Youtube is still the most popular platform – bigger than every other website, except for Google. It has over 2.7 billion logged-in monthly users. On average, each user spends 20 minutes and 23 seconds per day on the site.
Despite these exceptionally impressive figures, the video-sharing platform is not flawless. In fact, it has several disadvantages, which start with excessive ads and censorship, then expand to strict video monetization policies, data collection controversies, and vague terms & conditions.
In recent years, YouTube has faced controversies due to its centralized nature. There have been instances where content restrictions and the blocking of prominent channels occurred without clear justification.
No wonder users are looking for other video-sharing and streaming services. Although YouTube doesn’t have any strong competitors yet, there are dozens of useful alternatives that offer high-quality content.
Below, we have listed some of the best YouTube alternatives for people who want to explore more.
Did you know?
The Netherlands leads in YouTube usage with a penetration rate of 94.9%. In contrast, the USA’s YouTube penetration is 79.3%, and the global penetration rate is 37.6%.
Table of Contents
13. Rumble
Drawback: Less transparent policies compared to those of larger platforms
Initial release: October 2013
Rumble is one of the fast-growing video platforms that empower content creators by offering multiple monetization options. Creators can participate in the Rumble Partner Program to generate income from their videos.
The platform focuses on free speech. It aims to be more favorable to content creators who may have faced challenges or restrictions on other platforms.
In terms of content diversity, Rumble supports a wide range of video categories, spanning from science and finance to gaming and entertainment. It also holds exclusive rights to the online streaming of the Republican presidential primary debates.
12. Internet Archive’s Movies
Drawback: Website UI looks outdated, and most videos are old
Initial release: May 1996
Internet Archive provides free access to millions of movies and music videos. Although anyone can download and upload videos to its data cluster, most of its content is collected automatically by its web crawlers, which is designed to preserve as much public data as possible.
Most of its contents are distributed under Creative Commons licenses. You can sort items by year, topic, creator, and language. It contains millions of images, songs, news programs, and microfilms, as well as open educational resources from universities in the US and China.
11. PeerTube
Drawback: Complicated installation process
Initial release: October 2018
If YouTube is removing your videos or blocking content in your country, you can try the open-source and add-free option: PeerTube. It uses peer-to-peer technology to decrease the load on individual servers when watching videos.
Each PeerTube instance is independent of others in terms of rules, features, and appearance. All instances provide a website to browse and watch content. Online users act as relay points that transfer chunks of videos to other users.
According to its developers, PeerTube is not meant to replace major centralized websites like YouTube and Dailymotion. Instead, it’s a network of inter-connected small video hosters. And since it’s an open-source platform, anyone can contribute to the code.
10. StoryFire
Drawback: A maximum of 16 characters are allowed in a story
Initial release: July 2019
StoryFire is a creative and entertaining platform where users can share their stories and upload videos while growing a massive fanbase. Each story needs to have a minimum of 10 lines of dialogue. It’s your story, so you can give any structure you want.
The content you post goes to your subscribers, just like Twitter and Instagram. If it is promoted as a recent or top story, it will go to everybody. You can also follow your friends to see what kinds of stories they are writing.
Another feature of StoryFire is its virtual currency, “Blaze.” You earn it whenever your story gets viewed, upvoted, or shared with other users. You can spend Blaze on promoting your stories or unlocking/viewing other users’ content.
9. LBRY
Drawback: Search feature isn’t up to the mark
Initial release: 2019
Instead of just videos, LBRY hosts all types of digital content, including games, movies, books, and pictures. It is specifically designed for privacy-conscious content producers and geeks.
LBRY is both a decentralized protocol and a service. The protocol provides an infrastructure to run a blockchain-based peer-to-peer network where users can freely share, download, and purchase content. The service enables users to browse, host, and upload various types of content, with a seamless experience.
Unlike YouTube, LBRY allows content creators and viewers to interact without the risk of demonetization or meddling. Copyright protection is ensured via the public ledger, where every download and upload is traced.
This is all made possible by the blockchain technology developed by the founder of Bitcoin.
