As the world becomes increasingly digital, the demand for high-quality online video hosting platforms continues to rise.
In fact, in 2021, people invested an average of 100 minutes each day watching videos online — and that’s up from 84 minutes in 2019.
Videos have the power to turn prospects into loyal customers, so if you haven’t yet incorporated online videos into your content marketing strategy, now is the perfect time.
As a refresher, here are some video marketing stats:
- 59% of consumers spent a quarter or more of their time on social media watching videos
- 78% of people watch videos online every week, 55% of those watch every day
- 54% of consumers want to see more videos from a brand or business they support
- Consumers retain 95% of a message when obtained via video
- 87% of marketers say video has helped them increase website traffic and 86% generate leads
If you don’t want to use free video hosting sites like YouTube, then this article is for you. With the growing number of secure video hosting services out there, we understand that it might be a bit overwhelming to compare and choose the one that is right for you.
So, we brought it all together, from explaining why secure video hosting is important, to our list of top providers.
If you’re looking to host videos online today, there’s definitely a demand for it. But you need to find the right hosting platform that won’t fail with all that demand.
In this article, we’ll dive into the best secure video hosting platforms for 2023. Whether you’re a small business looking for an easy-to-use solution or a content creator seeking the ultimate in security and control, we’ve got you covered.
What is video hosting?
Video hosting is a digital service that allows you to upload and store your videos or an entire video library on a third-party website. You can also self-host videos or even create your own hosting site, however, we recommend going for an experienced and professional video hosting service to reap a wide range of benefits.
Imagine you took a video on your phone, or a professional camera, and want others to see it. To do that, you’ll need to enlist a hosting service that will allow you to upload your video to your chosen platform. Then, you get a shareable link and can start promoting it online. In some instances, depending on the privacy settings and permissions, your hosting site will let other users see your videos too.
There are plenty of video hosting platforms (often referred to as hosts) which keep your videos on their servers secure and enable easy distribution to your audience. Keep on reading to find out our list the best ones.
Why is secure video hosting more important than ever for businesses?
Whatever the topic of your video is, we’re sure you’d like to protect it from theft or misuse. That’s why it’s important to invest in a secure video hosting platform.
A secure hosting provider will have various security features in place to prevent your online videos from illegal distribution whilst letting you retain full ownership of your content.
Apart from the safety aspect, professional video hosting solutions offer a wide range of other benefits, including better customer support, video monetization tools, customizable HTML5 players, and compatibility with different file formats.
Guess you’re wondering now if it’s worth going for a free solution or a paid one. Let’s explore the limitation of free video hosting solutions.
The limitations of free video hosting solutions
There are a few free video hosting solutions out there, which might seem attractive purely because of the fact that they are free. However, they have a lot of drawbacks, which are particularly noticeable if you’re a professional broadcaster or publisher. Here are a few:
- Security – Free video hosting solutions often cannot guarantee a sufficient layer of security that more established businesses need. This means your video content could be subjected to criminal activity like misuse or theft.
To protect your rights, choose a professional video hosting platform like JW Player, which provides HLS token signing, geo-blocking, 24/7 monitoring, 99.999% uptime, and studio-approved multi-Digital Rights Management (DRM) support. - Storage space and file size limits – Free video hosting sites always have a limit on the size of individual files and the amount of storage space you get. Different free platforms will have different limits.
This can get annoying pretty fast as you’ll be forced to carefully choose the files you want to upload and back up. If you want to live stream your content, you also might be severely limited in terms of how long you can live stream for. With a private video hosting service, however, you’ll be able to stream content for longer. - File format problems – If your free hosting solution doesn’t support all the video file formats for all the browsers, your audience might find issues viewing certain videos. And let’s be honest – we all have a favorite browser…
So you don’t cause frustrations among your viewers, choose a professional video hosting platform which utilizes a variety of video file formats to give everyone access. - Poor content monetization options – When going for a free solution, you don’t have much control over the video monetization methods. You’ll be locked into the one supported by the platform, which means you’ll miss out on opportunities to create a steady revenue stream.
With the right paid video hosting platform, you’ll be able to take advantage of AVOD, TVOD, and SVOD monetization options to turn your videos into a profitable business. - No white-label streaming – When using free video hosting platforms, you’ll be forced to use their branding and won’t have control over the advertisements. Paid platforms have attractive customizable branding options so you can offer a more professional viewing experience.
