Vimeo OTT Pricing and Overview
Video platforms continue to grow in importance, and demand for video continues to increase. To stay competitive, companies are constantly looking for ways to offer new services, higher picture quality, more convenience. This is especially true of streaming video players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which are available on several devices from set-top boxes to laptops to smartphones and apply to new services like YouTube TV and Hulu Live and older streaming platforms like Vimeo.
Vimeo offers a stylish video platform for professionals, emphasizing creative tools and community service. Like other popular video platforms, Vimeo is offering its live-streaming service- called Vimeo OTT (over-the-top) – giving you access to thousands of hours of content, as well as tools to help you manage your live stream.
This article offers an overview of Vimeo OTT and all the information you need to know about it before signing up. It includes price comparisons with other similar services, details on available features and devices, limitations, privacy policy info, and more.
How is Vimeo’s pricing structure different from competitors? Is their service worth it? What devices are supported by Vimeo OTT? Keep reading to find out more about Vimeo OTT pricing and overview.
Vimeo OTT vs. Other Services. With Vimeo, you have access to thousands of professional videos. And while the platform itself is free, paid plans are available for that service if you want to take advantage of live-streaming features. Here’s how Vimeo stacks up against some popular competitors in the same space:
Price
Vimeo offers three plans, the cheapest of which costs $5.99 per month. This plan includes one channel with unlimited streams for your live videos. It also includes up to 500 viewers at a time. Additionally, you get video storage for 5GB, support for streaming resolutions up to 4K, player customization options, and an ad-free experience.
For $9.99 per month, you can subscribe to the plan that gives you unlimited live-streaming of your videos with up to 5,000 viewers at a time. It also comes with 10GB of video storage, support for 8K resolutions, video comments, and an ad-free experience. Finally, the $199.99 option includes unlimited live streaming for your videos with an unlimited number of viewers, 15GB of video storage, HD audio (no matter the number of viewers), and no ads.
While there are some cheaper options from competitors, notably YouTube TV ($39.99 per month), Vimeo’s plans are comparable to other larger players in the space, such as Hulu Live ($39.99) and DirecTV Now ($50).
Features
With Vimeo, you get many professional-level features included in the cost, including some not offered by some competitors, like ad-free player design. Additional perks come with the more expensive plans, such as access to HD video and no ads.
Vimeo also includes a few features not available with any of their competitors, such as a customizable HTML5 video player that allows you to choose from several themes and options. This isn’t an unheard-of option among streaming services.
Device Availability
The Vimeo OTT live-streaming service is available on several popular devices, including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and Chromecast. There are also apps for iOS and Android mobile devices and a browser player to watch videos without downloading additional software.
While Vimeo’s device availability is fairly standard, some notable exceptions, such as the lack of an app for AndroidTV, mean that any AndroidTV set-top box owners out there won’t be able to take advantage of this streaming service.
Privacy Policy
Vimeo has a fairly extensive privacy policy which you can view in its entirety here. The privacy policy alludes to an ad-tracking cookie they use on their site, which may be different from those used by third parties during your visit.
One unique element of Vimeo’s policy is that you give them the ability to access non-public information about you, including financial information, your address, and anything else you could use to identify you. Most other streaming services don’t require this level of identification, so it’s anyone’s guess as to why Vimeo makes this an option for you.
Ownership
Of course, there are other things to consider beyond the features and pricing of a streaming service. For example, will that company remain in business if you use another company’s software or hardware for your live-streaming needs? Will a larger company buy them out? And will they make any changes to their services as a result?
In the case of Vimeo, they are a part of IAC (InterActiveCorp), a massive company that also owns several other popular websites and apps, including Dictionary.com and Ask.com. Additionally, they have acquired numerous companies, such as Tinder, CollegeHumor, and About.com. While this may make you nervous as a consumer, all of the companies that IAC has acquired have remained independent after acquisitions. Though there’s no guarantee that IAC will continue this trend, it is reassuring to know that they are a company with enough power and financial stability to keep their purchased companies intact.
Business Plan
Though Vimeo has a standard streaming service (similar to YouTube TV), their business plan is what sets them apart. With this, you can live-stream to an unlimited number of people for free! The only caveat here is that the videos are watermarked with the Vimeo logo and other text denoting it as your official business channel.
While any individual can use this option, Vimeo’s business plan is ideal for individuals who want to stream video content to multiple employees or clients. For example, suppose you have an insurance agency that wants a streaming service set up for customers in an emergency. In that case, you may want to consider using Vimeo’s business plan to make it free for them.
Conclusion
Vimeo’s OTT live-streaming features are on par with many of its competitors, except where it lacks device availability. It does offer some nice perks, like customizable player themes and no ads within the player, which you won’t find with most other streaming services. The biggest downside is that Vimeo is owned by the massive IAC corporation, which means there’s no telling what changes may occur in the future. The bottom line? Vimeo is a solid, professional service with many strong features and unique benefits.