12 Greatest Video Streaming Platforms for Publishers

Lately, video streaming has turn out to be probably the most widespread modes of on-line communication. We now typically have video conferences at work, attend digital courses at school, and stream round 300 minutes of movies a day for leisure. In the event you’re on the lookout for methods to ship on-demand and reside content material to your workers, college students, or viewers, you will want a dependable video streaming platform. 

What Is a Video Streaming Platform?

A video streaming platform is a chunk of software program that enables streaming providers corresponding to Netflix or different video-focused companies to distribute content material to their audiences. These platforms include the instruments and infrastructure crucial for delivering movies and offering a clean viewing expertise.

However not all video streaming platforms are the identical. For starters, some are free, whereas others come at steep costs. Some additionally embrace further options it’s possible you’ll discover helpful. Because of this the selection of a video streaming platform is paramount in your video enterprise.

Why Select a Skilled Video Streaming Service Over a Free Streaming Platform?

If free video streaming platforms can be found, why would anybody select to pay for this service? In reality, many small-scale publishers, corresponding to vloggers, resort to free platforms to distribute their content material. Nevertheless, these platforms actually have some drawbacks when in comparison with skilled, paid video streaming providers:

• Privateness and Safety Options — Whereas free video streaming platforms do have a sure stage of content material safety out there, choices are fairly restricted in comparison with paid variations. For instance, downloading a video from YouTube is as simple as copying and pasting a URL, and there’s not a lot the video’s proprietor can do about it.
• Buyer Service — Content material creators and video companies are the income for paid streaming platforms. In different phrases, these platforms care about conserving their shoppers. And to do that, high quality customer support is paramount. Alternatively, free streaming suppliers are sometimes infamous for dangerous or virtually non-existent buyer assist.
• Content material Restrictions — Free streaming platforms are constructed for the lots. Because of this they should impose strict content material restrictions. For instance, YouTube can demonetize a video in the event that they deem its content material inappropriate in any manner. Paid platforms might need some guidelines, too, however they’re normally not almost as restrictive.
• Video Administration Instruments — General, paid streaming platforms are extra strong and full of helpful options and instruments. Whether or not we’re speaking about participant customization, viewers restrictions, or one thing else, paid options have a lot extra to supply than free ones.
• Monetization — Free video streaming platforms are normally fairly restricted when it comes to monetization choices. So if you happen to actually wish to take advantage of out of your content material, it might be higher to decide on a paid supplier that gives the video monetization fashions you need.

Issues to Search for in a Skilled Video Streaming Platform

Whether or not you go for a free resolution or a paid one, you’ll nonetheless must select the very best video streaming platform for your corporation. To take action, you should know precisely what to search for. So with out additional ado, listed here are among the essential options your chosen streaming supplier ought to have.

Engagement Options

Engagement options will make content material extra interesting to your viewers and immediate them to take some type of motion. For instance, having a playlist of advisable movies to look at subsequent will immediate viewers to spend extra time in your web site or app. Even higher, if this playlist relies on contextual matching, you possibly can make certain that the advisable content material is related to what the viewer is watching.

Along with this, another engagement instruments and options to search for embrace carousel models, feedback, likes, and extra. In fact, on prime of those, you possibly can all the time enhance video engagement with extra participating content material.

Content material Security

The privateness and safety of your content material are paramount, particularly whether it is meant for a restricted viewers, corresponding to your subscribers or workers. Because of this the platform you select must have high-end content material security options. For instance, it might make the most of DRM expertise to guard movies from unauthorized viewing, downloading, or enhancing. Along with this, another options that will come in useful are geo-blocking, password safety, watermarking, or turnstiles. 

International Content material Supply

A dependable international content material supply community is essential for the distribution of your movies. This may drastically have an effect on not solely the supply of your content material but additionally the standard of the stream. In different phrases, a superb CDN can cut back your bandwidth consumption, improve the pace and efficiency of your platform, and enhance the safety of your content material. 