- Lack of customer support – Free video hosting platforms tend to offer poor customer support. This can leave content creators feeling frustrated as they’ll often have to figure things out on their own, or wait ages for a response.
Professional video hosting platforms have a much more robust customer service to resolve your issues and ensure your video library is in the best hands.
Secure video hosting features
Now, let’s go over the key features to consider when choosing a secure video hosting service.
Encryption and authentication measures
Imagine a platform that offers no encryption or authentication measures.
Not only would your video content be vulnerable to unauthorized access, but it could also be exposed to malicious actors, who could use it to steal or manipulate your data.
So, to ensure your videos are secure, it’s important to choose a hosting platform that offers strong encryption and authentication measures.
One of the most common encryption methods used in video hosting is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). For example, if you’re hosting a webinar on a video platform that uses AES encryption, your video stream will be encrypted during transmission, making it virtually impossible for anyone to intercept and extract the data. This means that no one except those authorized to view the video will be able to access its content.
Besides encryption, your video hosting platform should also offer authentication measures, like password-protected videos and whitelisting of IP addresses.
For instance, if you want to keep your video content private and only accessible to a certain group of users, you can password-protect it and share the password with only those users. It’s like having a virtual lock that only people with the key can open.
Whitelisting IP addresses means you can specify a list of approved IP addresses that are allowed to access your videos; this also helps to prevent unauthorized access or sharing of your content. So let’s say you’re hosting a webinar and you only want people in your office to view it, you can whitelist the office IP address so that only those with access to the office network can view it.
Access controls and user permissions
Another important feature to consider when choosing a secure video hosting platform is access controls and user permissions.
Many (if not most) video hosting platforms offer this feature, so it’s typically not an issue. But it’s still important to make sure that your platform allows you to set different levels of permissions for different users and groups.
For example, you may want to give some people on your team the ability to edit or delete videos, while others only have view-only access — meaning they can only watch the videos, but not edit or delete them.
Data backup and recovery options
“Oh snap! All our video content is gone!”
It’s every video marketer’s worst nightmare. And it can happen when you least expect it, whether because of a security breach, an outage, or just plain old human error.
So important to choose a secure video hosting platform that offers data backup and recovery options. Or one that would, at least, integrate with a third-party backup solution or plugin.
For instance, some platforms offer their own data backup services or API integrations with cloud backup solutions like Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure that allow you to keep multiple copies of your video files in different locations.
So in the event that something goes wrong, you can easily restore your videos and get back up and running quickly.
Compliance with industry regulations
If you’re hosting sensitive or confidential content, this one’s super important for you.
Make sure that your video hosting platform is compliant with the industry regulations that apply to you and the content you’re hosting.
If you’re in the healthcare industry, for instance, complying with HIPAA regulations will be essential for your business. Or if you’re in the finance sector, the platform you choose should comply with FINRA regulations. And of course, if you’re in the European region or your audience is located there, you’ll need a GDPR-compliant video hosting platform.
This doesn’t mean they have to have features that specifically cater to these regulations and certifications, but rather that the platform should have an environment and infrastructure that allow you to comply with them.
Budget and pricing fit
Finally, and this one’s a given, make sure that the video hosting platform you choose fits your budget and pricing needs.
Obviously, not all video hosting platforms are created equal, and not all of them offer the same features. In most cases, you’ll get what you pay for — so make sure to thoroughly read the pricing plans and look out for any additional fees, like bandwidth or storage costs.
Also, take advantage of any available free trial periods or demos to see how the platform works and if it meets your needs. That way, you can make sure you’re making the right choice before committing to it.
The best video hosting platforms for 2023
Here’s a look at some of the top secure video hosting platforms available in 2023.
1. JW Player
JW Player is an end-to-end video platform and solution, boasting 40,000 broadcasters, publishers, educators and other video-driven brands whose business relies on video users. With JW Player, businesses can seamlessly and securely upload, manage and deliver live videos and VOD streams.
You’ll be able to customize your video player with HTML5 or CSS, streamline your video hosting process or workflow with a single content management system (CMS), and use advanced analytics to track viewers’ engagement levels.
There are also some great security and DRM protection features it comes with, like AES-128 encryption, user role management, secure streaming protocols (RTMP/HLS), and IP geofencing abilities.
One standout feature of JW Player, though, is it comes with a 24/7 in-house monitoring network operations center to ensure that your video content is always available and performs at its best. So if you ever need help while setting up, you’ve got it.
Key features in JW Player
- DRM Protection: Ensures that your video content is only accessible to authorized users.
