You’ve created the perfect video. Where should you share it? If you think of YouTube, you’re not alone. This video platform has become the go-to solution for people hoping to get their content seen by the masses.
YouTube is a massive search engine and many people start their searching on YouTube because they would rather have video results than see large blocks of text. In addition to direct search on YouTube, Google puts YouTube videos at the top of many search engine results pages, meaning, you’re more likely to rank high in search when you have video that tracks to popular keywords.
YouTube is an important video platform, but it’s not the only option. Check out these 9 alternatives for hosting and sharing videos — for businesses and individuals.
TikTok is a video platform owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance. It rapidly became one of the most popular video sites in the world. TikTok started with mostly lip synching and dance videos, but today you can find every kind of video on the platform.
For business users, TikTok can get you in front of new and younger audiences. But be aware that the format of videos on TikTok are very short with quick cuts. The typical longer-form corporate and educational videos will not do well on TikTok without reformatting. TikTok is not a video hosting service, nor is it a great place for video hosting for websites.
TikTok’s infamous algorithm is able to quickly generate large numbers of views from posted videos, especially those that contain trending music.
The mobile-only format means that you are reaching people during their daily activities, but it also means you have to post vertical video, which is not how most corporate videos are shot.
In addition, some of the challenges of TikTok include:
Brightcove is a private company, founded back in 2004. This company works exclusively with video, and the platform is made to help you create and share your stories with the world at large.
Unlike TikTok, YouTube and Facebook, the site is designed as an owned channel, where only your videos are visible to your audience, without ads or any kind of corporate or social media branding.
Pay a monthly fee, and you’ll have access to:
The Brightcove team can help you understand how to use the video platform and get the most out of it. If you need more help, consultants can help you parse how video fits into your overall marketing plan.
Brightcove is an expensive enterprise business video tool, requiring hundreds of dollars per month and upfront customization work. This is the most expensive option we reviewed.
Dailymotion is a privately owned, video-sharing platform headquartered in France. Like YouTube, Dailymotion is a site where an audience already exists and is looking for video content.
At one point, reporters called the company “YouTube’s dark alter ego,” due to lenient content standards that allowed videos to appear on Dailymotion that would never show up on YouTube. Now, the company is considered a viable alternative for companies looking to reach beyond YouTube.
Dailymotion membership is free, and anyone can sign up with an email address, a username, and a confirmed date of birth. Once online, the interface looks much like YouTube. You can watch videos, save those you like, and upload your own.
Become a free partner, and you can add watermarks and branding to your videos, and you’ll get some reporting tools too. But you’ll need to spend a bit to tap into features like live streaming, push to social, and upload from mobile.
Dailymotion videos are capped at 60 minutes in length. If you’re hoping for a YouTube alternative that gives you lots of length options, this could be a major drawback.
In addition, you’ll need to pay a fee to share your Dailymotion videos on sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
Dailymotion also offers no opportunities to create content. You’ll need to create the videos elsewhere and then host and share them on this video platform. You’ll just host the videos you make elsewhere on this site.
These Meta companies are another YouTube alternative custom-made for companies that need to expand their reach without investing a bunch of money upfront.
Any company can create a page and share video with their audience on Facebook and Instagram. But unless you’re savvy, your results may vary.
Chances are, your business already has a robust Facebook and/or Instagram presence with built-in fans who want to see your content. On the other hand, Facebook is in decline and you should check to see how much engagement your audience is doing on the platform before making a major time investment.
One advantage of Facebook is that you can log in via your mobile phone, and shoot live video that lands right on your page. You’ll need a third-party tool to download those videos again, but you can also choose to share a link to the specific video on your page.
Since every company has a Facebook page, every consumer is bombarded with content. To really stand out, you’ll need to spend money on the Facebook platform to push your content in front of the people who matter. A long time ago, Facebook’s organic reach declined into a pay-to-play alternative.
