Video cloud platforms are the modern-day home for all video content. They’re a one-stop shop for uploading, storing, hosting, monetizing, and streaming live video and video on-demand (VOD).
Say goodbye to traditional broadcasting technology and local hard drive storage—the future is cloud-based video platforms.
They’re easy to use, provide unlimited scalability, deliver top-notch privacy and secure video, and can even do livestream recording. What’s not to like?
The only problem is choosing the right one.
With so many options to choose from, finding the best video cloud platform can feel like a trip to the eye doctor: “Which is better? One or two?”
Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ll walk you through the best video cloud platforms for 2023 and how to choose the right one for your business. Before we do that, let’s cover what a video cloud platform is and why you need one.
What is a Video Cloud Platform?
A video cloud platform uses online software and remote servers to let your audience stream your video content live and on demand. The software encodes and transcodes your uploads, preparing them for high-performance viewing regardless of your viewer’s location or bandwidth.
Uploading and hosting your videos is just the beginning of their functionality. The best video cloud platforms use industry-leading encryption, geographic and domain restrictions, password protection, and delivery protocols to protect and secure your content.
Advanced platforms have built-in monetization features, empowering you to sell your video content on your own terms, whether that’s through:
- AVOD (advertising-based video on demand)
- SVOD (subscription video on demand)
- TVOD (transactional video on demand)
These platforms provide you with user engagement analytics to better understand how viewers consume your content. They learn about your audience’s behaviors and provide personalized video recommendations to satisfy your viewer’s intrigue and keep them engaged longer.
Not every video cloud platform is created equally, though. Each has unique features, integrations, user interfaces, and costs that make them special and a better fit for different businesses.
Benefits of a Video Cloud Platform
A video cloud platform is a must-have solution for any business that does film or broadcasting. Whether you offer television series, live sports, fitness classes, or Sunday sermons, you need a video cloud platform to store, host, and deliver your content.
Here are a few reasons your business needs a video cloud platform:
- Cloud Accessibility: Upload and access your videos from anywhere. The same goes for your audience—they can download and stream your videos anytime, anywhere.
- Scalable Storage: Store a dozen videos or thousands of videos. With a cloud-based video platform, you have practically limitless scale.
- Transcoding and Encoding: Upload your video files to be ready for playback on a variety of user devices and internet speeds.
- Video Content Management: Organize your videos on the backend and provide easy search, filing, and filtering for your end users.
- Live Recording: Stream and record from the same platform, avoiding the need to use other pieces of software and constantly transferring files.
- Monetization Features: Enable ads, require subscriptions, or sell on a pay-per-view basis.
- Integrations: Connect your applications with third-party integrations and video APIs.
- Security Features: Protect your content and ensure only the right people with the right admissions and authentication can access your videos.
Who Needs a Cloud-Based Video Platform?
Anyone who stores and shares video content needs a cloud video platform. That’s not hyperbole, either.
Without cloud-based platforms, you’d have to put your videos on a USB flash drive or CD to share them. And then you’d have to find a device that accepts that format, which mobile phones, tablets, and laptops (these days) don’t.
That doesn’t even answer the question about storing your digital copies. You’d need a large external hard drive for hosting your files. But what happens to your videos if you lose your hard drive or spill coffee on it? Bye-bye, content.
More specifically, these industries see the most benefit from having a video cloud platform:
- Publishers
- Broadcasters
- Fitness Companies and Individuals
- Online Course Producers
- Live and On-Demand Sports
- Faith Groups
- Dev Shops
- Ad Networks
- Retailers
6 Best Cloud Video Platforms for 2023
Every video cloud platform has nuances that make it a better fit depending on your industry, content, and audience. Some prioritize live-streaming, while others focus on fewer features and budget-friendly prices. A handful provide advanced functionality, and others focus on simplicity and ease of use.
You won’t find a one-size-fits-all cloud video platform, and that’s a good thing. You want one tailor-made for your use case. Instead, find the platform that best fits your video content needs, expertise, and budget.
Consider the list below your jumping-off point. We’ve identified the six best cloud video platforms for 2023. You’ll find a short overview (nothing too exhaustive) and pros and cons list that we’ve compiled based on our experience and user reviews from G2.
1. JW Player
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JW Player is a complete video platform for connecting and engaging with your audiences on practically any screen. Use the software to:
- Playout: Provide your audience with buffer-free content on any device courtesy of JW Player’s lightning-fast HTML5 Player, OTT apps, and native mobile device SDKs.
- Delivery: Deliver reliably to 130+ countries with JW Player’s 99.99% global uptime via our multi-content delivery network (CDN) approach, and stream live events (up to 12 hours) from anywhere in less than 30 seconds.
- Monetization: Get the highest ad fill and CPMs with the best ad integrations, player tech, expert guidance, and built-in header bidding.
- Engagement: Keep your viewers happy and engaged with Article Matching and personalized recommendations, surfacing your most relevant content in real-time.
Everyone from big-time broadcasters to first-time publishers will find JW Player to be a complete, all-in-one video solution.
Pros:
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Quick upload times and fast streaming delivery
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Affordable plans for companies of all sizes
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Integrate into your applications with easy-to-use APIs and SDKs
Cons:
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No podcasting solutions
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Takes time to set up advanced features
2. YouTube
YouTube is a social media and search platform used by 2.1 billion monthly active users worldwide. The platform is great for hosting your videos and monetizing them through AVOD, but it lacks SVOD and TVOD monetization models. Access to a massive global audience is a huge perk, but the competition on the platform can negate this benefit.
