Jacob Yoss

BUYER’S GUIDE TO VIDEO STREAMING PLATFORMS 2022 EDITION Table of Contents 02 Introduction 17 IBM Cloud Video 03 Features to Shop For 18 Twilio 04 Live and VOD Transcoding 05 API Access and Developer Tools 06 Video CMS 19 Kaltura 20 Brightcove 21 Vimeo 07 VOD and OTT Platform Construction, Security 22 Uscreen 08 Analytics, CDN Speed and Distribution 23 Muvi 09 Monetization Opportunities 24 JW Player 10 Optimized Playback 25 Panopto 11 Live Recording, Cloud and Software-Based Options 26 Microsoft Stream 12 Top Video Platforms to Consider 27 Vidyard 13 Wowza 28 SproutVideo 15 Mux 29 Agora 16 Dacast 30 Choosing the Right Video Platform Introduction According to Grand View Research, the worldwide streaming industry reached a value of $59.14 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to grow as much as 21.3% CAGR by 2030. Between corporate meetings, online courses, webinars, training videos, and the overall dominance of video on the internet — not to mention entertainment giants like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO — nearly every company is incorporating video into its business and marketing strategies. Video’s rise makes sense. 90% of surveyed consumers noted in 2018 that video helps them make purchasing decisions, and video is known to capture audiences’ attention more effectively than text and other kinds of content. The lights, the colors, the music, the stories — all these elements come together to create something we all find engaging, inspirational, or informative. If you’re reading this, you’re likely at the precipice of your video journey. You’ve observed how well short and long-form content works for organizations like yours. It’s time to take the plunge and start taking advantage of video to its fullest potential. However, there’s one slight problem: video isn’t one of your business’s core competencies. You need a solution that enables you to leverage video the way your imagination longs to. There are many platforms on the market that remove the technical complexity from video applications and allow you to focus on what you care about the most — the content. How do you know which is right for your business, though? What should you even look for, and what prices are fair? If you’re ready to start shopping for a video platform that can make your vision a reality, we’ve put together this buyer’s guide to help you make sense of the most important technical features to look for and make you aware of the biggest players in the industry. While many other video platforms exist than those we’ve included, this guide should serve as a launchpad for your video journey and set you up for success. The decision is ultimately yours. 2 Features to Shop For Not all video solutions are the same. While some may offer similar features, their depth of capability and flexibility varies significantly. As you begin your evaluations, you should make a list of critical features and consider the level of configuration and scale your business needs for each. Think about when you shop for a house: you’re looking for something with a solid structure that can protect you against the elements, enough bedrooms for everyone living in it, working appliances, maybe even enough space to add additional rooms, and aesthetic appeal. What meets one family’s needs might not meet yours. Video platforms are similar: you want things like protection against cyberattacks, robust features, the ability to integrate with other tools or build on existing code, and user-friendliness. Read on for the ten most important features to look for in a streaming platform. 3 Features to Shop For cont. | Live and VOD Transcoding To successfully stream content to your audience, you need to consider what devices people use, their possible bandwidths and internet reliability, favorite apps, and more. As such, you need to transcode your original video data into a variety of codecs and deliver them across different protocols to ensure positive playback. The best video platforms will enable both live and VOD transcoding. It’s possible for VOD transcoding to take place in your content management system (more on those in a bit), but live transcoding is rarer and much more difficult. When you transcode a live stream effectively, it’s possible to create a simultaneous set of time-aligned video streams — each with unique frame sizes and bitrates — while converting them to relevant codecs and protocols that will reach viewers. These internet-friendly streams are packageable into adaptive streaming formats to allow playback on almost any screen in the world. Live transcoding saves you significant money associated with encoding multiple versions of the same stream for respective codecs separately, as well as significantly reducing the likelihood of buffering, incompatibility, and playback failure. Essentially, if you want to live stream, you need a platform with highquality live transcoding. 