And unless you are focused exclusively on live content, you’ll need to use another platform to create your videos. That could come with a fee.
Panopto was founded in 2007 with an exclusive focus on businesses and universities. Unlike YouTube, Facebook, and other public sites, Panopto isn’t made for anyone with a computer and a penchant for video. Instead, this tool was built to help enterprise organizations create and share videos with their audiences.
Panopto makes it easy for companies to create and share videos. Use the mobile tools, and you can both record and share your videos via your smartphone.
But the platform also includes tools you can use for:
You’ll pay about $50 per month for Panopto, in most cases. And that cost savings can come with a few headaches. For example, most versions of Panopto don’t allow you to share directly to social channels. Instead, you must download your video and then upload it again in the space where it should appear.
Like Panopto, Kaltura is an enterprise video platform that has a strong focus on higher education. Founded originally in Israel, Kaltura is a New York based company that is now publicly traded (KLTR on NASDAQ).
Kaltura started with a “community edition” which is an open-source version of their software that is free. That said, unless you’re highly technical and prepared to host your own videos, the open-source version won’t do you much good.
Kaltura is a highly advanced enterprise video platform with loads of features, the ability to customize the experience and even the tools to launch an OTT television channel.
Kaltura is for mature larger organizations seeking to manage large amounts of video content. Like the other enterprise tools listed here, it takes money and effort to create a channel on Kaltura and should only be used by larger organizations.
Vimeo is a go-to choice for small businesses hoping to craft polished videos without fancy equipment. It’s an especially inspired choice for business leaders who need to make video, but can’t quite figure out how to make it work.
The Vimeo platform comes with drag-and-drop templates that allow you to create videos very quickly, even if you never shoot raw footage. You can also use the platform to find and hire freelancers to make your videos for you.
A subscription also comes with access to analytics, so you can ensure that your work pays off. If it doesn’t, you can switch up your plans in minutes.
Vimeo offers a starter package for just $8 per month, but to access some of the perks we’ve mentioned here, you’ll need to pay about $50 or more. If you’re hoping to stick to a tight budget, this option may not work for you.
Imagine that you have plenty of videos to share with the world, and you don’t want them clicking away to content that has nothing to do with you or your brand. Wistia could be just right for you. Sign up and create a library of your content, and use email to remind people of your channel.
In the Wistia world, it’s ideal to keep visitors on your channel as they look at only your content. You’ll capture email addresses for subscribers, and you’ll use these to remind them to visit you often.
But Wistia also allows you to share your video links on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also copy your link and video thumbnail to share your videos via email, Instagram, your website, and other critical spaces.
Wistia offers a free version of the platform, but with it, you can only create 3 free videos. To share 100 or more videos, you’ll need to sign up for the company’s “advanced” service for a fee that isn’t disclosed. Even the Pro plan comes with added fees. Create more than 10 videos, and you’ll pay 25 cents per video per month.
If you’re searching for Vimeo or YouTube alternatives, you’re probably serious about your video production. At Gather Voices, we make it easy to gather, edit, and share user-generated content with people anytime, anywhere.
Our platform is intuitive, so it’s really easy to get started — and we integrate with video platforms mentioned here like Wistia, Brightcove, and Vimeo.
Unlike all of the other video sharing platforms listed here, Gather Voices is also a video collection platform, in addition to a video hosting platform. Gather Voices enables one person to collect videos from dozens or hundreds of contributors. For example, getting testimonial videos from customers is a snap with Gather Voices.
In addition to remote capture of video content, Gather Voices gives non-video experts the tools to edit, caption and publish videos to your own website, making Gather Voices a great alternative for video hosting for websites. The platform also enables 1-click publishing to social media and the ability to create easily-embeddable video galleries in just a few clicks.
Gather Voices is not a free tool, and is primarily used by companies that need to become more digital-first organizations with video as a centerpiece of their content strategy.
Request a demo of Gather Voices today to get started.