Lag-Free Streaming

You possibly can have probably the most entertaining content material on the market, however no person goes to look at it if they’ve to attend for the video to buffer each few seconds. That is the place multi-bitrate and adaptive bitrate streaming are available in. These phrases seek advice from the method of adapting the standard of a stream based on the web pace of the viewer. In different phrases, as an alternative of taking the time to load a 4K video on a weak web connection, the participant will load a lower-quality decision extra shortly to permit for immediate (or quicker) playback.

Monetization Choices

If you wish to flip your content material right into a income, you’ll must select a monetization mannequin. Listed below are the commonest ones:

• AVOD — AVOD, or ad-based video-on-demand, locations ads in and round your stream. Utilizing this mannequin, you possibly can provide content material totally free whereas charging advertisers for utilizing your advert stock. That is, by far, the most well-liked video monetization technique.
• SVOD — SVOD, also called subscription-based video-on-demand, contains charging your viewers a recurring price, normally each month, for limitless entry to video content material. Though that is nonetheless an undeniably widespread monetization mannequin, it has been dropping a few of its traction prior to now few years.
• TVOD — TVOD, or transaction-based video-on-demand, features a separate price for each bit of content material a viewer desires to look at. They could be required to pay as soon as for lifetime entry, for time-limited entry, or for a single stream.  
• Hybrid — In fact, you don’t must restrict content material monetization to simply one among these fashions. It’s also possible to mix two or all three of them. For instance, some streaming providers have totally different subscription plans, with the most cost effective ones additionally together with adverts.

Though these monetization fashions include VOD of their names, you possibly can apply them even if you happen to’re planning on reside streaming, reasonably than providing on-demand content material. In reality, TVOD, which is also called pay-per-view, is especially widespread for reside streaming occasions corresponding to award ceremonies, sports activities video games, and extra.

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Efficiency Monitoring

To have the ability to provide high-quality content material — and monetize it — you should know how effectively your movies are performing. Because of this, your chosen supplier ought to provide in-depth, actionable video analytics. These ought to let you know, for instance, what international locations your viewers are from, or which units and browsers they use probably the most. Different analytics to search for embrace engagement monitoring, site visitors supply knowledge, completion charges, and extra.

Branding and Customization Choices

Your model’s visible id is a crucial consider attracting new audiences and scaling your corporation. Because of this, you will want a video participant that enables for enough customization to match the look of your web site or app. What’s extra, ideally this participant ought to be white-label; i.e., it shouldn’t include any branding from the streaming supplier. That is an choice that’s usually solely out there with paid video streaming platforms. 

Value

Final however not least, the platform you select ought to suit your funds. In the event you’re not able to make the sacrifices that include selecting a free streaming platform, you’ll nonetheless have many paid choices at a variety of costs. In reality, most suppliers have a number of pricing tiers (with totally different numbers of options and instruments). In different phrases, you shouldn’t have any bother discovering an reasonably priced choice that has every thing you want.

High 12 Video Streaming Platforms in 2022 (Free & Paid)

With the entire abovementioned options in thoughts, let’s take a better take a look at among the prime video streaming platforms of 2022.

1. Brid.TV (Paid)

Brid.TV is a complete video platform that enables publishers to host, handle, and distribute content material, all from a single easy-to-use dashboard. The platform launched in 2018, however in that quick time, it has established a powerful presence within the European and American markets. 

Options Overview

Brid.TV has a complete video CMS with intensive assist for reside and on-demand content material. Movies are delivered utilizing a light-weight, low-latency, totally customizable HTML5 video participant with adaptive bitrate streaming. The participant is definitely embeddable and helps all of the generally used video file codecs. In reality, publishers may even launch their very own white-label OTT and CTV apps with the assistance of Brid.TV.

The platform employs a international CDN for dependable content material supply, DRM expertise for content material safety, and it even options its personal Market, an advert community that’s an official Google MCM associate. 