4 Features to Shop For cont. | API Access and Developer Tools An API, or application programming interface, is a piece of code or app (as well as other tools you rely on, such as third-party sources software that acts as an intermediary between two applications and for live scores and news curation) that allows you to focus on the allows them to communicate or integrate with each other. They sports you and your audience love, not the tech. provide you with more back-end control over a video platform’s functionality, enabling you to set up more advanced workflows and configurations (otherwise, platforms without API access may limit you to whatever predefined tools and vendors they permit you to use). API access is one of the most critical benefits of using a video APIs are almost always included in SDK (software development kit) packages. When searching for a platform, check out what other tools the company offers in its SDKs, such as runtimes and compilers. Some general functions video platform APIs are capable of include: platform instead of building one yourself. True, you could piece • Creating, starting, and stopping live streams. together commercial or open-source components to create one • Obtaining stream health information. from scratch, but then you must maintain and pay for it. • Setting custom stream targets. • Turning past streams into videos on demand. For example, let’s say you want to create a new kind of social media app that specializes in sports. People will be able to discuss recent games in forums, share photos, keep up with scores, and so on. What would make your app indescribably better is video, such as the ability to live stream actual matches, fan opinions, and game recaps. Instead of worrying about building these complicated functions and features from scratch, you could use a video solution’s API to integrate an already-built platform with your • Streaming at low latency. • Generating advanced workflows (like loops). • Managing video assets and adding metadata. • Collecting insight into video performances with deep analytics. And much more. Essentially, while shopping for a video platform, consider what ready-made protocols and procedures will make your developers’ lives easier — they’ll thank you for it! 5 Features to Shop For cont. | Video CMS Think about your favorite streaming entertainment platforms like searchable and presentable to your viewers. Whether your videos Netflix and Disney+. How do they make you feel when you log in? are for public consumption or internal use, a video CMS makes They immediately present you with a perfectly organized display storing, managing, and delivering video files easy. of titles categorized by genres, recent releases, popularity, and more, making you excited to pick something to watch. Some other benefits include: Increased storage: Typical JPEG images only require a few kilobytes of storage space, but a compressed one-minute video in HD can take up to 88.3 megabytes. Video CMSs are built with storage in mind so you can hold enormous file sizes without overloading your system or affecting its performance. Organization and Searchability: The best CMSs enable you to arrange your content however you desire and search through your library for specific assets without sifting through them manually. You’ll be able to add a variety of tags and SEO metadata that Now, imagine if they weren’t organized as they are, instead showing you a random collection of titles, languages, series, and movies that don’t make sense together. Would these platforms be as usable? Definitely not. Fortunately, this isn’t the case because they use video content management systems, or CMSs. You’re undoubtedly familiar with traditional CMSs like WordPress. A video CMS is different because it’s an application you can use to store and manage video assets hassle-free, allowing you to organize and categorize your videos to make them more make pieces of content easier for you to find in the back end and for viewers to find online. Some content management systems even include AI-powered search features that let you search for particular moments, objects, and faces. Customizable UI: Many CMS platforms also provide customizable UI so you can create a branded experience for your users. It’s often possible to customize the video player itself, even with out-ofthe-box options, though solutions that enable you to build your own platform offer more creative leeway and flexibility. 6 Features to Shop For cont. | VOD and OTT Platform Construction | Security We just talked about how seamless platforms like Netflix work, but have you ever wanted to create your own version of it? Whether your videos are public-facing or internal, having a video channel It’s critical to look for enterprise-grade security to protect your assets from leaks, cyberattacks, and other breaches. Whichever provider you select should offer essential properties like token that looks and feels like Hulu makes distributing your content so much more convenient and authorization, digital rights management, and stream-level encrypting — and lots of bonus points engaging. if it’s SOC-2 certified (a voluntary compliance standard that dictates how organizations should manage their customers’ data, as defined by the AICPA). As you shop for a video platform, pay attention to their OTT/VOD capabilities. Some offer out-ofthe-box solutions, providing ready-made infrastructure to upload and organize your videos. While Ask yourself these other questions when vetting a platform’s security: this option is undeniably easy, there are tradeoffs, such as hefty price tags for white labeling or a • Does it deliver streams via HTTPS? lack of customizability. Other options may require more technical knowledge and labor, but they • How secure are its data centers, if the information is available? provide features that empower you to build your own OTT platform from the ground up that’s • Can you restrict who can view videos based on geographic location? uniquely and entirely yours. • Can you protect videos with passwords? • Does it offer any kind of AES or SSL encryption? The more secure the platform, the less you need to worry about your assets falling into the wrong hands. 