Creating a video takes a lot of effort, energy, and resources, and it may feel like finding the perfect video hosting site is yet another hurdle you need to jump over.
We have gathered the best video hosting sites, both free and for your business, and included the pros and cons for all.
We hope this list will make the choice that much easier for you and take a burden off your mind.
However, before we look into the different video hosting sites available to you, it is important to understand what video hosting is and why you need it.
What is a Video Hosting Site?
To understand the concept of a video hosting site, you should know what video hosting is. To put it simply, it is an online platform where online videos are available for streaming.
Often the size of video files would mean directly uploading to your website would devour your storage space as well as your bandwidth. This results in many problems when people try to view your videos.
This problem is however eliminated when you use a site dedicated to hosting videos. Using a video hosting site allows you to be provided with an embed code that can be used to add the video to your website.
However, when it comes to video hosting sites there are many to choose from. You need to consider what you want to achieve with your video content to be able to choose the site best suited for your needs.
Certain platforms allow better exposure, while others give you analytics options. Moreover, there is the issue of cost.
Video hosting sites vary in price, ranging from those sites which are free to choose from or those that require a monthly subscription.
Both these options have pros and cons. Although free video hosting may seem like a win-win, there is the chance that these sites place ads around your video since they also need to make money. On the other hand, business video hosting sites, for a fee will ensure that the focus is on your content.
Free Video Hosting Sites
Here is a list of great free video hosting sites, which are ever-increasing due to social media and the demand for them:
1. Vdocipher
Vdocipher is a secure video hosting platform that provides a streaming solution for businesses dealing in learning and media. The solution ensures that the content is being served in the most secure and smooth manner.
Vdocipher is perfect for anyone looking to protect their video from piracy. A combination of Hollywood standard DRMs, viewer-specific watermarking & licensing technologies ensures that videos can’t be downloaded or shared illegally from your platform.
They have earned the award for the best video security company by Streaming Media Magazine, Europe. Currently, VdoCipher serves 1000+ clients across 30+ countries.
Pros:
- Security from video download
- Watermark,
- App offline download
- APIs for embed and upload.
Cons:
Pricing is on the higher side
2. YouTube
Similar to its’ owner Google, YouTube has become synonymous with video searching. In fact, YouTube or the term YouTubing is often used as a verb to describe the action of searching for videos.
YouTube is the largest video sharing website on the internet, and the second most visited website in the World (according to Alexa rankings), just after its’ owner Google.
YouTube allows users to upload, stream, comment, and share content, where you can find any sort of content right at your fingertips.
Available in more than 90 countries, YouTube supports 80 languages, thus its’ popularity is unsurprising. As of July 2018, YouTube had over 1.9 billion active monthly users.
YouTube allows you to reach a huge audience and gain followers. There is also the opportunity to monetize your content, and make this a career that many (read: YouTubers) have accomplished.
Pros:
- Unlimited cloud storage for your videos for free
- The maximum file size is 128 GB
- Maximum video length is 12 hours
- Ability to access analytics to track statistics of your video
- Option to embed your video to your website
Cons:
- No download options on the site itself
- The volume of videos on YouTube may be a disadvantage, as your video may get lost in the crowd.
- Ads play automatically
- Autoplay or suggested videos at the end of your video may draw away from your product or brand
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3. Vimeo
Although similar to YouTube in many aspects, Vimeo is a video hosting site that comparatively has less traffic.
Vimeo is often seen as more tailored to video hosting or collaboration aimed at professionals.
Vimeo can be seen as the perfect option for those that want to embed their videos onto their sites.
Although Vimeo has less traffic, statistics show that it is ahead in other sources, such as search, social media, and also mail.
Pros:
- Videos are ad-free
- Videos are compatible across devices
- There is an option to embed video downloads
Cons:
- Smaller audience
- To reap the full benefits of the site you need to upgrade to a paid plan
Available plans:
- Basic account: known as Vimeo Basic, limit on upload up to 500MB per week
- Upgrades to plus, pro, business and premium
- Upgrades range from $7 a month to $75 a month
- Upgrades allow greater weekly upload limits, larger account storage as well as added features.
4. Facebook
Although largely known as a social networking site, Facebook allows you to upload videos and host them on the site.
Facebook has a 2.45 billion monthly active users; however, this size becomes less impressive than that of YouTube once you consider the site is first and foremost a social media and messaging platform, not primarily a video hosting site.
The nature of Facebook as a site, aiming to connect people, allows for video sharing to be simple and have great exposure.
Moreover, Facebook allows you to embed the video onto your own site. Allowing for the exposure to your video to be even greater.
Successful videos have the option to serve as Facebook ads. With Facebook ads you choose exactly who sees your video, and thus you can attract the type of audiences and customers you want.
Pros:
- Unlimited uploads
- Easy to monetize videos
- Free access to basic analytics
Cons:
- Ads play automatically
- Lower video quality
- Videos default setting is to play silently
5. DailyMotion
Similar to YouTube in its functionality, DailyMotion is a free video hosting service. The site has over 300 million users, all across the world using the site to watch videos.
DailyMotion claims it has an estimated 3.5 billion video views a month and thus can be said to have a great audience, which is beneficial for increasing brand awareness.
The site allows you to create a channel to promote your own personal brand, customize videos you upload, and even earn money on them.
Options are available to add links to your videos on other websites or even share them with people on social media networks.