On-demand movies include playlists and different engagement options, viewers restrictions and focusing on, and detailed analytics. Alternatively, reside streaming with Brid.TV comes with full DVR assist, multi-platform capabilities, vast gadget compatibility, and extra. Lastly, the platform makes use of the HLS streaming protocol to make sure an pleasurable viewing expertise. 

Brid.TV provides intensive ad-based monetization choices. In different phrases, the platform helps every kind of video adverts, together with instream and outstream models. Publishers also can public sale off their advert stock via video header bidding. This manner, they get to maximise their advert stock income. Google ADX, SpotX, Prebid.js, and Amazon header bidding are all out there via the Brid.TV platform. 

Publishers also can combine bidding into an HTML5 participant in a couple of simple clicks with no coding information required. Another options embrace waterfalling, clever banner fallback, advert podding, contextual video promoting, and intensive advert analytics.

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Pricing Overview

Brid.TV’s options are available in 4 pricing plans:

2. YouTube (Free)

YouTube is, by far, the most well-liked video-sharing web site and streaming platform. With a large current viewers, it is among the finest decisions for small-scale content material creators and streamers. It’s utterly free, with optionally available paid options for viewers who wish to moreover assist creators. Nevertheless, as a result of restricted monetization, strict content material restrictions, and content material possession insurance policies, YouTube shouldn’t be the only option for broadcasters and bigger video-based companies. 

Options Overview

YouTube permits content material creators to supply each on-demand and reside content material. On-demand movies could be as much as quarter-hour lengthy for unverified accounts, and as much as 12 hours for verified accounts. There’s additionally an array of engagement options, corresponding to like and dislike buttons, feedback, advisable movies to look at subsequent, in-video hyperlinks, closed captions, and extra.

YouTube Stay is the platform’s devoted reside streaming part out there to creators who meet sure standards. Stay streaming is feasible via a webcam, cell gadget, or an encoder. It comes with options corresponding to a customizable reside chat (participant restrictions, moderators, phrase blocking, and so on.), a remark part, fan funding, closed captions, and extra.

Lastly, YouTube has a number of monetization choices. Essentially the most extensively used one is ad-based monetization. Subscription-based membership monetization can be out there, together with fan funding throughout reside streams. Nevertheless, the platform has very strict pointers for monetizing movies. Creators even have no management over the kind or quantity of adverts that pop up, nor the sum of money they make every month. Evidently, YouTube takes fairly a big lower of advert and subscription income.

3. Vimeo (Paid)

Vimeo is among the oldest on-line video platforms, and it boasts hundreds of thousands of customers. It was created in 2004 as a video-sharing web site for School Humor, however it quickly grew into an unbiased, strong video internet hosting, administration, and distribution resolution.

Options Overview

Vimeo’s options are largely geared towards content material creators and smaller area of interest companies. The platform helps on-demand content material for all of its publishers, whereas reside streaming is reserved for higher-tier plans. The options that accompany VOD embrace a customizable and brandable participant, closed captions, video pace management, display screen recording, feedback, and extra.

Stay streaming options are included with the Superior and Enterprise plans. They embody simulcasting, Q&A, reside chat, polls, viewers restrictions and registration, concurrent streams, visitor members, Vimeo’s video encoding software program, third-party RTMP encoder, real-time knowledge, and extra. 

Content material monetization with Vimeo is barely out there via their Vimeo on Demand and OTT platform. In different phrases, you should share content material via Vimeo’s streaming service, or you possibly can construct an OTT app after which select from the three primary monetization fashions. It is very important know, nonetheless, that OTT providers include a separate pricing plan.

Pricing Overview

Vimeo’s OVP has a free plan out there, together with 4 paid plans. Nevertheless, Vimeo has recently been introducing new pricing guidelines that make it considerably untransparent and complicated. For instance, plans at the moment are primarily based on a per-seat, per-month system. These seats are literally customers which have entry to video administration instruments. Every new consumer comes with a further month-to-month price. Along with this, there are month-to-month bandwidth limitations of 2TB, together with an annual restrict of 10TB, which overrides the month-to-month one. In different phrases, if you happen to use the 2TB month-to-month most for 5 months in a row, you’ll be out of accessible bandwidth for the remainder of the yr, and your account could be suspended.

