Are you facing high costs without full control over your branding and the ability to scale your video business with Vimeo OTT? We know it can be daunting to decide on the right OTT platform or switch to a different provider, and we’re here to take the risk and overwhelm out of the picture for you. Just an FYI, Vimeo OTT is now known as Vimeo Streaming, so you’ll see this branding going forward.
We’ll tell you which platform to choose based on your unique situation. No more endless comparisons or feature lists. Just clear, actionable advice to help you make the right choice for your business.
| Platform | Best for |
|---|---|
| Starting out | |
| Patreon | Best for smaller creators to prioritize direct fan support and community engagement. |
| Established creators and small businesses looking to grow | |
| Uscreen | All-in-one video membership platform with OTT apps |
| Muvi | Small-to-medium businesses wanting quick setup |
| Media companies & large businesses | |
| JW Player | Best for media companies needing scalable infrastructure |
| Zype | Media companies wanting extensive integrations |
| Kaltura | Education and e-learning |
| Enterprise level | |
| Dacast | Broadcasting live events |
| Brightcove | Enterprise scale delivery |
A Note on our recommendations
We believe in radical transparency, so let’s address this upfront:
Yes, we’re a Vimeo OTT (now Vimeo Streaming) alternative platform ourselves, which might make you wonder about the objectivity of our recommendations.
That’s a fair concern!
Here’s our position: our mission is to help creators and their fans prosper through meaningful connection – and that doesn’t begin and end with our service. It’s woven into everything we do, including this guide, because your success is our success.
That’s why we’ve taken a methodical, evidence-based approach to our recommendations, drawing from:
- In-depth reviews from industry experts and trusted tech publications
- Direct interviews with creators who have used multiple platforms
- Survey data from creators about their platform experiences across different business types
- Our decade-plus of industry expertise working with successful creators
We don’t believe in generic “best to worst” rankings because each platform excels at something specific. Sometimes Uscreen will be the right fit, and sometimes it won’t be – we’ll be direct about that. Because proper user-product matches create thriving creators, and that’s what ultimately matters.
Is Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) right for you?
Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) is a video monetization product offered by Vimeo – which is best known for hosting, sharing, and creating video content. An OTT platform lets you build your own branded streaming service, like the popular brands we all know and love.
Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) is a good option for media companies, filmmakers, and brands looking to create their own branded OTT channels and apps to deliver high-quality video content with a focus on streaming. Many creators start with Vimeo OTT and then transition to a dedicated OTT platform later down the line to grow their business and offer more value to their users.
If you’re a creator just starting with video monetization or don’t need all the OTT features, other platforms are likely to better suit your needs and offer more affordable pricing. Or, if you’re a large enterprise and need more customization and dedicated features, it’s worth checking out alternatives to Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming).
Reasons to buy
Vimeo is a big name in the video space, which makes it a common choice for creators and businesses getting started with OTT. The entry-level pricing is attractive – the starter plan charges $1 per subscriber per month and a 10% fee for all one-off purchases.
The platform supports 11 apps, which is comprehensive in comparison to other OTT services – plus, it can support a large number of subscribers, which is ideal for large media companies and businesses.
The product is strong in playback quality, and it offers multiple ways to monetize your content, including SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, and FVOD.
Here’s what some of their customers have to say:
The most helpful thing about Vimeo OTT is that we can sell content directly from our website and provide design, social media integration, SEO analytics, etc. It is just perfect for everyone out there with similar interests.
The only things about Vimeo OTT that I dislike is that they don’t provide 24×7 Customer support and this has to be improved because sometimes urgent things might come, and we might need support for that. Otherwise, all is good.
Niraj S., Verified user
Reasons to avoid
Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) can quickly get expensive, which is a common complaint about the platform and makes it less accessible for smaller creators or businesses. It’s difficult to get an accurate picture of how much of an investment it will be because they don’t have set monthly pricing plan options.
