# Self-Host Your Live Streams on a Budget > Skip managed CDN costs. Use a cheap dedicated server with generous bandwidth to serve HLS streams directly to your viewers. ## What You Need Self-hosting means your HLS segments are served straight from a server you rent, instead of going through a managed streaming platform. All you need is: - **A dedicated server** with enough bandwidth — 100+ Mbps unmetered for a handful of viewers, 1 Gbps for larger audiences - **nginx** configured to serve static files with proper CORS headers - **The My Live TV Channel app** pointing to your server as a “Self-hosted (WebDAV)” destination The app pushes HLS segments to your server via WebDAV. nginx serves them to viewers. That's it. ## Server Providers Compared We've researched the most cost-effective providers for streaming workloads. Bandwidth is the biggest cost factor — here's what's available. Truly Unmetered Bandwidth | Provider | From | Bandwidth | Port Speed | Locations | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Scaleway Dedibox | €4.99/mo | Unmetered | 100–500 Mbps | Paris, Amsterdam | Cheapest entry point. Pro range from €34.99 | | OVHcloud Kimsufi | $20/mo | Unmetered | 300–500 Mbps | France, Canada, Germany, UK, US, Australia, Singapore | Best value. Anti-DDoS included | | OVHcloud SoYouStart | $30/mo | Unmetered | 500 Mbps–2 Gbps | Same as Kimsufi | Mid-tier with more RAM/CPU | | OneProvider | ~$15/mo | Unmetered (fair use) | 1 Gbps | 40+ locations worldwide | Reseller, widest geographic coverage | | Psychz Networks | ~$49/mo | Unmetered | 1 Gbps | US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia | Good for non-European audiences | Metered but Affordable | Provider | From | Included Traffic | Overage | Locations | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hetzner Dedicated | ~€37/mo | “Unlimited” on 1G (fair use) | Warnings, then throttle | Germany, Finland | Great hardware, but NOT truly unmetered despite marketing. Cloud plans = 20 TB then €1.20/TB | | Hetzner Auction | ~€25/mo | Same fair-use policy | Same | Germany, Finland | Refurbished servers, great deals if you can grab one | > A note about Hetzner: > > Their dedicated servers are marketed as "unlimited" bandwidth, but in practice they enforce a fair-use policy. If you consistently saturate your connection they will contact you and may throttle. Their cloud servers have a hard 20 TB/month cap with overage at €1.20/TB. Great hardware and pricing, just be aware of the limits. ## Bandwidth Calculator How much bandwidth do you actually need? Here's a quick reference for a 4 Mbps stream (720p or 1080p): > 1 viewer > > at 4 Mbps = ~1.3 TB/month > > 5 concurrent viewers > > = ~6.5 TB/month > > 10 concurrent viewers > > = ~13 TB/month > > 25 concurrent viewers > > = ~32 TB/month > Rule of thumb: > > A 100 Mbps unmetered server can handle up to ~25 concurrent viewers at 4 Mbps. A 1 Gbps port can serve ~250 concurrent viewers. For most community broadcasters, a €5–20/month server is more than enough. ## Quick Setup 1. **Rent a server** from one of the providers above 2. **Install nginx** with WebDAV support: `apt install nginx nginx-extras` 3. **Configure nginx** to accept WebDAV uploads and serve HLS with CORS headers 4. In the **My Live TV Channel** app, add a **“Self-hosted (WebDAV)”** destination and enter your server URL 5. **Start streaming** — the app pushes HLS segments to your server, and nginx serves them to your viewers > Tip: > > For better viewer experience in different regions, you can set up multiple servers and use DNS-based load balancing. Start with one server and scale as your audience grows. ## Ready to Self-Host? Download My Live TV Channel, add your server as a WebDAV destination, and start broadcasting today. Download on the App Store