Comparison: The Best Video Hosting Platforms For Online Courses
Statistics reveal that 82% of YouTube viewers use the platform to learn to do things themselves globally. These videos ranged from basic ‘how-to’ tutorials all the way to full lessons teaching people new skills. From educational institutions to just about anyone with internet access, we are all learning through video.
With this in mind, we thought it would be a great time to help you find the best video hosting platform for online courses.
What Is A Video Hosting Platform?
A video hosting platform allows you to safely store and distribute your content to others online. The best video hosting platforms also offer video CMS features which are great for organizing and managing your content. This is an alternative to online course marketplaces that allows you to have complete control of your online course, your earnings, and your personal brand.
What To Look For When Choosing A Video Hosting Platform
It can be difficult trying to choose a provider when there are so many things to consider. Fear not! We will simplify the process for you by highlighting the most important features and customization options to keep an eye out for!
A Safe And Secure Platform
Firstly, if you are going to be offering courses online, security and safety is paramount. This is why the best hosting platforms should offer the following to ensure your content is always safe.
- 128 Bit AES encryption — prevents unauthorized downloading
- Two-factor authentication (2FA) — stops account sharing
- Dynamic watermarking
- IP and other access restrictions
Easy Video Management
There’s nothing worse than uploading tons of content that is hard to sort through. That is why choosing a provider with an easy-to-use video CMS will save you a lot of time!
Platforms such as StreamingVideoProvider offer an intuitive user experience that allows you to drag and drop your content when moving files around. You can use tags, playlists, and playlist folders to make navigation lightning-fast, and super easy!
Design Your Own Video Player
Adding a personal touch to your video player design can make a huge difference. We’ve all seen generic video players with a fixed design; they can look cheap and unprofessional.
You should look for a video platform that allows you to customize the appearance of your video player. This is sometimes referred to as “white-labeling” and allows you to give your viewers a unique visual experience while learning.
Flexible Video Monetization Options
One huge benefit of premium hosting platforms is the ability to monetize your content in many ways. This is important when selling your course because you may want to monetize just one video now, but you may want to monetize a collection of videos in the future. As your course material grows and evolves, your platform should give you the ability to change your monetization approach. This is why choosing a platform that is flexible is very important.
Some of the monetization options offered by providers are:
- One-time access tickets
- Rental options
- Monthly/yearly subscription options
- Unlimited access packages
- Select playlist access
Global Content Delivery (CDN)
It is important that your chosen service offers a fast global CDN. A global CDN will give your audience the best viewing experience possible anywhere in the world. This will help solve common problems such as buffering and poor video quality.
Global CDNs also open you up to new markets. Many of the top video hosting providers will allow you to reach Chinese audiences which can be otherwise difficult to tap into.
Hidden Fees and Charges
Some platforms may offer flexible monetization options, but charge extra for certain features. You should be careful not to get hit with hidden fees and transaction charges when choosing your platform.
StreamingVideoProvider never charges hidden fees or commissions. All of your income generated from your videos stays in your pockets! The payouts are always immediate, meaning you don’t have to wait until a fixed date to receive payment.
Top Best Video Hosting Platforms For Online Courses
Let’s look at the top 10 video hosting platforms that are ideal for online course hosting. These platforms have many of the important features we covered earlier. The following platforms are great options to look at for both beginners and experts alike.
StreamingVideoProvider
Besides video hosting and live streaming services, StreamingVideoProvider offers advanced video monetization and military-grade security for your online course content. You don’t have to worry about compatibility either because the platform can be integrated with your existing LMS or another system via the API.
The easy-to-use video CMS makes adding content a walk in the park.
We’ve created our monetization options to be flexible, so as you grow, your monetization method can be adapted or changed accordingly. You can then monetize your course with Pay Per View, subscriptions, custom ads, or even custom pricing models.
Thanks to Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), you won’t have to deal with several students using the same account. The advanced video encryption ensures your content is safe even if someone manages to download it somehow.
The super-fast global CDN allows you to reach students all over the world, free from buffering or censorship.
Key Features
- Top security features including 2FA, 128-bit AES encryption, and access restrictions
- Global CDN for fast and reliable content delivery (including China)
- Instant payout with no hidden fees
- Receive payment per view, as a subscription, via custom ads, or define your own payment model
- Drag-and-drop powerful video CMS with automations
- Customizable video player (white label)
- Wide range of scalable and flexible monetization options
- Deep analytics allow you to look at the big picture or drill down to the individual viewer
- Organise live stream events to engage your audience
- Stream to multiple social channels at the same time (multistreaming)
Reviews
“We have been using SVP for a couple of years now, and we can only say the service keeps on getting better.”
