Help & Documentation

Getting Started with slush.video

Table of Contents

1. How Slush Works

slush.video enables content creators to broadcast live video to their audience, using WebRTC technology to deliver low-latency streaming between broadcaster and viewers.

Key features of Slush include:

  • Low Latency Streaming: Ultra-low latency with support for 4K, HDR, and high framerates.
  • Pay As You Go: $0.08 per hour watched per viewer, $29 monthly minimum. No complex tiers or sales calls.
  • Stream Forwarding: Broadcast simultaneously to YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms.
  • Embeddable Player: Embed your stream on any website with customizable options.
  • Subscription Tiers: Monetize with custom subscription options for your viewers.
  • Scheduled Streams & Tickets: Schedule events ahead of time, let viewers see what's coming, and sell tickets to them.

2. Pricing

slush.video uses a simple, pay-as-you-go pricing model:

  • Pricing: $0.08 per hour watched (viewers × stream hours)
  • Monthly Minimum: $29 minimum charge per month per channel (includes 400 hours watched)
  • One Stream Per Channel: Each channel supports one concurrent stream

What are "hours watched"?

Hours watched (also called watch-hours) measures total viewing time across all your viewers. It's calculated as: number of viewers × hours streamed. For example, if you stream for 2 hours to 50 viewers, that's 100 hours watched (2 × 50 = 100).

Note: Each stream forward (to YouTube, Twitch, etc.) counts as one viewer for billing purposes. For example, if you forward to 2 platforms while streaming to 10 viewers on Slush, that's 12 total viewers for billing.

Usage Limits:

To ensure platform stability, accounts have the following default limits:

  • Concurrent Viewers: 100 viewers at any given time across all your channels

This limit will increase as the service grows. If you're approaching this limit or need higher capacity for a specific event, contact us to request an increase.

3. Channel Subscriptions

Channel subscriptions allow viewers to support their favorite broadcasters with monthly payments. Broadcasters can create custom subscription tiers with different price points, and subscribers gain access to exclusive benefits like subscriber-only streams.

Channel subscriptions are processed through Stripe Connect, which means payments go directly to the broadcaster's connected Stripe account. This is separate from broadcast subscriptions, which broadcasters use to pay for their streaming service.

For Broadcasters

Partner Application Required:

To accept channel subscriptions, you must first become a partner. Apply for partnership from the Monetization section of your channel on your Account page.

Setting up subscriptions:

  1. Apply for partnership status from your Account page
  2. Wait for approval (typically 3-5 business days)
  3. Connect your Stripe account for payments
  4. Create subscription tiers with custom names, descriptions, and pricing (up to $50/month, maximum 5 tiers)

Revenue and Payouts:

  • Keep More Revenue: You keep 90% of every subscription.
  • Direct Payments: Subscription payments go directly to your connected Stripe account.
  • Payout Schedule: Stripe handles payouts according to your account settings (typically daily or weekly).

Creating Tiers:

  • You can create up to 5 subscription tiers per channel.
  • Each tier requires a name, description, and monthly price ($5-$50).

Editing Tiers:

  • Descriptions: You can edit tier descriptions at any time. Changes take effect immediately.
  • Price Changes: You can change a tier's price, but changes take effect after a 31-day notice period to give subscribers time to decide whether to continue. Price changes are limited to 50% increase or decrease from the current price. All subscribers are notified via email when you schedule a price change.
  • Cancel Price Changes: If you change your mind, you can cancel a pending price change before it takes effect. Subscribers will be notified of the cancellation.

Deactivating Tiers:

  • Deactivating a tier will cancel all existing subscriptions at the end of their current billing period. Deactivated tiers cannot be reactivated.

For Viewers

Supporting your favorite channels with a subscription is easy and gives you access to exclusive benefits.

How to Subscribe:

  1. Visit a channel that has subscriptions enabled
  2. Click the "Subscribe" button to see available tiers
  3. Select a tier and complete checkout through Stripe
  4. Your subscription begins immediately

Managing Your Subscriptions:

  • View all your active subscriptions on your Account page.
  • Change Plans: Switch to a different tier at any time, even if you've cancelled or your current tier is no longer available. Upgrades are charged immediately (prorated for the remainder of your billing period). Downgrades apply a credit to your next invoice.
  • Cancel: Cancel anytime from your Account page. Your subscription remains active until the end of your current billing period. You won't be charged again unless you reactivate.
  • Reactivate: If you've cancelled but your billing period hasn't ended yet, you can reactivate your subscription without being charged again (as long as the tier is still available).
  • Update Payment: Update your payment method anytime from your Account page by clicking "Update Payment" on any active subscription.