8. Patreon
Plus point: Continous crowdfunding for content creatorsPatreon has entered the chat Starting today, we’re rolling out access to community chats: a new space designed for creators and fans to discuss the work they love, share their opinions, and get to know each other. Check out all the details https://t.co/7viIPS9jn2 pic.twitter.com/XiA7mXXZdT
— Patreon (@Patreon) September 7, 2023
Drawback: No built-in promotional tools
Initial release: May 2013
Patreon is a crowdfunding website aimed at a specific audience. It is used by musicians, podcasters, webcomic artists, YouTubers, educators, and other categories of creators who publish regularly online. The platform is not for beginners, as it won’t help you in building the audience.
It is different than other platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where creators receive a one-time payment for their work. Patreon allows creators to receive a monthly income by providing exclusive content and perks to their subscribers (patrons).
Patreon doesn’t use algorithms to detect potentially inappropriate content; instead, it has a team for monitoring users and investigating complaints of Terms of Service violations.
7. TED
Drawback: Users can’t upload their own educational video
Initial release: June 2006 (online platform)
TED (short for Technology, Entertainment, Design) posts inspirational and educational talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading.” It addresses a broad range of topics, from scientific and academic fields to political and cultural fields.
Speakers present their ideas in engaging and innovative ways, often through storytelling. Past speakers include Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and many Nobel Prize winners.
The best thing about this platform is there is something for everyone. Whether you want to increase your knowledge, learn something new, or just want to have a laugh, TED talks have got you covered. As of 2020, more than 3,500 TED talks are freely available on the website. You can browse videos by duration, language, and topics ranging from science and technology to global issues.
6. BitChute
Drawback: Hosts several inaccurate and hate-fueled content
Initial release: January 2017
BitChute is an uncensored version of YouTube with a focus on undeniable free speech. It was built to allow publishers to avoid content rules enforcement on YouTube. Many creators who had their channels demonetized or deleted have shifted to BitChuite.
Since YouTube started restricting the monetization and visibility of politically vocal channels, BitChute has gained a lot of political content in recent years.
The platform is becoming famous for accommodating far-right groups and conspiracy theorists. As per the Southern Poverty Law Center, the website hosts “hate-fueled material.”
BitChute is completely ad-free; however, users can send payments to publishers directly. The company has also stated that it uses decentralized hosting, which means users don’t have to abide by the rules and regulations instructed by a single powerful organization.
5. DTube
Drawback: Monetization policy is quite complex
Initial release: July 2016
DTube (stands for decentralized tube) is a blockchain-based video platform where contents are stored on IPFS, a peer-to-peer storage protocol. Because of its decentralized nature, DTube can neither censor videos nor enforce guidelines. Only users can censor content through the power of their upvotes and downvotes.
The platform is completely ad-free. However, users can earn Steem Dollars (cryptocurrency for the Steem blockchain) by uploading their own work or by liking or commenting on others’ videos.
That’s the unique part of DTube: both content creators and viewers can earn money by participating actively. It has a strong community, with many publishers working on the same projects and sharing each other’s creations.
The only major drawback is that you can only monetize your videos for the first seven days. After that, you will never get a penny off your content. And once you have uploaded the video, you can’t take it down.
4. Dailymotion
Drawback: Maximum 1-hour long videos can be uploaded
Initial release: March 2005
Dailymotion hosts a broad range of content, from political debates and sports competitions to music festivals and gaming live-streams. Publishers can use the platform’s technology, resources, and visibility to inspire, inform, and entertain viewers.
Dailymotion features a straightforward and quick video player, offering options for adjusting resolution and playback speed, along with support for subtitles. If you’re unable to locate a video on YouTube, there’s a high probability you’ll find it on Dailymotion.
It attracts about 300 million users across the world, who watch 3.5 billion videos every month. It is available in 25 languages and over 40 localized versions featuring local frontpages and local content.
3. Facebook Watch
Drawback: Mid-roll ads are annoying
Initial release: August 2017
Facebook Watch combines aspects of Facebook’s video-sharing functionality with premium content. It includes original drama, comedy, and news programming. Publishers can also upload their own short- and long-form videos and earn 55% of advertising reviews (the company keeps 45%).
