When streaming VOD content, whether you’re just launching a streaming service or operating a global enterprise platform, your encoding workflow is essential to how your content plays back and is available to your audience wherever they are viewing from. Many teams initially build their workflows in-house using different options that are available for free. For some, that works well early on. For otheras, it becomes an ongoing burden. As content libraries grow, formats evolve, and new devices emerge, the demands on your encoding stack increase, and what once seemed manageable becomes a costly distraction from your core business.
That’s why understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) is critical. TCO includes more than infrastructure bills. It reflects the time your developers spend maintaining workflows, fixing playback issues, keeping up with codec changes, and implementing new features. It also accounts for workflow fragility, missed publishing deadlines, and rising costs from inefficient processing. Without realizing it, how you choose to build out and deploy your encoding pipeline can become a bottleneck to growth.
Before we dive into where Bitmovin can help, it’s worth reviewing what each approach brings to the table.
Pros and cons of choosing a commercial VOD Encoder
Pros:
- Faster implementation and time-to-market
- Consistent output quality across devices
- Reduced internal engineering overhead
- Ongoing access to new formats and standards
- Scales easily with content and viewer growth
Cons:
- Licensing cost based on usage
- Less control over the underlying encoding logic
Pros and Cons of Building In-House VOD Encoding
Pros:
- Full control over workflows and customization
- Potentially lower cost at a very small scale
- In-house tools can reduce initial expenses
Cons:
- High engineering and maintenance burden
- Harder to scale and stay current with new devices and codecs
- Inconsistent output may impact playback quality
- Greater risk of re-encoding, bugs, and delays
Bitmovin’s VOD Encoder helps reduce these costs by offloading complexity, speeding up development, and optimizing performance behind the scenes. To understand where it makes the biggest impact, we’ll look at three types of streaming platforms and what TCO really looks like at each stage of growth.
What Bitmovin customers have been able to save by using the VOD Encoder
According to the Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) study, organizations that adopted Bitmovin’s VOD Encoder achieved significant cost reductions and operational efficiencies, including:
- Over $1.92 million in personnel cost savings over three years by reducing the need for dedicated encoding staff
- Over $3.26 million in storage and delivery savings from reduced file sizes and more efficient encoding
- A 355% ROI and $4.05 million in net present value (NPV) through a combination of time savings, cost reduction, and improved scalability
These outcomes vary by platform type and size, but they highlight the real-world impact of switching from in-house encoding to a commercial solution like Bitmovin.
Scenario 1: Segment Streaming Services
Viewers: Locally and in the thousands to hundreds of thousands per month. Cost Driver: Processing resources
For smaller platforms, reliability and simplicity are the top priorities. These teams need encoding that doesn’t require constant supervision or specialized video knowledge. Often, they’re dealing with unpredictable viewership patterns and limited budgets, making scalability and cost efficiency essential from the start. While an in-house solution may seem manageable early on, it can quickly become unstable or inconsistent as the library and user base grow. Bitmovin provides the stability and efficiency these platforms need without adding technical burden.
Segment streaming platforms are typically smaller services, such as regional broadcasters or niche content providers. Their viewer base tends to be local, and their teams are small, often without dedicated video engineers. Their encoding needs are simple but essential. Content must be reliably processed and streamed without a significant technical lift.
Key Needs:
- A solution that works out of the box
- Minimal internal developer time and no video specialists
- Best-practice defaults that require little tuning
- Efficient processing to keep infrastructure costs low despite unpredictable viewership
Bitmovin’s Value:
- Bitmovin’s VOD Encoder is cloud-native and pre-configured with proven encoding defaults
- Requires no specialized knowledge to set up and manage
- Can run on any major cloud provider via Cloud Connect
- Continuously optimized algorithms reduce resource use and cost
TCO Breakdown:
- Saves developer time by automating encoding operations
- Fewer re-encodes and playback complaints
- No need to train or hire dedicated video engineers
- Faster time to publish with less technical debt
Scenario 2: Regional Streaming Services
Viewers: Regionally and in the hundreds of thousands to tens of millions per month. Cost Driver: A balance of encoding and CDN or data transfer
Regional platforms often sit in a transitional phase. They’ve outgrown the MVP stage and are now focused on refining their workflows and minimizing delivery costs. Encoding strategies at this level must be adaptable to varying content types, audience sizes, and quality expectations. Manual tuning quickly becomes unsustainable, and the limitations of earlier in-house efforts start to show. These platforms need smarter automation, better quality control, and encoding technology that aligns with evolving business needs.