7 Features to Shop For cont. | Analytics Video analytics are certainly on the top of your mind. There are two kinds you should look out for: stream metrics and audience insights. Stream metrics help you monitor your stream health and alert you in real time if any problems with delivery or speed arise. Audience insights give you details about who is watching your content, where they are in the world, what they engage most with, and more. Analytics are essential because they help you steer your overall video strategy. Are viewers paying attention? If not, you can produce content that’s more captivating. Are your streams flowing smoothly? If so, then you know what to keep doing or what to adjust to make them even faster. Find out if the platform you’re considering offers native analytics functions or requires (or allows, if you prefer) you integrate a third-party insights tool. | CDN Speed and Distribution Cisco estimates that 72 percent of all internet traffic goes through a CDN, or content delivery network. Comprised of interconnected servers positioned all around the globe, CDNs are what make the internet what it is today, promising swift delivery and high-quality access to content on the web. CDNs are integral components of a video streaming solution. The best options will allow you to choose between different CDN providers according to your needs and budget. A network with servers only in one country isn’t optimal for reaching a global audience because viewers in other territories will struggle with high latency, buffering, and a potentially unwatchable experience. The more servers and the more widespread, the better the CDN. When evaluating if a video solution is right for you, double check whether it uses a unique CDN or partners with another. You can investigate how many servers it has and where they’re located to ensure quality streaming to your audience. 8 Features to Shop For cont. | Monetization Opportunities You’ve likely been waiting for this one if you hope to use video to create a new revenue channel: ways to monetize your content. There are multiple methods for generating income with streaming, such as: Pay-Per-View (TVOD): Gating content and charging viewers to access individual videos, also known as “transactional video on demand.” Subscription-Based (SVOD): Charging individual users subscription fees to access all or most of your content, likely on a monthly basis. Advertising-Supported (AVOD): Inserting ads from third parties who pay you to include their content in front of yours. Check if all three monetization options are available in the platform of your choice. If not, make sure it includes at least the method that makes the most sense for the kind of content you produce, where you distribute it (such as on your own OTT platform or on sites like YouTube), and your audience size. 9 Features to Shop For cont. | Optimized Playback It’s always advantageous when you can get multiple services from a single vendor instead of piecing together various workflow components from different companies. A video feature that is often a victim of this dilemma is an HTML5 player, which is ideal in today’s streaming landscape. You already know that HTML refers to Hypertext Markup Language, but the 5 indicates the latest version that supports video and audio tags, like and . Many web browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome have added video playback functionality, allowing other developers to add videos to web pages the same way they do with images. However, these tags only support embedded videos, not live streaming. To avoid mishaps like excessive buffering, it pays to have a separate player component that uses the Media Source Extensions API and Encrypted Media Extensions to override how browsers handle video tags and improve video delivery — thus, an HTML5 player. This player should work in conjunction with analytics and monetization. It’s difficult to get these features working if you have to source your player from somewhere else, so try to opt for a solution that offers one of its own. 10 Features to Shop For cont. | Live Recording This feature is excellent for when you want to stream a live event and post it online later as a video on demand. Some platforms automatically record your live streams and upload them to your CMS, making it easy to redistribute them as you please. If live recording isn’t included, you’ll have a difficult time resharing content, and whoever misses your live event will have to miss out entirely. | Cloud and Software-Based Options Many of the platforms you’ll encounter in today’s streaming world are cloud-based, and for good reason. The cloud takes all of your streaming functionality online, providing a more cost-effective solution to storage, delivery, transcoding, and more because you don’t need to invest in heavy inhouse servers and other hardware. However, some organizations, like government bodies and surveillance companies, need to have their streaming take place offline or behind a firewall. If you fit into this category, it’s necessary to select a video provider that offers both cloud and software-based products, so you have the option to choose between them. 11 Top Video Platforms to Consider Next, let’s look at some of the most prominent video streaming platforms in the industry. As we’ve mentioned, this list is non-exhaustive, but it covers many of the biggest players you’re certain to encounter in your shopping endeavors. We’d also like to note that many of these video solutions offer similar and overlapping features to varying degrees, so we’ve chosen to highlight some of their most important features and what makes them unique. *Note: The information in this guide is accurate as of August 22nd, 2022. 