Ten Cloud Video Platforms You Should Check Out
Streaming video from a cloud video platform.
How do you get your content to potential viewers if you're a video content provider? You could try to serve your content yourself, but that's a costly undertaking. A better approach is to employ a cloud video platform that stores and serves your content from a network of cloud-based servers.
Which cloud video platform should you use? There are a lot of good ones out there, so let's look at ten that are likely to serve all your needs.
Quick Takeaways
Cloud video platforms store and serve streaming video content from a network of cloud servers
Cloud video platforms are easily scalable, offer large amounts of bandwidth, and handle both live streaming and on-demand video
Ten of the best cloud video platforms include Brightcove, Dacast, IBM Video Streaming, JW Player, Kaltura, Muvi, Panopto, Vdocipher, Vidyard, and Vimeo
Understanding Cloud Video Platforms
Most platforms that provide these services host content in a cloud-based tech stack. Most offer both on-demand and live streaming functionality with broadcast-quality audio and video.
Unlike traditional video streaming platforms, cloud platforms store, manage, and serve content from a network of cloud servers. Broadcasters upload and store their content to the cloud until needed. The cloud provider transcodes the videos into multiple formats that it serves to viewers worldwide, either on-demand or via live streaming.
Using a cloud video platform offers numerous advantages to content providers. The primary benefits include:
Provides ready-to-use infrastructure
Publisher doesn't have to do any maintenance
Easily scalable as viewership changes
Unlimited storage capacity
Large amounts of bandwidth available
Can deliver any type of media content to any device or platform
Can handle both live streaming and on-demand video
Cost-effective. You pay only for the storage and bandwidth you need
Cloud video platforms are also extremely secure. Cloud services employ encryption, DRM protection, watermarking, and other cybersecurity tools to comply with privacy regulations. Many content providers choose cloud providers for their security alone.
The Ten Best Cloud Video Platforms Today
Here are ten of the best available if you need to choose a cloud video platform for your video content.
Brightcove
Brightcove offers an enterprise-level streaming platform that is targeted at marketing and advertising companies and provides high levels of reliability, scalability, and security. Brightcove offers both on-demand and live streaming that integrates into clients' applications and websites.
Dacast
Dacast is a flexible end-to-end enterprise-level video streaming platform. It offers a full-service solution for businesses, religious organizations, and government entities. Their fully customizable solutions for live streaming and video hosting start at just $39 per month.
IBM Video Streaming
IBM Video Streaming offers cloud-based AI-powered live streaming and video-on-demand services. It targets businesses that use video for advertising, education, and in-house purposes. IBM Video Streaming includes video hosting, transcoding, multi-CDN support, and detailed analytics. Pricing runs from $99 per month to $999 per month—and beyond for custom solutions.
JW Player
JW Player is an affordable yet highly-rated cloud streaming solution designed especially for small and medium-sized businesses. It provides both live streaming and video on demand along with monetization and yield optimization. Pricing starts as low as $10 per month.
Kaltura
Kaltura is an open-source streaming platform designed specifically for educational institutions, community groups, and businesses. It offers both live streaming and video on demand and is one of the top cloud streaming platforms for virtual learning. Pricing depends on the type of organization and bandwidth required.
Muvi
Muvi is a cloud-based video streaming and OTT platform. It's one of the few services discussed here that offers white label broadcasting services, perfect for companies that want to launch their own OTT streaming services. Muvi also targets sports, education, religious, and government organizations with live streaming and video-on-demand capabilities. Pricing runs from $399 per month upward.
Panopto
Panopto is a cloud streaming service designed specifically for universities and businesses offering online learning. In addition to its live streaming and video-on-demand services, Panopto also offers lecture capture and video search functionality. Prices range from a free individual plan to more expensive enterprise subscriptions.
Vdocipher
Vdocipher is a secure cloud streaming platform that includes video hosting and an encrypted HTML5 player that you can integrate with your app or website. The service is scalable and incorporates various licensing, watermarking, and DRM encrypted streaming technologies to protect business IP. Pricing starts at $149 per year. More expensive plans offer additional storage and bandwidth.
Vidyard
Vidyard is a cloud streaming service that emphasizes video SEO, sales, and advanced analytics. The company targets professionals in education, finance, real estate, and other industries. A free version for individuals is available; pro versions start at $15 per month and higher.
Vimeo
Vimeo is one of the most popular cloud streaming solutions among professionals today. It offers video hosting and live streaming with privacy controls, analytics, screen recording, and customizations. Pricing ranges from $7 per month to $75 per month.
What to Look for in a Cloud Video Platform
What should you look for when you're choosing a cloud video platform? Here are the most important features and functions:
Analytics. Robust reporting and analytics for key metrics such as total views, average watch time, browser/device used, location, and the like.
Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN is a geographically distributed network of video servers to speed up video play start times and minimize rebuffering and loading times.
Reliability. How reliable is the video stream? Viewers will not accept large amounts of rebuffering, slow start times, and other playback issues.
Security. All content and customer data needs to be kept secure from unauthorized use. Playback should be limited to known, authorized users/devices.
Support. Real-time technical support is essential, as is detailed documentation.
Transcoding. It's important to be able to render video content in multiple formats and bitrates for universal device compatibility.
Usability. How easy is the platform to use? You want something that your staff can quickly learn and viewers can easily use.
Ultimately, you want a cloud video provider that delivers a superior customer experience while providing the support, security, and services you need. Pick one that meets all these needs and works best with the content you serve.
Let Penthera Help You Optimize Your Video Content Delivery
The experts at Penthera are dedicated to improving the streaming video experience.
Our first-class streaming solutions eliminate last-mile issues such as rebuffering and startup failure, while Penthera Download lets you offer reliable mobile downloading to your viewers. All of our solutions work with all major cloud video platforms. There's a reason why clients such as Paramount+ and Showtime embrace our solutions, and they are currently deployed on more than 100 million devices in 36 countries—we make the streaming video experience better and more reliable.
Contact us today to learn more about optimizing the streaming video experience.
