Top 8 YouTube Live Alternatives; Simple and Enterprise Live Streaming

Simple Live Streaming	Enterprise Live Streaming
You can only do external live streaming, i.e., accessible to the public at large.	You can do both external and internal live streaming.
It supports only basic analytics, such as the number of views, direct engagement, etc.	Whereas enterprise live streaming supports detailed analytics such as geographical heat maps, etc.
Copyright content limitations	No copyright issues. You own your content!
It has limited security options for your sensitive video content.	Robust and secure platforms that allow users to manage their videos.
You would require more than one camera device to stream live on multiple channels. You’ll also need to stream separately.	You can stream multiple live feeds from multiple cameras and show them in one location.
You can’t control where your data is hosted. (GDPR and other compliances may require this)	Allows you to choose where to host data, public or government cloud, or behind your firewall. Choose Microsoft, AWS or any cloud you love.
Lacks at providing scalable live streaming; Only live stream to small audiences.	Provides scalable live streaming; over 10,000 depending on requirements.
Simple live streaming platforms do not support all RTMP, RTSP, and HLS formats.	Enterprise live streaming supports multiple formats.
It doesn’t provide a backup for live streams.	You can set up multiple backup live streams to switch to in case of failures.
It provides limited live streaming time.	It provides unlimited live streaming.

• Panopto

Panopto is a leading YouTube alternative live stream platform for universities. Panopto allows streaming, recording, sharing and video content management. However, its features and accessibility are best focused on educational institutes.

If you are from an educational institute and you are looking tutor your pupils remotely, then Panopto will be the right choice because of its undivided attention to online education. Therefore, they provide vital tools for generating "internal YouTube" and integration with learning management systems.

However, Panopto lacks defined user management roles. For instance, the faculty of a particular college would have to collectively use Panopto for online lectures or buy separate licenses for different colleges.

Each and every teacher within that university’s database will have unrestricted access to each other’s content, thus lacking individual administrative control and privacy.

Pros

• Allows streaming, recording, sharing and video content management.
• Global content delivery through CDNs.
• Analytics.
• Customizable branding.
• White label streaming.
• Integration with learning management systems.
• Deployment Options include AWS and on-premises. Panopto’s marketplace on Azure isn’t updated, and the platform's presence on Microsoft Azure isn’t strong enough.

Cons

• Limited to online education - Panopto’s core focus is only limited to online education.
• User management is limited - Everyone can access your uploaded content; cannot restrict access of irrelevant people.
• No Drone live streaming - Panopto doesn't support streaming of footage from drones.
• No backup live stream option - You can't set up a backup live stream for users to fall back on in case the mainstream fails.

 

• Kaltura

Kaltura is one of the leading live-streaming platform providers in the market and a great alternative of YouTube. However, it is open-source software, and you’ll need IT and development expertise to deploy their solutions successfully.

It runs in two major industries, media and telecom & education, by catering to the companies looking to distribute content or monetize it.

Kaltura provides robust security, detailed analytics, cloud for storage and allows the user to insert quizzes and surveys.

However, it is not recommended for individuals because of its deployment complexity. Let's say you, as an individual, want to do live streaming. To be able to fully utilize Kaltura, you would need to have detailed technical knowledge and an IT team. Unlike other enterprise-level live streaming platforms out there, you won’t get professional services.

Pros:

• Both Internal and External live streaming.
• Robust security, encryption, and access management.
• Available on-premises, or on Azure and AWS cloud, and as SaaS.
• Integration with CMS, LMS, SSO and much more.
• Offers both live and on-demand video streaming.
• Allows you to carry out a live chat, insert quizzes, survey, etc.
• Detailed Analytics.

Cons:

• Advanced technical knowledge is required to fully utilize the potential of Kaltura’s platform.
• Customer service is self-service, and you’ll need to understand detailed documentation yourself, unlike other platforms that may provide you with consultation and professional services as well.

Simpler YouTube Live Alternatives

• Vimeo

Vimeo is a simple video streaming platform that offers live and on-demand video streaming. It allows you to upload content from any media device. Vimeo is a good option for external streaming as an alternative to YouTube streaming. It is an ad-free platform whose focus is to deliver high-definition video across all the devices.

However, if you look at Vimeo’s reviews on Trustpilot; you can see that there are 229 bad reviews out of the total 274 reviews (84% Bad Reviews); Vimeo has issues with its subscription model as it auto-renews the existing with prior consent. Furthermore, it has laid back customer support and does not respond to the queries promptly. There are a couple of other issues as well that include bugs in screen recording, compatibility issues with devices and more.