Pros:
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Free to use
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Large user base
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Easy-to-use user interface
Cons:
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Users complain about having little control over the ads and irrelevant (and sometimes inappropriate) ads occurring during their videos
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Users have an issue with YouTube not being self-hosted, which means your site and app traffic might leak back to YouTube
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Users complain that there are limited video personalization and control options
3. Brightcove
Brightcove is an enterprise-grade video cloud provider that specializes in marketing and advertising. It offers video on-demand, live streaming, and integrations for hosting content on your websites and applications. Brightcove is user-friendly (for managers and consumers) and provides excellent organization tools.
Pros:
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Easy to upload and organize content with folders and playlists
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Great, reliable customer support
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Simple editing options for quick fixes and changes
Cons:
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Users had an issue with Brightcove’s analytics
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Users complain about the dated user interface
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Users had a problem with Brightcove’s processing time
4. Wistia
Wistia is a cloud video streaming platform for videos and podcasts. It provides robust personalization options to nail your branding and keep the video experience consistent regardless of your customers’ devices. Wistia offers advanced engagement tools, such as call-to-action (CTA) buttons and interactive forms embedded into your videos. All of the engagement is integrated with Wistia’s customer relationship management (CRM) tool, helping you keep track of all your user analytics.
Pros:
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Can host and distribute podcasts
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Advanced engagement tools like in-video interactive forms
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Detailed viewer engagement tracking and insights
Cons:
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Users complain about Wistia’s high pricing
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Users wish Wistia had more integrations with third-party applications
5. Vimeo
Vimeo is a cloud-based video streaming solution for professionals and businesses looking to host high-quality content and maintain control over the user experience. Vimeo doesn’t show ads before, during, or after your content, prioritizing the user experience but at the expense of ad revenue. Instead, you use video to rent or sell content via a TVOD model or get users to pay to subscribe to your channel via an SVOD model.
Pros:
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Ad-free experience makes for better experiences and engagement
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Complete control over which people and domains can access your content
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Great integrations and embed options
Cons:
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Users had an issue with the learning curve
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Users complained about the limited live streaming features
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Users complained about slow uploading speed
6. Vidyard
Vidyard is an enterprise-level video hosting platform that provides ad-free videos and scalable marketing functionality. Users can fully customize their player with branding elements, in-video forms, and CTAs. Upload as many videos as you’d like with no bandwidth caps, and gate your videos behind email access and lead generation options.
Pros:
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Unlimited uploads and no bandwidth caps
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Top-notch lead generation tools
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Advanced tracking and analytics
Cons:
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Users complain about Vidyard’s complicated backend
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Users had an issue with the user interface and organization
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Users complain about the integrations with other third-party applications
How to Choose the Right Platform
Not every video cloud platform will be the right option for your business. You’ll have to dig a bit deeper to see which is the best fit for your content, audience, and monetization model.
Don’t get lost in the endless debate over which has the most features or five-star reviews. Ultimately, you won’t need or use every feature your platform provides, so it’s more important to find a tool tailor-made for your use case rather than an expensive do-it-all workhorse.
To help you narrow it down, focus on these six platform characteristics:
1. Pricing
It doesn’t matter how amazing and easy to use a tool is if your business can’t afford it. First, note your budget. Next, get quotes for the options you’re considering.
The best option isn’t usually the cheapest. For example, you can use YouTube’s cloud storage platform for free, but they’ll own your audience and prioritize advertising and sending viewers back to their native platform.
Find a cost-effective tool that’ll allow you to maximize your income. Making more from every video you publish will be more profitable than pinching pennies on your video streaming platform.
2. Features
Make a list of the key features your videos need. For example, do you need live streaming capabilities? What about built-in lead generation forms and customizable CTAs?
Focus on what you need—not who has the most features. Think about your video content needs 12 months or years from now. You don’t want to waste time transitioning to a new cloud service later if you can avoid it. Plan for the future and find a video cloud platform that can scale with your business.
3. Monetization Options
Choose a platform that lets you monetize your videos with the best model for your content. Some platforms will limit you to an AVOD model, while others won’t provide AVOD at all. It’s up to you to decide on the best way to monetize your videos and find the platform that empowers you to make it happen.
Ideally, choose a platform that gives you options. You might find that your audience isn’t responding well to a subscription model, and your videos might do better with AVOD or TVOD. It’s easier to switch and optimize different methods with your current hosting provider, but it’s a challenge if you have to migrate content to a new platform just to test it out.
4. Integrations
Find a platform that has the third-party integrations and developer toolkits you need to connect your applications. For example, if you need to connect your video analytics to a CRM, ensure your platform provides the necessary integrations.
If you have a more complex and customized use case, use a platform with APIs and mobile SDKs. These will give you the freedom you need to build the perfect application for your videos.
5. Customer Support
Things don’t always go smoothly. When you need help, you want a customer support team you can trust. Find a platform with reliable uptime and quick-response support.
Eventually, something will go wrong, and you’ll need help. Knowing you have a dependable team will give you the confidence to explore new features and push boundaries with your video content.
6. Ease of Use
Your video cloud platform should be user-friendly on the backend and frontend. Creators and publishers should have simple workflows for uploading videos, organizing content, customizing players, and adding engagement elements through the management system. Ensure both the desktop and mobile app are easy to use.
Keep your customers in mind, too. Players should have intuitive controls and navigation to allow viewers to adjust settings, enable captions, and share videos.
Get Started With a Cloud Video Platform
Video cloud platforms are the future for hosting, streaming, and monetizing your video content. Hopefully, our list has helped give you a headstart in finding the perfect solution for your business.
However, reading about a video solution is only one part of the research process. Now, you need to get hands-on experience and see for yourself which product best meets your needs.
Ready to get started with a purpose-built cloud video platform for broadcasters, publishers, and video-driven businesses? Start your 30-day free trial today with JW Player to see what a premium cloud hosting and video streaming service looks like.