- Cloud Hosting: Allows you to store and access your video content from anywhere with an internet connection.
- 24/7 In-House Monitoring Network Operations Center: Provides 24-hour customer support and ensures your video content is always available and performs at its best.
- Transcoding Functionality: Allows you to easily convert your videos to different formats, making them accessible to a wider audience.
- Outstream Player: Allows you to easily embed your videos on third-party websites and social media platforms.
- HTML5 Video Player: Offers seamless and high-quality playback on all devices.
- Video Player Bidding: Optimizes video ad delivery and increases revenue.
Extra features:
- In-depth real-time analytics capabilities
- OTT apps
- Mobile SDKs
- Multi-CDN approach
Pros:
- Strong security measures, including studio-approved DRM
- Plenty of interactive tools, workflows and analytics
- Great customer support
- Affordable pricing
Cons:
- For small businesses, integrating JW Player might be time-intensive with a steeper learning curve than what they’re accustomed to.
Pricing: JW Player offers a 30-day free trial subscription, which includes full API & SDK access, non-commercial license, and 25GB hosting bandwidth/ 75GB streaming bandwidth. Enterprise plans are available with custom pricing for higher volume storage and streaming to suit unique business needs.
2. Vidyard
Vidyard is an ad-free secure video hosting platform with many features for businesses and organizations.
One feature you get with Vidyard is the ability to personalize and customize your videos for different audiences or an individual. For instance, you can include information like the viewer’s name and company logo in the video to make it more engaging and increase the chances of conversion.
Like most other tools featured here, its viewing permissions allow you to control who has access to your videos. Also, its video analytics feature helps you track your video content’s performance.
Key features in Vidyard
- Viewing Permissions: Controls who has access to your videos.
- Video Analytics: Tracks the performance of your videos.
- Video Playback Customization: Allows you to customize your branding, video thumbnails, and more.
- Browser Extension for Recording: Allows you to screen record videos from your browser.
Pros:
- Complete video security: playback restrictions and single sign-on (SSO)
- Broad range of features, with best use cases for sales and marketing teams
Cons:
- Mixes user experience reviews
Pricing:
Vidyard has three pricing packages:
- Free (for up to 25 videos in your video library)
- Pro ($19/month if billed annually)
- Business ($145/month)
3. Kaltura
Kaltura is a comprehensive video hosting and management platform that gives you access to a wide array of features for creating, managing, and sharing videos online. The platform is particularly suitable for educational institutions and geared towards video teaching, courses and training programs.
With its ability to create transcoding profiles, you can easily optimize your videos for different viewing scenarios like mobile, desktop, and even virtual reality.
Kaltura supports 360° videos; this means you can create truly immersive videos for your audience. For instance, you can create 360° videos for virtual tours, corporate training, and other use cases that require immersive or interactive experiences.
Key features in Kaltura
- Cloud-Based Storage with Customizable Branding: Allows you to store and share your video content while maintaining brand identity.
- Video Analytics: Tracks your videos’ performance .
- Social Media Integration: Allows you to share your videos across multiple platforms.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Strong security measures, including password protection, watermarking and encryption
- AVOD, SVOD and TVOD monetization options
Cons:
- No China delivery
- Must provide own CDN
Pricing: Kaltura has a variety of different packages. It’s best to contact a representative to find out which one is best for your needs.
4. Brightcove
Brightcove is a cloud-based video hosting and management that has customizable branding and flexible player features so you can easily create a unique and professional look for your video content.
You also get security features such as password protection, domain restrictions, and SSL support, to ensure your videos are secure and only accessible to authorized users.
Key features in Brightcove
- Customizable Branding: Allows you to create a unique and professional look for your video content.
- Flexible Player Options: Enables you to customize the look and feel of your video player.
- Security Features: Includes password protection, domain restrictions, and SSL support to ensure secure hosting of your videos and access to authorized users.
- Live Streaming: Allows you to stream live events and reach a wider audience.
- On-Demand Video: Lets you offer video content on-demand for playback at any time.
- API: Provides a range of APIs for integration with other platforms and tools.
Pros:
- Easy to navigate and use
- Dedicated OTT management platforms compatible with different devices
- Configurable user permissions
- Advanced marketing automation integrations
Cons:
- Can be quite complex
- More suitable for enterprises than small businesses
Pricing:
- For pricing options, you need to get in touch with their representative
5. Wistia
Wistia is another popular cloud-based video hosting platform that offers many features for managing and sharing video content.
