Redundant by design
Three encodings of every stream run in three separate data centers. Lose one and the broadcast continues on the other two.
3 legs · separate data centers
On air
Live video that keeps going.
Send one stream. Cardinal encodes it three times, in three separate data centers, and delivers it to every viewer in 1080p or 4K — with live captions, restreaming and recordings built in.
$5 an hour in 1080p, $20 in 4K. Billed by the minute. No monthly fee, no charge per viewer.
One stream in, three encodings, one playerRTMPS · 1080p
3×independent encodings
RTMPSencrypted from your encoder
1080p · 4Ktwo quality tiers
Built for the broadcast that can't stop
Everything a live stream needs, on by default.
No add-on tiers to assemble. Every stream gets redundancy, captions, a player and a recording.
Encrypted from your encoder
Send from OBS, vMix, Wirecast or an ATEM over RTMPS, the encrypted form of RTMP. Your video and stream key never cross the internet in the clear.
RTMPS · TLS 1.2 and 1.3 · one address per stream
Captions included
Live captions on every broadcast at no extra cost, in the language being spoken. Viewers turn them on or off in the player.
captions included · timed to the video
Restream anywhere
Send the same broadcast on to other services that take RTMP or RTMPS while it plays on your own site.
up to 5 destinations · from $1/destination-hour
Recorded automatically
Every broadcast is recorded and ready to download when it ends, kept for 30 days.
MP4 · kept 30 days · included
A player, and an API
Embed a white-label player with chat, reactions and a giving button — or build your own product on the REST API.
embed · hosted pages · REST
Who streams on Cardinal
One platform, three ways to use it.
Nonprofits
Stream services and events on your own website with a giving button in the player, captions for everyone, and a recording for the people who missed it.
For nonprofitsPlatforms
Stream for your own customers through the API: one key, a stream per customer, the player under your brand, and usage broken down by customer so you can bill them.
For platformsCreators
Go live from OBS or your phone with your own watch page, chat and tips, in 4K if you want it, and restream to the platforms your audience already uses.
For creatorsQuestions
What people ask first.
What do I need to start?
An encoder and a steady internet connection. OBS Studio is free and works well, and most hardware encoders that send RTMPS (encrypted RTMP) work too. Plan on an upload speed of about 10 Mbps for 1080p, or 25 Mbps for 4K. Create a stream in the console, copy its server address and stream key into your encoder, and start streaming.
How is a broadcast billed?
By the minute. A broadcast costs $5 an hour in 1080p or $20 an hour in 4K, rounded up to the next whole minute, and each stream that starts is billed for at least 15 minutes. There’s no monthly fee and no charge per viewer, so a broadcast costs the same whether ten people watch or ten thousand.
What happens if a server fails during my broadcast?
Your broadcast keeps going. Every stream is encoded three times, in three separate data centers, and any one of them can carry it alone. If one fails, viewers may notice a brief skip, but the player doesn’t freeze, and a replacement starts automatically.
Can I put the player on my own website, with my own brand?
Yes. Embed the player with one line of HTML, or send viewers to a hosted watch page. The player shows your name and colors, not ours, and can include a giving or tips button that opens your own giving page.
Do you have an API?
Yes. Everything you can do in the console, you can do through the API: create streams, get encoder addresses and playback URLs, read usage for each of your customers, and download recordings. Businesses that stream for their own customers build on it directly.