Short answer: your storage total is built from the files we generate, not the file you handed us — and the length and resolution of a video matter far more than the size of your source file.
What actually counts toward storage
When a video arrives — by upload, by a source link like Dropbox or S3, or by auto-conversion — we process it and keep the delivery-ready output: encoded video files, streaming segments and manifests, and a poster thumbnail. That set is what lives on our network and what your storage total measures.
Your original file is not part of that total. We don’t keep a byte-for-byte copy of it, so it costs you nothing — and it’s also why you should keep your masters somewhere you control. Video backup best practices covers that in full.
Why you can’t scale from one example
It’s tempting to take one video, measure it, and multiply. That’s the step that usually goes wrong, because the size of your source file is a poor predictor of the size of what we generate:
- A heavily compressed source can grow. Re-encoding it, plus the extra streaming files we store alongside it, can make the stored set larger than the small file you started with.
- A high-bitrate source can shrink. A lightly compressed export can produce delivery encodings smaller than the original, but the combined stored output is what matters.
- Length and resolution are the real drivers. A ten-minute 1080p video and a one-minute 1080p video start from wildly different places no matter what their source files weigh.
There is no fixed source-to-storage ratio you can apply to every library. The additional delivery formats count too, so the size of a single encoded MP4 is not the full storage figure.
So what should I plan for?
Plan from your plan’s allowance rather than from a per-video estimate. Each plan includes a set amount of storage:
| Plan | Included storage |
|---|---|
| Startup | 1 TB |
| Growth | 3 TB |
| Pro | 5 TB |
If you’re on an older plan, you get the storage of its current equivalent: Starter matches Startup (1 TB), Small Business matches Growth (3 TB), and Video Pro matches Pro (5 TB). If you’ve agreed a custom storage amount with us, that arrangement stands.
Before migrating a large library, import a representative batch and ask support for its actual stored size. Use that as a starting point for planning, then confirm the total once the full library has processed.
How do I find out where I stand today?
The dashboard doesn’t currently show a storage total. Email support@swarmify.com and we’ll pull your current figure, usually along with how many videos it covers. If your library is large and you’d like to trim it, ask for the per-video report — it shows views and last-played dates so you can spot the dormant videos first.
Going over your included storage doesn’t shut anything off and doesn’t trigger a surprise charge. What happens if I go over my plan’s storage limit? walks through the options.
Don’t have an account yet?
Create one at swarmify.com/pricing/, then follow Get started with Swarmify’s SmartVideo to install the snippet and add your first video.