What is Amazon IVS?
Amazon Interactive Video Service (IVS) is a managed live streaming service that abstracts the complexity of video infrastructure. IVS delivers low-latency live video worldwide without requiring you to operate your own streaming infrastructure.
With a few API calls, you create streaming channels. IVS handles transcoding, CDN distribution, and player compatibility. SDKs for web, iOS, and Android simplify player integration. Streaming and playback work globally, while management and resources (channels, stream keys) are regionally scoped.
Alongside classic low-latency channels, IVS offers Stages, a real-time component for multi-host and interactive formats with latency under 300 milliseconds between participants.
Core Features
- Low-latency streaming under 5 seconds for classic channels
- IVS Stages for real-time interaction with latency under 300 milliseconds
- Four channel types (Standard, Advanced HD, Advanced SD, Basic) for different quality and cost requirements
- Ingest via RTMP, RTMPS, or SRT
- Player SDKs for web, iOS, and Android, plus timed metadata for interactive features
Typical Use Cases
Gaming Streams: Streamers broadcast gameplay to viewers. Low latency enables real-time chat and interaction. Timed metadata synchronizes in-game events with overlays.
Live Shopping: E-commerce platforms integrate live video for product presentations. Viewers can purchase during the stream, ask questions, and give real-time feedback.
Multi-Host Formats and Virtual Events: Podcasts, interviews, or panels with multiple participants use IVS Stages for real-time interaction, then broadcast to a larger audience via a low-latency channel.
Benefits
- Proven, highly scalable streaming technology
- No infrastructure management required
- Simple integration with a few API calls
- Flexible channel types to control quality and cost
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon IVS: player integration, interactive features with timed metadata and Stages, chat system setup, and analytics implementation.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon IVS?
Amazon Interactive Video Service (IVS) is a managed live streaming service that delivers low-latency video to a global audience. Integration requires only a few API calls for the streaming channel and SDKs for player integration; AWS handles transcoding, distribution, and scaling.
How low is the latency with IVS?
IVS channels deliver video with low latency under 5 seconds. For use cases requiring even tighter interaction, IVS also offers Stages, where latency between all participants is under 300 milliseconds. If a Stage is broadcast to an IVS channel, channel viewers still get low latency.
What formats does IVS support?
IVS accepts live video via RTMP, the secure RTMPS, and SRT as ingest protocols, for example from OBS, FFmpeg, or broadcast encoders. Depending on the chosen channel type (Standard, Advanced HD, Advanced SD, or Basic), video is automatically transcoded into one or more quality levels and delivered for adaptive streaming.
What does Amazon IVS cost?
Costs consist of video input (depending on the chosen channel type, per hour) and video output (depending on resolution, region, and usage volume). For real-time interaction via Stages, an additional charge applies per participant hour. Exact, tiered prices are available on the official AWS pricing page.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of AWS (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by AWS.