With all of those in thoughts, let’s check out Vimeo’s new pricing plans: 

In the event you’re curious about monetizing via Vimeo’s OTT platform, listed here are the plans you’ll get to select from:

4. Flowplayer (Paid)

Flowplayer is an enterprise video platform that has been round since 2004. It was initially an open-source undertaking, however it shortly grew right into a full-stack resolution for media homes and publishers. 

Options Overview

Flowplayer permits on-demand and reside streaming via their light-weight, versatile HTML5 video participant. The VOD performance comes with options corresponding to international content material supply, adaptive bitrate streaming, analytics, content material suggestions, viewers restrictions, and extra.

The platform’s reside streaming assist is barely out there with the costliest pricing plan. It contains instruments and options corresponding to reside stream analytics (each real-time and historic), live-to-VOD, simulated reside streams, adaptive bitrate streaming, DVR, and extra.

Flowplayer places an emphasis on ad-based monetization. Whereas SVOD and TVOD usually are not out there throughout the platform, third-party integrations are doable. The platform helps each client-side and server-side advert insertion, in addition to an array of video advert codecs. Lastly, Flowplayer provides detailed advert analytics, together with pointers for marketing campaign optimization. 

Pricing Overview

Flowplayer has three pricing plans, together with a free one:

5. Dacast (Paid)

Dacast is a strong OVP and video internet hosting resolution with an array of enterprise-level options. It launched in 2008 and has amassed a powerful consumer base since. It is usually one of many few streaming platforms that present providers in China. 

Options Overview

Dacast provides a complete set of instruments for reside and on-demand video streaming. The strong VOD streaming resolution comes with safe video internet hosting, built-in transcoding, an array of video safety instruments, a dependable international CDN, and an embeddable, customizable HTML5 participant.

Stay streaming is probably going Dacast’s strongest swimsuit. It’s out there with all pricing plans and contains instruments and options corresponding to reside countdowns, playlists, real-time analytics, social media integrations, and extra.

Dacast is among the few OVPs that supply all three video monetization fashions. In different phrases, you possibly can resolve whether or not to generate video advert income, cost your viewers a subscription price, or use the pay-per-view technique. The platform’s paywall options can be found to free-trial customers and two of the top-tier pricing plans. 

Pricing Overview

Dacast’s providers include 4 pricing plans to select from:

6. Twitch (Free)

Twitch is a reside streaming platform that’s particularly widespread within the video gaming neighborhood. On prime of being the platform of alternative for a lot of streamers, it additionally usually hosts occasion streams, corresponding to e-sports competitions. Nevertheless, though geared in the direction of gaming, Twitch welcomes every kind of content material creators.

Options Overview

Twitch is virtually solely a reside streaming platform. On-demand content material is especially out there within the type of recorded reside streams, though uploads and stream highlights are additionally supported. On-demand streams characteristic viewers restriction instruments, playlists, downloadable content material, video chapters, and extra.

The toolset Twitch boasts for reside streaming is rather more complete. For instance, there are viewers engagement instruments that enable publishers to work together with the viewers, reward probably the most devoted viewers, throw watch events, co-stream with different creators, arrange trivia occasions, and a lot extra. 

By way of monetization, Twitch has all of it. First, there are bits and subscriptions. Bits are one-time donations that viewers can place throughout a stream as an indication of assist. Subscriptions are on a month-to-month foundation, they usually give viewers particular perks. There’s additionally ad-based monetization, which is usually primarily based on operating mid-roll adverts throughout streams. Lastly, Twitch additionally encourages streamers to turn out to be Amazon Associates and generate product referral income. 