12 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. API access to: • Connect sources, such as RTMP, RSTP, SRT, WebRTC, and UDP encoders, as well as IP cameras. • Configure live streams, stream targets, and transcoders. Wowza Wowza is a frontrunner in the streaming industry and a go-to solution amongst verticals, including retail, media and entertainment, healthcare, government, commercial software, and many more. One of Wowza’s latest core products, Wowza Video, is a cutting-edge, full-service, and cloud-based video solution that nails the most essential features you require. If your organization hopes to unlock the power of video but lacks streaming • Schedule, loop, and record streams. • Builder-focused coverage across encoding, transcoding, and playback. A powerful CMS for: • Automating streaming tasks. • Collecting in-depth stream health and audience analytics from a centralized database. • Recording live streams and storing them in a consolidated platform. • Inputting flexible metadata for enhanced discoverability. expertise, Wowza Video’s builder-focused platform can help you implement live streaming VOD infrastructure to: and VOD into your business-critical applications with all the support you need. • Build your own OTT platform. • Support interactivity in video apps (ideal for sales). The online video space is bogged down by overly complicated, multi-vendor workflows • Redistribute live streams as videos on demand at a later date. that force businesses like yours to use multiple platforms that may or may not integrate • Easily create WebTV, MobileTV, or IPTV/OTT linear streaming channels with Wowza server-side playlist functionality. with each other (but you have to make work together). Others are full-service platforms that offer everything you need on paper but don’t provide the necessary flexibility to build on top of or beyond them. Wowza, however, is a completely integrated, single-provider Other features include: • The ability to take advantage of 360 streaming and VR. and flexible solution that empowers you to scale while having access to a robust suite of • DRM integration for intellectual property rights management. features, such as: • Stream syndication to multiple destinations. • Top-notch customer support whenever you need assistance. • A built-in CDN for smooth delivery around the world. • Streaming with sub-second latency. • Adaptive bitrate streaming to reach any device at any bandwidth. 13 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. One of Wowza’s greatest advantages lies in its live streaming and transcoding expertise. Wowza Video accepts and converts all major protocols and codecs for both input and output, meaning there’s no segment of your target audience that’s unreachable for technical reasons. Wowza Pricing Wowza is also SOC-2 Type II certified, meaning an independent third-party reviews internal controls to ensure optimal implementation and operation. From a customer’s point of view, Wowza’s SOC2 certification promises powerful security that protects data from potential breaches like malware, phishing attempts, and DDoS attacks. Pay As You Go: $25 monthly plus usage (best for getting started). Plus, Wowza also offers its server software-based solution, Wowza Streaming Engine, for organizations that still require offline streaming. Annual Plan: $1,560 per year for 300 streaming hours, 10,000 viewing hours, and 150 GB of storage (best for growing businesses that stream year-round). Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for more advanced features and real-time streaming at scale (best for large audiences or high-volume video). One-Month, One-Time Purchase: $149 for 15 streaming hours, 500 viewing hours, and additional storage as needed (limited streaming for 30 days). 14 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Mux Pricing Mux Mux’s pricing structure is unique. Instead of paying for a plan or tier, your monthly costs will be unique Mux is a unique platform compared to others in this guide because its core product is its ready-to-use API. Instead of offering drag-and-drop features, Mux’s robust live video streaming API is designed for developers to implement it into their existing sites or applications to build customized video experiences. It offers the basics, like audience and stream health analytics and closed captioning, alongside more advanced functions, such as webhooks configuration and integrations with serverless deployment solutions. to your business based on how you use the platform. For on demand and live video, Mux charges:   $0.04 per minute of input video duration for encoding. Some of Mux’s best features include: • Just-in-time encoding. • The ability to stream to third-party platforms like YouTube and Twitch. $0.003 per minute of video duration stored per month. • GIFs, thumbnails, storyboards, and signed URLs when streaming out. • Engagement metrics and performance analytics. • Live simulcasting. $0.0012 per minute of streaming video delivered. • You can take advantage of pull-based inputs and direct uploads. • Audio normalization for the best sound quality. • The ability to separate administration and configuration access for different accounts. $0.004 per minute per individual participants for real-time streaming. Mux does not include a CMS or native player, so you’ll need to integrate it with other tools (though it’s possible to integrate with headless CMSs). That said, its API is reliable and scales well, so it’s worth considering if you want to implement video features into your own software, webpage, or application. 