I had a couple of conversations with Vimeo, and Vimeo was obscenely expensive, plus they do revenue sharing and take a percentage of your income. I also found that their stuff was a little bit clunky and slow to load.
Matt Allen, Founder of AdjusterTV Plus
While Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) is great for distribution and high-quality content delivery, it lacks the deeper tools for user engagement, retention, community building, and scaled monetization. It offers basic community and live-streaming features and doesn’t support tiered pricing.
One thing that’s key to note about Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming), specifically, is that this product isn’t their main focus, so it’s slow when it comes to product innovation and improvement in comparison to other platforms where OTT is central to what they do.
Vimeo didn’t have a bunch of functionality features that we needed. Then, I found Uscreen and realized you guys had so many of the basic features that I wanted, but in my mind, Vimeo was so much bigger. The reality was OTT was more of a new feature for them, and with Uscreen, you had a core OTT product saying, ‘Hey, that’s what we do!’ So what intrigued me the most was the clarity and focus Uscreen had: “We are only going to focus on this, and we want to be the best at this!” And then it hit me, ‘That’s what I need for my membership business.
Navin Ramharak, Co-founder, In the Lab
Many users have reported poor or unreliable customer service from Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming), and this, in combination with the high fees and limited options for customization, is a common reason for seeking an alternative.
Vimeo OTT can get pricey due to certain features only being available for custom plans. Customer service is also not always available, and conversion fees/paywall transactions end up cutting into profits.
Verified user
Best platform for starting out
This section is for you if you want to start monetizing directly from your fans and followers in a simple, easy way without the complex features of an OTT platform.
Patreon
Best for: smaller creators prioritizing direct fan support and community engagement.
⭐G2 rating: 4.1 stars
Overview
Patreon is an established, fan-funded platform for creators to be supported financially by their fans. It’s free to use and doesn’t involve any technical effort to set up and maintain – leaving you to focus on creating.
Patreon is a great option for creators who want to start with monetizing their content. It’s used by all types of creators, from artists and musicians to podcasters and video creators, and it’s designed for your most dedicated fans to support your work through a monthly membership.
Patreon is a good choice if you want to start earning money directly from your fans without any upfront or monthly fees, with access to a potential audience of 8 million members who support creators on the platform.
Reasons to buy
Patreon is free to get started with, and it’s a simple, user-friendly platform that allows you to set up your creator page with little effort. There are no complex features or technical whizz needed, so it’s ideal if you want something simple that’s easy to maintain.
The platform doesn’t charge a recurring fee for you to use it; instead, it takes a percentage cut of your earnings, which makes it an attractive option if you don’t have the budget for a more expensive platform or want to experiment to see what works for your fans without committing financially.
Another plus for Patreon for creators getting started with monetization is the fact it’s so well-known. 8 million members are supporting their favorite creators on the platform, which is a huge potential audience at your fingertips.
Reasons to avoid
Low earnings are a common downside to Patreon. The focus is on having your biggest fans support your work, but it doesn’t leave room to grow your business beyond that. The average income for a creator on Patreon is between $315 – $1575 per month.
While it’s free to get started, Patreon takes a cut of your earnings, which can be as much as 12% if you’re on the Premium plan, plus the charges for payment processing, currency conversion, payout fees, and applicable taxes. This is a common complaint from Patreon users:
One of my Patrons unsubscribed because she’s disgusted with all those goddam fees, and she’d rather I, the artist, get all of the money I make. I wish Patreon would charge less fees. Another friend won’t use Patreon for god knows why reasons.
Linda S. Multi-media Artist
You’re also limited with what you can do on the platform. Patreon doesn’t support native video hosting, a branded website, live streaming, or mobile and TV apps. You don’t have ownership over your audience either, the way you would with a dedicated platform.
How easy is it to migrate from Patreon
If you outgrow Patreon and want to move to a new platform, you’ll need to do the work yourself to set up your new service and then encourage your Patrons to sign up with you there.