Price
The plans start at $39/mo. There is also a 14-day free trial available on all features. No credit card is required either!
Dacast
Another platform that uses a video CMS while offering live and hosted video is Dacast. Dacast allows you to have flexible control over your monetization options. They also provide ad integration and secure paywall features.
Your videos are always stored safely online as Dacast uses AES video encryption. Dacast also has integrated paywall payment security.
Dacast uses global CDNs including Limelight and Akamai to ensure broad coverage and fast reliable speeds.
You can quickly and easily sort and organize your content using their easy-to-use video CMS.
Key Features
- AES video encryption
- Convenient tools for bulk editing of content
- Good selection of monetization options
- API access for easy integration
- Customizable access restrictions
Reviews
“The move to virtual and now to live& virtual has been highly profitable and has increased our audience numbers and loyalty.”
Price
Dacast's pricing ranges from $39/month for the Starter plan with 2.4 TB yearly bandwidth to the $165/month Scale plan with 24 TB yearly bandwidth.
Muvi
Like StreamingVideoProvider, Muvi offers both video hosting and live streaming services. The platform will also work well with your existing LMS and grants API access if you want to take things a step further with integration.
For VOD hosting, Muvi’s Flex solution provides the features you might need as a course creator. The platform has a built-in CDN, social publishing features as well as analytics & reports.
There are a few different ways to monetize your content with Muvi. The options on offer range from running basic advertisements to subscription packages.
Getting to grips with the interface can take a bit of time, but Muvi is definitely worth keeping in mind as a viable platform.
Key Features
- Varied monetization options
- Powerful CMS for organizing your content
- Multi-DRM
- Versatile and suitable for many usage cases
Reviews
“The platform has lots of different features and most of them work well, I also like that they constantly add new features to the platform.”
Price
A free trial is available which requires no card. Pricing starts with the standard package at $399/mo + $299 /mo per app + Infra Fees.
Kaltura
Kaltura is often thought of as video hosting for teachers. The platform supports live streaming as well as on-demand video access. The platform is focused on offering a more interactive learning experience to users.
Kaltura is great for creating virtual classrooms, capturing lectures, and recording live events. This platform also integrates with your existing LMS as long as it supports the LTI standard.
Machine transcription and human captioning are possible allowing your content to be more accessible. This feature also allows students to search for words or sentences that are within the videos you create.
Security is solid here, with Kaltura offering access restrictions, DRM, and dynamic watermarking.
Key Features
- Create accessible video content
- Highly interactive
- Good selection of monetization options, including advertising
- Robust security features
Reviews
“I like that I can get metrics if students have watched the videos.”
Price
Price is available upon request based on your exact requirements. Kaltura also offers a free trial.
Panopto
Another course hosting platform well-suited for eLearning is Panopto. This platform has a focus on content organization. This means you can easily create playlists and video libraries for your viewers. A basic online video editor allows for various small edits which can be useful sometimes.
White-label player customization is also possible along with LMS video hosting integration and API access.
One negative with this platform however is that it doesn’t provide monetization options.
Key Features
- Customizable white-label video player
- Great tools for building your video library
- Detailed analytics
- Various security options to keep content safe
Reviews
“Well featured and flexible, Panopto is integrated into our VLE, and used thoughout our institution.”
Price
Panopto does not offer a free trial, but you can request a free demo. There is no information about their pricing plans on their website.
Backlight Zype
Zype provides some nice tools for creating video training platforms. The CMS allows you to easily upload and manage your content in bulk. This helps save time and headaches if you will be uploading and moving around lots of content.
There are monetization options for both VOD and live streamed content. The features on offer here are well-suited for web hosting training videos.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to brand your video player, as currently, Zype doesn’t provide a white-label video player.
Key Features
- Great CMS for bulk upload and editing
- Video and streaming monetization options
- Provides tools for building apps
- Highly configurable and scalable
Reviews
“While I am fairly new to Zype and certainly not using its functionality to its full potential yet, I have had a very positive experience.”
Price
There is no pricing information available, but there are three plans listed on their website. You can request a demo to learn more.
