The world of live streaming platforms is booming and we can’t deny the rapid growth and demand of the platforms since years. The professional-grade broadcasting tool of live streaming is getting updated regularly by the providers but it is quite a task in itself to get the solution provider that suits your needs. Many providers are catching the streaming game and making it a challenge to choose the best platform to get your content streamed live. We have brought the top 5 list of live streaming platform providers. The list will make it an easy task for you to choose which suits the best for your needs.
What Is A Live Streaming Platform?
Live streaming platforms are fundamentally the video hosting solutions that leverage users to upload and broadcast video content available to a vast audience. Different businesses use streaming platforms to share video content to increase brand awareness, advertise, lead generation, and provide access to video streaming platforms to their set of audience. When hassle to choose which platforms are the best, getting insight and a quick comparison to get the best live streaming solutions to your platforms. The top of all the live streaming platforms are listed below:
Kaltura
Kaltura with its video management foundation offers a great platform for live streaming needs. The company works mainly with educational institutions. Although the software provided by Kaltura is free it needs an infrastructure of servers to host and distribute content. The platforms provide their community of users to share and create infinite integration and add-ons. With a whole lot of features, the platform can be a little confusing for the users.
Pros of Kaltura
- Enriched with many features
- Different monetization options
- Sufficient security
Cons of Kaltura
- Complex in use
- No smartphone support
Dacast
Dacast works with self-service and fully-featured solutions for both live streaming and video-on-demand hosting services. The platform helps companies around the world and help them in monetizing their content efficiently
It is amongst the market leader in providing secured video hosting and live streaming solutions. Users can upload videos on their website while having cent percent control over the content. Amongst other features, it also offers referred restrictions, password protection, an analytics dashboard, and an integrated paywall.
Pros of Dacast
- Live streaming and VOD (video on demand) are provided in all plans
- White label solution for your platform
- Wider monetization options (SVOD, TVOD, and AVO)
- Different pricing plans
- Unlimited live channels
- M3U8 media links and mobile device support
Cons of Dacast
- Demands a little of a learning curve
Brightcove
Brightcove, a Boston-based company was founded in 2004, one of the oldest online video platforms. It encompasses everything around live streaming cloud encoding, and video on demand (VOD) hosting. The platform provides a good space for businesses that are aiming for leads. It offers several modular products that include a lift video player, lives for streaming content, video cloud hosting, Zencoder for transcoding, and a tool for monetization of the video content.
Pros of Brightcove
- CRM integration
- Reliable analytics
- Provides custom video portals
Cons of Brightcove
- Limited monetization to the custom priced plans
- High pricing
- No live streaming for plans under $499/month
IBM Cloud Video
Formally known as UStream, IBM Cloud Video was founded in 2007 to connect military members to their families. The company UStream was later on purchased by IBM in 2016.
The company primarily is a live streaming platform. However, it also works with Video On Demand (VOD) files. The platform provides basic streaming for free with advertising supporting cloud videos. Paid accounts get access to the removal of all those advertisements and grant access to some additional features. Enterprise account allows custom branding, content syndication, live channels, and so on. The platform offers phone support for enterprise and pro users and forum-based support for all free users.
It provides both enterprise and customer-grade streaming solutions. Their online video platform has a solution for live coverage of an event, video marketing, and more for the customers.
Pros of Brightcove
- Wide range of available features for broadcasters
- Reliable platform
- Suitable to the needs of larger clients
- Quick customer support
Cons of Brightcove
- Additional charges to stream with and above 720p resolution
Vimeo Livestream
Vimeo provides both video hosting and streaming service. The functionality of the platform includes video management, analytics, privacy control, and so on. To access the live streaming functionality at its basic, the user must purchase a premium plan.
It offers a large range of hardware and software for streaming live and this is the point that makes it apart from the rest of the platforms.
Pros of Vimeo Livestream
- No ads
- Professional appearance
- Unlimited events and viewers
- Detailed analytics
- Pay per view option
Cons of Vimeo Livestream
- Generates less traffic than other sites
Other than these platforms, there are a number of platforms that are providing a white-label solution for online video streaming platform. One can choose any of them according to the needs that they want to fulfill and the features that they specifically require for their online video platforms.
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