Vajra Cast vs Haivision SRT Gateway: Self-Hosted Alternative 2026

Why Compare These Two?

Haivision invented SRT. Their SRT Gateway is the reference implementation for enterprise SRT routing — deployed by broadcasters, telcos, and media companies worldwide. If you search “SRT gateway,” Haivision dominates.

Vajra Cast is a self-hosted SRT gateway built for the same core workflow — receive, route, and distribute live video streams — but with a different philosophy: self-hosted first, all features included, no per-feature licensing.

Both products solve the same problem. The differences are in architecture, pricing model, and deployment flexibility.

Feature Comparison

Architecture Differences

Haivision: The Enterprise SRT Platform

Haivision SRT Gateway is designed for enterprise broadcast environments. It integrates with Haivision’s broader ecosystem — SRT Hub for cloud orchestration, Makito encoders for hardware ingest, and Haivision Path for network visualization.

Strengths of this approach:

• Tight integration with Haivision hardware (Makito X4, KB encoder)
• Cloud marketplace deployment (AWS, Azure) with managed infrastructure
• Enterprise support contracts with SLA guarantees
• Network-level visualization through Haivision Path

The tradeoff: you buy into an ecosystem. Haivision SRT Gateway works best with Haivision hardware and Haivision cloud services. Pricing is enterprise-level — typically requiring a sales conversation, not a checkout page.

Vajra Cast: The Self-Hosted Gateway

Vajra Cast is a standalone application. No ecosystem lock-in, no required hardware pairing. It runs on any Linux server, in Docker, on Kubernetes, or on bare metal.

Key architectural differences:

• SRTLA bonding — Vajra Cast includes native SRTLA support for aggregating multiple cellular connections. This is critical for mobile and field production with BELABOX. Haivision does not support SRTLA.
• Mixed-protocol failover — Combine SRT, RTMP, RTSP, and UDP inputs in priority chains. If your SRT feed drops, fail over to RTMP or RTSP automatically. Haivision’s failover is SRT-path-based.
• Hot management — Add, remove, or modify outputs on a live route without restarting anything. Other outputs continue uninterrupted.
• Zero-copy distribution — When sending the same stream to 10 outputs, the stream is processed once and shared. CPU usage stays flat regardless of output count.

SRTLA: The Missing Feature

This is the sharpest differentiator. SRTLA (SRT with Link Aggregation) bonds multiple network connections — cellular, WiFi, Ethernet — into a single reliable stream. It is essential for:

• IRL streaming over cellular networks
• News gathering from the field
• Sports production from remote venues
• Any scenario where a single network link is not reliable enough

Vajra Cast acts as a native SRTLA receiver. BELABOX encoders, Moblin, and other SRTLA-capable clients connect directly. No separate srtla_rec process, no DIY server configuration.

Haivision’s approach to unreliable networks is different — they use SRT’s built-in error correction with high latency buffers, or rely on Haivision-specific bonding solutions through their hardware encoders. But standard SRTLA protocol support is not part of the SRT Gateway product.

If your workflow involves SRTLA sources, Vajra Cast is the only commercial gateway that handles them natively.

Monitoring and Observability

Haivision

Haivision provides monitoring through its web dashboard and SNMP integration. SRT statistics (RTT, packet loss, jitter) are visible per-stream. Haivision Path adds network visualization for enterprise deployments.

Vajra Cast

Vajra Cast exports all metrics to Prometheus with pre-built Grafana dashboards. Beyond standard SRT statistics, it includes:

• VMAF quality scoring — objective video quality measurement on live streams
• Per-input health tracking — bitrate, connection state, packet loss per source
• Real-time metrics API — WebSocket and REST endpoints for custom integrations
• Audit logging — every configuration change is logged with timestamp and user

Pricing

Haivision SRT Gateway

Enterprise pricing. Haivision does not publish prices publicly. Typical deployment involves:

• Contact sales for a quote
• Per-instance or per-capacity licensing
• Separate costs for Haivision Hub, Path, and other ecosystem components
• Annual support contracts

Vajra Cast

Published pricing, all features included:

• Managed: $99/month — hosted, maintained, zero ops
• Self-Hosted: $899 one-time — install anywhere, unlimited inputs/outputs
• No feature-gated add-ons. Hardware transcoding, failover, SRTLA, monitoring, API — all included.

Deployment Flexibility

Haivision has the edge for teams that want cloud marketplace one-click deployment or hardware appliances. Vajra Cast has the edge for teams that want infrastructure-as-code, container-native deployment, and full control over their stack.

When to Choose Haivision

Haivision SRT Gateway is the better choice if:

• You are already in the Haivision ecosystem (Makito encoders, SRT Hub)
• You need enterprise support with SLA guarantees
• You want managed cloud deployment through AWS/Azure marketplace
• Your budget accommodates enterprise pricing
• You need hardware appliance form factors
• SRTLA is not part of your workflow

When to Choose Vajra Cast

Vajra Cast is the better choice if:

• You need SRTLA bonding for mobile and field production
• You want self-hosted deployment with full infrastructure control
• You need mixed-protocol failover (SRT + RTMP + RTSP in one chain)
• You want all features at a published, predictable price
• You need Prometheus/Grafana observability with VMAF quality scoring
• You want Docker/Kubernetes-native deployment with IaC support
• You need hot management of live routes without interruption

Summary

Haivision created SRT and their SRT Gateway is the enterprise standard. It excels in large-scale broadcast environments with dedicated budgets and Haivision hardware integration.

Vajra Cast offers a different value proposition: the same core SRT gateway functionality with SRTLA bonding, mixed-protocol failover, and self-hosted flexibility at a fraction of the cost. For teams that need a production-grade SRT gateway without enterprise pricing or ecosystem lock-in, it is a compelling alternative.