YouTube is the king of online video. The brand is so well-known that well-nigh people aren't even aware that alternatives exist. Nonetheless, other video sites are actually meliorate than YouTube in some ways. Like Vimeo, for example.

Vimeo has grown massively over the last decade, and has go YouTube'southward closest competitor. Vimeo may have a smaller userbase than YouTube, simply when comparison Vimeo vs. YouTube, it can exist argued that Vimeo is better than YouTube in some ways.

In this article, we outline the reasons to host videos on Vimeo over YouTube.

1. Vimeo Offers Better Encoding and Video Quality

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YouTube's mantra is quantity over quality. Users upload more than 500 hours of footage to YouTube every single infinitesimal. And YouTube needs to process all of these videos before they tin can become live. In guild to handle that kind of load, YouTube must residue compression speed with compression quality.

On the other mitt, Vimeo'due south mantra is quality over quantity. Considering Vimeo has stricter guidelines for acceptable videos, its processing load is far lighter than YouTube's. And that means it can focus more on maximizing the quality of each video using better encoding techniques.

If you upload the same video to both YouTube and Vimeo at the same resolution, the Vimeo version will look a lot better because it will have a much higher bitrate.

2. Vimeo Offers Greater Prestige

Take a second to inquire yourself what comes to mind when someone says "YouTube video." So consider what comes to mind when someone says "Vimeo video." If you lot have experience with both sites, then your perception of each brand will be radically different.

YouTube is basically a video dump. You can upload anything you want as long equally information technology isn't sexually explicit, gory, excessively violent, etc. No one volition terminate y'all if you lot want to upload low-quality content that's pointless or spammy, whereas Vimeo is very strict about what it allows.

This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, this limits the kinds of channels yous can run on Vimeo (for instance, y'all won't find any gaming-related content beyond documentaries). All the same, almost people perceive Vimeo videos every bit more professional person than YouTube videos. In other words, if your output fits into 1 of Vimeo's video niches, then being on Vimeo ways something. Information technology's certainly more prestigious than beingness on YouTube.

This is why Vimeo is home to some of the best brusk films you can watch online. Whereas YouTube is biased towards channels that produce a lot of content, Vimeo is biased towards creators who put a lot of piece of work into each video. Quality, not quantity.

And don't forget about Staff Picks. Vimeo loves to curate high-quality content, and existence selected equally a Staff Option is a respected bluecoat of honor—many careers were launched later on being discovered past curators on Vimeo.

3. Vimeo Has a More Sophisticated Audience

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Considering Vimeo limits the kind of videos that can be uploaded and is seen as a more than prestigious site than YouTube, it attracts a different sort of audience.

So fifty-fifty though YouTube has more than accomplish than Vimeo, each of your Vimeo viewers is more likely to engage more deeply with your content. YouTube's audience is i of low attention spans, lots of distractions, and a penchant for rapid-burn viewing, whereas Vimeo viewers are more receptive to slower and more thoughtful content. Viewers' expectations are different.

This is made well-nigh evident when you compare the comments sections of both sites. YouTube is infamous for its terrible commenting atmosphere—it'south tough to detect a comment that isn't from a die-hard fanboy, a dice-difficult hater, or someone who's trying too hard to be funny.

It's a completely dissimilar story on Vimeo, where commenters tend to be more effective, mature, and insightful. As a creator, this can be quite refreshing.

4. Vimeo Offers Greater Artistic Liberty

In that location are two aspects of YouTube that can bear witness frustrating for those who desire to create certain kinds of artistic content. Leading to videos disappearing for no reason.

The rules for sexual content are inconsistent on YouTube. You lot can find explicit videos on YouTube that have been upward for many years, still videos that are merely suggestive can be taken downward for beingness overly sexual. What if you've made a mature music video? YouTube might take it downwardly, but Vimeo welcomes information technology as long every bit it has artistic value.

Music is some other big issue on YouTube. In particular, the content ID system that automatically scans each upload for copyrighted tracks and silences anything it deems equally a violation. The arrangement is too aggressive and operates according to a "silence first, fix afterwards" policy. Even if you're authorized to use a certain track, y'all'll have to jump through hoops to restore audio. Not then with Vimeo.

5. Vimeo Boasts Unique Features and Customizations

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If you don't intendance about any of the above, then here are a scattering of practical advantages to using Vimeo over YouTube. In terms of features and flexibility, Vimeo beats YouTube in several ways.

  • Supercede video merely keep URL: This is i of Vimeo'due south best features. Y'all can replace any of your existing videos with a new upload without losing its URL, thus keeping all of the likes, comments, stats, and not breaking whatever embeds that may exist on third-political party sites.
  • Password protection: You tin set a countersign on whatsoever video so that simply those with the countersign can view information technology. YouTube doesn't have this feature, only allowing videos to be Public, Private, or Unlisted.
  • Domain-restricted embeds: Vimeo lets you set which domains are immune to embed your videos, and you tin do this on a per-video ground. This way, you lot can hibernate your videos on the Vimeo site itself and only brand them viewable on your site.
  • Spider web player branding: Vimeo lets you alter the appearance of its HTML5 spider web player past inserting your own logo and branding, which is great when embedding videos on your site, whereas embedded YouTube videos always look the same and end with that unsightly suggestions page.
  • Advanced analytics: Depending on your subscription level, you tin can become various levels of analytics, starting with a traffic dashboard and custom reports, going all the style to engagement graphs and Google Analytics integration.
  • Make money with pay-per-view: Vimeo On Demand lets you lot create dedicated VOD pages where viewers can pay to spotter videos. Yous tin sell worldwide or only in certain countries, and you keep ninety percent of the revenue. This is a user-friendly manner to make coin from your work without employing ads.
  • Plus, Pro, Business, Premium plans: Unlike YouTube, Vimeo is funded by its customs rather than advertisers. You lot Can use Vimeo for free, only free accounts are limited to 500MB of uploads per week. Vimeo Plus costs $7/month, Pro costs $20/month, Business is $50/month, and the superlative-tier Vimeo Premium is $75/month.

Are You lot Going to Starting time Hosting Videos on Vimeo?

To be clear, Vimeo is not e'er the right choice when comparison Vimeo vs. YouTube. If you need to maximize total reach, create content not in line with Vimeo's niche, or avert paying to lift restrictions, YouTube might be a better fit for you than Vimeo.

However, if you're going to focus on short films, documentaries, music videos, interviews, journalism, or travel, so Vimeo will serve yous much better. You may get fewer views than if yous had used YouTube, merely yous'll become significantly more than engagement out of each of those views.

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About The Writer

Dan Price (1604 Articles Published)

Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Managing director since July 2020. Reach out to him for inquires about sponsored content, chapter agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. Yous can also detect him roaming the prove flooring at CES in Las Vegas every year, say how-do-you-do if you're going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.

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