15 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Dacast Pricing Dacast Launched in 2010, Dacast offers both live streaming and VOD capabilities. It enables you to build your own OTT platform so you can securely deliver high-quality content to your audience, arrange VOD titles in an expo gallery-like format through its CMS, and stream around the world (including China with China-based CDN data centers). Dacast also offers: • Ad-free streaming without interruptions. • An integrated paywall for gating your content and monetizing streams (including AVOD, TVOD, and SVOD options). • In-depth performance and audience analytics. • An included HTML5 player, plus player API access if you want to integrate one of your choice. • Secure streaming with AES encryption. Starter Plan: $39 monthly for 1.2 TB (yearly) and 50 GB of storage. Event Plan: $63 monthly for 6 TB (upfront) and 50 GB of storage. Scale Plan: $188 monthly for 24 TB (yearly) and 1000 GB of storage. Custom Plan: for additional features, support, Dacast is a self-service platform but is also known for its exceptional customer support and affordability. and customization. 16 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. IBM Cloud Video Pricing IBM offers a 30-day free trial as well as the following plans that offer similar features (such as phone and chat support, live polling, clickable IBM Cloud Video overlays, AI-driven search, and more) aside from differences in viewer hours, number of channels, and video storage: IBM Cloud Video provides end-to-end streaming services that include hosting, transcoding, and AI-generated speech to text captions that make your content more accessible. The platform also offers OTT services for constructing a video channel with monetization options and provides multiple CDNs for streamlined content delivery. IBM caters to enterprise-level companies, so it’s advantageous for corporate videos, marketing, and educational material. IBM also offers unique customization opportunities, so you can make your video displays feel more onbrand. The platform has a global network of CDNs that ensure your audience views your content with the highest quality playback, no matter what device they’re using. IBM Cloud Video provides you with: • Lots of data storage to host video files, whether you’re using the platform to stream to enormous audiences or your internal team. Silver: Starting at $99 monthly for 100 viewer hours, five channels, and one TB of storage. Gold: Starting at $499 monthly for 2,000 viewer hours, 10 channels, and two TB of storage. Platinum: Starting at $999 monthly for 5,000 viewer hours, 20 channels, and five TB of storage. • API access on advanced plans for further customization. • The ability to stream without a bitrate cap. • Language and DRM support. • Features to chat with viewers during live streams. • Permission to host your videos in an IBM data center of your geographic choice. Custom: You can contact IBM for pricing for custom viewer hours, channels, and storage, plus live stream captioning and SSO options. 17 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Twilio Pricing The Twilio Video Rooms are priced as follows: Twilio Video WebRTC Go: Free for up to two participants. Video P2P: You’ve likely heard of Twilio because it offers multiple products specializing in customer engagement, including those built for SMS messaging, voice, and email. As for video, Twilio enables you to create seamless video experiences with adaptive bitrates and exceptional playback. Built on WebRTC, it’s possible to use Twilio’s platform to build applications for both broadcasting live events and interpersonal video communications (available plans include Video WebRTC Go for one-on-one chatting, Video P2P, and Video Groups for multiple parties). $0.0015 per participant per minute, up to three individuals. Video Groups: $0.004 per participant per minute, up to 50. High Volume: You can contact sales for pricing. Twilio’s video chat and live streaming features work in conjunction together. The former makes it possible to: • Create video Rooms that can hold your required number of participants. • Take advantage of GDPR compliance. • Pay as you go instead of making long-term commitment. Next, Twilio Live is priced as: Speaker: $0.004 per minute for video only or $0.0016 per minute with audio, charged by number of speakers. • Use the Network Quality API to stay on top of network conditions. • Enable PSTN dial-in. With Twilio Live, you can: • Stream to an unlimited audience. • Create streaming experiences for marketing events, education, e-commerce, and more. • Record videos in real time and modify them later. Livestream Creation: $0.10 per minute for video only or $0.048 per minute with audio, charged by minutes spent livestreaming. Audience: $0.0025 per minute for video only or $0.001 per minute with audio, charged by minutes of content viewed or listened to. • Create interactive streams. • Play in both Android or iOS apps. 18 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Kaltura Pricing Kaltura Kaltura’s plans depend on what Kaltura is unique compared to other platforms in this guide