What you can expect from Patreon
As a creator, being on Patreon is like being part of a creator community – where you have your page on the Patreon site where your fans can pay to support your work and access exclusive content for your paying members. New users can also find you listed on the Patreon site in the relevant category.
You can expect a low-effort, easy-to-maintain page that lets you focus your attention on creating rather than running or maintaining a business.
But is Patreon worth it? That all depends on what you want. Our video below answers this best 👇
Pricing
Patreon is free to start and offers two triers, which take a percentage cut of your earnings:
- Pro: 8% plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees
- Premium: 12% plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees
Best platforms for established creators and small businesses looking to grow
This section is for you if you want a dedicated OTT platform to grow your service with a wider range of features, better support, and clear pricing plans.
Uscreen
Best for: All-in-one video membership platform with OTT apps
⭐G2 rating: 4.7 stars
Overview
Uscreen is an all-in-one membership platform built for video creators. We’ve helped creators earn $150+ million each year!
With Uscreen, you can easily create a paid membership platform that includes on-demand video, a customizable library, live streaming, and a community space. All of this can be done on your own branded membership site and mobile and TV apps.
Unlike Vimeo, at Uscreen, we go beyond OTT, offering an all-in-one membership platform to help you earn recurring revenue and build a community around your video content. We also offer industry-leading support to help you get the help and solutions you need to succeed.
By using Uscreen, you can build a stronger brand, create a more loyal community, and maintain a sustainable business.
Lots of creators see Uscreen as their go-to Vimeo OTT alternative, and we’ve successfully helped some previous Vimeo OTT users migrate to our platform. You can read their stories (and see their results) below:
Reasons to buy
Our platform gives you a Netflix-style catalog and viewing experience, creating a familiar, user-friendly environment to make your content super accessible across all devices. You can launch 6 of your own branded TV and mobile apps, keeping your brand consistent no matter where your audience watches.
You can customize your video catalog into dedicated categories or bundles and add filters to make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for, which is something you can’t do on Vimeo. Macy from Fittest Core shares her experience of what her video catalog was like previously:
My workouts were just a free-for-all. You opened the app and took a stab at one of the workouts, and if it worked for you, great, but there was no real guidance.
Macy Pruett, Founder of Fittest Core
The mobile apps come with a full range of features, including customizable playlists, offline viewing, content calendars, instant live stream access, community, and in-app purchases. Our customers have seen a 2x increase in monthly revenue with mobile apps, a 25% increase in watch time, and 78% of their community engagement happening in the app.
Originally, we were with Vimeo for our first app. I remember being so mad that I found Uscreen afterward because you guys had so many of the basic features that I wanted. I was like, Vimeo’s so much bigger, why don’t they already have this basic feature?
Navin Ramharak, Co-Founder of In The Lab+
The community feature lets you go beyond apps and streaming to build a thriving community around your content, which is proven to boost retention by 50%. But if community isn’t your focus, you can choose to focus solely on streaming, too.
At Uscreen, we also provide a suite of useful tools to help you grow your platform and detailed analytics for deep insights to better understand your audience’s needs. Plus, you’ll have access to the best-in-class customer support to help you with any query at any time.
Reasons to avoid
Uscreen doesn’t offer standalone video hosting as a service, and you can’t embed videos onto a third-party site like you can with Vimeo.
Uscreen works best when you already have an established audience, so it might not be suitable if you’re not at that stage yet.
How easy is it to migrate from Uscreen
It’s easy to migrate from Uscreen if you decide it’s not for you. All of your information and content is accessible if you want to move it off of Uscreen.
The platform also excels at migrating new users to Uscreen if that’s something you’re interested in.
Uscreen has a dedicated migrations team to handle the process of moving platforms for you. You can expect your journey to look like this:
- Hop on a call with our Migration experts, where we’ll evaluate what is needed to help you migrate your content & users.
