Sharing a video far and wide is the goal of many content creators. After all, if you’re proud of your work, there can be no better feeling than seeing an audience enjoy it too.
But where can you post a video with easy distribution?
Finding a great video sharing platform for your videos is a must. There are tons of video sharing sites out there, so the options are endless. This can be a blessing and a challenge, as the best sites need to be filtered out. Luckily, we’ve done that for you.
Read on to discover the ideal platforms for sharing your videos and growing your audience.
What is a video sharing platform?
Simply put, video sharing platforms are spaces where users can upload and play videos. Most video sharing platforms are accessible to the general public, though some require a membership or invitation to the site.
These platforms tend to host a diverse range of content. Documentaries, vlogs, comedy sketches, and more can find a home on video sharing sites. Video sharing platforms can offer creators a way to make money, and viewers can use them for entertainment, e-learning, and community interaction.
Why should you use a video sharing platform?
If you’re a content creator looking for the best way to have your work viewed by others, a video sharing platform is the answer. These websites make content available globally to their visitors. This means that, by uploading a video, you increase your chances of gaining views, followers, and even monetization.
The potential to grow your audience is huge, and the process of uploading to a video sharing platform is usually simple. There’s nothing to lose and much to gain by using a video sharing platform.
Hosting your own videos vs a sharing platform
It’s possible to host your own videos. This involves uploading your video to a web server hosting your website. But is this better than using a video sharing platform?
In general, hosting your own videos is not recommended. It can lead to a variety of issues, such as storage. Depending on the hosting plan you have for your website, there will be a storage limit. As video files are large, it can be very difficult not to exceed that limit.
One of the biggest problems you face by hosting your own videos is how much server bandwidth this requires. If many people try to view your video simultaneously, you can easily go over the limits of the web server where you host your site.
Sharing platforms won’t restrict your storage. In addition, they offer protection from piracy and your viewership can grow due to the traffic that comes to their site.
This isn’t to say there aren’t use cases where hosting your own videos is better. Overall, though, we’d recommend hosting on a dedicated sharing platform. You can always embed or link your video on your site after.
Benefits of using a video-sharing platform
Video sharing platforms offer many benefits, making them an attractive choice for creators. Some benefits include:
Growing your viewership
Video sharing platforms have greatly impacted the viewership, success, and careers of many content creators. Because these platforms host a variety of content, they attract many global users. You can benefit from the traffic on a video sharing platform to boost your number of video watchers.
Automatic quality adjustment
A difficult issue to tackle without a video recording platform is adjusting video quality based on internet connection. Phones, iPads, and computers can vary a lot when it comes to connection speed.
Instead of hosting your own videos and having to create versions of your video with different file sizes, the major video streaming sites offer a fix. The quality of a video will automatically drop if internet connection slows, preventing buffering.
Video protection
Video hosting platforms offer protection from those who try to pirate your content. This means you don’t have to worry about someone stealing your content. Certain platforms also have the option to report other people’s videos if you feel they have unfairly used your content or plagiarized your videos.
How to choose a video sharing site or platform
You may have decided that a video sharing platform is the best place for your content. But which site would make the best host for your video? To make it easier for you to choose, consider the factors below. Pick the most important factor to you, and search for platforms that excel in that area.
The number of users
The more users a site has, the more chance there is of your users discovering your content. High-traffic platforms such as YouTube have large numbers of daily users. While they may not be searching for your video, there’s an increased chance of them coming across it as a recommendation from the algorithm.
Ease of use
Some video platforms have a simpler process for sharing your video than others. This applies to setting up an account, uploading a video, and keeping track of your video’s insights. If the experience of interacting with a site is essential to you, keep an eye out for user-friendly platforms.
Earning potential
Making a profit off something you’re passionate about is always a fulfilling experience. If you enjoy creating videos, specific platforms will pay you for the content you post.
How much you’ll get depends on how many views you receive and the ads you allow on your videos. The potential to earn more money usually correlates to the size of the video sharing platform and your audience.
15 Best Video Sharing Platforms for Content Creators in 2024
1. YouTube
Pricing: Free
YouTube is the most popular video sharing platform, with over 500 hours of video posted to the site every minute. What makes it so attractive to creators? Well, YouTube’s user-friendly interface is pleasant to navigate and encourages plenty of interaction with your audience. This platform is a great place to build a loyal following.
Key Features:
- YouTube Studio for editing videos, analytics, and more
- Channel dashboard, showing the activity on your channel
- Customizable banner and channel layout
- Audio library for music to include in your videos
- Monetize your videos with the YouTube Partner Program
Best for: Attracting viewers
2. Vimeo
Pricing: Free; Upgraded memberships from $12/mo
Vimeo is an ever-growing video sharing platform. The community of both viewers and ‘filmmakers’, as Vimeo calls them, is highly active on the site. This makes it a great place to build a loyal fanbase and connect with other video creators.