Billing:

  • Subscriptions are billed monthly on the anniversary of your signup date.
  • Payments are processed securely through Stripe.
  • You'll receive email receipts for each payment.

4. Scheduled Streams

Schedule streams ahead of time so your audience knows when to tune in. Scheduled events appear on your channel's public schedule, can carry their own chat and access settings, and are where event tickets are sold. When you go live around the scheduled time, your stream automatically adopts the event—its title, settings, and any gating.

For Broadcasters

Scheduling an Event:

  1. Go to your Account page, select your channel, and open its Schedule
  2. Pick a day and click Add event
  3. Set a title, date, time, and duration; optionally make it a repeating series
  4. Choose access and chat settings for the event (see below), then save

Events can't overlap on the same channel. You'll see an inline error if a time clashes with another scheduled event.

Per-Event Access Settings:

  • Subscribers only: Restrict viewing to subscribers. When on, you can further limit it to specific subscription tiers with a checklist—every tier is allowed by default, and you uncheck the ones to exclude. New tiers stay allowed unless you exclude one.
  • Tickets: Attach one or more event tickets (see Event Tickets).
  • Chat, discovery, and playback: Each event has its own chat rules, "hide from discovery", ultra-low-latency, and auto-start options.

Going Live, Canceling, and Rescheduling:

  • Start streaming with your normal stream key near the scheduled time and the stream adopts the event automatically—there's no separate key to use.
  • When the event's time window ends, the stream keeps running but its event gating is released.
  • Canceling or rescheduling an event notifies anyone who bought a ticket; canceling also handles refunds (see Event Tickets).

For Viewers

A channel's upcoming streams appear on its channel page and on its full schedule, and each event has its own page with a description and an "Add to calendar" link. If an event sells tickets, you can buy in advance from any of those places, and we'll remind you before it starts.

5. Event Tickets

Event tickets sell one-time access to a scheduled stream—perfect for pay-per-view events, workshops, concerts, or premium content. A ticket is a channel-level pass you attach to one or more scheduled events: attach several tickets to one event for tiers (e.g. GA and VIP), or attach one ticket to several events for a festival-style pass. Payments run through Stripe Connect, so they go directly to the broadcaster's connected account.

For Broadcasters

Partner Application Required:

To sell tickets, you must be a partner with Stripe Connect enabled. Apply for partnership from the Monetization section of your channel on your Account page.

Creating and Attaching Tickets:

  1. Open the event in your channel's Schedule and find the Tickets section
  2. Create a new ticket (name and price, minimum $5), or attach one of your channel's existing tickets from the dropdown
  3. Repeat to offer multiple tickets on the same event (e.g. GA + VIP)
  4. Detach a ticket from an event at any time—it stays available for other events

You can also see all of a channel's tickets under Monetization → Event Tickets on your Account page, including how many events each one gates and how many have sold.

Streaming a Ticketed Event:

There's no special stream key. Just go live with your normal key around the scheduled time—the stream adopts the event and is automatically gated to its ticket holders. A viewer who holds any one of the event's tickets can watch.

Expiry, Editing, and Deletion:

  • Expiry: A ticket stays valid until about 30 days after its last attached event. Attaching another event automatically extends it, so a multi-event pass won't lapse while you're still building out the schedule.
  • Edit: You can update a ticket's name and description at any time. Price can't be changed after creation.
  • Delete: Deleting a ticket detaches it from every event and refunds all holders—you'll be asked to confirm first. Canceling an event refunds a ticket only if that was its last remaining event; a shared pass that still covers other events keeps going.

Revenue:

  • You keep 90% of every ticket sale.
  • Payments go directly to your connected Stripe account.

For Viewers

A ticket gives you access to the scheduled stream (or streams) it covers.