Regional streaming platforms are scaling fast and looking to improve efficiency across the board. Their teams are often more experienced, but still resource-constrained. Content is no longer uniform, and encoding strategies must differentiate between high-priority and long-tail assets to avoid overspending.
Key Needs:
- Balancing encoding cost with bitrate efficiency
- Differentiated workflows for high- and low-traffic content
- Deeper integration into CI/CD pipelines
- More nuanced encoding quality control without manual tuning
Bitmovin’s Value:
- Bitmovin’s Per-Title and 3-Pass Encoding optimize each asset individually based on content complexity
- Encoding workflows can be automated and integrated directly into publishing systems
- Supports hybrid encoding deployments for better cost control
- Reduces storage and delivery overhead without sacrificing quality
TCO Breakdown:
- Lower storage and CDN costs due to leaner, more efficient files
- Less time spent tuning or segmenting encoding jobs manually
- More consistency across content classes
- Fewer viewer complaints, fewer support issues, and smoother CI/CD deployment
- Fewer engineering hours spent on configuring encoding settings
Scenario 3: Global Streaming Services
Viewers: Globally and in the tens to hundreds of millions per month. Cost Driver: CDN and data transfer efficiency
At global scale, encoding is no longer just a backend process—it’s a strategic differentiator. Enterprise streaming platforms must support complex monetization strategies, international compliance, multi-device delivery, and high viewer expectations, all while maintaining operational efficiency. Many have internal solutions already in place, but those systems may be rigid, expensive to maintain, or too slow to adopt new codecs and formats. Bitmovin addresses these gaps through co-development, optimization, and cutting-edge encoding capabilities that are built for enterprise scale.
Many global streaming platforms already operate with mature encoding pipelines. These systems may have served them well in the past, but as audiences scale and content libraries expand, the cost and complexity of maintaining high-performance encoding becomes harder to justify internally.
Key Needs:
- A customizable and flexible encoding stack
- A partner that can help lead innovation and codec strategy
- Best-in-class bitrate efficiency for both quality and cost optimization
- A workflow that evolves with audience and format trends
Bitmovin’s Value:
- Acts as a co-development partner to global platforms
- Provides strategic guidance on AV1, VVC, and emerging formats
- Offers perceptual-based quality tuning to reduce delivery cost without sacrificing visual performance
- Optimizes encoding across massive libraries while minimizing processing time and infrastructure spend
Cost Savings Highlight: One global customer saw a 355 percent ROI and $4.05 million in net present value over three years from adopting Bitmovin’s encoder at scale. (Source: Forrester TEI) TCO Breakdown:
- Demonstrated multi-million dollar annual savings from AV1 and 3-Pass Encoding implementation
- Reduced re-encoding and debugging overhead
- Future-proofs workflows with ongoing updates and innovations
- Engineering teams focus more on innovation and experience than pipeline upkeep
Final Thoughts
Choosing to build your own encoding pipeline might feel like the right decision early on. It offers control, flexibility, and minimal upfront cost. But as your platform grows, that control often turns into technical debt. Maintaining performance, quality, and scalability becomes an uphill climb, and the burden on your engineering team keeps increasing.
Bitmovin’s VOD Encoder is designed to reduce that burden. It delivers consistent quality, scales with your platform, and removes the complexity of managing video workflows in-house. Whether you’re encoding hundreds of assets or handling billions of views, Bitmovin helps you achieve a lower TCO while keeping your focus where it belongs—on building a better streaming experience.
Want to see what Bitmovin can do for your platform? Explore the VOD Encoder or talk to our team to learn more.