because it’s open source, meaning it’s constantly growing and evolving. Kaltura is ideal for streaming meetings in real time and other kinds of inter-organizational communications, so you can use it to host webinars, company town halls, virtual classes, and much more. As such, Kaltura is a favorite amongst educational institutions and businesses that need private, branded OTT platforms. Due to its open-source nature, Kaltura is feature-rich and offers access to hundreds of REST APIs that grants you programmable control to all of its core services. You can build a custom app, integrate it with your existing tech stack, take advantage of various widgets and solutions, and much more. The Kaltura Application Framework, the foundation of its video platform as a service offering, makes it easy to build the video communications experience your organization needs. Kaltura also offers its Cloud TV service, which empowers broadcasters and media companies to deliver their customers personalized TV experiences. Kaltura is also known for its: • • • • • • • • Powerful CMS for ingestion, management, publishing, distribution, and analytics. Video messaging capabilities (as opposed to text and voice messaging). Options to webcast events ranging from small meetings to international conferences. Variety of monetization options to drive revenue. API console to test what you can do and build beforehand. Ability to create and embed interactive videos. Customizable video player. Extensive number of custom and integrable applications. features you need, such as Town Halls, Virtual Events, Video Portal, and Video Management Console. You’ll have to get a quote from Kaltura directly on many of its plans, but you can view plans for Virtual Classroom and Webinars on its website (starting at $19 and $99 monthly, respectively). 19 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Brightcove Brightcove is an enterprise-level video solution that allows you to stream in over 175 countries. It offers many of the most important elements to look for in a video platform: an array of SDKs and unique APIs, cloudbased storage and streaming, the ability organize your videos in a searchable gallery with its CMS, a highquality HTML5 player, a broad range of other broadcasting features, and more. Brightcove is a full-service platform that offers almost every feature you need, but may not provide flexibility for additional building. One of Brightcove’s strengths is its emphasis on ecommerce. You can create product demos, testimonial videos, and product announcements, and then display them online in a way that resembles streaming platforms consumers are familiar with. Brightcove integrates with several other sales tools, including Salesforce, Marketo, and Hubspot, so it’s an understandable choice for companies hoping to leverage a VOD and streaming platform in their marketing. Brightcove Pricing Brightcove doesn’t disclose its pricing on its website, but it divides its products by Brightcove for Marketing versus for Enterprise. Only the Enterprise level for the latter includes unlimited live streaming (the Standard plan limits you to eight hours per year). With Brightcove, you can anticipate: • Server-side ad insertion, so you can incorporate ads from your sponsors instead of ads from third parties. • Options to add streams to social media, email, partner programs, web pages, and more. • Solutions for audio-only content like podcasting. • The ability to let viewers pay for gated content in their local currency. • Easy-to-add player plugins and automatic CDN publishing. 20 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Vimeo Pricing Vimeo’s live streaming features are only available on its Premium and Enterprise plans. Vimeo Vimeo is a well-known solution that launched in 2004 as a means for video creators to display their work. Of the platforms in this guide, Vimeo remains the one that places the most emphasis on helping individual creators produce, host, and distribute their content, though many larger organizations still use it. Between its various products, including OTT, Livestream, and Vimeo Enterprise, Vimeo provides out-of-the-box tools for building your own branded video channel designed to help you grow your subscribership. Vimeo offers a wide range of features and perks for both live streaming and VOD. It’s possible to stream to audiences of any size with SLAs and uptime guarantees (including production services), as well as take advantage of DRM benefits and a variety of monetization options for video on demand. Plus, Vimeo offers 24/7 customer support and assistance with app development and management. Vimeo promises: • • • • • • • SOC-2 certification for optimized security, including IP restriction. Integrations with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and TikTok. Powerful, shareable analytics. High-capacity data storage. The ability to insert clickable calls to action in your videos. White-labeling options. A sleek, customizable video player. Premium: $75 monthly for 7TB of storage, unlimited live webinars, browser-based production tools, live audience chat, and more. Enterprise: Everything included in Premium plus extra perks like dedicated account management and customized embedding. You’ll need to contact Vimeo’s sales department for a quote. The platform’s OTT plans are as follows: Starter: $1 per subscriber per month or pay 10 percent for a rental product or one-time purchase. Growth: Starting at $500 monthly (plus $1 per subscriber per month) for more advanced features like live pay-perview, 60TB bandwidth, a live DVR player, and more. Enterprise: You can contact Vimeo’s sales team for a quote to access all benefits, including API and SDK support and migration services. 