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ApsaraVideo VOD:Limits

Last Updated:Jan 28, 2026

This topic describes the default limits for the ApsaraVideo VOD service, including resource usage and the number of API calls.

Resource type

Limits

Scenario limitations

Domain name

Each user can add up to 20 domain names that have completed ICP filing.

This limit is enforced in the console when you add an accelerated domain name.

Refresh and prefetch

Each day, you can refresh up to 2,000 URLs and 100 directories. You can prefetch up to 500 URLs. Prefetching by directory is not supported.

This limit is enforced in the console when you refresh and prefetch.

Storage

A maximum of one system bucket in each region.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage storage buckets.

Categorization

A maximum of three category levels are supported. Each category can contain up to 100 subcategories.

This limit is enforced in the console when you categorize media assets.

Custom tag

A single video supports a maximum of 16.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage media assets.

Workflow

A maximum of 20 workflows per user.

None.

Transcoding template group

Each user can have a maximum of 20.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage transcoding templates.

Content moderation, video editing, and snapshot templates

A user can have a maximum of 20.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage transcoding templates.

Templates in a transcoding template group

A maximum of 20 templates per transcoding template group.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage transcoding templates.

Watermark

Each user can have a maximum of 20.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage watermarks.

Watermarks in a template

A single template can have a maximum of 5.

This limit is enforced in the console when you manage transcoding templates.

Online editing

You can edit only media files that are stored in the same storage region.

This limit is enforced in the console when you use online editing.

Event callback

Each user is limited to one per service region.

This limit is enforced in the console when you configure callbacks.

Bandwidth

If the billing method for one of your domain names is pay-by-traffic or pay-by-bandwidth, the burst bandwidth cannot exceed 10 Gbps within any one-minute period.

None.

Note

To remove a throttling limit or a restriction that was applied in error, you can contact Alibaba Cloud business support or submit a ticket.

Server-side API access limits

By default, ApsaraVideo VOD limits the frequency of server-side API calls. If the number of calls exceeds the limit, subsequent requests are denied.

When the threshold is exceeded, requests are randomly denied. An HTTP 400 status code is returned with the error code Throttling.User and the error message "Request was denied due to user flow control."

API dimension limits

ApsaraVideo VOD limits the queries per second (QPS) of API calls for each account. API calls that exceed the QPS limit are throttled. For more information about the QPS limits for each API, see API QPS limits.

IP dimension limits

The default access limit for a single IP address is 300 calls per second. This limit applies to the egress IP address on the Internet.

Accelerated domain name ICP filing

Whether an accelerated domain name added to the ApsaraVideo VOD CDN service requires an ICP filing depends on the acceleration region. If you select Chinese mainland (ICP Filing Required) or Global Accelerator (ICP Filing Required) as the acceleration region when you add a domain name, the domain name must have an ICP filing. We recommend that you use the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system.

Note

If you use the ApsaraVideo VOD CDN service for content delivery in the Chinese mainland, the domain name for your source application must have an ICP filing, regardless of your origin server's location.

Content moderation

Warning
  • You are responsible for any risks associated with accelerated domain names that contain the non-compliant content listed in this topic. ApsaraVideo VOD regularly reviews the content of domain names. If non-compliant content is found, ApsaraVideo VOD immediately takes the domain name offline or blocks it. In critical cases, the acceleration service for all domain names under the account is disabled and cannot be restored.

  • If you add a wildcard domain name (such as *.aliyundoc.com) to ApsaraVideo VOD for acceleration, and an exact-match domain name that is covered by the wildcard domain name (such as example.aliyundoc.com) contains non-compliant content, ApsaraVideo VOD takes the wildcard domain name (*.aliyundoc.com) offline.

