July 12, 2023
Top 8 live streaming video platforms for 2023
We have listed the top 8 live streaming video platforms (Dailymotion, Vimeo, JW Player, YouTube Live, Brightcove, Kaltura, Panopto, Restream) based on their features and pricing. Compare the best live-streaming video platforms to see which one fits your needs the most.
Live streaming video platforms compared
Ever since the Pandemic started, our lifestyle has shifted from contact to untact. It has changed our life dramatically from the way we work to the way we consume content. We are more used to working with coworkers via video chatting and watching a live event online now than ever before.
In this sense, it’s not surprising to see the growth of live streaming consumption. In 2020, users worldwide spent more than 480 billion hours watching live-streaming content on mobile apps reaching 550 billion hours watched in 2021.1 As consumption grows, the video streaming market size is also projected to reach USD 321 Billion by 2030.2
Using live-streaming technology seems to be inevitable for companies and organizations. If you are new to this searching for more information and reviewing the live streaming platforms to adopt for your company, you’re welcome. We will walk you through finding the best live-streaming video platform that fits your needs.
Dailymotion: an unrestricted platform for live-streaming
Dailymotion live streaming platform is perfect for seamless live streaming for any industry. Dailymotion Player allows you to create a primary and a secondary live stream to prevent a broadcast issue and have a backup stream for a seamless viewing experience. It also provides HTML5 cross-device player that supports adaptive streaming to live stream 24/7 in HD.
The platform is extremely easy to use (only takes a minute to set up) but the most distinctive feature from other platforms is that it provides up to 24/7 live streaming support to avoid any issues during your live streaming. Since you don’t know what will happen during your live streaming, it’s critical to have maximum support from the solution provider especially when you are not experienced enough to handle live streaming on your own.
Features
- Public and private broadcasting
- HLS adaptive live streaming
- RESTful APIs for creation, management, and customization
- Live analytics and monitoring in real-time
- Live embedding control
- Dedicated 24/7 support*
- Back-up live stream
- Unlimited live streams and live concurrent viewers*
- Live to VOD auto-recording
- Live video exposure to Dailymotion’s 400M monthly active users
- Customization of the player for branding
- Ad-free live stream or ad-supported live stream to meet needs
*It depends on the plan you are choosing
Pricing
Dailymotion for Enterprise pricing starts from 500 euro per month billed annually. Organizations that use video monetization and have a sizable audience can also consider an ad-supported pricing model to share their advertising revenue with Dailymotion.
Vimeo
Vimeo is a popular video platform for creators and small business owners which is easily accessible and manageable for beginners. Vimeo’s ad-free, full HD, adaptive live streaming technology allows users to easily add branding and graphics. Its live streaming features give users control and help to engage with audiences.
Features
- Affordable plans for basic live features
- Easy to use UI/UX
- Live events & webinar features such as Live Q&A, attendee registration, branded invite
- Real-time stream health
- Marketing integrations
- Backup streams*
- Email, chat, phone* support
- Simulcasting to social and apps or RTMP
*It depends on the plan you are choosing
Pricing
Vimeo offers 4 types of pricing plans; however, only Advanced and Enterprise plans support live streaming features.
- Starter: Live streaming feature is not included.
- Standard: Live streaming feature is not included.
- Advanced: $65 per seat/month when billed annually. It includes 500 videos per month. For live streaming, it offers virtual events & webinars, live Q&A, polls, chats, attendee registration, branded invite & reminder emails, real-time stream health, and marketing integrations.
- Enterprise: It includes everything in Advanced and additional security, control, and support such as custom permissions, moderate live Q&A, and backup streams.
JW player
If you’re media brands that have a substantial size of audience, JW Player might be able to help you. JW player’s end-to-end platform is simple to go live from anywhere to any device supporting both events live streaming and broadcasting live streaming. JW player also supports in-stream advertising to achieve your monetization goals.
Features
- HLS adaptive live streaming
- Multi-bitrate transcoding
- Simulcast to Facebook Live
- Real-time analytics
- 12-hour event streams & 24/7 and event-based streaming
- Full event DVR & Instant live-to-VOD content
- Accurate clipping and stitching
- DRM protection on/off
- Monetization support
- 24/7 in-house support, 365 days out of the year
Pricing
JW player has two pricing plans: Starter and Enterprise. You can try the “30-day free trial” before subscribing to paid plans.
- Starter: Live streaming feature is not included.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing. All features are included, but you need to contact JW player to check the price.