- Develop a tailored migration plan with the team, where we’ll outline the migration timeline with you and the specific capabilities of the platform you’re migrating from and create a detailed plan of action.
- We’ll begin bulk migrating your content and users. Let us worry about the technical stuff so you can focus on your customer experience.
- We guide you through a successful platform launch, ensuring your audience is informed and excited.
Check out our success stories from customers like Fittest Core, In The Lab, and Abundance+, where they share why they chose to switch to Uscreen and how it was the best decision they made for their businesses.
What you can expect from Uscreen
You can expect an easy-to-use OTT platform that doesn’t need technical knowledge to get started. You can build your own website, apps, and community to create an engaging video service for your customers.
Check out more of our customer case studies to see Uscreen in action:
- Abundance+ 2X’ed their revenue with Uscreen apps
- In The Lab+ doubled their viewership after migrating to Uscreen
- Fittest Core drives 6 figure revenue after migrating to Uscreen
Pricing
Uscreen offers three pricing plans:
- Growth: $199 per month
- App essentials: $499 per month
- Build your own: Custom pricing
Muvi
Best for: Small-to-medium businesses wanting quick setup
⭐G2 rating: 4.5 stars
Overview
Muvi is a popular Vimeo OTT alternative. They offer a range of solutions to support live & on-demand content, audio & video streaming solutions, mobile & TV Apps, video player, and flexible monetization.
The platform supports multiple content types – mainly audio and video, which makes it a great choice for creators working across different mediums, like podcasters, audiobook publishers, and video broadcasters. They also support multiple monetization options, including pay-per-view and AVOD, with straightforward pricing and setup.
Muvi also offers a feature called shoppable videos, which allows you to embed product videos onto your e-commerce site, making it useful for businesses expanding into video to boost sales.
Reasons to buy
Muvi offers 7 different products, each with its own feature set and pricing plans, so you can choose what suits your goals. The pay-per-view plan lets you get started from as little as $9 per month + 9% commission fee. Muvi One is the option for building a streaming service, which starts at $399 for their standard plan, making it more affordable to get started in comparison to Vimeo.
The platform gives you the choice of 9 different monetization methods and allows you to keep 100% of the revenue. Plus, there are options for unlimited uploads and content storage. You’ll also get uncapped live streaming, unlike Vimeo.
Being able to release audio content in addition to video is another bonus for Muvi, making it a more versatile option than Vimeo OTT.
Reasons to avoid
There’s limited choice for templates with Muvi, meaning branded design is restricted. They also don’t have built-in marketing tools in the platform. You can integrate third-party tools, but it means you’ll have to run these separately, which adds extra cost and maintenance on your end.
While the standard pricing plan is affordable, there’s a big jump from that ($399) to the professional plan, which is $1499 a month, plus an extra $499 if you want apps. The enterprise plan is a hefty $3900 a month, which again doesn’t include apps, which are an additional add-on.
How easy is it to migrate from Muvi
Muvi offers migration services if you’re moving from another platform like Vimeo OTT.
If you’re looking to migrate from Muvi, how easy this is will depend on whether your new platform has the same migration services to do the work for you. Otherwise, you’d need to contact them directly to cancel your contract and arrange to access your data to move everything off the platform.
What you can expect from Muvi
Check out some of their recent case studies from Muvi customers who have launched their own streaming services:
- MGM partnered with Muvi to create a Roku app
- GoZone+ by Capelli Sports creates a digital platform
- Netgigs launch a live-streaming platform
Pricing
Muvi offers seven different products with separate pricing plans.
Pay-per-view starts at $9/month + 9% commission fee.
Muvi One (OTT streaming) plans range from:
- Standard: $399 a month + $299 a month for apps
- Professional: $1,499 a month + $499 for apps
- Enterprise: $3,900 a month + $499 for apps
- Ultimate: Contact sales for pricing
Best platforms for media companies & large businesses
This section focuses on the best Vimeo OTT alternatives for large companies with more complex needs that need to stream video at scale.