Wistia is not so much a video hosting platform but a digital marketing solution with secure video hosting capabilities. Wistia offers advanced features like embedding lead capture forms or other CTAs within the video player itself.
From its cloud-based storage, review, and commenting tools, to privacy settings, Wistia offers many features to help you create, manage and share your videos with ease.
You can collaborate and get feedback on your videos. Additionally, Wistia’s media archiving functionality allows you to organize and retrieve your video content.
Key features in Wistia
- Review and Commenting Tools: Allows you to collaborate and get feedback on your video content.
- Find Videos by Titles, Descriptions, and Captions: Makes it easy to locate specific videos in your library.
- Password and Permission Settings: Controls who has access to your videos.
- Media Archiving Functionality: Allows you to organize and retrieve your video content without any hassle.
Pros:
- Ad-free videos
- Customizable embed player
- Custom branding
- CRM integrations
Cons:
- Expensive
Pricing:
- Free plan for one user, customizable video player, basic analytics
- Plus ($24/month) – 20 videos, 3 users, lead capture forms
- Pro ($99/month) – 50 videos, 5 users, video heatmaps
- Advanced ($399/month) – 250 videos, 20 users, marketing integrations
6. Vimeo
Vimeo is a popular video hosting solution for consumers that has features specifically suited for content creators and some businesses and organizations. Features vary depending on the plan; some include video chaptering and SEO, branding, virtual events and webinars (on advanced or enterprise plans)
It comes with templates for video creation, and with its iOS and Android apps, you can create professional-quality videos and access and manage them from any device.
On top of that, Vimeo offers collaboration and video review tools for teams to work together and get feedback on their videos.
Key features in Vimeo
- Templates for Video Creation: Allows you to easily create professional-quality videos without the need for expensive software or specialized skills.
- Available On iOS and Android: Allows you to access and manage your videos from any device.
- Collaboration & Video Review Tools: Makes it easy for teams to work together and get feedback on their videos.
- Password Protection: Controls who has access to your videos.
- Live Streaming: Allows you to share your video content with a wider audience in real-time.
Pros:
- Customizable video player
- Easy to use
- Good security measures including password-protection, two-factor authentication, restricted video access, private links, and SSO
Cons:
- No China delivery
- Prices start to grow as your needs for extra functionalities grow
Pricing:
- Free plan with limited features
- Starter: $9/month
- Standard: $25/month
- Advanced: $65/month
- Enterprise: Custom
7. Brid.TV
Brid.TV is an enterprise-level video platform for secure video hosting, management, streaming, and monetization. It’s got a user-friendly content management system, customizable HTML5 video player, and a variety of features, like in-depth video analytics and branding.
Other features include:
- SDKs for white-label OTT apps
- Ad-based video monetization
- URL tokenization
- AES encryption
- WordPress plugin
Pros:
- Strong industry-standard security features
- Support for a wide array of video formats
- Instream and outstream video ads
Cons:
- Not suitable for small businesses as the platform is geared towards enterprise content creators
Pricing:
- Free
- Essentials ($24.99/month)
- Business ($89.99/month)
- Premium (custom pricing)
8. YouTube Studio
YouTube is the world’s largest free video hosting platform, with millions of users uploading and watching videos every day.
But it has its own limitations for video content creators; for instance, there are customization limitations like the subscribe and playback buttons colors; these buttons are always in YouTube’s brand colors.
That said, YouTube does offer a variety of features that can be useful for content creators, such as video analytics and tools to manage comments and video sharing.
It also gives you unlimited video bandwidth, so you can upload as many videos as you want without worrying about storage or performance issues. Plus, with its wide reach, you can easily share your videos with a global audience.
Key features in YouTube
- Unlimited Video Bandwidth: Allows you to upload as many videos as you desire without storage or performance issues.
- Wide Reach: Enables you to easily share videos with a global audience.
- Ability to Upload in Most Popular Video Formats: Allows you to upload videos in formats such as .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG.
- Layered Privacy Settings: Controls who can see and access your videos.
- Live Video Streaming: Lets you share your video to your audience in real time.
Pricing: Free.
9. AWS Media Services
AWS (Amazon Web Services) Media Services is a cloud-based video hosting and management platform that offers a pay-as-you-go service, so you can easily scale up or down depending on your needs. This also means you won’t be paying for features you don’t need. You can easily upload and store your videos in the cloud and securely share them with customers, partners, or other stakeholders.
