Stream Units
Stream Units are Keep'em's way of measuring video delivery. Instead of charging per viewer or per minute, you pay for the actual data delivered to your audience.
What is a Stream Unit?
One Stream Unit equals 2.25 GB of data transfer. This is roughly equivalent to one hour of Full HD (1080p) video playback.
Technical definition: A Stream Unit represents 2.25 GB of data delivered by the content delivery network (CDN) to your viewers' devices.
How Quality Affects Usage
Video quality determines how much data is used per hour of viewing:
| Quality | Data per Hour | Stream Units per Hour |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p (Full HD) | ~2.25 GB | 1 unit |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | ~9 GB | 4 units |
4K delivers four times the visual detail, which means four times the data. If 10 viewers watch a 1-hour video in 1080p, that's 10 Stream Units. If they watch in 4K, that's 40 Stream Units.
Why Stream Units?
Stream Units align your costs with the actual value being delivered. You don't pay for "empty seats" or features you don't use. If your video gets 10 viewers one month and 1,000 the next, your costs scale naturally.
This is fairer than per-viewer pricing (which penalizes re-watches) and more transparent than opaque "credits" systems.
Estimating Usage
A quick formula: multiply the number of expected viewer-hours by the quality multiplier.
- 50 viewers watching a 30-minute 1080p video: 50 × 0.5 = 25 Stream Units
- 100 viewers watching a 1-hour 4K video: 100 × 4 = 400 Stream Units
Your dashboard shows real-time usage so you can track consumption throughout your billing period.