JW Player
Best for: media companies needing scalable infrastructure
⭐G2 rating: 3.7 stars
Overview
JW Player is an end-to-end video delivery and monetization platform for both live and video-on-demand content. It’s best known as a high-quality video player, but it now offers a full range of features, including OTT apps, multiple monetization options, and live streaming.
It’s best suited for media companies and publishers that prioritize advertising-based video monetization through a customizable video player.
Reasons to buy
JW Player is known for being reliable and easy to use and has been well-known as a high-quality video player since it launched in 2004 – making it a trusted name in the video platform market.
Its strongest area of monetization is advertising, which is one of its primary use cases. It offers advanced features for providing contextual targeting, real-time viewability, and content completion rate — giving you a detailed insight into the performance of your ads.
The platform supports 24/7 live streaming, which makes it a strong contender for large, complex events.
Here’s what their customers have to say:
JW Player has many different analytics and insights tools, including total plays, average video complete rate, devices, and countries. This makes it easy for our team to assess what our users are resonating with and what they aren’t. The app is quite expensive to use if you use it to host large volumes of content like we do on our platform. Otherwise, I am very satisfied with my experience using JW Player.
Ariana H., Product Manager
Reasons to avoid
While it’s free to get started with JW Player, they don’t advertise their pricing, so you need to contact them directly for a quote.
Because the platform is tailored for broadcasters and publishers, it might be too complex or expensive for smaller businesses and individual streamers. And while it’s customizable, it doesn’t have the advanced features that other platforms like Zype and Brightcove offer.
A few users mention the interface being clunky and unintuitive in comparison to other video platforms:
It’s been a while since I had used JW Player, but when I started at Ranker, we did use it. It was interesting to use it to push videos out to various outlets / RSS feds, but, ultimately, Ranker did decide to stop using it.
The interface was a bit clunky in configuring feeds, etc. It worked, but the user interface took some figuring – we used it to push out videos to MAZ in conjunction with a Roku (OTT) channel we had at the time.
Verified past user
However, the majority of reviews available are at least a couple of years old, so it’s difficult to get a balanced view of how the platform stands up in 2025.
How easy is it to migrate from JW Player
Migrating from JW Player typically involves downloading your content and data and then manually uploading it to your new platform.
Again, how easy this is will depend on which platform you’re moving to and if they offer dedicated migration services. At a minimum, you should be able to follow the self-help guides to export and then import your data manually.
What you can expect from JW Player
Users can expect a highly customizable, scalable streaming solution with great video quality and monetization tools. While they now offer OTT apps, it’s not their primary focus, and there aren’t any verified reviews available from customers who have launched one with JW Player.
Check out some of their case studies below:
- BabyFirst launch OTT apps with JW Player
- StreamSport Ireland uses JW Player for live-streaming
- SNY focuses on ad monetization in its video strategy
Pricing
You’ll need to contact JW Player directly for a quote.
Zype
Best for: Media companies wanting to integrate with their existing set-up
⭐G2 rating: 4.3 stars
Overview
Zype is an enterprise-level video streaming platform offering both live and on-demand video content management. It’s designed to help businesses create and monetize their own OTT (Over-the-Top) services, including custom-branded video apps. Zype is known for its flexibility and extensive integrations with other platforms, making it a solid choice for businesses looking to scale their video content delivery.
Reasons to buy
Zype supports multiple revenue models such as subscriptions (SVOD), rentals (TVOD), and advertising (AVOD), which makes it easy for businesses to monetize their content in different ways.
Zype is also a highly scalable platform, able to handle large-scale deployments and traffic surges, ideal for growing businesses. You can fully customize and white-label your streaming service to match the needs of your business for a personalized user experience — with advanced API for developers and OTT apps available.
The platform offers in-depth data and analytics for monitoring and optimizing video performance, viewer engagement, and revenue generation. It also integrates seamlessly with third-party systems (like CMS, CRMs, and payment processors), making it adaptable to existing workflows.
