Castr vs Streamrun
Castr is a streaming server and hosting service: multistreaming plus an embeddable player, VOD, 24/7 channels, and paywalls. Streamrun is a cloud streaming engine that works on the stream before it reaches the platforms: disconnect protection, per-destination encoding, dual format output, and device switching.
They overlap on multistreaming and diverge almost everywhere else. This page shows where each one is strongest and how they can be combined.
What Castr is built for
Castr's strengths sit on the viewer side of a broadcast: getting video onto your own site and keeping it available afterwards.
Player and delivery
An embeddable HLS player for your own website, with a global delivery network behind it. For a business that wants the stream on its own domain rather than only on Twitch or YouTube, this is the core feature.
VOD and 24/7 channels
Cloud recordings, a hosted video library, and scheduled or round-the-clock channels built from uploaded files. Useful for TV-style channels, reruns, and archives.
Monetization and branding
Paywalls, white-label players, and analytics aimed at media companies, churches, education, and event organizers who sell or gate access.
Where the delivery model stops. Castr takes the stream it receives and distributes it. Shaping that stream differently for each platform, turning a horizontal feed into a vertical one, switching between a phone and a camera mid-stream, or riding out a dropped mobile connection are outside what it is designed around.
What Streamrun is built for
Streamrun is a cloud streaming engine. It accepts RTMP, SRT, and SRTLA, terminates the stream in the cloud, and then does the work between the source and the platforms: separate encoding and overlays per destination, horizontal and vertical output from one source, switching input devices without going offline, live captions, and a fallback scene or backup source that keeps the platforms live when the connection drops.
It delivers to Twitch, YouTube, Kick, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and any custom RTMP or SRT endpoint. That last part is how it connects to a delivery service when you need HLS on your own site: send one output to Castr, or to a video API such as Mux or Cloudflare Stream, and embed the HLS stream they produce with your own player. See live streaming infrastructure for the systems view.
What Streamrun does not do: it has no embeddable public player of its own, no VOD library, no paywall, and no programme-grid channel scheduling. HLS for your own site comes from a delivery service downstream. Uploaded files can be streamed live and looped, but that is a live workflow feature rather than a hosting product.
Side by side
A dash means the product is not built around that job. Plan details on both sides change, so read this as the shape of each product rather than a plan-by-plan checklist.
Which one fits your setup
Castr is the better fit when
- The stream needs to play on your own website, not only on Twitch or YouTube.
- You want recordings and a VOD library hosted in the same place.
- You run a scheduled or 24/7 channel from uploaded content.
- You sell or gate access with a paywall.
Streamrun is the better fit when
- A dropped connection must not end the stream on the platforms.
- You stream from a phone or a bonded IRL setup over SRT or SRTLA.
- Each destination needs its own encode, overlays, or a vertical version.
- You switch between devices or cameras during the same stream.
- You want live captions without a separate captioning service.
Using both. Put Streamrun in front for protection, switching, and format conversion, and send one of its outputs to Castr over RTMP or SRT for the embeddable player, recordings, or paywall. If you only need HLS for your own site without the rest of Castr, Streamrun can send that output to Mux or Cloudflare Stream instead. Each service does the part it is built for.
Frequently asked questions
What is Castr?
Castr is a live streaming platform that combines multistreaming with video hosting and delivery. You send it a stream over RTMP or SRT and it forwards the stream to Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms. It also hosts the stream on its own player for embedding on your website, stores recordings and VOD, runs 24/7 channels from a playlist of uploaded files, and offers paywalls and white-label players for businesses.
What is the main difference between Castr and Streamrun?
Castr is built around delivering video to viewers: an embeddable player, VOD hosting, scheduled and 24/7 channels, and monetization. Streamrun is built around what happens to the stream before it reaches a platform: keeping platforms live through a drop, encoding each destination separately, producing horizontal and vertical output from one source, switching input devices mid-stream, and generating captions. Both multistream, but the surrounding product is different.
Does Streamrun have an embeddable player or VOD hosting?
No. Streamrun delivers to platforms and to any custom RTMP or SRT endpoint, but it does not host a public HLS player for your website and does not keep a VOD library. If embedding a player on your own site or selling access through a paywall is the goal, that is Castr territory. Streamrun can feed a Castr channel as one of its destinations, or send the same output to a video API such as Mux or Cloudflare Stream, which turn an RTMP or SRT input into an HLS stream you can embed with your own player.
Can Streamrun run a 24/7 channel from uploaded videos?
Partly. Streamrun can upload MP4 files and stream them as live content, loop them, and use them as an automatic fallback when the live source drops. It is designed for scheduled premieres, reruns, and sponsor segments within a live workflow rather than as a scheduled linear channel with a programme grid, which is what Castr offers.
Can I use Castr and Streamrun together?
Yes. Castr accepts RTMP and SRT input and Streamrun can send to any custom RTMP or SRT destination. A common combination is Streamrun in front for disconnect protection, device switching, and format conversion, and Castr behind it for the embeddable player, recordings, or paywall.
Which is better for IRL and mobile streaming?
Streamrun. It accepts SRTLA bonded input from BELABOX devices and phone apps, holds the platforms live when the phone loses signal, and lets you switch between a phone and another device without going offline. Castr is designed around desk and studio sources and delivery to viewers rather than mobile uplinks.
Related
Restream vs Streamrun
Browser production or as-is duplication versus a streaming engine that processes the stream.
Live Streaming for Platforms
Putting a streaming engine in front of your own player or service.
Event Streaming
Reliability and multi-destination delivery for productions.
Live Stream Failover
How the fallback scene and backup sources keep platforms live.
Protect and shape the stream before it goes out
Send one stream to Streamrun. It keeps the platforms live, encodes each destination separately, and can feed a player service like Castr as one of its outputs.