Key Features:
- Post videos only viewable to followers or those with a specific password.
- Supports 4K video streaming
- Embeddable player that you can use on your website
- Monetization tools for your videos
Best for: Connecting with other content creators
3. Wistia
Pricing: Free; Upgraded memberships from $19/mo
Wistia offers impressive features that make it strong competition for other large video platforms. The site prioritizes user experience, encouraging you to showcase your brand to viewers. Wistia’s analytics can track the habits and preferences of your audience to help you create popular content.
Key Features:
- Host videos ad-free or create targeted ads
- Advanced video analytics
- Insights into which parts of your videos were skipped or rewatched
Best for: Video analytics
4. Dailymotion
Pricing: Free
Dailymotion is host to videos, live streams, and playlists. Content creators at odds with some of YouTube’s policies, including the risk of copyright claims, generally prefer Dailymotion. Dailymotion has its own rules and attracts more adult rather than family-friendly content.
Key Features:
- Supports 4K/2160p video quality and a frame rate of up to 60fps
- The Player, where viewers can find your videos, is customizable with logos and color schemes
- Auto recording to turn your live streams into VODs.
Best for: Creative freedom
5. TikTok
Pricing: Free
TikTok is one of the most famous video platforms in the world. This app, available on iOS and Android, hosts short-form videos. You can upload 15-second and 60-second clips or videos up to 10 minutes long. TikTok attracts users looking to browse through videos by scrolling through their homepage, so make sure your video stands out!
Key Features:
- Use the TikTok app to record, edit, and upload videos
- Add fun filters and voiceovers to videos
- Sounds feature to add popular audio to the background of your video
- Duet or Stitch another user’s video to collaborate or respond to their content
Best for: Uploading trending content
6. Facebook Watch
Pricing: Free
Facebook Watch is Facebook’s answer to bringing targeted video content to users. Through an algorithm, Facebook Watch creates a feed of video content called Top picks. Facebook selects these videos based on the interests that a user has shown in the past. Popular videos are recommended to users as Editor’s picks.
There are no channels, but each content creator must have a Facebook page. Only some people can post to Watch. To be eligible, your page must have at least 5,000 followers, or your profile must have 50,000 followers.
Key Features:
- Facebook shares your content with users who have an interest in that topic
- Upload videos in bulk, or schedule them to upload at specific times
- Facebook’s Sound Collection offers free sounds and music
Best for: Reaching a targeted audience
7. Instagram Reels
Pricing: Free
Instagram reels are short-form videos you can make within the Instagram app. The whole process is fast and straightforward. Share your reel on the Explore page or post it to your Feed to attract views. The songs and hashtags you use will influence how many users Instagram will recommend your reel to.
Key Features:
- Music library, where you can find alternatives to using original audio
- A timer and countdown, giving you precious time to prepare yourself before recording starts
- Alignment tool to create smooth transitions
- Options to slow down or speed up video and audio
Best for: Short-form videos
8. Brightcove
Pricing: Customizable starter plans from $40/mo
Brightcove is a professional platform used by the likes of Harvard Business School and Paramount. The mission behind the site is to help companies find new talent, engage employees, and sell products by creating slick marketing campaigns. Ideal for businesses wanting to create exciting corporate video content.
Key Features:
- Fast video load times and adaptive bitrate videos
- Advanced analytical capabilities including hourly reports on the performance of your video
- Content and video library management
- Video hosting and live streaming features
Best for: Businesses and agencies
9. Twitch
Pricing: Free
First and foremost, Twitch is a hub for live streaming. However, you can also share videos on demand on Twitch. These recordings of live stream sessions have proven popular, as not everyone can catch a stream live. Anyone can make VODs on Twitch, even without an Affiliate status.
Key Features:
- Create highlights and VODs from live streams
- Video Producer to manage Uploads, Highlights, and VODs
- Create a Channel Trailer to entice viewers
- Edit tool for changing tags and creating thumbnails
- Set up your channel to play reruns of VODs when you’re not live
Best for: Sharing VODs
10. Spotlightr
Pricing: Subscriptions from $7/mo
If you’re a business owner, marketer, or educator looking for a place to share content, Spotlightr is the place to do it. This platform is ideal for promoting your brand or e-learning material. Create embeddable videos and monitor your analytics to progress your business.