Wistia
Equipped with a selection of useful marketing tools, Wistia is a reliable video hosting platform. That is, if you are mainly focusing on on-demand content and not live streaming because it does not have any streaming capabilities.
You can monetize your content with advertisements, although the options here are pretty bare-bones. Wistia also provides some useful and detailed analytics. This includes heat maps and engagement graphs.
The potential downsides are a lack of live streaming support and advanced security options.
Key Features
- Great marketing tools
- Easy-to-use interface
- Detailed analytics
- Customizable video player
- Easy to share videos
Reviews
“My favourite feature is the ability to replace a video with a slight tweak and keep the stats.”
Price
Wistia offers a free plan that helps you get familiar with the interface. The paid plans start at $24/mo.
Brightcove
Brightcove ticks most of the boxes when it comes to which features are on offer. Support for on-demand video and live streaming is here along with various monetization options. There are also marketing and e-commerce features combined with robust security measures.
The content management system here allows you to add and edit content easily and efficiently. Brightcove’s global CDN allows your content to stream smoothly wherever in the world it is viewed. Third-party CDN compatibility also means you can further customize the platform based on your needs.
Key Features
- Live stream and on-demand functionality
- Intuitive and powerful CMS
- Integrates with CRM and other software
- DRM and access restrictions
- Customizable video player via player management API
Reviews
“Brightcove has an intuitive user interface that allows you to easily upload and manage your video content.”
Price
Pricing is available upon request and depends on your requirements.
Echo360
This video hosting platform is focused primarily on online training. Echo360 prides itself on offering affordable captioning and immersive student learning. As a tutor, the content you add to the platform can be shared with a select number of students via invitations.
This online training video hosting service supports both on-demand and live streaming. It does offer some interactive features like polls and quizzes to help engage your students. One important negative to mention is that there are no monetization options with this platform.
Key Features
- Detailed analytics
- Search through videos for spoken words
- Easy-to-use video management tools
- Browser-based editor
- LMS integration
Reviews
“I use a few of the advanced features at times, but even just sticking with the basics has become a strength of the class.”
Price
Pricing is available upon request depending on your requirements.
Comparison table
Let’s compare our chosen online video course platforms, and see how they hold up against each other.
On demand | Live streaming | Customizable Player | Monetization | Integration options | Starting Price | |
StreamingVideoProvider | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | From $39 |
Dacast | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | From $39 |
Muvi | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | $399/mo + $299 /mo per app + Infra Fees |
Kaltura | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Upon Request |
Panopto | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | Upon Request |
Zype | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | Upon Request |
Wistia | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | Limited | ✔ | $24/mo |
Brightcove | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Upon Request |
Echo360 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | Upon Request |
FAQ
Most of the platforms we’ve covered would be suitable for hosting your business training videos. Echo360 is a platform focused on hosting training courses via invitations. For more control over your content and advanced security, platforms such as StreamingVideoProvider are worth considering.
Any of the previously mentioned video hosting solutions will be a good choice for storing your online courses. Some may offer better security, lower fees, or features that are better suited to your requirements.
StreamingVideoProvider gives you the option to monetize specific playlists of videos. This is ideal for things like online courses where you can bundle similar videos together and sell access to them.
Depending on which platform you choose, you should be able to easily embed your chosen video onto your website. You can also share the link on your social media channels. In some cases, you can sell access directly from the video player which is ideal for those without websites.
As long as your chosen provider supports live streaming, yes. StreamingVideoProvider supports both on-demand video and live streaming. We also allow you to sell access directly from your video player.
As long as you can sell access directly from your player, you don’t need to have your own website. If you do have one, you can easily embed videos by copying and pasting the code generated from your video platform.
Conclusion
You should take your time choosing an educational video hosting provider. Many providers on this list excel in some areas but have downfalls in others.
We hope that, by now, you have a good idea of the best video hosting for online courses. Many of the best video hosting solutions we have mentioned here have trials available so you can get started right away. The best way to know is to jump in and see for yourself!
If you want to try StreamingVideoProvider, you can create a free account here.
References & Further Reading
To learn more about the topics above, visit the links below.
- How To Monetize Your Videos Without Relying On YouTube
- The 5 Video Platforms For Education To Step Up Your Game
- Top ELearning Platforms For A Seamless Online Classroom Experience
- What Is A Video Cms? (And How To Choose One)
- What is a CDN? (Content delivery network)
- YouTube for Marketing: What Marketers Need to Know
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