Top 10 Best Video Hosting Sites (Free & Paid)

With hundreds of video hosting sites it can be hard to know where to start. We reviewed the top 10 best video hosting sites to make your decision simple.

by
Vella Gonzaga
Top 10 Best Video Hosting Sites (Free & Paid)

You want to host videos to have a better viewing experience, save storage space on your computer, share videos, or gather video insights. However, with hundreds of video hosting sites it can be hard to know where to even begin. 

We reviewed the top 10 best video hosting sites to make your decision simple. You’ll also learn how to host a video on your website.

Quick Tip: What are the best video hosting solutions for business from this list?

Out of the 10 best video hosting sites we reviewed, these three are the best for different use cases.

  • YouTube: Best free solution to host videos and build an audience.
  • VEED: Best all-in-one tool to create, host, edit, collaborate, and share videos quickly and easily.
  • Vidyard: Best tool for small and enterprise sales teams to host video and gather analytics for virtual selling

Want to read about all 10 tools we reviewed to decide for yourself what is the best video hosting site is best for you? Keep reading!

‍Best Free (and Paid) Video Hosting Sites

1. Youtube

YouTube is perfect if you want to host videos, create live video content, and share videos online to grow your subscribers. The best part? It’s also free!

With two billion users worldwide, YouTube is by far the most popular online video sharing platform in the world. It’s the second most visited social media site after Google and the second largest search engine. This makes it ideal for not only hosting but also reaching and building a massive audience online.

Video Upload Guidelines and Specifications for Youtube

  • Supported Video Formats: MPEG4, MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, WMV, and WebM.
  • Supported aspect ratios: 16.9 and automatically adds frames for 4:3 videos.
  • Maximum resolution: 4K (3840x2160)
  • Maximum file size: 128GB
  • Maximum video length: 12 hours
  • Total file storage: Unlimited

Key Features:

  • YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world making it also a smart move for SEO to help you increase visibility online
  • You get a percentage of the ad revenue generated by your videos
  • Unlimited data storage and bandwidth
  • Includes privacy settings
  • Supports live streaming
  • Basic editing function
  • Embed videos easily
  • Basic analytics

Cons:

  • Ads play automatically which can make videos seem unprofessional on a company website 
  • No video insights to see who watched your video
  • You have no control over the built-in player
  • Lacks more advanced editing capabilities
  • No download options

Pricing: Free

2. Facebook

If you're looking for a platform to host your videos and distribute them across different markets, Facebook is your best bet. 

Facebook has the largest user population with 2.89 billion monthly active users, perfect for those looking for an audience. If you want an alternative to video hosting sites like Youtube, Facebook is a solid pick. Facebook is primarily a social media platform, it’s increasingly promoting video content through Facebook Watch, transforming the platform into one of the internet's leading video distributors. 

While it has limitations since it's a free platform, you can still find it helpful because it’s home to billions of users and is one of the best video-sharing platforms on the internet. Because groups are popular on Facebook, you can easily find targeted communities your audience might hang out in to share your videos with.

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Video Upload Guidelines and Specifications of Facebook

  • Supported video formats: MP4, MPEG4, MOV, AVI, FLV, WMV, MKV, 3GPP, and more
  • Supported aspect ratios: square (1:1) or vertical (4:5, 9:16 and 16:9) aspect ratios
  • Maximum resolution: 1080p 
  • Maximum file size: 10GB
  • Maximum video length: 4 hours 
  • Total file storage: Unlimited

Key Features:

  • Great for brands with an ad budget who are looking to grow their audience
  • Free video sharing online using the embed feature.
  • Free unlimited video hosting online 
  • No file storage limit.
  • Live streaming

Cons:

  • Organic reach on Facebook is terrible so you’ll most likely need an ad budget if you want to host videos and grow your audience
  • Videos are compressed to a lower resolution
  • Doesn’t have customizable players
  • Ads automatically play on videos

Pricing: Free

3. Google Drive

Google Drive is ideal if you prefer more private video hosting platforms and don’t care for using a platforms that doubles as a social network. With G-Drive you can host videos and collaborate with your team and stakeholders. 

Because it’s designed for cloud storage, Google Drive lacks the community-building aspect of social media platforms. However, you can still upload videos for free online (with limits), share video links with privacy settings, and watch your videos online.

Video Upload Guidelines and Specifications of Google Drive

  • Supported video formats: MPEG4, 3GPP, MOV, AVI, MPEG PS, WMV, FLV, MTS, WebM, and OGG
  • Maximum video resolution: 1920x1080
  • Maximum file size: 750GB each day 
  • Total file storage: Free Google accounts come with 15GB storage, but you can have as much as 5 TB if you have purchased that much storage

Key Features:

  • Free video content hosting of up to 15 GB
  • Supports caption tracks for videos
  • Paid video hosting up to 5 TB
  • Easy to access
  • Embed videos

Cons: 

  • Has limits on file size, playback resolution, and total storage space
  • You can expect technical difficulties during large video uploads
  • Video and digital file management is not the most user-friendly
  • Not all video types may work on all devices
  • No video analytics
  • No video editing

Pricing: Free and Paid Plans

4. VEED

Need an all-in-one video hosting site with a user-friendly interface? With VEED, you can record, edit, share, collaborate, and host videos all in one place! 

Content creators, entrepreneurs, coaches, and musicians love it because they don’t have to deal with the hassle of complex and time-consuming video editing. 

Companies and their teams love VEED because it makes creating onboarding videos, training videos, presentation videos, talking head videos, and sales videos easy even if you’ve never made a video in your life.

So if you’re looking for a YouTube, Facebook, or Vimeo alternative that can do more in a single tool then VEED is for you.

Because VEED is cloud-based, it’s ideal for project-based teams. It also keeps all of your video projects online, so you don't have to worry about limited storage space or slow file transfers. 

Video upload guidelines and specifications of VEED:

  • Supported Video Formats: VEED supports all popular video file formats including MP4, MKV, MOV, FLV, and AVI.
  • Maximum file size: up to 50MB for free and unlimited file size for premium plan holders but recommends keeping it under 2GB
  • Maximum video length: Unlimited but recommends keeping it less than 2 hours long
  • Total file storage: Unlimited with all plans

Key Features:

  • Collaborative workspace with fast and secure video hosting where professionals can share, comment feedback, and download the finished video
  • Save videos with preset settings for social media like Instagram and YouTube‍
  • Use export presets to share videos in low or even 4K resolution
  • Brand kit to make videos that are always on brand 
  • Includes a webcam, screen, and voice recorder
  • Add up to two hours of automatic subtitles‍
  • Translate and transcribe audio files
  • Convert and compress videos

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Cons:

  • Not mobile-optimized (only usable on larger iPads)
  • No analytics 

Pricing: 

5. SproutVideo

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SproutVideo is best for companies and experienced digital marketers who rely on video analytics to qualify leads. 

SproutVideo provides marketing teams collaboration and sharing tools, lead capture forms, audience building, and advanced video analytics to track engagement and grow their customer base. You can customize the player with ease and it’s also one of the best on-demand and video hosting platforms for businesses and marketers.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of SproutVideo

  • Supported Video Formats: All popular video formats including MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, WMV, MKV, 3GPP, and more.
  • Supported resolution: HD, ultra-HD, 4K, and 8K resolutions
  • Supported aspect ratios: Landscape (16:9)
  • Maximum video length: Unlimited
  • Maximum file size: Up to 100GB
  • Total file storage: 500GB with 500GB of bandwidth

Key features:

  • Works with all major content management platforms, making it simple to embed videos on your website
  • Provides cloud security management features such as password protection, login security, and single sign-on
  • Has automatic bandwidth detection and quality adjustment features for smooth video playback
  • Offers social sharing buttons, lead capture forms, and CTA placements within the video
  • You can integrate with Mailchimp, Zapier, HubSpot, and other third-party tools
  • Lets you build a video website if you need it
  • Lets you create custom playlists
  • Provides video analytics
  • Supports live streaming

Cons

  • It’s a complex video hosting platform that can be challenging for inexperienced users 
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Pricing: 

  • Seed: $24.99/month 
  • Sprout: $59.99/month 
  • Tree: $199.99/month
  • Forest: $499.99/month

6. Vidyard

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Vidyard is one of the leading video hosting sites for virtual selling.

VidYard has remote selling tools to support you at every stage of the sales cycle from prospecting to proposals. 

While the free plan includes enough features to get you started with using video for sales, the paid plans are best for more established teams who heavily rely on on-brand video and analytics for sales teams.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of Vidyard

  • Supported Video Formats: Common formats that work nicely with Vidyard are WEBM, MP4, MKV, MOV, MPEG4, WMV, FLV, 3GPP
  • Supported aspect ratios: Landscape (16:9)
  • Maximum video resolution: Up to 4K for camera recordings and 720p for screen recordings
  • Maximum file size: 20GB, Videos uploaded to Vidyard via the dashboard API have no size limit.
  • Maximum video length: Up to one hour (or up to 20 GB file size) for the free version and unlimited for Teams, Business, or Enterprise accounts
  • Total file storage: Unlimited

Key Features:

  • Integrates smoothly with social media and third-party services like Hootsuite, Marketo, and Salesforce to boost sales and revenue
  • Built-in video marketing tools like CTAs and A/B testing
  • Unlimited ad-free high-quality video hosting
  • Unlimited recording and media shares
  • Protects your videos with password
  • Provides detailed analytics
  • Offers custom branding 
  • Custom video playback
  • Supports live streaming
  • No bandwidth cap
  • On-page replies

Cons:

  • No captions on free or pro plans. You have to manually add captions in the $300/mo team plan or pay $1,250/mo to unlock automatic captions in the business plan
  • Limited amount of embeds ranging from 1 to 100 from the free to business plan
  • The platform is hard to navigate (according to VidYard customers)

Pricing: 

  • Free
  • Pro: $15/month
  • Teams: $300/month
  • Business: $1,250/month, all billed annually

7. Wistia

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Wistia is perfect for digital marketers who want to distribute successful video marketing campaigns. 

Wistia offers excellent analytics, visitor engagement tracking, viewer-based tracking, and heat maps to turn your videos into a marketing machine.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of Wistia:

  • Supported video formats: MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, MKV, and more
  • Maximum resolution: 4K.
  • Supported aspect ratios: Any 
  • Maximum file size: 8 GB
  • Maximum video length: 2 hours
  • Total file storage: 3 free videos with the free plan, up to 10 videos with the pro plan, 100 free videos with the advanced plan, and $0.25 a month for every extra video

Key Features:

Cons:

  • Has limits and additional fees in regards to the amount of videos you can embed on each plan

Pricing: 

  • Free
  • Pro: $99/month
  • Advanced: Custom pricing

8. Uscreen

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Uscreen is more than just a video-hosting site. If you want to monetize your online videos to grow your streaming business, Uscreen is the platform for you.

Uscreen is an all-in-one streaming platform that allows you to showcase and monetize your content on-demand. Educators, startups, and mid-sized e-learning companies use Uscreen to distribute video courses. This platform is unique because you can use it to launch over-the-top (OTT) applications or apps that allow you to broadcast videos on mobile and TV devices.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of Screen:

  • Supported video formats: MP4
  • Maximum resolution: 2K
  • Supported aspect ratios: 16:9
  • Maximum file size: 13 GB
  • Maximum video length: Unlimited
  • Total file storage: 3000

Key Features:

  • Includes a VOD (video on demand) and live-streaming feature that can be monetized with a PPV (pay per view) paywall
  • Uses a global CDN (content delivery network) to reach a global audience
  • Allows you to create chapters, episodes, and playlists
  • Fast playback with HTML5 video player
  • Provides extensive customization 
  • Provides 24/7 customer service
  • Sales and marketing tools
  • Picture-in-picture function
  • Full data ownership
  • Pre-built themes
  • Bulk uploading

Cons:

  • Doesn’t support AVOD (Advertising video on demand) monetization
  • More expensive than other alternatives
  • You can’t store unlimited videos
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Pricing:

  • Basic: $79/month billed annually
  • Growth: $159/month billed annually
  • UscreenPlus: Custom pricing

9. Vimeo

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Vimeo is the place to upload videos if you're a professional looking to store, manage, and share high-quality videos with your clients, team, or organization.

Vimeo has earned the reputation of being the one of the few platform that provides high-quality video hosting services for free and without advertisements. You can upload, create, edit, and record videos, host live streams, and organize them into channels, making it a haven particularly for aspiring filmmakers and video editors.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of Vimeo:

  • Supported video formats: MOV, MPEG4, MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, MKV, 3GPP, etc.
  • Maximum resolution:  8K (8192 × 4320
  • Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 (automatically adds black frame for 4:3 videos)
  • Maximum video length: restricted by file size
  • Maximum file size: 500 MB for free users (up to 256 GB for pro users)
  • Total file storage: 500 MB/week for free users (20 GB/week for pro users)

Key Features:

  • Vimeo Showcase to beautifully organize and share your videos publicly or privately
  • Live stream presentations, webinars, and other types of events
  • Marketing and advertising features such as lead capturing
  • Sell your content through Vimeo on-demand
  • Basic video content creation tools
  • Video player customizations
  • Team collaboration features
  • Provides OTT services
  • Allow video downloads
  • Video conversion
  • Privacy controls
  • Ad-free

Cons:

  • Limited integration. To connect your Vimeo account to any CRM software, you'll need to use Zapier
  • No auto-generated captions or live captions except for Enterprise plans
  • Low upload limit in the basic plan

Pricing: 

  • Basic: Free 
  • Plus: $7/month billed annually 
  • Pro: $20/month billed annually 
  • Premium: $75/month billed annually 
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

10. Jetpack VideoPress

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‍Jetpack VideoPress is great if you have a WordPress site and want ad-free, on-brand, and customizable videos directly on your site. It’s part of the Jetpack plugin which offers unlimited WordPress video hosting. 

With VideoPress, you can have your videos hosted by a CDN (content delivery network), making managing your videos a breeze. It can also make your videos optimized for mobile.

VideoPress provides additional features like playback speed control, picture-in-picture, volume control, and full-screen. Your ad-free videos will never show related videos from other websites. You won’t run out of space because videos are stored on WordPress servers. 

You can get VideoPress separately or as part of the complete Jetpack plan. It also offers video marketing tools to aid in search engine optimization.

Video upload guidelines and specifications of Jetpack:

  • Supported video formats: MOV, MPEG4, MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, MKV, 3GPP, etc.
  • Maximum resolution: 4K
  • Supported Aspect Ratios: Landscape (16:9)
  • Maximum video length: restricted by size
  • Maximum file size: 5 GB
  • Total file storage: 1 GB on the free plan, 1TB on paid plans

Key Features:

  • Uses global CDN for faster loading of videos 60 frames per second at full HD (1080p)
  • Unlimited logins perfect for team members
  • Free unlimited video hosting
  • Customizable video player
  • Picture-in-picture mode
  • Ad-free


Cons:

  • There’s a free version, but many of its features require a paid subscription
  • Lacks advanced features like detailed analytics, CTAs, integrations, etc.
  • Not optimized to be used on mobile
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Pricing: $7.77/month billed annually

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How to host a video on your website

Here are two options if you’re looking to host your own videos.
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Option 1: Use Jetpack VideoPress for WordPress sites (Difficult)

  1. Setup a WordPress account
  2. Install Jetpack plugin/toolkit by WordPress
  3. Once you've activated the plugin, navigate to your website's JetPack dashboard and select the Plans tab.
  4. Choose either a premium or professional plan. Both plans have an unlimited WordPress video hosting feature.
  5. Click on the upgrade to premium button and pay the fees. 
  6. Once the payment is completed, you can upload videos to your website.
  7. Return to the ‘settings’ section in your JetPack dashboard and click on the ‘Performance’ tab. Activate the “High-speed, ad-free video player” option. 
  8. Then, in the post editor, move the cursor to the location where you want to display your video. To access the Media Library view, click the "Add Media" button. Make sure you've uploaded the video you want to insert to the media library by dragging and dropping it.
  9. After embedding the video, adjust settings to your liking
  10. Once you've finished uploading the video, it will now include a share and embed feature, allowing your viewers to share and embed your videos easily.

Option 2: Use VEED’s embed code (fast and easy)

  1. Upload your video to VEED. You can even upload YouTube videos. 
  2.  Edit your video if necessary
  3. Click on export
  4. Click on ‘share,’ then copy and paste the video share link into your website. 

Frequently asked questions about video hosting
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What are video hosting sites?

Video hosting sites are platforms that allow you to upload, edit, manage, and share videos easily. You upload your content to their website, they host it on their server, and you can use the embed code or link to share the content elsewhere or on your website. 
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Why use video hosting sites?

The main benefit of video hosting is being able to view, share, and control your videos from a single dashboard. They offer an enhanced viewer experience, automatic backup of your videos, and more.

What should you look for in a video hosting platform?

The most important things to look for in a video hosting platform are the abilities to embed, customize, share, and protect your video privacy based on your needs.

Where can you host videos for free?

Video hosting sites like Vimeo, YouTube and Facebook are the best to host videos online for free as well as take advantage of them being online video sharing platforms.
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Where can you host a video for your website?

Hosting videos on your own is not a good idea because the large size of a video file can negatively impact the website performance. Instead, use one of these tools to host, share, or embed your videos:

Where can you host video for streaming?

What’s the best overall video hosting site?

VEED is the best overall video hosting platform to since it’s an all-in-one tool to record, edit, host, share, and collaborate. Non video experts can easily make videos like an expert with VEED.
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Let's Recap!

Choosing the best video hosting site will come down to which platform meets all your needs while remaining within your budget. 

If you just want to store your videos somewhere online, grow your social media audience, and don’t need many other features in terms of privacy and customization then go for Youtube hosting. 

However, if you need a more all-in-one solution for your video content, use VEED.

Whether you’re an experienced video creator, digital marketer, influencer, business owner, or large enterprise–VEED will help you create and host high-quality videos quickly and easily. 

Host your first video with VEED today. 

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Top 10 Best Video Hosting Sites (Free & Paid)

Vella Gonzaga

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