YouTube Live
One of the most widespread, free live-streaming platforms is YouTube Live. YouTube Live is the best for creators and individuals who want to reach their community in real-time. Just like YouTube channel management, YouTube Live is extremely easy to use even for beginners, allowing creators to live stream via webcam, mobile, and encoder streaming. For better engagement, YouTube not only provides live chat but also live chat moderation tools to help prevent harassment. Creators can also monetize their live stream by enabling Ads, Super Chat and Super Stickers, and Channel Membership.
Features
- Live to highlight VODs
- Real-time performance data
- DVR (Digital Video Recording) to pause, rewind, and continue watching livestream
- Trailer showcase before the live event
- Live stream monetization: Ads, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Channel membership
- Live chat moderation features
Pricing
YouTube Live is free to use. However, you should have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers to stream live from a mobile.
Brightcove
Are you looking for a scalable live-streaming platform? Brightcove covers a diverse range of industries from niche trade shows to global sporting events and CEO-led town halls. To drive revenues, you can also combine live video and ad-supported content into one continuous stream. Interactive features and real-time analytics are also available to help you increase engagement.
Features
- Stream live to social
- Server-side ad insertion (SSAI)
- Live content into on-demand video
- Instant replay with cloud DVR
- DRM-encrypted live streaming
- Interactive features such as polls, quizzes, shopping carts, personalization, chapters, links
- Real-time data
Pricing
Brightcove’s pricing is only available through direct contact.
Kaltura
Kaltura provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions to thousands of organizations around the world from corporates to institutions. Kaltura is known for its unparalleled flexibility, modularity, extendibility, and ease of integration, though, there’s a chance it can be complicated for beginners with a basic understanding of technology.
Features
- Fully SaaS live platform without installation or maintenance
- 24/7 channels and live events
- Play on any device
- Geo-redundancy and in-data-center redundancy to avoid any interruptions
- Instant provisioning without delays
- Live recording and live to VOD
- DVR window to seek back through the live events
Pricing
Pricing is currently not available from the Kaltura website. You have to contact Kaltura’s sales team to get a quote.
Panopto
If you are in higher education markets, you might have heard of Panopto. Panopto is the leading video platform primarily for universities and enterprise businesses. Panopto provides secure one-click webcasting for anyone in your organization to live stream video easily. With Panopto, no more live streaming server setup, configuration of expensive encoders, or worrying about bogging down your network.
Features
- Professional quality live stream
- Access restriction for “private” viewing a secure live stream
- Live DVR: Automatic live stream recording for playback
- Live stream to VOD automatically to your video library
- Live stream editing from an online video editor
- Automatic indexing for search
- RTMP live captioning to deliver live video messages in clarity
- Interactive features: sharing notes, comments, Q&A
- Live broadcast streaming on mobile devices
- Minute-by-minute live video analytics & live broadcast monitoring in real time
- Customization of the virtual waiting room
Pricing
Pricing is currently not available from the Panopto website. You have to contact Panopto’s sales team to get a quote
Restream
Most creators, corporates, and media companies have more than one channel across platforms. If you run your channel on more than one platform, Restream will help you reach a wider audience by live streaming to 30+ multiple platforms simultaneously. Restream also allows you to stream your recorded videos live and engage viewers in a multi-chat.
Restream is already integrated with Dailymotion. If you are using Dailymotion player, you can easily benefit from Restream’s advanced multistreaming technology.
Features
- Multistreaming to 30+ social platforms
- Fallback to backup your streams
- Amplifier to stream reliably
- Monitoring to track bitrate, FPS, and frame drops
- Metadata updates in a single place
- Automatic alerts set up for Twitter, Discord, and Facebook
- Show hosting to interview stream participants
- Recorded videos into live streams
- Streaming chats in one place
Pricing
- Basic: Free, with 2 platforms for multi-streaming.
- Standard: US$19/month, inclusive of everything in the Basic plan, increased storage, and upload limit, and added services, such as 5 platforms for multi-streaming and 6 hours of recording
- Professional: US$49/month, with everything in the Standard plan, increased storage and upload limit, and added services, such as 8 platforms for multi-streaming, 10 hours of recording, streaming pre-recorded videos, and full HD streams.
Conclusion
As live streaming is becoming a rising content format, it’s not an option, but a necessity to adopt it. Now that we’ve given all the information above, you can compare the platforms and choose the right one that matches your needs, based on your budget, goals, and the level of your knowledge.
With the right live streaming platform for your needs, live streaming shouldn’t be a tricky task to do. Even if you’re a beginner in video technology, there are many platforms that you can easily test out without much knowledge and without even paying for it for 30 days as you can see above.
If you are still unsure what’s the best platform for you, our teams of experts are always happy to consult with you to help with your decision. We have more than 18 years of knowledge in the video industry, so don’t hesitate to contact us and jump in on a quick call with us!