What is video hosting?

Video hosting sites are online video platforms (OVP) that provide a place to upload videos, edit or manage video content, and share online videos easily. Once you upload a video to a video hosting platform, you’ll get an embed code or link that enables you to share videos both on your own site and on social media or other websites.

In addition to being a video sharing site, some video host providers support live streaming, video analytics, video monetization, and provide other video marketing tools.

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Why you need a video hosting service

If you’ve ever gone to a brand website and watched a product or how-to video, chances are that content isn’t stored on the site’s servers. Instead, businesses embed videos through a video hosting website.

There are a few reasons for embedding video, but the primary one is that most sites can’t support the bandwidth and storage needed to upload video quickly. Both paid and free video hosting provide solutions to take the stress off sites and servers while offering a superior viewing experience.

What to consider when choosing a video hosting site

Before diving into the details of the best video hosting websites, let’s outline what to look for in a video sharing platform.

Video hosting cost. You can opt for free video hosting at social media sites like Facebook and YouTube or lean into free or paid plans on private video hosting platforms. The disadvantage to a free video hosting platform is you usually sacrifice some control of your content, including an inability to choose the ads that get displayed in your videos.
Video player quality. Video hosting services offer varying levels of video quality, so check to make sure the video player supports HD 4K and can provide a minimum resolution of 1080p.
Video upload limits. You might be able to upload videos for free but check the fine print. Some video sharing platforms limit both the number and length of the videos you can upload and share.
Video storage. Some video platforms do offer unlimited video hosting and storage, but it comes with caveats like caps on video length.
Platform reach and audience. If you broadcast videos or live stream to grow an audience, you’ll want to go where you can find your people. That might mean uploading video to a social media site that doubles as a video platform.
Video privacy and sharing controls. Being able to control access to video content and create private videos is crucial to brands and businesses, so look to video hosting solutions that offer privacy and security features.
Video embedding and customization. Free video hosting sites can be a budget-saver, but they can also be costly in terms of damage to your brand when they don’t embed correctly, don’t support customization, or don’t integrate with your analytics.
Video creation and editing tools. Creating custom video content isn’t just about a fresh angle behind the lens. It’s also about what your video hosting solution brings to the table during the video editing process.
Video monetization. When your goal is to make money from your video content, you have to consider specific factors, like whether you plan to generate revenue through ads or whether you prefer an ad-free player.
Video analytics. Getting serious about video means getting serious about video marketing. The best video hosting solution for businesses and brands will provide insight into video performance.

The best video hosting sites: How do you choose a video platform for your business?

See the main features of each video hosting site side by side in our comparison chart so you can easily see which platform has the features (and the price tag) you’re looking for.

Feature	Vimeo	YouTube	Wistia	Kaltura	Brightcove	Dropbox
Cost	Freemium, $0–$65/ mo	Free	Freemium, $0–$99/mo	$$$$ Enterprise only	$$$$ Enterprise only	Freemium, $0–26/mo
Enterprise plans available	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video quality	4K HDR (Up to 8K)	4K HDR (Up to 8K)	4K HD	4K HD	4K HD	4K HD (Paid plans)
Upload limits	500 videos/yr	256 GB or 12 hrs	8 GB or 2 hrs	Unlimited	Unlimited	2–250 GB
Ad-free	Yes	No (free) Yes (premium)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Storage	2 TB/mo	Unlimited	10 videos/mo	Unlimited	Unlimited	2–15 TB
Private videos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Analytics	Yes	Some	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

6 of the best video hosting sites

We obviously offer video hosting, which makes us a bit biased. But that also means we know a lot about video hosting and what you should look for. Even if we do think we’re the best, we still want to present you with helpful information so you can make the right choice for yourself.

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