21 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Uscreen Pricing Uscreen Basic Plan: OTT is Uscreen’s bread and butter. You can use it to launch your own video hosting app without any coding skills on your part. The company promises to help you do so in as few as 30-60 days, making it one of the fastest builders out there that also does most of your technical heavy lifting. It’s even possible to use Uscreen to create Apple Watch apps. That said, Uscreen is more of a white-label OTT platform than a video provider. Its templates are excellent if that’s what you’re looking for, but it may not have the flexibility you need if you want to build your own solution. With Uscreen, you can: • Stream in 4K HD to multiple kinds of devices. • Maintain your OTT platform with a central CRM dashboard. $79 monthly for basic features, including a customizable website. Growth Plan: $159 monthly for everything in the Basic plan plus features like e-commerce and other third-party integrations. Uscreen Plus Plan: Quote-based for mobile apps, TV apps, and more. • Enable viewers to watch videos offline. • Make your content as searchable as possible for your audience. • Earn more revenue with its “Try Again for Free” feature to boost customer retention. 22 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Muvi Pricing Muvi Standard Plan: $399 monthly + $299 per app Like Uscreen, templated OTT is what Muvi does best, but it also offers a live streaming feature. With Muvi, you can easily build your own video hosting website or app while maintaining complete ownership of your content. What makes Muvi stand out is its ability to facilitate audio-only content: while many OTT platforms let you build your own version of Netflix or Hulu, Muvi lets you create something akin to a branded Spotify. You can host and distribute music, podcasts, radio shows, and other kinds of multi-media that give you a leg up over your competitors. Professional Plan: $1,499 monthly + $499 per app Enterprise Plan: $3,900 monthly + $499 per app Muvi can help you: • Create your own streaming channel with billing and CMS included. • Stream to all kinds of devices, including Smart TVs. Ultimate Plan: $8,900 monthly + $499 per app • Monitor content performance and measure viewership data. • Launch and maintain your own broadcast radio channel. • Get started on all your envisioned projects with no coding experience. Black Plan: Custom pricing 23 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. JW Player Pricing JW Player JW Player offers a To help different organizations reach their audiences and provide seamless user experiences, JW Player‘s platform enables businesses to deliver video on all kinds of devices. Something special about JW Player is its emphasis on advertising, allowing its customers to maximize ad revenue through AVOD (advertising video on demand) and optimize video ad targeting. The platform also provides specialized SDKs for mobile app development, making it easier to engage viewers who use primarily Android and iOS devices. 30-day free trial, as well as: Starter Plan: As low as $10 monthly for 150 GB for hosting and 500 GB for streaming. With JW Player, you can: • Create a mobile app for VOD/OTT. • Set different videos to private or public (with password protection enabled). Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for unique video needs. • Monetize your content and integrate with third-party ad servers. • Collect analytics through integrations with other tools, such as Google Analytics and Nielsen. • Match videos with text articles from your content library. • Take advantage of header bidding built directly into its video player. 24 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Panopto Pricing Panopto Panopto’s cloud video platform specializes in educational content and other learning management systems. For example, it empowers educational institutions like universities to record lectures and make them accessible for students to watch whenever, wherever. Companies can even use it for training and knowledge sharing. Plus, its secure video library is searchable, so users can review past and current content as they wish. You can expect: • The ability to easily capture video from multiple cameras and screens. • Insightful video analytics and stream health metrics. • LMS system integrations. • White-labeling options so viewers see your brand first. • Public API access for advanced workflows. Basic Plan: Free for basic features Panopto Pro: $14.99 monthly for unlimited streaming and customer support. Panopto Enterprise: You’ll need a quote for all features and unlimited storage. • An intuitive user interface. • Powerful search features to find any word or moment of dialogue in any video. 