The 5 best YouTube alternative websites and apps

2 years ago 339

There are a number of worthwhile alternatives to YouTube you can investigate.
Vimeo is an excellent option for musicians and filmmakers, while Twitch is good for livestreaming games.
Here are five of the best YouTube alternatives you can try as a user or content creator.

There's a good chance you're among the 2.5 billion users who are active monthly on YouTube, whether you're creating or just consuming content. If you're looking for other options as a user who wants to get away from Google's privacy policy or as a creator who would like to stand out amongst a smaller crowd, however, there are some excellent YouTube alternatives. Here are five of the best options you can choose from today.

Vimeo

Vimeo is like a grown-up version of YouTube; it hosts a huge amount of ad-free content, but most of what you'll find here are short films, musical performances and music videos, marketing videos, and other highly produced digital films. The platform supports 4K video and the web player has a one-click captioning control — all solid pros for users who want to watch great content. Creators can use Vimeo for free, though the free plan limits uploads to just 500MB per week, so serious filmmakers will want to upgrade to a paid plan which includes detailed analytics and sophisticated editing and marketing tools.

Twitch

Twitch earned its reputation as a live streaming platform for gamers, and remains the go-to site for gamers who want to broadcast (or watch) playthroughs and gaming commentary. The quantity of gaming content is staggering, though Twitch is also now home to a wealth of other entertainment content as well. If you're a creator, it's easy to get started at Twitch and you can take part in YouTube-like revenue sharing as well, an option not available at most other video sites.

Crackle

Not interested in creating and posting content? Then Crackle should be on your list. This superb streaming site is what YouTube would be if it focused exclusively on TV and movies. All of the content on the site is free, and it offers a combination of original programming and older, vintage TV shows and movies, as well as lesser-known and semi-forgotten content. That's not a criticism, per se; there are other places to see blockbuster Sony content, and it's easy to get lost in Crackle's library of shows.

Dailymotion

Dailymotion doesn't have nearly the audience that YouTube does, but it does allow you to upload videos in much the same way. You can upload videos up to 4K in resolution and 120 minutes in length, and Dailymotion partners can share in revenue from video monetization. As a user, you can browse just a handful of simple categories — news, sports, entertainment, and music — or search for anything from current events to cat videos.

TikTok

While TikTok doesn't look much like YouTube — it more closely resembles Instagram — it's a veritable social media phenomenon that makes it easy to binge short-form videos thanks to the site's superb algorithm that quickly figures out what your favorite video topics are. Uploading content is a huge part of the TikTok experience, and the site allows you to create content from 15 seconds to as much as 10 minutes in length, and there's revenue sharing as well.

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.