7. Brightcove (Paid)

Brightcove is a sturdy enterprise video internet hosting and administration resolution. This trade big has developed a platform to suit massive broadcasters’ wants. Most of Brightcove’s consumer base consists of promoting companies, IT firms, and huge companies.

Options Overview

Brightcove is a complete platform full of options. First, there’s a high quality video participant with server-side advert insertion capabilities. There are additionally many viewers engagement options, corresponding to Brightcove CorpTV, viewers insights, polls and quizzes, video chapters, in-stream hyperlinks, and extra.

Stay streaming via Brightcove is usually geared in the direction of digital occasions, corresponding to conferences, city halls, displays, conferences, and extra. These streams could be custom-made and branded, they usually can embrace Q&As, reside chatting, polls, and different interactive instruments. Lastly, digital occasions include detailed analytics and stories.

With regards to monetization, Brightcove helps all three primary fashions — promoting, subscriptions, and transactions. With advert server integrations, publishers can simply serve video adverts inside their content material and generate income. The platform’s paywall permits subscriptions and purchases throughout varied units. Nevertheless, Brightcove is sort of untransparent when it comes to the supply of those options throughout their pricing plans.

Pricing Overview

Brightcove doesn’t disclose its costs publicly. So if you happen to’d like to make use of their platform, you’ll have to contact customer support for extra detailed data. What we do know is that there are two totally different options — advertising and enterprise, every with its personal pricing plans and units of options.

8. JW Participant (Paid)

JW Participant was launched in 2005 as an internet video participant. Since then, it has grown right into a full-blown OVP and one of many best-known gamers within the trade. It boasts a portfolio of huge shoppers corresponding to USA Right now, Reuters, and Insider Inc.

Options Overview

JW Participant’s strongest swimsuit is its quick HTML5 video participant, which is nice each for on-demand and reside content material. The participant has a multi-CDN, which grants 99.9% uptime, and it comes with built-in video transcoding expertise for all screens and resolutions. On-demand content material could be served with an array of engagement prompts, corresponding to video suggestions and contextual content material matching. 

JW Participant comes with assist for reside streaming, too. This assist contains options corresponding to latency administration, immediate reside, DVR enablement, viewers restrictions, and extra. It is usually doable to file reside streams and provide them as on-demand content material afterward. 

With regards to monetizing content material, JW Participant will allow you to do this via digital video promoting. The platform integrates with an extended listing of advert servers, networks, and exchanges and serves adverts on an array of units, working methods, and browsers. A few of the highlighted options and instruments embrace advert waterfalling, podding, and skipping, assist for instream and outstream video adverts, VAST and IMA tag codecs, and extra.

Pricing Overview

Apart from a free trial with restricted entry to options, JW Participant has two pricing tiers:

9. Fb Stay (Free)

Fb Stay is the social media big’s free reside streaming platform. It was launched in 2016 and has been steadily rising ever since. The social community additionally options Fb Watch, which is geared towards VOD.

Options Overview

Fb Stay permits people, companies, pages, and teams to host reside occasions on the platform. This additionally comes with an array of interactive instruments designed to make the stream extra immersive. For instance, there are polls, in-stream hyperlinks, feedback, donation buttons, prime fan perks, and extra. 

In the event you’re extra curious about VOD streaming, Fb Watch is for you. This characteristic is barely out there to pages (i.e. you can not put up Fb Watch content material out of your private account). These movies include a lot of the identical functionalities as common Fb posts — reactions, feedback, and sharing choices.

Fb permits creators to monetize content material via ads, and the platform retains round 45% of advert income. Nevertheless, there are particular standards publishers have to fulfill first. For instance, it’s essential to have at the least 600,000 complete minutes seen prior to now two months to have the ability to monetize.

10. Uscreen (Paid)

Uscreen is a non-public video internet hosting and administration platform with a complete OTT resolution. It’s primarily geared towards content material creators on the lookout for a easy approach to implement membership partitions and launch an OTT web site or app.

