shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Ant Media?

Stream live video at 300ms latency with Ant Media Server. WebRTC, HLS, SRT,RTMP and more — self-hosted, air-gapped, or on any cloud. - antmedia.io

Depends. Buy if you're a dev team building real-time video and can run and patch your own servers. Avoid if you want managed streaming, lack ops staff, or can't tolerate a small vendor with 2024 CVEs.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources: G2, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, Reddit, AWS Marketplace, NVD/CERT security advisories, and company pages.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Community Edition

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Paid plansFrom $109/mo
EnterpriseUp to $2,799/mo

Best for

  • Developers building real-time video apps
  • Self-hosted or air-gapped environments
  • Low-latency niches: iGaming, drones, auctions
  • Teams with DevOps capacity

Not for

  • Teams with no server ops or DevOps staff
  • Anyone wanting zero-maintenance managed streaming
  • Creators who just need YouTube/Twitch-style broadcasting
  • Security-sensitive orgs that won't patch quickly

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

CVE-2024-32656: local privilege escalation via JMX. Patch promptly, especially on shared servers.

medium

Pricing spans $109–$2,799/month; cluster scaling multiplies license costs fast.

medium

Vendor raised just $30K total — weigh long-term support and roadmap continuity risk.

low

Digital-signage adopters reported integration problems; validate niche use cases on the trial.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • 4.8/5 on G2 across 164 verified reviews
  • Sub-300ms WebRTC plus HLS, SRT, RTMP in one server
  • Self-hosted, air-gapped, or any cloud deployment
  • Users report easy configuration and setup
  • Free open-source Community Edition to start

Cons

  • You run, scale, and patch everything yourself
  • Three CVEs in 2024, including local privilege escalation
  • Community Edition default configs lacked proper authorization
  • Tiny vendor: only $30K total funding raised

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 14 sources - Several 2024 CVEs, mostly hitting Community Edition defaults and local access — harden or patch before production.

official x2review x6security x3news x3
  • CVE-2024-32656 — local privilege escalation, JMX-related privesc; server runs in a privileged context.
  • CVE-2024-3462 — missing authorization, Community Edition default config fails to properly authorize requests.
  • CVE-2024-35371 — improper access control, Affects Ant Media Server v2.8.2.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Paid tiers start at $109/mo; free Community Edition
  • Ease of use: 4/5. G2 Ease of Use 9.8/10; AWS reviewer says easily configurable
  • Feature depth: 4/5. WebRTC, HLS, SRT, RTMP, scaling, open-source plus enterprise editions
  • Support quality: 4/5. G2 Quality of Support 9.6/10
  • Security posture: 2/5. Three 2024 CVEs; Community default configs exploitable
  • 4.8/5 G2 rating 164 verified reviews
  • $109/mo Starting price up to $2,799/mo for top tier
  • Yes Free version Open-source Community Edition + 14-day trial
  • $30K Total funding 2 rounds, per CB Insights

Pricing

Community Edition

Free

  • Open-source, self-hosted
  • Had default-config security flaws in 2024

Paid plans

From $109/mo

  • Flat-rate license per listing
  • 14-day free trial available

Enterprise

Up to $2,799/mo

  • Perpetual and hourly/cloud options listed
  • Per SoftwareAdvice range

Security

Several 2024 CVEs, mostly hitting Community Edition defaults and local access — harden or patch before production.

  • CVE-2024-32656 — local privilege escalationJMX-related privesc; server runs in a privileged context.⁶
  • CVE-2024-3462 — missing authorizationCommunity Edition default config fails to properly authorize requests.⁷
  • CVE-2024-35371 — improper access controlAffects Ant Media Server v2.8.2.⁸

What users say

Users broadly praise the low latency and easy configuration, with occasional complaints in niche integrations.

“Yes, I am very satisfied with Ant Media too.”
Reddit, r/WebRTC
“Ant media is amazing, I've been using it since years”
Reddit, r/WebRTC
“It is easily configurable”
AWS Marketplace review

Alternatives

Compare Ant Media with each alternative.

  • Kurento

    Open-source WebRTC media server; free but more DIY

  • Muvi

    Fully hosted streaming platform; no server ops needed

    Ant Media vs Muvi

  • Zoom Workplace

    Free option for simple meetings; no streaming infra

  • Mux or Cloudflare Stream

    Guess: hosted live-video APIs if you refuse to self-host

Companies that use it

  • Aura eGaming13

Companies that could

  • Blue Ant Media14 Uses Amagi instead
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources: G2, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, Reddit, AWS Marketplace, NVD/CERT security advisories, and company pages.

Powerful cheap ultra-low-latency engine if you self-host. Skip it if you want managed video or can't patch fast.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources: G2, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, Reddit, AWS Marketplace, NVD/CERT security advisories, and company pages.

Sources

  1. Ant Media Server seller profile — 164 G2 reviewsg2.com
    review
  2. Ant Media Server Pricing 2026 — G2g2.com
    review
  3. Ant Media Server Review — SoftwareAdvice (pricing range)softwareadvice.com
    review
  4. Ant Media official site — deployment optionsantmedia.io
    official
  5. Ant Media Server on GitHub — Community Editiongithub.com
    official
  6. Praetorian — CVE-2024-32656 local privilege escalationpraetorian.com
    security
  7. CERT Polska — Community Edition default config authorization flawcert.pl
    security
  8. NVD — CVE-2024-35371nvd.nist.gov
    security
  9. Reddit r/WebRTC — 6-month user reviewreddit.com
    review
  10. Reddit r/digitalsignage — integration issuesreddit.com
    review
  11. CB Insights — Ant Media fundingcbinsights.com
    news
  12. AWS Marketplace review — Real Time at Scaleaws.amazon.com
    review
  13. Aura eGaming case studylinkedin.com
    news
  14. Amagi + Blue Ant Mediaamagi.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.