25 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Microsoft Stream Pricing Microsoft Stream Microsoft Stream is unavailable as a standalone product, but you can acquire it with three of Microsoft 365’s plans, including: Microsoft Stream is an excellent choice for organizations that are Microsoft fans and intend to stream to internal audiences only. It’s made to work alongside programs like OneDrive, SharePoint, MS Teams, and Office365 (Microsoft Stream was previously Office365 Video), and combined with its incredible end-to-end encryption, Microsoft Stream is advantageous for securely sharing videos with select people who have the right permissions (up to 10,000). Microsoft Stream lets you: • Automatically transcribe videos. • Record company meetings for later viewing. Office 365 E1: $10 monthly alongside other apps like OneDrive and Sway. Office 365 E3: $23 monthly for basic apps and device management. • Store your assets in Microsoft Azure (and take advantage of its dozens of regulatory compliances). • View content from its unique Stream app. Office 365 E5: $38 monthly for all features of lower plans plus increased voice abilities, security, and analytics. 26 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Vidyard Pricing Vidyard Vidyard’s cloud streaming platform specializes in sales and marketing. The service understands that people respond better to video than emails and cold calls, so video messages enable sales teams to book more meetings and personalize interactions that convert customers at a higher rate. In a world where making pitches and sales depends on personality as much as information, video is the way to let both shine through. Free Plan: $0 for basic recording, uploading, and sharing features. Pro Plan: $19 monthly for the above plus branding, insights, and CTAs. Vidyard offers: • Video SEO features for searchability. • Tracking abilities, so you can see who has viewed what. • Screen or video camera recording. Teams Plan: $300 monthly to add video to your marketing and sales strategies. • Ad-free streaming with lots of storage. • The ability to embed videos into your website, landing pages, and blog. Business Plan: $1,250 monthly for all available features and CRM/MAP integration. 27 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. SproutVideo Pricing SproutVideo SproutVideo is another option for live streaming and VOD. The platform targets mid-size to large businesses and offers a wide variety of features, including the ability to add CTAs and influence organic traffic with marketing-related tools. Its interface is intuitive, so it’s a choice worth considering even for beginning streamers. With SproutVideo, you can expect: Seed Plan: $24.99 monthly for basic features. Sprout Plan: $59.99 monthly for all of the above plus account audits, video website, and login protection. • Viewer engagement metrics. • A custom video player. • Integrations for marketing, like lead capture and video SEO. • Easy embedding options, even if you don’t have coding skills. • HD to Ultra-HD (up to 8K) streaming. • RESTful API access for advanced workflows and customization. Tree Plan: $199.99 monthly for more advanced features, including exportable data. Forest Plan: $499.99 monthly for all features, including IP address restriction. 28 Top Video Platforms to Consider cont. Agora Pricing Video Call – Pay as You Go HD: $3.99 per 1000 participant minutes. Agora Full HD: $8.99 per 1000 participant minutes Agora.io enables customers to boost their engagement through video and voice applications. Between its unique interactive whiteboard for collaboration, in-depth performance analytics, and cloud recording capabilities, Agora is a viable option if you’re aiming to build a video solution with real-time communications, whether it’s for a more intimate classroom setting or live streaming large events. It’s even possible to utilize the Agora App Builder to create customized apps without any coding experience. Agora empowers you to: • Stream with ultra-low latency thanks to its SD-RTN network. • Launch an interactive learning environment with its Flexible Classroom feature. • Access all sorts of SDKs for building apps across Flutter, Electron, React Native, and more. • Create and embed chat apps to interact with audience members. • Enable features like virtual gifts and speaker promotion. Forest Plan: $499.99 monthly for all features, including IP address restriction. Interactive Live Streaming (all prices are per 1000 participant minutes) Hosts: $0.99 for audio, $3.99 for video, and $8.99 for Full HD. Audience – Standard: $0.59 for audio, $1.99 for HD video, and $4.59 for Full HD. Audience – Premium: $0.99 for audio, $3.99 for HD video, and $8.99 for Full HD. 29 Choosing the Right Video Platform There you have it — some of the most prominent video solutions in the industry that offer many of the most essential features to look for. You know your video needs and wishes better than anyone else, but there is undoubtedly a platform out there that can help you bring your vision to life. Don’t forget to take advantage of whatever free trials you can to evaluate how each platform would play a role in your business. Ask yourself these questions as you shop video platforms: • For what purpose does your business need video, and does the platform offer the features that will help you fulfill it? • What else do you imagine doing with video down the road, and does the platform allow you to scale and realize your vision as it evolves? • Is video one of your business’s core competencies, and if not, does the platform offer support or professional services to help you make the most of it? • How much are you willing to spend on the features you need, and does the platform have a plan that falls within your budget? Odds are, Wowza Video’s answers are yes to all of these questions. It’s your one-stop shop for all things video now and in the future: it’s fully scalable, reliable, builder-focused, and has all the functionality you need to make video the business-critical capability you want it to be. Get started with a free trial 30