Gumlet vs SproutVideo Comparison 2026
Gumlet is free for 100GB of bandwidth a month and adds DRM at $99 on top of any plan, built for video that has to stay behind a paywall. SproutVideo has no free tier, only a 30-day trial with every feature and no card, then $12 a month billed annually for 150GB of storage and 1,800GB of bandwidth plus engagement heatmaps of who watched what. Pick Gumlet if the content needs locking down. Pick SproutVideo if you want to see exactly where viewers stopped watching.
Video hosting priced by bandwidth, with DRM on top
Video hosting with the bandwidth included
At a glance
- Gumlet starts cheaper, at $6.
- Only Gumlet has a free tier.
Side by side
Gumlet | SproutVideo | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $6 | From $12 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 30 days |
| API |
Gumlet
Video hosting priced by bandwidth, with DRM on top
Gumlet is video infrastructure for somebody who wants their own player on their own site rather than a channel on somebody else's. It transcodes, delivers, and will lock a video down with DRM if the content is worth stealing, which is the feature that usually forces a jump to enterprise pricing elsewhere. Image optimisation runs on the same account. The dashboard assumes you know what a bitrate ladder is, and does not apologise for it.
Our note
Price this on bandwidth rather than on the plan name, because a single popular video can move you two tiers in a month. If the content does not need protecting, the cheaper video hosts do the same delivery job without the DRM machinery you are partly paying for.
SproutVideo
Video hosting with the bandwidth included
SproutVideo hosts video for businesses that want a player without YouTube's branding, its recommendations or its comment section. Plans include storage and bandwidth rather than metering them, so the bill is predictable until it is not. Analytics go down to heatmaps of who watched what, which is the reason most people move off a free host in the first place.
Why people weigh these two
- SproutVideo instead of Gumlet
- SproutVideo hosts your video with the bandwidth included in a flat plan from $12 a month, a simpler bill than Gumlet's usage pricing, with a free trial rather than a free tier.
- Gumlet instead of SproutVideo
- Gumlet meters by bandwidth instead of a flat plan and adds DRM, with a free tier and a $6 plan, for video that needs copy protection SproutVideo's plan does not mention.
Which one should you pick
Pick Gumlet if DRM or a genuinely free tier matters more than analytics. Free covers 100GB of bandwidth and 60 minutes of live streaming a month, and paid plans start at $6 a month billed annually for 3,000GB, rising to $19 and $99. DRM is a $99-a-month add-on on any plan, well under the enterprise pricing it usually costs elsewhere.
Pick SproutVideo if knowing which seconds people watched matters more than the price. There is no free tier, only a 30-day trial with every feature and no card required, then $12 a month billed annually for 150GB of storage and 1,800GB of bandwidth. Overage is published rather than hidden, falling from $0.25 to $0.06 a gigabyte by tier, and DRM is not a feature it offers.
Common questions
- Is Gumlet or SproutVideo cheaper to start?
- Gumlet, and it has an actual free tier: 100GB of bandwidth a month at no cost, versus SproutVideo's 30-day trial that then requires payment. Gumlet's cheapest paid plan is $6 a month billed annually; SproutVideo's is $12.
- Which one offers DRM?
- Gumlet, as a $99-a-month add-on on top of any plan. SproutVideo does not list DRM among its features, so content that needs locking down is Gumlet's job, not this one.
- Which one shows who watched what?
- SproutVideo. Its engagement heatmaps show which seconds were watched and by whom, the reason most people move off a free host once they need it. Gumlet's features focus on delivery, transcoding and image optimisation instead.
- Can I try both without paying?
- SproutVideo gives 30 days with every feature and no card required. Gumlet has no trial listed, but its free tier, 100GB of bandwidth a month, does not expire, so testing it costs nothing either way.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.