How do you keep a live stream to certain people only?
“This one cannot be public, but we want it streamed.” We hear that many times a year. The options run from free to a platform of your own, and which one you need depends on who you are keeping out: people who stumble in, or people who are trying to get in.
How far each of the four gets you
| Approach | Cost | Keeps out | Does not stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlisted link | free | Search engines and passers-by | The link being forwarded |
| Password protection | free or cheap | Casual arrivals | Passwords travel too, and you still do not know who watched |
| Meeting software | By licence | Anyone off the list | Picture quality; it looks like a meeting |
| Sign-in verification on your own platform | quoted per project | Anyone off the list, with a record per person | —— |
First, when you do not need a platform of your own
For internal weekly meetings, club activities and school ceremonies, a forwarded link costs you nothing, so there is no reason to pay to prevent it. The same goes when the audience is a few dozen people who know each other: guest-list control earns its keep once the numbers get past managing by hand, and below that, trust is cheaper than a system.
One more test: will anyone ask about attendance rates or who dropped off early? If nobody has to account for it, watch-time statistics are a feature you will never open.
When the free approach comes back to bite
| Situation | What you need | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance, continuing education, internal certification | Watch-time records per person | Hours cannot be credited and the training counts for nothing |
| Surgical demonstrations, unreleased products, earnings briefings | Guest-list control and no relay through a third party | A leak costs far more than the platform |
| Online courses, ticketed talks | One login per person | One forwarded link is a batch of revenue gone |
| Events with sponsors | A viewing page you can lay out | Visibility swallowed by a public platform's layout |
How our platform works
The registration list is imported in advance and checked at sign-in; anyone not on it does not get in. Additions on the day are fine.
What the platform plays is the switcher output, not a relay through a public service, so the content never takes a detour through a third party.
Entry times and viewing durations are logged per person and export straight out afterwards, with no screenshots to cross-check and no roll call. For the detail, see Custom Streaming Platform.
Start with the nature of the event and the size of the audience
How sensitive the content is, how many people are watching, and whether anyone has to account for hours afterwards — those decide which step you need.
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