Video transcoding services with 4K support and per-minute pricing

Official pricing

2. AWS Elemental MediaConvert

Usage-based, per-minute

4K, including professional encoding workflows

Offers Basic and Professional tiers. Billing uses normalized output minutes, with multipliers based on resolution, frame rate, codec, and quality settings. Professional supports advanced codecs and high-quality workflows.aws.amazon.com+1

Official pricing

3. Mux

$0.10/min

4K on-demand encoding, Plus quality, first 5,000 minutes

Provides per-minute encoding, storage, and delivery pricing. On-demand video supports 4K; live input is supported up to 1080p. Basic-quality on-demand encoding also has a free tier, subject to Mux's plan rules.www.mux.com+1

Official pricing

4. FastPix

$0.0855/min

4K encoding, published Pro rate

Advertises pay-per-minute encoding, adaptive-bitrate output, and separate usage-based streaming and storage charges. Worth comparing if you want a video API with delivery included in the same platform.fastpix.com

Official transcoding and pricing page

5. Bitmovin Encoding

$0.10/min

4K H.264, two-pass encoding

Publishes resolution- and codec-specific pricing. Its Managed Cloud pricing lists 4K H.264 at $0.10/min for two-pass and $0.16/min for three-pass encoding. The plan also includes 2,000 free minutes per month.bitmovin.com+1

Official encoding pricing

Quick price comparison

Indicative published rates in USD, for one minute of 4K output where a comparable rate is available.

These are not fully like-for-like comparisons: codecs, encoding quality, output renditions, and volume discounts differ.

Which should you choose?

• Lowest straightforward published 4K rate: Google Cloud Transcoder API.
• Transcoding plus video hosting and streaming: Mux or FastPix.
• Advanced encoding and broadcast workflows: AWS Elemental MediaConvert.
• Control over codec and multi-pass quality: Bitmovin.

One important cost consideration: a single 4K output is much cheaper than generating a complete adaptive-bitrate ladder containing 360p, 720p, 1080p, and 4K. Most services charge for each encoded rendition or apply resolution-based multipliers.

For a more precise shortlist, the key question is whether you need transcoding only (upload a file, receive a converted file) or a complete video API (upload, transcode, store, and stream).