--- title: "What Is Egress Cost? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "Egress cost is what you pay for data leaving a cloud or CDN on its way to viewers. See how to estimate it for streaming and how to bring it down." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/egress-cost" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/egress-cost.md" category: "Streaming technology" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is egress cost? Egress cost is the charge for data leaving a cloud provider's or CDN's network, billed per gigabyte transferred. For a streaming service it is the cost of delivering video to viewers, and it is usually the largest variable cost of the service. ## Where egress is charged Uploading, or ingress, is normally free. It is the outward traffic that is billed. - CDN to viewer: every segment a viewer downloads - Origin to CDN: when an edge fetches content it does not yet hold - Between clouds or regions: moving files from storage in one place to processing in another ## How to estimate egress for streaming Work out the volume, then apply the rate. Viewing hours × average bitrate in Mbps × 0.45 gives gigabytes. A service with 10,000 subscribers watching 5 hours a month at about 2.2 Mbps delivers roughly 50,000 GB, or 50 TB. Rates differ enormously. Raw cloud egress is often listed at several cents per gigabyte, CDNs at a fraction of a cent to a few cents depending on volume and region. At $0.0075 per GB those 50 TB cost $375; at $0.05 per GB they cost $2,500. ## How to reduce it - Lower the average bitrate with a well-tuned ladder and efficient codecs - Limit default quality on mobile data - Keep cache hit rates high so the origin is rarely touched - Keep storage, processing and delivery with providers that do not charge each other for transfer - Choose a plan with an allowance that matches your volume and a low overage rate ## Egress cost on RentAnOTT On RentAnOTT, CDN delivery above your tier's 1 TB, 5 TB or 20 TB allowance is billed at $0.0075 per GB, which is $7.50 per TB. Storage is $0.03 per GB a month. [Estimate your delivery cost](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/streaming-bandwidth-cost-calculator). ## Related terms - [Bandwidth](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/bandwidth) — Bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be transferred over a connection, measured in megabits per second (Mbps). In streaming the word is also used for the total volume of video delivered to viewers in a month, measured in gigabytes or terabytes. - [CDN](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/cdn) — A CDN (content delivery network) is a network of servers spread across many locations that stores copies of content and delivers each request from a server near the viewer. For streaming, it is what carries the video segments from the platform to the audience. - [Bitrate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/bitrate) — Bitrate is the amount of data used to represent one second of video or audio, measured in kilobits or megabits per second (kbps or Mbps). A higher bitrate carries more detail and produces larger files and higher delivery costs. - [Video storage](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/video-storage) — Video storage is the disk space a streaming service uses to hold its catalog. It includes the original files that were uploaded and every encoded version made from them, and it is billed by the gigabyte for each month the files are kept. - [Multi-CDN](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/multi-cdn) — Multi-CDN is the practice of delivering video through two or more content delivery networks at once, with a switching layer that sends each viewer, or each request, to whichever network is performing best for them at that moment. - [Self-hosted OTT](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/self-hosted-ott) — A self-hosted OTT platform is streaming software that you license, usually for a one-time fee and sometimes with source code, and then install and operate on your own cloud account or on-premise servers. - [Per-subscriber fee](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/per-subscriber-fee) — A per-subscriber fee is an amount a streaming platform vendor charges each month for every paying subscriber on your service, usually on top of a base plan. The total grows in step with your audience. - [Watch time](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/watch-time) — Watch time is the total amount of time viewers spend actually playing video on a service, usually reported in hours per month. It is the most direct measure of how much a service is used. ## Further reading - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing) - [Video bitrate calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/video-bitrate-calculator) - [How to start a streaming service](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/how-to-start-a-streaming-service) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does egress mean? Egress means going out. Egress traffic is data leaving a network, as opposed to ingress, which is data coming in. ### Why is egress such a large cost for video? Video is far heavier than any other content. One hour of HD is a couple of gigabytes, and that is multiplied by every viewer and every hour watched. ### Is egress the same as bandwidth cost? In streaming, yes in practice. Both refer to the charge for the volume of video delivered to viewers. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt