Videos are the crucial aspect of today’s internet, be it the viral 15-second clips on TikTok, stories on Instagram and the detailed video essays on YouTube. Best video hosting sites for businesses While social video platforms like these is suitable for content creators and influencers, small businesses with a video that shows how to do something or a sales demo can have different requirements. Still, the benefits of video are much the same: it can humanize you and your product, bring in customers and develop brand loyalty.
Of course, you should also think about where you will show your videos after they are shot and edited. Having a developer team, coding knowledge or using a popular website builder, you can think straight to hosting them directly on your website. Else, a white-label video hosting service is your best bet as it solves the problem of optimization by taking and resizing the video to work properly on smartphones, tablets and computers. When you are done with the videos, you can embed them directly onto your site, or you can share them to social media and other online outlets.
The hosting platform of today’s modern videos is far from its beginning as just an ordinary piece of Internet real estate for your videos. Now, you can change the way your video player looks and functions; verify that your videos play adequately across all devices and browsers; and market your products from within your videos.
I tried several video hosting sites and selected five of them.
What makes the best video hosting service?
In the course of my work as a technical writer, I’ve been producing, editing and sharing videos for more than a decade. For me, the most important factor in any video workflow—even hosting—is that it’s friendly and consistent to the user. This removes the need for over complicated tools in most situations.
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- Basic analytical tools to measure how many people see your videos and whether or not they are your target market.
- SEO tools that will make your videos more search-engine friendly
- This feature allows you to put your video code on other sites, particularly on your own website.
- The basis is the business needs, not the needs of the independent content creators only.
These are also the must-haves, and I considered other characteristics, like personalizing one’s video player or adding closed captions a huge benefit. They were not differentiating factors but then again, what I was looking for was simply a business video platform which offered a complete package that any business needs. Latest platforms will always be more preferred than old ones which aren’t fast enough to cope with current developments.
It is common knowledge that AI has been the biggest trend in the last 18 months, and it has begun to be introduced in some video hosting platforms. Sometimes, existing features like optimization are being stealthily replaced by AI. Also, there are platforms that use AI to automatically generate closed captions, video descriptions, and others. However, if some of the features were actually important to my experience using an app, I included them in a list, but they didn’t have a great effect on the list. I needed an app that would allow me to put all my business videos (irrespective of whether they have AI features or not).
Since video is so popular online, I found I had to draw a line or two. I didn’t consider video platforms that focus on live streaming or social media apps – TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat, in my list. The apps do allow you to upload and host videos, but that’s an add-on. The app’s main job is not doing that. It is not to paint a picture that your marketing videos should not be uploaded to those sites, but that they are less flexible than other options.
Not only did I remove software like Brightcove which gives users more sophisticated features (like video conferencing, digital asset management, and virtual events) but also these applications can be too cumbersome for just hosting and sharing a video. Similarly, apps like Dailymotion, on which content publishers dominate, also missed the grade.
However, there are no bad apps in my list. Some of the apps I reviewed were simply a nightmare to use, so apart from all the features that were apparently ‘requisite’ to me, I didn’t consider them.
I tested each app by uploading and customizing a video in order to get a grasp of the overall user experience as well to explore some of the headline features. After using each app, I intentionally researched them to ensure they had a good reputation hosting the videos—it’s the last thing you want to find out that the service has stopped working.
The best video hosting sites at a glance
Name | Best for | Standout features | Pricing |
Spotlightr | Quizzing your audience | Interactive quizzes and in-depth analytics | From $9/month |
Uscreen | Video monetization | Create a subscription service | From $199/month plus $1.99/subscriber/month |
Vimeo | Collaboration on videos | Effortless collaboration and AI features | Free for Vimeo Basic; $20/user/month and up. |
Wistia | Video marketing | Turnstile email collector, nice marketing features | Free for 10 videos and basic features; starting at $24/month |
YouTube | Existing viewership | Large existing audience and free hosting | Uploading and hosting videos is free of charge. |
Best video hosting platform for quizzing your audience
Spotlightr (Web)
![Spotlightr(Web)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picC4-1-1024x454.jpg)
Spotlightr pros:
- Quiz feature is very smart and it can be used to generate leads.
- In-depth analytics
Spotlightr cons:
- Requires viewers’ active participation in quizzes or clicking a link.
If you’re looking for an in-depth understanding of the performance of your videos including how long, who watches them, and where, Spotlightr (formerly vooPlayer) provides you with all the information you need. It features several reports by viewer location, involvement, play rate, conversion, and completion.
Another great aspect is the quizzes created by Spotlightr that allow you to put your videos with questions and stop them to evaluate how well your learners are doing, and also collect some marketing information. Furthermore, you can also make personalized layers that redirect to different videos, give discounts, or otherwise interact with your audience. Furthermore, at the end of a video you can automate sending viewers somewhere such as to a landing page, another video, or show an end card with whatever you desire.