All domain names added to ApsaraVideo VOD for CDN acceleration must be reviewed. The following types of accelerated domain names are not supported:

  • Websites that cannot be accessed or contain no substantive content

  • Game private servers

  • Legend-style games or card games

  • Websites that provide downloads of pirated software or other content that infringes on copyright

  • Peer-to-peer (P2P) finance websites

  • Lottery websites

  • Non-compliant hospital and medicine websites

  • Content related to pornography, drugs, or gambling

If your domain name review is rejected, go to the domain name list page in the ApsaraVideo VOD console > Configuration Management > CDN Configuration > Domain Names to view the reason for the rejection. After you resolve the issue, you can submit the domain name for review again.

Audio and video transcoding limits

Parameter

Type

Description

Terminal platform

Not applicable

Suitable for terminal platforms such as mobile devices, TVs, web pages, PCs, miniapps, and VR.

Input file

Video

  • MPEG formats: MP4, TS, 3GP, MPG, MPEG, MPE, DAT, VOB, and ASF.

  • AVI format: AVI.

  • Windows Media Video formats: WMV and ASF.

  • Flash Video formats: FLV and F4V.

  • Real Video formats: RM and RMVB.

  • QuickTime format: MOV.

  • Matroska format: MKV.

  • HLS format: M3U8.

    Note

    When you upload M3U8 files through the ApsaraVideo VOD console, you can only use the URL upload method. For local M3U8 files, you can use ApsaraVideo VOD API or SDK to upload them. For more information, see Upload media files by using ApsaraVideo VOD API.

  • Other formats: DV, GIF, M2T, M4V, MJ2, MJPEG, MTS, OGG, QT, SWF, and WEBM.

Audio

MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, RA, M4A, FLAC, APE, AC3, AMR, CAF, ACM.

Image

PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, HEIC.

Auxiliary media asset

  • Watermark files: PNG, GIF, APNG, and MOV.

  • Subtitle files: SRT, ASS, STL, TTML, and VTT.

  • Material files: JPG, GIF, PNG, MP4, MAT, and ZIP.

File size

A maximum of 100 GB for a single file.

Note

If you want to efficiently upload large files, submit a ticket to obtain technical support. For more information about how to submit a ticket, see Contact us.

Color space

4:2:2, 4:2:0, and more.

Output file

Container format

  • Video: HLS, MP4, FLV.

  • Audio: MP3.

  • Image: GIF, WEBP.

Important
  • If the container format is GIF, you can set VideoCodec only to GIF.

  • If the container format is WEBP, you can set VideoCodec only to WEBP.

  • If the container format is FLV, you cannot set VideoCodec to H.265.

Video encoding format

Apple ProRes, AV1, AVC-Intra, AVS2, H.263, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-2 422, MPEG-4, VP8, VP9, GIF, WEBP.

Audio coding format

AAC, AC3, AMR, EAC3, FLAC, MP3, PCM, Vorbis, Windows Media Audio.

Encoding profile

H.264 supports the Baseline, Main, and High encoding profiles.

Resolution

  • The output resolution range for H.264 is [128,4096] in pixels.

  • The output resolution range for H.265 is [128,8192] in pixels.

Bitrate

  • The output bitrate range for H.264 is [10,50000] in Kbps.

  • The output bitrate range for H.265 is [10,200000] in Kbps.

Frame rate

The output frame rate range is (0,60] in fps.

Sampling bit depth

  • H.264 supports 8 bit.

  • H.265 supports up to 12 bit.

Color format

yuv420p, yuvj420p (Compatibility must be configured for standard formats such as pc, bt470bg/bt470bg/smpte170m).

Bitrate control

VBR, CBR, ABR, CRF.

Scan mode

Supports interlaced, progressive, and auto.

Built-in no transcoding

Not applicable

Currently, only videos in the following formats can be processed for direct playback using the built-in No Transcoding template group: MP4, FLV, M3U8, MP3, WEBM.

Container format conversion (original quality)

Not applicable

Only MP4, FLV, M3U8, MP3, and WEBM are supported.

Increase limits

If your business requires higher limits, contact your Alibaba Cloud business manager or submit a ticket. In your request, describe your use case and the required limits, such as the number of domain names or the API call frequency for playback.