Facebook Watch distributes content licensed from other organizations, as well as original programming. The site has also licensed music videos and content from individual creators like Brandi Guice and Benito Skinner.
The service can be accessed from the Facebook website and apps. It is quite similar to Instagram TV, which is Instagram’s entry into the YouTube-dominated field of user-created videos. It shows content based on their popularity or social media engagement. You will also get personalized recommendations for videos to watch.
Facebook Watch attracts over 2 billion users per month, and about 74% of Facebook In-Stream non-skippable video ads are watched in full.
2. Twitch
Plus point: Free games and bonus items for subscribers, great UIWe’ll share ours if you share yours. Here, we’ll go first #TwitchRecap pic.twitter.com/RHYgQIndl2
— Twitch (@Twitch) December 11, 2023
Drawback: Can be a real time-waster
Initial release: June 2011
Twitch is the most popular platform where live streamers broadcast their video game sessions and different kinds of creative content. It includes personal streams of individual players, gaming-related talk shows, and esports tournaments.
It’s an Amazon-owned service available on multiple platforms, including mobile, desktop, browser, and set-top boxes. Although its app is easy to use, basic account holders have to deal with some annoying ads in the middle of live streams.
The site is often used for video game tutorials: thousands of learners can interact with each other and the instructor in real time. Some people use Twitch to learn software development by streaming programming projects and discussing their work.
How popular is Twitch? It has 31 million average daily visitors, and over 7.5 million streamers go live every month. More than half of its users fall within the 18 to 34 age group.
In short, it’s an excellent alternative to YouTube Gaming.
1. Vimeo
Plus point: Ad-free, high-quality contentDrawback: Expensive for creators
Initial release: November 2004
Vimeo is perhaps the best alternative to YouTube. It is best suited for users who prefer high-quality content over silly trending videos. It mostly contains animations, short films, in-depth journalism, and informative pieces.
The platform works on an ad-free model. It derives revenue by offering subscription plans to publishers and by providing Saas (software as a service) with video editing and broadcasting tools. Currently, it has more than 175 million creators worldwide.
For content creators on Vimeo, there’s an option to upload up to 3 videos for free. To expand this limit to 60 videos, a subscription of $12 per month is required. For those aiming to upload 500 videos, the cost is $65 per month.
While there’s no strict rule against uploading the same video on Vimeo and other platforms, you will be more successful if you respect the differences in audience preferences.
More to Know
Major Drawbacks of YouTube
While YouTube is the most popular platform, it is not without its disadvantages. Some of the major drawbacks include:
- YouTube’s content recommendation algorithms often limit exposure to diverse perspectives
- Its dominance raises concerns about a lack of healthy competition
- The platform often struggles to strike a balance between free expression and preventing harmful content
- The Content ID system sometimes results in false copyright claims, affecting legitimate creators.
- It collects vast amounts of user data, raising privacy concerns
- Unskippable ads and mid-roll interruptions can be intrusive for viewers
Furthermore, the platform may be subject to government restrictions and censorship in specific countries. Regional licensing agreements can make certain content unavailable in specific locations.
Our Evaluation Criteria
We used several parameters to evaluate and compare YouTube’s alternatives. These include the platform interface, diverse video categories, unique content offerings, and social features and sharing capabilities.
We also analyzed the effectiveness of each platform’s algorithms in suggesting content based on user preferences. We considered whether they provide options for personalized content recommendations and placed importance on user privacy and security.
What is the advantage of decentralized platforms among YouTube alternatives?
Decentralized platforms, like PeerTube and LBRY, offer a more distributed and community-driven approach, minimizing dependence on a central authority. This leads to increased content freedom and resilience against censorship.
Some decentralized platforms utilize blockchain techniques and cryptocurrencies to introduce token-based incentives. This allows content creators to earn tokens directly from their audience, creating a more direct and potentially lucrative relationship between creators and viewers.
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Also Rumble.
Thanks for sharing this list of YouTube alternatives! As a frequent user of YouTube, I’m always looking for new platforms to watch videos on. I’m excited to try out some of these options and see if they offer the same quality content as YouTube.