13 Best Video Hosting Sites (Pros and Cons)
Santa - May 14, 2019 - Leave your thoughts. 6 min read
So you’ve finally decided to jump onto the video marketing bandwagon? While Youtube is great for starters, if you really want to up the game and generate leads for your business, it is good to consider other options as well.
If you are thinking of hosting your video on your own website, don’t!.
That’s a very bad idea for lotta reasons.
The best option is to find a good video hosting platform. And there are too many choices in the market today. It can be a herculean task to go to each website and compare them all.
But don’t worry, we’ve done the hard stuff for you. In this post, we have put together a list of 10+ video hosting sites by comparing their pros and cons so that you can easily choose the ideal video hosting site for your business.
Basic Video Hosting Sites
1. YouTube
Youtube is the most popular and obvious choice for many. If you are just starting to experiment with video, Youtube is the perfect place to start your adventure.
Pros
- Embed videos on your website for free!
- Free of cost
- Live streaming feature
- Reach a larger audience organically
- User-friendly Analytics
- Earn money by monetizing your channel
Cons
- Fewer customization options
- Youtube Branding
- Pre-roll ads
- Suggested Videos
Pricing
Completely free of cost.
2. Vimeo
Vimeo is very similar to Youtube but comes with more advanced features if you are willing to spend some money. The main difference from Youtube is that in Vimeo the quality of uploads is much better. It’s preferred by designers and artists alike.
Pros
- Known for quality videos
- Enhanced Privacy controls
- Custom Video Player
- Live Streaming Feature
- Advanced Video Analytics
- Collaboration
- Priority Support
- No in-video Ads
Cons
- Less Audience
- There's an upload limit of 500MB/week in the basic plan.
Pricing
Free. Premium versions are available
3. Dailymotion
Dailymotion is the second biggest video sharing platform after Youtube. The only thing that sets them apart from YouTube is the maturity of content being uploaded.
Pros
- Fewer restrictions when it comes to uploading
- Unlimited Storage and bandwidth
Cons
- Video size can’t exceed 2GB
- Video duration can’t be more than 60 mins
- Analytics are limited, even for paid accounts.
Pricing
Free to host. You can also pay for increased exposure.
4. Facebook
Facebook is an ideal platform if you’re looking to generate some initial traction for your videos. However, if you want to keep building on that traction, you should be willing to spend a few bucks, since organic reach on Facebook is very limited.
Pros
- Mobile optimized
- Live Streaming Feature
- Analytics
Cons
- In-stream Ads
- Poor Organic Reach
- Videos won’t show up in Google search results
Pricing
Free to share your video. But you gotta pay to play with promoted posts.
Advanced Video Hosting sites for small businesses
5. Show by Animaker
Show is a video hosting platform that has the perfect set of growth tools to attract, engage and convert your viewers into paying customers. It is the world’s first video tool with built-in CRM. Thanks to its no-code integration, anyone from your team can use the tool effectively without guidance
Pros
- Customizable video player with 5 Themes
- Automatic SEO optimization
- Built in Video CRM
- Advanced analytics
- Growth tools
- Video first Marketing tools
Cons
- Not a good fit for personal use
Pricing
Free. Premium versions are also available.
6. Wistia
Wistia is undoubtedly the most popular video hosting site. But does their product live up to the hype? Of course, it does! Or they wouldn’t be in business for so long!
Pros
- Customizable video player
- Automatic SEO optimization
- Lead Generation tools
- Advanced analytics
- Unlimited users
Cons
- Limited 3rd party integrations
- If you exceed the bandwidth, things can get expensive.
Pricing
Free. Premium versions are also available.
7. Sprout Video
Sprout Video is a great competitor to Wistia and is an ideal video hosting site for businesses of all sizes. They are less popular as they don’t have a free plan.
Pros
- Advanced Security Features
- Flexible pricing plans for teams of all sizes
- Advanced analytics and engagement data
- Geo Restriction feature
Cons
- There’s no free plan
Pricing
Only premium plans are available. But they do provide a free 30 day trial period.
8. Brightcove
Brightcove is an ideal video hosting & publishing platform for Enterprises. It is an ideal solution to create internal training programmes for your enterprise.
Pros
- Advanced video management features.
- Create video portals for training and communication programs.
- Monetization and Advertising capabilities.
Cons
- Requires coding to set up.
- There is no free plan.
Pricing
No free plan. But you can get a 30 day free trial on the premium version.
9. Vidyard
Vidyard is yet another great video hosting platform worth checking out. They provide more 3rd party integrations and are ideal for lead generation and customer engagement.
Pros
- A/B testing feature for thumbnails
- 3rd party integration possibilities
- Create Video Hubs to showcases all your videos in one place
- Automatic SEO optimization
Cons
- No free trial
Pricing
They do not have any pricing plans mentioned on their site. You can only request for a custom quote.
10. Dacast
Dacast addresses the video hosting needs of e-learning companies, publishers, and enterprises. Its Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) protection enables secure video streaming and prevents unauthorized downloads.
Pros
- Secure video streaming
- Bulk uploading
- Fully Customizable Video Player
- Advanced Security
Cons
- High cost
- Not so user-friendly analytics
Pricing
There’s no free plan. But you can get a 10 day free trial on each premium plans.
11. Viddler
Viddler video hosting suite allows you to create customized training programmes for your company. It comes with an interactive player so that you can keep your staff engaged by effortlessly adding questions to your videos.
Pros
- API to build your own Customized Training Suite
- Supports both Flash and HTML5
- Analytics to gauge employee engagement in training programmes
Cons
- No free trial
- Not suited for marketing
Pricing
They do not have any pricing plans mentioned on their site. You can only request for a custom quote.
12. Viewbix
Viewbix is not essentially a video hosting service but it lets you add interactivity to your videos. Apt for monetization and advertising.
Pros
- No coding required to setup
- Supports all devices and screens
Cons
- Relies on 3rd parties for video hosting
Pricing
Get a free demo or contact them to know their pricing
13. Video Press
Video press lets you easily upload videos and share it in your WordPress blog. So if you have a blog and a WordPress editor, this can come in handy.
Pros
- Responsive video player
- Easy to use
- No additional charges for bandwidth usage
- No caps on the number of video plays
Cons
- Beta Custom Video Player
Pricing
VideoPress is included in WordPress.com and Jetpack paid plans.
Have you come across any other platforms to host videos that are worth a mention here? Do let us know in the comments below, let’s keep the list growing.