If you want to offer more than just to demonstrate your products, it’s a fine option, but of course, asking someone for their email address or using a coupon is a harder task than playing YouTube videos. However, if they do this, Spotlightr connects which allows you to also take advantage of other options such as sending captured leads to a spreadsheet, CRM or email marketing tool.
Spotlightr price: From $9/month for the Spark plan that offers 25 video making, customized player, and hybrid hosting. The quizzes can be found on the Polaris plan at $49 a month.
Best video hosting site for subscription videos
Uscreen (Web)
![](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picC5-1024x470.jpg)
UScreen pros:
- Launch your own subscription video-on-demand service.
- A good way to make your videos profitable is to
UScreen cons:
- Costly and less appropriate tool for everyday use.
Uscreen is a bit unusual among other apps in this list. Instead of letting you host your videos somewhere and embedding them on your site or sharing them on social media, it offers the ability to monetize your content by selling it or even create Netflix-like premium subscription service. Not the best choice for video hosting full-time, but great if, say, you have a small business and you want to earn money through the instructional videos. It is kind of like Shopify but exclusively created for video content.
That, in turn, means that Uscreen setup requires some time. You not only have to upload your videos but you also have to build a website (one of the included themes), set up your subscription or payment plan, link it to a payment processor like Stripe, and do lots of others, including site optimization and content creation, even before launch. It is, however, the interface is easy to use, there are good tutorials and you get an onboarding call even on the base plans.
The feature most interesting one is that you can develop your own iOS, Android, and TV apps using Uscreen, but only on the $599/month Pro plan. It’s not a feature that most businesses are going to use, but if, for example, your cooking courses or whatever subscription you are offering is successful then you can utilize this option.
In addition, UScreen integrates so you can add new UScreen customers to your marketing automation software automatically or add new eCommerce customers to UScreen, among endless possibilities.
Uscreen pricing: From $199/month plus $1.99/subscriber/month for the Growth plan, which includes a customizable website and 100 hours of video storage.
Best video hosting service for collaboration
Vimeo (Web, Android, iOS)
![Vimeo(Web, Android, iOS)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picC2-2-1024x479.jpg)
Vimeo pro:
- More business-focused than YouTube
- Great collaboration features
Vimeo cons:
- No real built-in audience
Vimeo started as a video-sharing site, analogous to YouTube. The platform is still monitoring and posting videos for its users and allows them to follow their favorite creators; however, it also has a few business features such as team collaboration, analytics, and marketing features, a white-label video player, and even an OTT platform to monetize their content with subscription or sales.
If you work with other people, Vimeo’s most impressive feature is the effortless collaboration it facilitates: For example, by bringing in clients, team members, freelancers, and other collaborators, it makes the projects in private available for preview. And it creates different permission levels for each reviewer/collaborators that you can modify based on the project. They can leave timestamped comments so you can adjust when necessary. In a way it is like Google Docs for video.
Vimeo has also adopted AI. This allows you to construct a script that you then can read from a built-in teleprompter while shooting a video. Then you can take AI tool to automatically delete any uhs and ums and create a script. However, these features are more valuable if you want to make and edit your videos using Vimeo and also host these videos there.
Is Vimeo the appropriate video hosting for your company?Maybe. However, it also excels in creating and editing videos, offering a customizable player that can remove the Vimeo logo from your website or include OTT monetization features. Paid subscribers’ videos display no ads, and several other features make it more business-friendly by default than YouTube—though without the built-in audience. If you prefer a flexible and easy option which is rather more professional than Google platform, it is worth your while checking it.
You can take advantage of Vimeo integration to automatically trigger actions in other apps every time you upload a video onto Vimeo.Here are some examples.
Vimeo pricing: Free for Vimeo Basic; $20 per user per month for the Starter plan which includes version history, review and approval features, and private team projects. AI features included on Standard plan from $33/user/month. Vimeo OTT prices from $1/subscriber/month.
Best video hosting service for video marketing
Wistia (Web)
![Wistia(Web)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picC3-1.jpg)
Wistia pros:
- Lead capture and more marketing tools.
- Very simple to setup and use.
Wistia cons:
- Best features are available only on paid platforms.
Wistia is filled with marketing features that enable businesses to follow-up a video, collect leads, and get maximum returns from their marketing content.
Its key feature is Wistia’s Turnstile email collector that helps you to get new leads by asking visitors to submit an email address before they can view your video.”After hooking your audience, you can add this information and modify it. When viewers sign up and share their information, Wistia’s email marketing integrations, such as Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact, automatically add them to your email list.
