YouTube vs. Vimeo: What’s the Difference? Which One Is Better?
Online video is really starting to gain momentum. If your business hasn’t jumped on board, it is about time that it has. The problem is deciding where you want to host your videos. Where do you upload your videos – YouTube or Vimeo? These are the two most popular video-sharing platforms online today, but how do you choose between the two? Read on to learn more about the two so that you can hopefully make a decision that is best for you and your business.
A Brief Comparison of the Two
| YouTube | Vimeo |
| Very large assortment of users, and a large community overall | More mature users, though a smaller community |
| Not always constructive feedback/comments | More constructive feedback/comments |
| Lots of advertisements | No advertisements |
| Free and paid, ad-free memberships | Free and paid memberships available |
| Videos can’t be replaced with losing analytics | Videos can be replaced without losing previous stats |
The User Communities
YouTube currently has more than one billion unique users. These individuals account for 33% of the internet’s population and these people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos every single day. While posting your videos on YouTube means that you are going to reach a vast audience, it also means that that you are going to reach a risky community of users. YouTube users don’t necessarily hold back when leaving comments/feedback on videos that they watch. They will tell you exactly what they think of your video. With YouTube, it is important that you remember that quantity doesn’t always equate to quality.
Vimeo, on the other hand, is significantly smaller. It currently has 170 million unique viewers, with 42 million of them being in the United States alone. Though the user base may be smaller, the community tends to be much more mature. With that being said, the comments and feedback are often much more constructive and laid-back. So, while the quantity may be smaller, the quality is definitely better.
Advertisements
With YouTube, you are going to find advertisements everywhere you look. This is because YouTube makes their money on their advertisements. For marketers, this is great news as there are plenty of options to reach their audiences. However, for viewers, the multitudes of these ads can be extremely overwhelming.
Now, on Vimeo, advertisements aren’t a concern. Viewers don’t have to worry about an ad popping up on their video at any time before or after or even during their video. This is because Vimeo makes their money on their memberships rather than advertisements like YouTube.
Memberships
YouTube is a completely free video website with 100% unlimited storage. There are no monthly or annual payment plans. If you are looking to make money, you’ll do so through advertising. Now, if you want to view videos without ads, you will need to purchase the membership subscription service, which is known as YouTube Red. This service is offered at $9.99 per month. Aside from being able to watch ad-free videos, you can download videos so that they can be watched offline at a later time and you will have access to a music application and original programming.
Vimeo is also free, but this is only at a basic level and will cap you at 500 MB of storage on a weekly basis (25 GB annually). Now, if your needs exceed this, Vimeo also offers three different paid membership options to users who wish to upload videos. These start at $59.95 per year and go up to $599 per year, depending on how much storage and support you need. There are weekly and annual limits except for the Vimeo Business (which is the largest package) and it does not have a weekly limit.
Updating Your Uploaded Videos
When you upload one of your videos to YouTube, you are done. If you see that you need to make a change to it, you can’t without losing all of the statistics that go along with it. This means that any views that have already been registered to that video will go away because you’ll have to delete the vide and re-upload it completely once you’ve made the changes. So, if you go with YouTube, make sure you double – no, triple-check, the content and spelling before you post it.
Vimeo, on the other hand, will allow you to replace your videos even after you have uploaded them without having to worry about losing any views and other stats. This is probably one of the greatest benefits of Vimeo when compared to YouTube.
So, Which One Should You Use?
Well, it all boils down to your preference and which one works best for you and your individual situation. Either is going to be great for your business, as you have already made the most important decision: jumping into the wonderful world of digital content.