Reasons to avoid
Zype tends to be on the pricier side, starting at $500 per month, which might be a stretch for smaller businesses or those just starting with video streaming services.
While the platform offers a lot of flexibility, the learning curve can be steep for users without experience in managing OTT services.
Zype allows for a lot of customization, and they are open to feature suggestions, which is great for a developer. Their customer service is quick and extremely knowledgeable. Most importantly, the video streams flawlessly and looks great.
Some of the admin interfaces can take time to learn, as does some of the functionality. You need to commit to learning the interface and what their system can do.
Rick K., Verified user
How easy is it to migrate from Zype
Zype provides migration tools and support for users looking to switch from other platforms, but moving from Zype might be more complex depending on the level of customization you’ve put into it and the number of integrations you have. You should contact the platform you’re considering moving to for advice about migrating from Zype based on your setup.
What you can expect from Zype
With Zype, you’ll have access to an enterprise-grade streaming solution with a wide range of features. You can expect a robust, highly flexible platform that you’ll need to invest time and resources into to get the full use out of it.
Check out some of their case studies to see what their customers have created with Zype:
- Fast Company creates premium OTT content
- Outside TV launch OTT apps
- Spin Master power 24/7 live-streaming
Pricing
Zype has three pricing plans available:
- Zype X: $500 a month
- Premium: Contact sales
- Enterprise: Contact sales
Kaltura
Best for: Education and e-learning
⭐G2 rating: 4.3 stars
Overview
Kaltura has made a name for itself as a company that focuses on educational content. Specifically for enterprise-level organizations who are looking to teach what they know and offer e-learning at scale.
Their current focus is on helping these organizations establish training platforms and virtual classrooms that boost ROI and engagement. They also offer LMS (learning management system) integrations for maximum flexibility. The platform is ideal for educational institutions, enterprises, and broadcasters seeking highly flexible, open-source video solutions for e-learning, corporate training, or media streaming.
Reasons to buy
Kaltura is geared towards educational institutions out of the box. It offers interactive video paths that allow for choice-based experiences and provides a personalized “choose your own adventure” style of learning.
Their platform supports major screen readers, ensuring that its products are accessible to users with disabilities. This includes closed captioning tools and keyboard shortcuts for better navigation.
You can utilize hundreds of open APIs and integrate them with other learning management systems to really customize the learning experience and make it your own.
Here’s what one of their customers has to say about their experience:
Our institution has been using Kaltura as a video cloud for education for nearly three years, and we have been delighted with its services. The upload and storage repository is easy to understand and navigate, it is simple to organize your videos into different categories and add tags to find your videos, and it integrates with our LMS (Canvas) seamlessly.
The sharing functions are easy to use, making reviewing videos quick and painless. Our students aren’t required to use the upload or edit tools very often, but in the few instances they do, they don’t seem to have any issues. Creating in-video quizzes is a nice feature for our purposes, and it’s easy to do. Relative to other video cloud platforms, Kaltura is affordable for what it offers.
We previously used Vimeo, which didn’t have all the features we needed, and in our review of other video platforms, Kaltura seemed to have the best features, support, and price. Finally, Kaltura is continually improving; several helpful upgrades have kept Kaltura fresh and valuable in the short time we’ve used it.
Jeremy E. Verified user
Reasons to avoid
For the majority of Kaltura’s pricing plans, you need to contact them directly for a quote, so it’s difficult to get a clear idea of the cost. They have 9 different pricing options based on use cases, which can be confusing if you want a straightforward plan with all the features.
Kaltura’s user interface at both the front and back end has a steep learning curve, and users have reported clunky integrations and missing functionality, like the ability to comment on live streams.
While Kaltura is an impressive platform, there are a few areas where it could improve. One of the downsides is the occasional complexity of setting up advanced features. Some functions, like setting up complex registration forms, require a steeper learning curve, and more user-friendly wizards would be beneficial.