And with AWS Media Services security features, you can opt to use keys managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS) or manage your own encryption keys with CloudHSM using FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated HSMs. With all these options available, there’s no excuse for being left unprotected.
Key features in AWS Elemental Media Services
- Cloud-Based Storage with Customizable Branding: Allows you to easily store and share your video content and customize your branding.
- Security Features: Includes SSL encryption and password protection to ensure that your video content is secure and only accessible to authorized users.
- Live Streaming: Lets you share your video content live — so this is especially important if you’re looking for a live streaming platform.
- Video-On-Demand Support (VOD): Allows you to give your viewers on-demand access to recorded video content.
Pricing: Custom pricing, with a free trial available.
10. Dacast
Dacast is a secure video platform, which provides video hosting both for video-on-demand(VOD) and live streams. Video delivery uses a top-tier CDN and is designed for business professionals and enterprise uses. Dacast Broadcaster API automates the process of synchronizing live-streamed content throughout multiple mediums.
You can host, manage, and stream your videos with ease using the platform’s intuitive user interface. And then there’s monetization; you can monetize your content with a range of ad formats, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll.
Key features in Dacast
- Customizable Branding: Allows you to easily customize your videos with your brand colors and fonts.
- Security Features: Includes SSL encryption and password protection to make sure your video is secure and only accessible to authorized users.
- Live Streaming: Allows you to stream your videos live to your audience.
Pros:
- Content security and controls
- Customizable HTML5 video player
- Real-time analytics
- 24/7 customer support
Cons:
- Doesn’t support all transcoders
Pricing:
Dacast offers three pricing tiers:
- Starter Plan ($39/month)
- Event Plan ($63/month)
- Scale Plan ($188/month)
11. MediaPlatform
MediaPlatform is a leading video hosting and management platform that comes with a customizable on-demand video portal and extensive security features, making it easy to securely host, share, and manage your video content.
Key features in MediaPlatform
- Customized On-Demand Video Portal: Allows you to create a professional and branded portal for your video content, with customizable themes, logos, and branding.
- Roles & Permissions: Lets you set different levels of access and permissions for your team and external stakeholders, ensuring that only authorized users can view and interact with your video content.
- Asset Lifecycle Settings: Allows you to set expiration dates and access controls for your video content, so your videos are only accessible for as long as you want them to be.
- Portal Analytics: Provides insights into how your videos are being viewed and interacted with, helping you to optimize your video content strategy.
- Video Libraries: Allows you to organize your video content into different libraries and playlists, which makes it easy for you and your viewers to find and access specific videos.
Pricing: Schedule a demo to reveal pricing.
12. Panopto
Panopto is a comprehensive video hosting and management platform that offers a lot of features suited for universities and organizations. With its single sign-on (SSO) capabilities and customizable viewing permissions, Panopto makes it easy to securely share and manage your videos online.
Key features in Panopto
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Allows you to easily log in and access your video content using your existing login credentials, making it easy for your team to access and share your videos.
- Viewing Permissions At The Library Or Folder Or Individual Recording Level: Gives you complete control over who can view and access your video content by allowing you to set different levels of permissions for different users and groups.
- Enterprise-Level Learning Management Systems (LMSs): Integrates with leading LMSs such as Canvas, Blackboard, and Moodle. This allows you to easily share and manage your video content within your existing LMS.
- Mirrored Storage: Provides an additional layer of security by storing copies of your videos in multiple locations to ensure your content is always available and secure.
- Local/Regional Video Cloud Infrastructure: Offers a range of infrastructure options, including local and regional video cloud storage, to ensure your videos are delivered quickly and efficiently to your audience.
Pricing: Free to $14.99 per user per month, with a free trial available for enterprise users.
Choose a secure video hosting platform for your needs
Ultimately, the best video hosting platform for you will depend on your specific needs and budget.
But with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right platform for your needs — which is why we recommend taking advantage of free trial offers, like the JW Player’s 30-day trial.
Whether you’re looking to host webinars, training videos, or any other type of video content, JW Player has the features you need to succeed. So why wait? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of JW Player today and see for yourself how this powerful video hosting platform can help you take your video content to the next level.
Summary
There are many more platforms to choose from which offer secure video hosting, but we hope our list of the top eight will help you with your decision-making. If you’re still finding the process overwhelming, it’s always worth taking advantage of free trials to check if the platform meets your needs and is easy to use.