How to Purchase:

  1. Find the event on the channel page, its event page, or the channel's schedule
  2. Pick a ticket (some events offer more than one, like GA and VIP) and complete checkout through Stripe
  3. Watch when the stream goes live—your access is applied automatically

Important Notes:

  • Holding any one of an event's tickets is enough to watch it.
  • A single ticket can cover multiple events when the broadcaster reuses it as a pass.
  • You're refunded automatically if the broadcaster cancels the event or deletes the ticket.

6. Supported Streaming Clients

For the best streaming experience, we recommend using a dedicated streaming application like OBS Studio. Dedicated software gives you full control over encoding settings, scene composition, and stream quality.

slush.video supports streaming from a variety of clients and applications:

  • OBS Studio (Recommended): Popular open-source streaming software for desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux). Offers the most control over your stream quality and settings.
  • Browser: Stream directly from your browser using your webcam, microphone, or screen share—no software installation required. Once you've purchased a channel, click the Broadcast link in the menu bar to start streaming. Convenient for quick streams, but browser-based encoding has limitations compared to dedicated software.
  • Larix Broadcaster: Professional streaming app available for iOS and Android devices
  • GStreamer: Multimedia framework for custom streaming applications and integrations
  • FFmpeg: Command-line tool for advanced users and automated streaming setups

All clients support streaming to slush.video using WebRTC/WHIP.

Codec Requirements:

Slush supports H.264 and AV1 video codecs with Opus audio. Other codecs (VP8, VP9, etc.) are not supported. Most streaming software uses H.264 by default. AV1 offers better compression efficiency but requires more encoding power.

Browser Streaming Modes

When streaming from your browser, you can choose between two modes:

  • Simulcast: Your browser encodes multiple quality layers simultaneously. Viewers automatically receive the best quality their connection can handle. This is ideal when your audience has varying internet speeds. However, browser-based simulcast has limitations—you have less control over encoding settings, and browsers may not always produce all requested quality layers.
  • Single Stream: Your browser encodes one stream at your chosen quality settings. You get full control over resolution, bitrate, and framerate. All viewers receive the same stream regardless of their connection speed—viewers with slower connections may experience buffering.

Since Slush does not transcode video, these tradeoffs matter: simulcast is the only way to serve viewers with different connection speeds from a browser. For the most flexibility, use dedicated streaming software like OBS, which offers better encoding control and can produce consistent simulcast layers.

Setting Up OBS Studio

Follow these steps to configure OBS Studio for streaming to your slush.video channel:

  1. Open OBS Studio and click the Settings button in the bottom-right corner
  2. Select Stream from the left-hand menu
  3. In the Service dropdown, select WHIP
  4. In the Server field, enter your channel's WHIP endpoint:
    • Go to your Account page and select the Channels section
    • Find your channel and expand the Streaming accordion
    • Copy the WHIP Endpoint URL and paste it into the Server field in OBS
  5. In the Bearer Token field, enter your stream key:
    • In the same Streaming section, find Stream Inputs
    • Create a new input by clicking Add Input, or use an existing one
    • Copy the stream key and paste it into the Bearer Token field in OBS
  6. Click OK to save your settings
  7. Click Start Streaming in OBS to begin broadcasting

Tip: You can create multiple stream inputs on your Account page to use different stream keys for different setups or devices. Each input tracks when it was last used, making it easy to manage multiple streaming sources.

7. Community Guidelines & Enforcement

We're committed to keeping slush.video a safe and welcoming platform for creators and viewers. Our Terms of Service outline what content is prohibited, and we enforce these rules through a graduated system.

How We Handle Violations

When someone violates our Terms of Service, we take action based on the severity and frequency of the violation:

  • Warning: For first-time or minor violations, we'll send you a notice explaining what happened and what to do differently. Warnings stay on your account record.
  • Probation: For repeated violations, we may temporarily restrict features like streaming, monetization, or chat participation.
  • Suspension: For continued or severe violations, we may permanently suspend your account.

Repeat Violations

We use a progressive approach: first violation typically results in a warning, second may result in probation, and third may result in permanent suspension. However, we consider the context and severity of each case.

Severe Violations

Some violations are serious enough to warrant immediate suspension without prior warning. These include child sexual abuse material (CSAM), credible threats of violence, terrorism, doxxing, and fraud.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can appeal by emailing [email protected]. We review each appeal individually.

For the complete policy, see Section 5 of our Terms of Service.

9. Support

Need additional help? Contact our support team at [email protected]