Verified user
Some Kaltura videos behave differently across different devices and browsers. The hotspot function that can be used in media does not work properly on iOS devices, so media creators need to take this into account.
Charles K., Verified user
How easy is it to migrate from Kaltura
If you’re migrating from Kaltura to a platform that offers support during the migration process, this should be fairly straightforward, as they will guide you through it or do the technical side of it for you. If not, you can export your videos and data yourself and upload them to your new platform.
What you can expect from Kaltura
You can expect an open-source and highly customizable platform with enterprise support. It’s a complex, technical platform, so you’ll need the right technical expertise and resources to get the most out of Kaltura.
Here are some of their customer case studies so you can see how these enterprises have used the platform:
Pricing
Kaltura has 9 different plans, each with their own pricing. The majority of them require you to contact their sales team for advice on pricing.
Best platforms for enterprise-level
Here, we look at platforms for broadcasting events and videos on a large scale.
Dacast
Best for: Broadcasting live events
⭐G2 rating: 4.5 stars
Overview
Dacast is a versatile and comprehensive Vimeo OTT alternative that focuses on video hosting, video on demand, and live streaming. Their platform is designed to be self-serve and accessible to non-technical teams.
Their white-label solution allows users lots of control over their live streams and on-demand content. They currently help over 300,000 organizations stream high-quality live video, reduce bandwidth costs, and improve broadcast quality.
They’re most commonly used in enterprise streaming, media and entertainment, sports broadcasting, and even educational live streaming.
Reasons to buy
Dacast offers multiple ways to monetize your streams with subscriptions, pay-per-view, and advertisements directly through their built-in paywall. So, there’s lots of flexibility to implement custom pricing for your events.
You’ll also have top-tier CDN usage; the platform utilizes Akamai, ensuring high-quality streaming with excellent global reach, including distinctive access to the challenging market of China.
The white-labeling and extensive API access means you’ll have complete control over branding across the video player, maintaining a consistent brand identity across all broadcasts with the capability for extensive customization and integration.
Dacast also offers instant data on viewer engagement and smooth integration with Zoom for easy hosting of webinars and large meetings, making it versatile for different uses.
A firm streaming platform where you can customize channels for events and schools. As a long-term user of five years, Dacast has provided a stable platform to meet our streaming needs at a reasonable cost. They have excellent customer and support services that have been quick to address any issues we have had quickly and professionally. Recommend them often.
Shawn O., Verified User
Reasons to avoid
It’s a steep learning curve to make the most of Dacast’s range of features, which might be overwhelming for new users with less technical experience or resources.
It also lacks support for ultra-low-latency streaming, which can be critical for real-time interactive content like gaming or live auctions. It also doesn’t offer Digital Rights Management (DRM), which is a drawback for securing high-value content.
Certain plans have strict bandwidth and storage limits, which could lead to additional costs or constraints for users with high streaming demands.
The bandwidth and storage entitlements (and cost associated with overages/extras) required us to limit our use of the platform to live streaming. We would have liked to use the session recording and video on demand.
Corey, Technology and AV Director
Dig Deeper: Dacast Vs Vimeo
How easy is it to migrate from Dacast
To move from Dacast, it’s a case of downloading all your video files and uploading them to your new platform. You’ll also need to securely export your customer data, too.
How straightforward this is will depend on the platform you’re moving to and whether they offer migration services to support you at this stage. Again, you may have to manually input your subscriber details from Dacast, but it’s still a relatively low commitment because you’re essentially just taking your data off one platform and uploading it to another.