Nevertheless, Vimeo is priced economically and is a good option for those that want to live stream externally with less adherence to quality, compliance, and security.

Pros:

• Security Options.
• Allows you to upload content from anywhere.
• Monetization.
• Live chat.
• Social media embedding.
• High quality video streaming.
• Economic pricing.

Cons:

• Poor customer support.
• Poor reviews.

Learn more about Vimeo in our blog on its alternatives.

• Brightcove

Brightcove, founded in 2004, is one of the oldest players in the live streaming market and is being fiercely used as a YouTube live alternative. Brightcove is an ad-free live streaming platform that offers various features such as an immersive live video experience in minutes, and allows embedding anywhere your audience is.

Other than that, it offers monetization, global content delivery, you can also transcode your live streaming. However, Brightcove pricing packages are higher and their monetization is only on their custom-priced plans.

So, if you are looking for a suitable YouTube live alternative platform and are willing to pay a higher amount to monetize your live streaming, then Brightcove is one for you.

Pros:

• Offers VOD.
• Robust viewer experience.
• Global content delivery.
• Ad-free.
• Allows monetization.
• Allows transcoding.

Cons:

• High pricing plans.
• Offers monetization but only on their custom-priced plans.

• No China content delivery.

Learn more about Brightcove and its alternatives.

• Dacast

Dacast, founded in 2008, a YouTube alternative, offers video streaming and video management solution. Dacast offers a live streaming solution, with simple on-demand video portals for later viewing. However, the viewing experience for on-demand isn’t as good as YouTube.

It offers global content delivery with no ads embedded interrupting the video. Based on simplistic build up, Dacast has limited use for internal or controlled viewing of live streaming.

In addition, all the users have the same rights and permissions on this platform without any differentiation between users. It does not provide two-way communication between streamers and viewers as it only allows sharing and embedding for video but not an option of feedback and interaction within the video.

Pros:

• Ad-free streaming.
• Live encoding.
• Video streaming analytics.
• Global content delivery.
• Monetization customizable player

Cons:

• Does not provide high-security features solutions like SSO, eCDN, etc.
• No audience engagement.
• No event scheduling.

Learn more about Dacast and alternatives here.

• Muvi

Muvi, is another a great YouTube alternative live streaming platform focused on OOT media. Muvi allows its users to launch their own multi-screen video and audio streaming, live or on-demand. It is a platform that allows users to easily monetize their videos/audios.

Muvi is simple solution that does not require any technical knowledge and is managed by Muvi’s end only, it doesn’t require any coding or development. However, its CMS is complex, not user friendly and it's hard to connect or integrate with other platforms.

But if you are a person with little to no background of coding or development knowledge and are looking for a video on demand (VOD) platform, and audio streaming platform that also offers monetization, then Muvi is your go-to option.

Pros:

• HTML 5 video player.
• Offers VOD (video on demand).
• Allows white-label branding.
• Analytics.
• Monetization.

Cons:

• Difficult to connect or integrate.
• No China video delivery.
• CMS user interface is complex.

 

Other Social Streaming Sites:

Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Instagram Live, and LinkedIn Live - these free social streaming platforms are great for brands and businesses, but they are not feasible regarding long-term solutions for video strategy.

The major downside is that they do not offer customer support. If you are streaming an event and if any issue occurs, you are on your own. Also, streaming is only possible on a platform-by-platform basis; you can go live on a single platform at a time.

If you want to go live on Facebook and Instagram simultaneously, you will need two separate camera devices for that. Alternatively, you can use an application like Restream that allows you to stream on multiple sites from one source.

Conclusion

Now that you have read all the top YouTube live alternatives, you will need to determine which platform aligns best with your brand or organizational strategy. With so many features and YouTube live alternative platforms to consider, it is essential to understand what components you need to evaluate before deciding on one.

If you want a comprehensive customized solution, then enterprise live streaming solutions such as VIDIZMO are go for you! Because VIDIZMO offers flexible deployment options, along with customization according to your organizational or compliance requirements. Also, you can either opt for Kaltura, or Panopto according to your needs.

But if you are looking for a simpler YouTube live alternative where you only stream to the public once, then you can choose Brightcove, Dacast, Vimeo or any other social streaming platform.

Live streaming is just one use case for video, and there can be many others such as on-demand streaming for training and learning, or marketing, or management of recorded Zoom meetings. We have written a detailed guide on video platforms, that include an analysis of vendors across the industry; YouTube and more.