Techniques described herein include evaluation and management of device hardware, software, and network resources during streaming, downloading, or playback of video resources on client devices from remote locations. Certain aspects relate to evaluating the current resources available at a client device, such as memory, processing capacity, device battery status, network availability and/or network data quotas, in view of a video resource request. Based on the evaluation of the client device's resources, and estimations of the effects that video streaming/downloading and playback may have on the client device's resources, the client device may control, customize, and/or alter the retrieval or playback of requested video resources.