Options Overview

Uscreen offers its publishers with a high-quality, safe HTML5 participant with an array of customization choices. The participant could be simply embedded into your web site, or you possibly can serve content material via an OTT app. Viewers restrictions, web optimization metadata, auto-play, captions and subtitles, and offline viewing enablement are simply among the perks you possibly can depend on.

Uscreen boasts intensive reside streaming assist. In fact, which means that all the standard reside streaming options are included — reside chatting, countdowns, auto-recording for VOD, and so forth.

Video monetization choices are plentiful with Uscreen. First, you possibly can have viewers subscribe to look at your content material and pay a recurring price or you possibly can provide content material on a pay-per-view or rental foundation. There are even some instruments that will help you appeal to extra paying viewers, corresponding to freemiums and free trials, coupons, and extra.

Pricing Overview

Uscreen provides a free trial to new publishers. After the free trial is up, they’ll select one of many following three plans:

11. IBM Cloud Video (Paid)

IBM Cloud Video is a complete on-line video platform that has been round for fairly a while. It offers companies and different massive companies with the options essential to stream reside and on-demand content material the world over. 

Options Overview

With IBM, publishers can stream each on-demand and reside content material in HD utilizing a multi-CDN resolution and a top quality video participant. Because the platform is geared in the direction of company environments, that is mirrored within the instruments it provides. For instance, loads of emphasis is positioned on video safety and privateness, and there may be additionally a set of worker engagement instruments out there.

Stay streaming via IBM contains assist for digital occasions, city halls, product launches, conferences, and extra. There’s an array of automated options out there, corresponding to captioning and analytics. Evidently, a number of ranges of safety are in place to ensure your content material reaches solely the viewers it’s presupposed to.

IBM lets streamers and broadcasters monetize content material via subscriptions and one-time transactions. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a assist for ad-based content material monetization. 

Pricing Overview

Together with a 30-day free trial with restricted entry, IBM provides 4 pricing tiers:

12. Wowza (Paid)

Wowza is a dependable video streaming platform that has been round since 2007. The platform was began with the objective of making streaming less complicated and higher for companies and their audiences. The corporate boasts among the main shoppers corresponding to Nasa, Macy’s, and Sony. 

Options Overview

Wowza provides assist each for VOD and reside streaming. VOD can come within the type of recorded reside streams, nDVRs, and uploads. Utilizing CDN supply and cloud-based transcoding, Wowza delivers movies to viewers globally with 99.9% uptime. There’s additionally an built-in video CMS, from which you’ll handle how and once you ship VOD content material to your viewers. 

With regards to reside streaming, Wowza provides intensive instruments and options. For instance, you possibly can stream a real-time interactive video with 0.5-second latency to 1000’s of viewers. 360 VR movies are additionally an choice. Lastly, detailed, unified analytics are there to let you know how your reside and VOD content material is performing.

Alternatively, Wowza’s primary downside is that it provides no built-in monetization choices. Whereas monetizing content material is feasible, you will want to resort to third-party integrations to do it. 

Pricing Overview

Wowza’s providers are available in two totally different packages. Wowza Video (previously often called Wowza Streaming Cloud), which incorporates the built-in video platform and API, and Wowza Streaming Engine, a customizable streaming server software program. Every one among these comes with separate pricing plans.

Wowza Video pricing plans embrace:

Wowza Streaming Engine options include the next pricing plans:

Selecting the Proper Video Streaming Platform

Now that we’ve reached the tip of our listing, all that’s left so that you can do is decide the video streaming platform that’s proper for your corporation. Keep in mind to search for among the vital options, corresponding to a dependable, customizable HTML5 participant, content material security options, viewers engagement options, and the rest you discover vital. In fact, the platform must also suit your funds.

In the event you nonetheless haven’t made your determination, we encourage you to present Brid.TV a shot. With our complete video CMS, HTML5 participant, and ad-based monetization options, a single dashboard will meet all your streaming wants. 

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