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Adult Video CDN · Editorial review

Coconut review: pay-per-minute transcoding for tube sites

coconut.co

Coconut is a video transcoding API billed per output minute: $0.0075 for SD, $0.015 for HD, $0.03 for UHD. Coconut neither delivers videos to viewers nor handles live streams.

Transcoding on demandNo monthly minimumThumbnails and animated previewsHLS and MPEG-DASHBring your own storageServers in Ireland

Our verdict on Coconut

For a US tube site that needs uploads converted automatically, with thumbnails and animated WebP previews, Coconut charges only for minutes produced, with no subscription. You still need storage and a CDN.

Watch two things: the home page now promotes Chunkify, another transcoding platform sharing its tagline, and the published company details are nil.

Coconut homepage carrying its banner for Chunkify
Coconut

What Coconut produces for a tube site

Coconut outputs MP4 and other formats, HLS and MPEG-DASH packages, thumbnails, GIF and WebP animations, and DRM-encrypted files, sent to your own S3-compatible storage. Its Ultrafast mode speeds up 4K output. The FAQ is clear that it does not deliver videos to end users, so you need a CDN or your own servers, and it only encodes completed files, not live streams.

Coconut pricing

Each output minute costs $0.00325 for audio, $0.0075 for SD, $0.015 for HD and $0.03 for UHD. A 10-minute video in two formats counts as 20 minutes, or $0.30 in HD. Thumbnails, API calls and failed jobs are free, with no commitment or minimum. Your card is charged on the 1st for the previous month, by Visa, Mastercard or American Express. The default Test plan encodes videos up to one minute, one job at a time, with no card. Volumes above 50,000 minutes a month are quoted.

Coconut and Chunkify

The Coconut home page carries a banner to chunkify.dev, a transcoding platform that shows AV1 output and uses the same “Cloud Video Architecture you control” tagline. Nothing announces Coconut’s closure, but a buyer planning years ahead should keep it in mind.

Coconut terms worth reading

The terms bill “according to the number of GB used”, unlike the per-minute price list, and allow no refunds. No company name or address is published, and the privacy page returns a 404. The SLA promises 99.9% uptime but refers to a credit schedule that does not appear on the page.

Coconut strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Per-minute billing, no minimum.
  • Animated previews and thumbnails.
  • A test plan with no card required.

Limitations

  • No delivery or live.
  • No company published.
  • Another product promoted on the home page.

Coconut alongside bunny.net

bunny.net delivers video from $0.01 per GB in North America and Europe and also offers a streaming product. Coconut does no delivery, so it pairs with a CDN like this one rather than replacing it.

CDNsun

CDNsun, a Prague CDN since 2012, bills traffic as you go: $0.030 per GB in North America and Europe, $0.060 elsewhere, with no monthly minimum.

Read the review CDNsun →Kernel Video Sharing (KVS)

Kernel Video Sharing (KVS) is a tube site CMS you install on your own server. A perpetual licence costs $99, $299 or $499 per domain, paid once.

Read the review Kernel Video Sharing (KVS) →
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