Introducing CloudRadio One: One Plan, One Price, Everything You Need
CloudRadio One is our new all-in-one radio platform: AutoDJ automation, HLS adaptive streaming, 750GB storage, unlimited listeners. $39/mo flat.
Today we’re launching CloudRadio One, the product we wish existed when we started helping broadcasters twenty years ago.
CloudRadio One is not an incremental update. It is a complete rethink of what internet radio hosting should look like in 2026.
Why We Built CloudRadio One
For years, CloudRadio offered two separate products: radio hosting (Shoutcast/Icecast servers) and AutoDJ (cloud automation). That worked, but it created friction. Customers had to figure out which product they needed, how to connect them, and which plan to choose from a confusing pricing grid.
Meanwhile, the technology landscape changed. Mobile listeners now outnumber desktop listeners. Adaptive streaming became the standard for video, but radio hosts were still stuck with single-bitrate MP3 streams that buffer on weak connections.
We asked ourselves: what would we build if we started fresh today?
The answer is CloudRadio One.
One Plan. One Price.
CloudRadio One costs $39/month. That includes:
- 750 GB storage for your music library
- Unlimited listeners (no per-listener charges)
- HLS adaptive streaming at 256/128/64 kbps AAC
- Legacy ICY endpoint (128 kbps MP3) for compatibility
- Real-time statistics with rendition breakdown
- Visual schedule editor for programming
- Weighted playlist rotation for smart automation
- Live input support for going live anytime
No tiers. No “contact sales for pricing.” No surprise bandwidth charges.
We looked at what competitors charge for comparable features (Radio.co starts at $35/mo for 2 GB storage and 500 listeners) and decided to just include everything. Running a radio station is hard enough without worrying about hitting limits.
Three Layers of Automation
CloudRadio One gives you three ways to automate your programming, and they stack on top of each other.
Layer 1: Upload your music. Add your library (MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG) and your station starts playing immediately. Random, continuous, always on. If that is all you need, you are done.
Layer 2: Fine-tune with playlists. Create playlists with weighted rotation. Want a genre mix? Weight your rock playlist at 60% and your jazz playlist at 40%. The system balances rotation automatically. Playlists override random playback.
Layer 3: Schedule your programming. Assign playlists to time slots in the visual editor. Morning show playlist from 6 to 9 AM, midday mix until 5 PM, evening jazz after that. Scheduled playlists take priority over weighted rotation.
Each layer builds on the last. Use one, two, or all three.
Go Live Anytime
Automation is great until you want to go live. CloudRadio One handles this cleanly.
Connect as a Studio source (your main encoder) or invite a Guest source (a remote contributor). Live input takes over instantly. When you disconnect, AutoDJ picks up right where it should be. No dead air, no dropped listeners.
The priority chain works like this:
- Guest input (highest priority, takes over everything)
- Studio input (takes over automation)
- Scheduled playlists
- Weighted playlists
- Random from library (always-on fallback)
You never have to “stop” the automation to go live. Just connect, and the system handles the handoff.
Modern Streaming with HLS
This is the part we are most excited about.
CloudRadio One streams in HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), the same adaptive bitrate technology used by Spotify and Apple Music. Instead of sending every listener the same bitrate, HLS provides multiple quality levels and lets the player choose automatically based on connection quality.
Your listeners get:
| Rendition | Bitrate | When the player picks it |
|---|---|---|
| HLS Hi-Fi | 256 kbps AAC | Strong WiFi or wired connections |
| HLS Standard | 128 kbps AAC | Typical mobile connections |
| HLS Mobile | 64 kbps AAC | Weak signal, congested networks |
A listener on WiFi hears full quality. A listener on a crowded subway drops to 64 kbps and keeps listening without buffering. If their signal improves, quality goes back up automatically.
We also include a 128 kbps MP3 endpoint using the traditional Icecast protocol. This keeps your station compatible with radio directories, older hardware players, and software that does not support HLS yet. Both protocols run side by side at no extra cost.
If you want to understand HLS in more depth, we wrote a plain-English guide to HLS streaming for broadcasters.
Statistics That Tell You Something
CloudRadio One tracks your listeners in real time and breaks them down by:
- Rendition: See how many listeners are on HLS Hi-Fi vs Mobile vs the legacy ICY endpoint
- Geography: Country and city-level location data
- Device type: Desktop, mobile, tablet, smart speaker, TV
- Player: VLC, iTunes, Winamp, web browsers, and more
- Peak listeners: Know your high-water mark and what was playing when you hit it
The rendition breakdown is particularly useful. A high share of HLS Mobile listeners tells you a lot of your audience is on constrained connections. A persistent ICY share means some listeners still depend on older players. This data helps you understand your audience and make informed decisions about how you promote your station.
We also track Total Listening Hours across periods, so you can show growth over time when talking to advertisers or sponsors.
What About Existing Customers?
Shoutcast and Icecast hosting remains available for customers who have existing radios or prefer traditional streaming. We even still support Shoutcast v1 for broadcasters running legacy setups (though we recommend upgrading to v2 when possible). Our philosophy is simple: we should not disrupt your existing workflow. Those plans have not changed and are still available for new customers.
AutoDJ Addon ($8/mo) connects to your existing CloudRadio station and adds cloud automation. It is a good fit if you have Shoutcast or Icecast hosting with us and want 24/7 playback without running software locally, or need a fallback in case of an outage at your studio.
CloudRadio One is the new flagship. It is the product we recommend for anyone starting fresh or looking to upgrade. But we are not forcing anyone to switch. Your existing setup keeps working.
Getting Started
If you are ready to try CloudRadio One, create your account and you can be on air in under five minutes. Upload a few tracks, and your station starts playing immediately. Add playlists and scheduling when you are ready.
If you have questions or want to talk through whether CloudRadio One is right for your setup, reach out. We are happy to help.