What you can expect from Dacast
Check out some of their live-streaming case studies to see how their customers have used Dacast for events:
- Mas Imagen hosts events with Dacast
- Wild Edric Media partnered with Dacast for live-streaming
- Seismic Events scale live events
Pricing
Dacast offers 4 pricing plans:
- Starter: $39 a month
- Event: $63 a month
- Scale: $165 a month
- Custom: Contact sales
Brightcove
Best for: Enterprise scale delivery
⭐G2 rating: 4.0 stars
Overview
Brightcove is built for enterprise-scale video delivery and is a good choice if you want to distribute high-volume video content globally with powerful analytics and enterprise-grade features.
Advanced analytics and CRM capabilities are what make them a solid option if you have the budget to invest. You’ll be able to:
- Use Google integrations to better understand your traffic and engagement, for a data-led approach to growing your platform.
- Integrate with CRM software like HubSpot and Salesforce to manage key users and drive revenue in other areas like e-commerce and merch sales.
- Access high-end customization options that you won’t find with Vimeo to ensure your OTT platform is on-brand.
Reasons to buy
Brightcove gives you an advanced set of features to support enterprise-level needs.
It offers deep customization options for its video player, allowing content creators to tailor the viewing experience to match their brand precisely. You’ll also have advanced content security with their DRM and user authentication features.
The video analytics tools give you detailed insights into viewer engagement and demographics, helping businesses optimize content strategy based on data-driven feedback.
Brightcove has been great for our video hosting needs. We host most of our videos on our website in Brightcove, and we also use their live module for virtual events and livestreams, both internal and external. It’s a very easy-to-use interface, and their customer support is top-notch.
Erin C, Verified User
Reasons to avoid
Brightcove is an expensive platform, and with the advanced features comes a steep learning curve. Some users report that their customer service isn’t as responsive as they’d like it to be, and access to all the necessary features comes at a higher price.
Some of the interactivity and branding of galleries isn’t as evolved as I’d like it to be, with limited customization options for galleries. Playlists, etc. Would love more out-of-the-box interactivity for videos without having to purchase additional products. We also use Marketo for lead generations and would love a more robust integration.
Erin C., Verified user
How easy is it to migrate from Brightcove
If you’re migrating from Brightcove, the chances are you’re going to be on a custom or enterprise-level plan with your new platform. This means you’re likely to have dedicated migration support available to handle the migration for you.
If that’s not the case, you’d be looking at manually exporting all your data and then re-uploading that to your new platform. Depending on the level of customization you have set up, it might involve more work to recreate your setup during the onboarding stage in your new platform.
What you can expect from Brightcove
You can expect a quality service from Brightcove, with multiple monetization options, extensive customization capabilities, and powerful analytics.
Check out some of their customers to see how they’ve used Brightcove successfully:
Pricing
Brightcove only offers custom pricing, so you will need to talk directly to their team directly.
Which Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) alternative is best for you?
- If you’re a YouTuber or creator looking to build a membership-based community, Uscreen is the best choice.
- If you need enterprise-level features, Brightcove or Kaltura might be better.
- If you’re focused on live streaming, Dacast is a strong option.
- For affordable ad-based monetization, JW Player is worth considering.
- If you want to integrate with your current set-up, Zype is a strong choice.
- For creators and businesses that do both audio and video, Muvi might be for you.
- If you’re a beginner looking for something free and simple to start, Patreon is worth considering.
Vimeo OTT (Vimeo Streaming) alternatives FAQ
There are several alternatives to Vimeo for video streaming and hosting, including Uscreen, Dacast, Kaltura, Muvi, and JW Player.
No, Vimeo and Vimeo OTT are not the same. Vimeo is a platform for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos. Vimeo OTT is a specific service that allows creators to build their own subscription or pay-per-view streaming service, similar to Hulu.
Vimeo OTT’s revenue model is by transaction, which means there are no upfront costs or subscription fees. Basic fees include $1 per subscriber per month + merchant fees of 2.5% + $.30. For buy and rent, Vimeo OTT charges 10% + $.50 per transaction.
Vimeo Streaming and Vimeo OTT are the same thing, it’s just a change to the product name from Vimeo OTT to Vimeo Streaming (from April 2025).
