60
- Up to 1080p output
- Up to 15 minutes per video
- Encoding and downloadable delivery
- H.264, H.265, MP4, WEBM output formats
- Compression, conversion, trim, watermark
Most complete plan
Premium
Embedded playback for creators and recurring publishing.
For Patreon creators, course builders, shop owners, and teams that need a hosted player — not just a file to download.
3 months
$45
6 months
$90
12 months
$180
- Up to 1080p output
- Up to 60 minutes per video
- Embedded hosted player — no YouTube, no ads
- 1000 monthly hosted playback minutes per video
- Iframe embed code, privacy controls
- Everything in Normal, plus longer-form support
Usage Packs
Pay for overflow without changing your plan.
Usage packs are prepaid, non-expiring units for encoding jobs or extra hosted playback allocation. Useful for seasonal spikes, catalog pushes, or when a client sends more than expected.
Units are not metered billing — you buy a pack and spend it at your own pace. No expiry, no waste.
How units work
- 1 encoding unit = one video up to 60 minutes
- 10 hosted playback units = 1000 monthly hosted playback minutes
- Units never expire
- Use as a buffer alongside any plan
- Apply units for custom encoding ladders over 1080p
Entry bundle for occasional overflow or one-off jobs.
Balanced bundle for growing catalogs and periodic demand spikes.
Best value for teams that want a standing reserve of encoding and playback capacity.
Compare
What each plan covers.
Category
Normal
Premium
Units
Commitment
3, 6, or 12 months
3, 6, or 12 months
Prepaid packs — no term
Video duration
Up to 15 min
Up to 60 min
Encoding unit covers up to 60 min
Resolution
Up to 1080p
Up to 1080p
Units required for custom ladders over 1080p
Delivery
Encode + download
Encode + embedded hosted player
Encoding and embedded-player hosted playback
Hosted playback
Not included
1000 min / month per video
10 units = 1000 monthly minutes
Best for
Freelancers, educators, download-first workflows
Creators, course builders, shop owners, teams needing a player
Overflow, seasonal spikes, one-off jobs
Why teams switch
Better than the alternatives for small-team delivery.
Stewardware isn't the only option. Here's an honest comparison of what you'd be choosing between.
Stewardware vs Handbrake
Handbrake is free and excellent for one-off local compression. But it runs manually on your machine, has no hosted delivery, and doesn't scale to recurring client work. When you need results on a schedule or need to deliver a player — not just a file — you've outgrown it.
Stewardware vs Vimeo
Vimeo has a polished player but bills monthly — $20 to $80+ per month — and has raised prices repeatedly. The free tier shows Vimeo branding. Storage and bandwidth limits apply on lower tiers. Stewardware is a flat one-time payment with no ongoing bill and no platform branding on your player.
Stewardware vs AWS MediaConvert
AWS MediaConvert is powerful but built for developers. Metered per-minute billing means a misconfigured job or a batch run can produce unexpected charges. Requires AWS knowledge to set up and maintain. Stewardware has no per-minute billing and no infrastructure to manage.
Stewardware vs Wistia
Wistia is excellent and marketing-focused. It starts at $19/month and gates most useful features behind higher tiers. It's designed for marketing teams, not individual operators or freelancers. Stewardware costs less on an annualized basis and doesn't require ongoing payment to keep content accessible.
Stewardware vs Brightcove
Brightcove is an enterprise video platform with enterprise pricing. It requires a sales process, a minimum commitment, and an IT team to operate. It's not designed for freelancers, creators, or teams of fewer than 10. If Brightcove's pricing page doesn't have public numbers, it's not built for you.
Stewardware vs building your own stack
FFmpeg + S3 + CloudFront + a video player + monitoring + ongoing maintenance. It works at scale and is the right choice for large platforms. For everyone else, it's months of engineering time and an ongoing ops burden. Stewardware is the stack — you just use it.
Questions
Before you commit.
How much does professional video encoding actually cost?
With Stewardware, $60/year on the Normal plan or $180/year on Premium. Compare that to $240–$960/year on Vimeo, or unpredictable per-minute charges on AWS. The flat-term model means you can budget it exactly — no bill that surprises you at the end of the month.
Is this right for a Patreon or Substack creator?
Yes. Premium gives you an embedded player you control — no YouTube algorithm, no competitor recommendations, no Vimeo branding. Embed video directly on your Patreon posts, Substack pages, or personal site. 1000 monthly playback minutes per video is enough for a dedicated following.
When should a team choose Normal vs Premium?
Normal fits workflows where the end result is a file — a compressed MP4 a client downloads, a video you upload to a platform. Premium fits workflows where you need the video to play on your site or page through a hosted player you control.
What happens when my plan expires?
Plans are one-time, fixed-term purchases and do not auto-renew. When the term ends, encoding services pause until you purchase another term or use unit packs. Hosted videos on Premium remain accessible as long as you have an active plan or sufficient playback units.
How do usage packs work alongside a plan?
Usage packs are non-expiring prepaid units you spend at your own pace. Use them to handle overflow encoding, add monthly playback allocation to hosted videos, or cover jobs that fall outside your plan tier. They don't replace a plan — they extend it without forcing an upgrade.
Is there a free tier or trial?
The Normal 3-month plan at $21 is the entry point — low enough that it functions as a trial for most workflows. There is no ongoing free tier, which keeps the service sustainable and the infrastructure dedicated to paying customers.
Stewardware
Stop managing the stack. Start delivering the video.
Whether you're a solo creator, a freelancer with recurring clients, or a small team managing video workflows — Stewardware is the infrastructure layer you don't have to build or maintain. One payment. Flat term. Predictable cost.