Key Features:
- Heatmaps of viewer behavior and engagement graphs
- HLS encryption to protect your videos
- Spotlightr supports up to 4K video resolution
- Options for hybrid hosting and custom domains
- In-app camera and screen recorder
Best for: E-learning videos
11. Utreon
Pricing: Free
Utreon is a platform designed with creators and their communities in mind. With Utreon, viewers can support their favorite channels through paid subscriptions. Posting videos on this platform is a great way to build a community around your work. Viewers can ask questions and share memes and clips relating to videos they watch.
Key Features:
- Utreon moderates and censors videos, creating a safe community space
- Channel subscriptions to help you monetize content
- Go Live on Utreon
- Earn more from Ultra Chat messages
Best for: Community spirit
12. Spotify
Pricing: Free; Upgraded memberships from $9.99/mo
Spotify is a popular host of podcasts and music. Posting a podcast on Spotify is simple, especially if you use Riverside. You can upload content to Spotify by publishing episodes on a podcast hosting provider. Riverside’s Anchor integration allows you to seamlessly distribute your content to Spotify. From there, your podcast is accessible to listeners in 75 countries!
Key Features:
- Spotify for Podcasters gives you detailed insights into audience data
- Create playlists of your show’s episodes
- Listeners can bookmark episodes for future listening with the Your Episodes feature
- Make custom promotional cards for social media
- Spotify’s podcast charts brings more attention to featured shows
Best for: Video podcasting
13. SproutVideo
Pricing: Subscriptions from $10/mo
SproutVideo’s user-friendly interface makes video sharing and marketing easy for businesses. They offer free trials for anyone looking to test the waters. You can use SproutVideo to create a professional landing page. From there, you can host live streams or on-demand videos.
Key Features:
- A landing page you can customize to fit the image of your brand
- Engagement insights to analyze viewer activity
- Options to add calls to action to draw attention to your videos
- Custom player to make playlists and animated thumbnails with
Best for: Marketing and non-profit organizations
14. DTube
Pricing: Free
DTube is a community-based video sharing platform with a unique opportunity for creators to earn cryptocurrency. Viewers vote on their favorite videos, and the most popular get DTube coins. There is no algorithm for recommending videos, so viewers’ votes are all the more important. DTube is a decentralized platform that exists on a blockchain, so it can offer consistent data protection policies.
Key Features:
- As DTube does not have a central server storing data, there is heightened security
- Ad-free, with the option for creators to advertise within videos
- Earn money with the DTube Coin currency when users vote on your video
Best for: Earning cryptocurrency through video
15. Twitter
Pricing: Free
Although Twitter is more of a text-based platform, you can also share videos with some of it’s 450 million active monthly users. Just like the famous Twitter post character limit, the website prioritizes short-form video content. Videos are limited to up to 140 seconds or up to 10 minutes for Twitter Blue subscribers.
Key Features:
- User-friendly mobile layout for uploading and viewing videos
- Relevant video ads tailored to user interests
- Call-to-action buttons can be added
- A Go Live option is available with Twitter’s Periscope app
- Add tags to make videos more visible
Best for: Mobile video content
Which platform is best for video sharing?
There are many reasons why YouTube is considered the best video sharing platform. The website’s ease of use for both uploaders and viewers makes it an extremely popular video sharing website. With the potential to reach the site’s 122 million daily users, this platform beats all competition when it comes to audience numbers.
The monetization system on YouTube means creators can earn a living from the site if they reach enough viewers. The platform supports content from a huge variety of genres, attracting users with varying interests. YouTube’s algorithm works to recommend videos to viewers, making it a great place for them to find entertaining content.
Best free video sharing site
YouTube, as the most popular sharing platform, is the best place to reach the largest potential audience. It remains a free website, although there is the option to upgrade to YouTube Premium. Many users still interact with the website without paying, as the site receives support through ad revenue.
Facebook Watch and Twitter Video are also great free video sharing sites. They have similar strengths, including directing your videos to users who have shown an interest in certain topics. Twitter is best for short-form video content where you can speak directly to followers and advertise a brand.
You must meet Facebook Watch’s page follower requirements to post. If you are eligible, Facebook Watch’s algorithm will show your video to potential followers, increasing your page growth.
Best private video sharing platform
If you’re looking to share videos with a select, limited audience, check out Vimeo. This video sharing site gives you the option to make your video only viewable to your followers. Alternatively, you can set up password access on your videos. This means only users who know the password will be able to watch.
Best video sharing alternative to YouTube
To find some strong YouTube alternatives, why not check out our list of the 15 best video sharing platforms? Choosing the best place to post your content will come down to your personal preferences. You’ll need to keep in mind the features that are most important to you.
Wistia is a recommended alternative to YouTube, particularly for marketing videos or for creators wanting to increase traffic to their websites. Businesses often find Wistia’s analytical insights extremely helpful. The in-depth statistics on viewer behavior and video performance can be eye-opening.
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