Even if you don’t want a Turnstile in your videos, Wistia has many other features that can help you with your marketing. You can add annotation links which will direct viewers to a web site of your preference. These links can be anywhere in the video for as long you need, without taking away viewers’ experience of the video. Another way is to include a call-to-action or link at the end of the video to another video or web page. And tying it all together is the Analytics page that lets you gauge the performance of each of your videos at a glance: what your viewers stick with, and if they fill in your form or click your link, here you track these as well.
Wistia also generates a transcript for your video automatically, and from there, you can then create closed captions for more video accessibility. However, you can upload your own audio descriptions, but Wistia cannot automate this process.
It’s important to note that you can only use Wistia’s marketing features when you embed the videos on a webpage, in an email marketing campaign, or similar platforms.If you export your video-creations to social media, you’ll lose all the customizations, Turnstiles, and other marketing features.
Wistia’s integration activates actions in thousands of apps when you upload new videos or when users engage with your videos.Or you have a ready made embed code, you just copy it and send it to the app of your choice whenever you upload a new video. Here are some examples to get your imagination working.
Wistia pricing: Up to 10 videos for free with standard features, such as fully customizable player and basic video analytics; $24 / month for the Plus plan which includes lead generation tools, 20 videos, and no Wistia branding.
Best video platform for free video hosting and an existing viewership
YouTube (Web, Android, iOS)
![YouTube(Web, Android, iOS)](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/picC1-1-1024x445.jpg)
YouTube pros:
- We all are already aware of YouTube.
- All you need is a signup and it is free and instantly ready for you.
YouTube cons:
- Not necessarily the most customizable or elegant-looking choice
Using YouTube, anyone can upload their videos for free, and some creators earn from their content by placing ads on their videos, channel memberships, merch shelf, Super Chat, Super Thanks, Super Stickers, and YouTube Premium views. YouTube gets its popularity because it has a huge built-in audience (it has more than 120 million active users daily) and it is often the first choice for business owners to host their videos. And the good part about it is that its videos usually come out the first spots in Google search results.
YouTube Studio is the place where you will be managing all your channel and video details. If you have a Google account, you can use it to create a YouTube channel under your personal name or the name of your company. As soon as you’re done with the customization of the channel, you can start uploading videos. Simply you can include subtitles, an end screen for related content promotion, or cards for highlighting during your video.
If you are more interested in showing your videos to the right audience you should consider using YouTube as your video platform instead of just embedding it on your website. You have at your disposal a built-in community of millions of people seeking video content. Therefore, when you optimize your videos for search or encourage fans to get notifications when you actually upload your new videos, you can cultivate a native audience. certainly you can add the videos on your website using the embed code — but every video from YouTube embedded on an external website will look like a YouTube video.
That’s not all, if you plan to monetize your YouTube videos using ads you won’t have control over which companies will be represented in your brand. If you don’t take specific measures to prevent this, such as blocking them, your competitor could be the one advertising on your video. You are also subject to Google’s moderation policies and therefore cannot expect customer support.
Hence, YouTube can be the ideal one for some videos that the audience should come across and even be a rational default, still it is not the right choice for all your video requirements. Or, It is not, however, the exclusive option. The most important brands share their videos on their YouTube channels, social media, or through their websites by different means depending on their target audience or the purpose of the videos. Hence, if you do indeed use one of the other alternatives on the list, never underestimate YouTube as an extra alternative.
In addition, YouTube has integration, allowing you to automate marketing and promotional works using your videos with thousands of apps. Try some easy ways to automate YouTube, or try one of these ready-made workflows.
YouTube pricing: Free of uploading and hosting videos.
Other ways to host your business videos
While the best video hosting services for business do have their own place, there are alternative options available if you don’t really need all the extra features they bring. undefined
- If you use a website builder such as Squarespace or Wix, or even a blogging platform like WordPress or Ghost, you can just upload videos directly to it.
- To be clear though, I don’t propose you should post solely videos to TikTok, Facebook or X, but you still need to re-share most of the content there, if only to reach a bigger audience.
- When you have a team of developers (or know how to code yourself), the big cloud hosting platforms like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud all provide video hosting.
- In addition, there exist a few other apps such as Muse.ai, Streamable, and Dacast that almost made it into this list though for a number of other smaller reasons, they didn’t.
- Then, if you want to go off the grid or if only internal sharing is needed, you can use Google Drive, Dropbox, or any application like Notion.
What are the best video hosting platforms for business?
If you want to make money off your videos, consider the ad-supported video hosting services or ones that allow you to have a subscription model. When your objective is marketing your business, you could look for a service that provides rich marketing and analysis tools. What matters the most is that you video is seen by the right people.
This article was initially published in March 2019 by Farheen Gani and later edited by Emily Esposito. The latest update is from December 2023.