Moreover, with DailyMotion video hosting, you have the option to add things such as headings, tags, descriptions, or even include comments. You can also set privacy, according to your choosing.
Pros:
- There are an unlimited bandwidth and storage facility available on the site
- You have access to search and content management filters
- You can adjust widgets to your liking and also branding tools
- There are video editing tools available for your videos
- You can add privacy setting to your videos
Cons:
- Smaller total audience than other sites, like YouTube
- Only supports videos up to 2 GB
- The site does not support direct downloads
- Ads play automatically
- There is only limited analytics available
6. Twitch
Twitch may be known first and foremost as a live broadcasting site. As an Amazon subsidiary, the site has capitalized on its success.
Twitch has started offering free video hosting to its users and therefore along with live- broadcasting, you will also find pre-recorded content as well.
This platform is mainly popularized as a platform for gamers.
Twitch does limit uploads however, you may only upload 5 simultaneous uploads per user, and caps the uploads at a maximum of 100 uploads in 24 hours.
Moreover, Twitch adjusts the stream automatically of your video depending on the speed of your internet connection. Although you can manually change the rate of your data transfer.
The site also offers tools for your video, such as presentation tools. You have the option to headline your broadcasts and even set privacy according to your choosing.
Pros:
- Twitch is absolutely free and even has ad removing support
- The site is supported for PCs, mobiles and even set-up boxes
- There are multiple options available which are easy to use
Cons:
- The limit of uploads is 5 simultaneous videos per user
- PC and console broadcasting have limitations
7. Instagram
The Facebook-owned platform expanded to video hosting platform in 2018, known as IGTV a long-form video service. This service is along with the already present Instagram stories feature.
Videos on IGTV can vary in length from 15 seconds to 10 minutes long. The videos also go against convention and are in portrait rather than landscape.
With over 30 million users monthly, the site has a great audience for videos you post, and the platform can be accessed from a PC or through the application on your smartphone.
Instagram allows you to add geotags to your videos as well as mark subscribers. Moreover, there are filter options to add to photos or videos as well as hashtags for easy searches.
Pros:
- Instagram is a great platform for the promotion
- Live broadcasting is available throughout the day on Instagram
- There is the option to add geotags
- You can also tag people, such as one of your subscribers onto your videos
Cons:
- The web version of Instagram is limited, with people preferring and opting to use the application on their phones
- Instagram hosts a lot of advertisements
Video Hosting Sites for Businesses
Although the free video hosting sites may be a great opportunity to get your business traction and exposure, the following video hosting sites may be better for your company.
For certain paid plans, you can take advantage of extra features, such as faster speeds, social media integration, and custom ads.
It may be beneficial to look into the following video hosting sites if you are looking at video hosting from a business perspective.
8. Brightcove
Brightcove integrates with other marketing automation tools, as well as server-side ad insertion.
If your aim is to make revenue from your videos, Brightcove is a good option for you to consider.
The site offers video hosting options that are customizable, you can also benefit from monetization and advertising.
Other functions available to use are live streaming, mobile optimization, leads generation tools, advanced analytics, and branding features among other things.
Pros:
- Brightcove offers plugins support
- Servers are functional all-day
- There are multiple setting tools available
- Many customization options
Cons:
- There is a complexity to the website
- The pricing is expensive
- The platform can be hard to use for smaller businesses
Available plans:
- Plans are broken down into uses rather than prices
- There are plans available for marketing, enterprises, and monetization
- Plans can start from $199 per month
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9. SproutVideo
Another video hosting site aimed at businesses is SproutVideo. As the name suggests, the platform is aimed at growth.
You can test the platform for free for a trial of 30 days. There are no restrictions in video sizes and videos are broadcasted without ads.
Pros:
- No ads
- Custom video player options
- Limited access
- Video analytics available
Cons:
- The platform itself does not have audience
- The functionality can be complex for users who are inexperienced
Available plans:
- Plans range from $59.99 per month to $499.99 per month
- All plans are limited to 500 GB bandwidth, but you can buy more
- Plans get you more options like analytics, embed codes, exportable data and much more
10. Wistia
Although many may see Wistia as more of a digital marketing solution than a video hosting, site especially since it started as a site for artists to store their video portfolios, we have still included it as part of our list because of the benefits the platform provides.
The platform is aimed especially at businesses. Wistia does not display videos publicly so not anyone can just stumble upon your content. The site does however allow you to easily host videos on your own websites with an embed code.
Extremely focused on the business side of marketing, Wistia provides analytics and also business-specific functionality.
The analytics dashboard on the platform is very advanced compared to some of the other video hosting sites available and provides resources such as average engagement and even play rate.
Pros:
- There are no ads
- Wistia provides a customizable embed player
- The site is suitable for collaboration
- You have access to detailed analytics
- Options are available for you to adjust the size of the display on your videos
- You can also set privacy settings if you choose
Cons:
- There is a limit on the free uploads (only 3)
- You have 200GB limited bandwidth
- There is no inherent audience on the site itself
Available plans:
- Free plan- three video limit with Wistia branding across your videos
- Pro plan- $99 per month, you can remove the Wistia branding from your videos. You have unlimited videos with the first 10 being free for that price and the additional videos costing $0.25 each.
- Advanced plan- you get access to priority support, A/B testing functionality and also 100 videos for free.
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Conclusion
We hope with this detailed list you have a better, understanding of all the options available for you for your video hosting needs.
Depending on why you want to use a video hosting site and what you aim to get out of it the choice should be easy.
