STREAMING ENGINEER CONSOLE

HLS Playlist Bandwidth Inspector

Parse an HLS master playlist locally, compare rendition bandwidth scenarios and export a report that omits stream URLs and secrets.

Paste master M3U8 → Inspect renditions → Export safe measurements

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Method, assumptions and source prices

Measure the delivery implications of an existing HLS rendition ladder. Paste a master playlist; the inspector reads variant bandwidth and resolution locally. Average bandwidth is preferred, with an explicitly labeled peak proxy when absent. Each row is a separate all-plays-at-one-quality scenario. Adaptive bitrate switching and real segment traffic require player or CDN logs. Reports omit playlist and key URIs. Follow the related video planner to compare storage, delivery and provider costs.

Price snapshot: 2026-09-23. Verify current provider terms before buying. Prices and time inputs are estimates; no delivery or savings guarantee.

Sources: HLS specification (RFC 8216) · Gumlet video plans · Cloudflare Stream pricing

How to read your result

Each rendition is a separate viewing scenario: do not sum the estimates. AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH is preferred; peak BANDWIDTH is a labeled fallback. This tool does not fetch URLs, encryption keys or video segments. Media playlists are outside its scope.

Twelve Tools directory

TheDevToolsDir

Reproduce a known result

At 10,000 plays of five minutes: 375 GB at 1 Mbps or 1,125 GB at 3 Mbps. These are alternative scenarios, not quantities to add. The playlist has no hosted video segments.

Load Two renditions at 1 and 3 Mbps average · Download synthetic example

Examples and troubleshooting

An HLS master playlist describes available renditions. It does not tell you how much time real viewers spend at each quality. The inspector turns each supported rendition into a separate transfer scenario, preserving that uncertainty.

HLS AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH vs BANDWIDTH for transfer estimates

Common questions

Why does the inspector reject my M3U8?

It may be a media playlist, malformed text, or outside the supported size and attribute limits. Try the built-in master-playlist sample to compare its structure.

Does missing AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH make the estimate exact?

No. BANDWIDTH is used as a labeled fallback. Real average transfer may be lower, and playback overhead can change observed usage.

Does the tool contact URLs in my playlist?

No. It parses pasted text locally and exports measurements without the playlist URIs.

Privacy and anonymous measurement

Your tool inputs stay in the isolated browser workspace. We count page views and action names, anonymous browser IDs, referring domain, campaign channel and device class. We do not collect your JSON, email text, playlists or complete referring URLs. Country is unknown unless supplied by a trusted server configuration. Browser storage may be unavailable; in that case unique-user counts are limited to this visit.