Video platforms offer services for uploading, storage, and delivery of video content. If you’ve been creating content and need somewhere to host it, there are many options in the market. Cost, features, and capacity mostly segregate these.
However, there is another element involved that not many think about – the nature of the platform itself – private or public. Public platforms are meant for the mass market and often come free, but they have more control over your content.
Private platforms will generally charge a fee but offer you more say over what you can do with the videos you upload. Here are some of the best options in both worlds.
1. YouTube
Website: https://www.youtube.com/
YouTube is perhaps the most prominent public free video hosting platform on the Internet. Thanks to a massive volume of user-created content, it can cater to a vast demographic of viewers – which helps its revenue model.
YouTube: Great for Mass Audience
Since Youtube earns money through advertising and some subscription fees for certain services, it encourages users to upload content. It’s essentially free unlimited video content hosting for everyone who wants it.
However, because Youtube is a public service, they have greater restrictions on what you can or cannot do on the platform. There is pretty tight regulation over content – meaning you have to toe the line or risk any of a whole slew of penalties.
If that doesn’t phase you, then you can get started on this video hosting platform for free with a Google Account. There is a maximum upload of 12 hours for verified accounts with unlimited cloud storage.
Video formats need to follow a 16:9 aspect ratio, but you can serve multiple resolutions, even up to 4K.
2. DailyMotion
Website: https://www.dailymotion.com
DailyMotion is a free video hosting and sharing platform. It has a relatively modest publishing community compared to Youtube but still manages to get a solid number of views. Similar to other free video hosting providers, DailyMotion generates revenue through advertising.
DailyMotion: Solid Youtube Alternative
For video publishers, perks include unlimited video size uploads, long content duration, and duration per day. These advantages are guided by your time on the platform, though, and beginners will face more significant limitations.
Still, it can support multiple video formats and resolutions of up to 4K as well. A video aspect ratio of 16:9 is recommended, but 4:3 works as well if you must use an older format.
3. Facebook
Website: https://www.facebook.com/formedia/solutions/video
If your target audience is the social media user segment, Facebook is recommended as a video hosting platform. With 2.74 billion monthly active users, it makes sense to build an audience on your target group’s territory.
Facebook: Social Video Sharing
Facebook is about social media first and video second. Because of that, there are much more significant limitations here than on many other video hosting platforms. Your maximum upload sizes and lengths are limited, plus resolution caps out at 1080p.
That said, you don’t have numerical limits on how many videos you can upload and share – so long as you comply with their very long list of (often vague) guidelines. The service is suitable for startups who need to build audiences, but it isn’t if you’re looking to host high-quality content.
4. Vimeo
Website: https://vimeo.com/
Vimeo is a bit of a diversion from most video hosting platforms since it offers private and public services. You can host videos for free, but there’s also another enterprise segment of the platform where control is placed more firmly in your hands.
Vimeo: Best of Both Worlds
This platform is mainly targeted at the creative professional segment with decent rates for small businesses. Basic membership is a good place to start for private video hosting and offers a 500MB weekly quota up to a maximum of 5GB for uploading ten daily videos. You also get with some privacy privileges.
This is a good deal considering it is free with the added benefits of being ad-free. The audience size is relatively smaller than YouTube. However, the better quality of services and professional setup is more suited for a business community.
5. Spotlightr
Website: https://spotlightr.com/
Spotlightr aims more toward the commercial and professional market. It is a paid specialized service for businesses, educators, coaches, and marketers. It offers video marketing tools that can integrate with various marketing campaigns.
Spotlightr: It’s a Commercial Solution
You can host videos directly on their platform or in a hybrid model through YouTube, Facebook, or Vimeo. Users of their free plan get decent video hosting features, but this is marred by elements such as forced branding and limited controls. Business users will want to sign up for their Polaris plan, overcoming most of the limitations.
Polaris even supports live streaming and video customizations, making it a one-stop shop instead of merely for video hosting.
6. SproutVideo
Website: https://sproutvideo.com/
A 100% bootstrapped American business endeavor, SproutVideo has been offering video hosting services to thousands of businesses for more than a decade. Their website hosts tens of millions of videos on their platform, delivering them to a global audience.
SproutVideo: Comprehensive Private Video Hosting
An environmentally conscious provider, SproutVideo’s fundamental values are about taking care of the customer through building relationships, prioritizing security and privacy while simultaneously progressing forward through innovations.
There is a full suite of services, including specialized marketing services, analytics, and collaboration tools. The marketing features will help capture leads, drive traffic, and boost performance, all crucial aspects of acquiring and retaining customers.
SproutVideo has a 30-day trial period to give you a feel of their services. You can then decide to choose one of the three plans. The fees for the starting plan are reasonable for small businesses.
7. Brightcove
Website: https://www.brightcove.com/en/
Brightcove has got it right in terms of video hosting platform services. Having been in the industry for over 15 years, you can say they know more than the industry ropes. The two-time Emmy winner describes it all.
Brightcove: Video Hosting for Business
The service offerings and prices are in tandem with the company’s track record and innovative qualities. The 875 million views a week from 99.95% uptime streamed from 16 global data centers translate into meeting excellent service expectations.
You can expect the most advanced and up-to-date hosting services. These include the cloud video publishing platform supported by marketing, live streaming, monetization, and analytics. It is all there on a single platform.
8. Wistia
Website: https://wistia.com/product/hosting
Wistia offers a range of video-related services, of which one happens to be hosting. To understand the advantages this platform brings, we need to examine the full scope – they have video recording, hosting, collaboration, and management tools.
Wistia: Video Hosting Platform for Marketers
The combination of these factors means that Wistia is a marketer’s dream come true. Content creators can look forwards to complete control from the point of creation to playback using a customized embedded player.
A complete analytics suite means you can even generate leads through the collection of viewer information. Lead generation tools such as emails, forms, and CTAs can work with internal and external utilities.
9. Vidyard
Website: https://www.vidyard.com/video-hosting
Vidyard, similar to Wistia, offers enterprise-level video hosting services that are great to support sales channels. They focus heavily on helping you use your video content for lead generation, customer engagement, and retention.
Vidyard: Video Hosting Platform for Sales and Business
The inclusive business approach taken by Vidyard includes sales, marketing, customer support, and corporate communications. Content uploading is effortless – much more straightforward than most – you just need to drag and drop the files. A full range of analytics tools helps you keep track of your viewership.
10. Cincopa
Website: https://www.cincopa.com/video-hosting
Cincopa offers robust technical solutions with its Cloud-based hosting platform. The services are suitable for a broad business audience base but maybe price-prohibitive for some. Cincopa prices start at $25 per month and feature offered scale up along with the price.
Cincopa: If Your Videos Need Better Security
For the mid-range plans, it offers storage for an unlimited number of videos and podcasts. The data streaming range starts from 100GB, and video sizes range from 2GB to 30 GB.
Although Cincopa specializes in Cloud hosting services, you can also choose where you want to host your videos. Their platform works with private video Clouds or even hybrid versions of on-premise and private video cloud.
Conclusion
There are many video hosting providers in the market but these often differ along a few key lines. Consider your needs carefully before choosing the right one – be it a free or paid solution. Remember, privacy and other limitations can be a crippling factor in your video content plan.
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