Detailed Full Review of Vimeo: All you need to know (2024)

What is Vimeo OTT?

Vimeo OTT is an OTT platform based in New York that helps you launch a video subscription service and a channel. You focus on creating content, and the platform does all the heavy lifting for you, including managerial, the promotion and monetization of your content.

The platform has all the tools and technology needed to create, record, publish, and monetize videos. Subscribers can access your videos either for free, by buying your subscription, or by renting them.

The platform has over 1,500 applications created 100% in-house, over five million end users, and over 3.5 million live streams per year.

Here's everything you can do with Vimeo OTT:

• Record and share videos from your browser.
• Live events.
• Start your own streaming app.
• Create custom websites to host your content.
• Upload, host, and manage video files.
• Monetize your videos using three monetization models.
• Create videos using Vimeo's built-in templates.
• Discover and watch videos.
• Track viewer growth and churn.
• Manage your video library with Vimeo's content management system (CMS).

Some of these features are only available with Enterprise plans, like live streaming and branded apps.

Its Enterprise plan also includes migration support, which is handy if you're moving from another OTT service. You'll get comprehensive internal support to transfer your existing videos and customer data.

Who created Vimeo?

The history of Vimeo began in 2004, when three co-founders, Zach Klein, Jake Lodwick, and Blake Whitman, created the site as an alternative video platform to YouTube.

The site was intended to be a quality platform for creators of professional video content, with better video quality and advanced sharing features.

Over the years, Vimeo has evolved to include tools for independent movie producers, artists, and businesses, as well as options for both free and paid users.

Today, Vimeo is considered to be one of the most respected and sophisticated online video platforms, offering quality streaming options for creators of all levels.

Features

1. Upload and sell content.

Vimeo offers a white label HTML5 video player, which means you can customize everything with your brand in mind. The content will carry your brand, while Vimeo will provide all the technology and tools needed to display your content.

Uploading your video content with Vimeo is easy.

Go to the “Content” tab on the dashboard of your video streaming service. Click on the “Upload” option in the top left corner.

The OTT platform gives you multiple options for downloading your content. You can download a single video or a set of videos using the drag and drop functionality. Another option is choosing a file in your browser or downloading content from your Dropbox account.

Once uploaded, you can change video details like titles, descriptions, thumbnails, distribution, and discovery settings. You can also move it to the collection it belongs to, such as movies, series, playlists, etc.

To sell your video as a product or create a subscription product, go to the “Product” tab in your OTT administration. You can set a rental cost, a subscription cost, or both.

The entire set-up requires the following steps:

• Basic information - You enter your product details, such as title, description, and thumbnail.
• Distribution - Select your distribution regions and publish your product immediately. You can also let customers pre-order.
• Contents - Add your main videos and an optional trailer.
• Rates - Set your prices and choose whether costumes can buy, rent, or both. You can set up recurring, monthly, or annual payments. You can even activate free trials for up to 30 days.
• Extras (optional) - You can add additional files like MP3s or PDFs to support your video content.
• Advanced (optional) - add personalized translations and reception messages.

Your videos on Vimeo are indexed and shown on major search engines and social media channels. Just be sure to add a description, title, metadata, and tags that are keyword rich and relevant.

2. Distribution platforms.

Vimeo allows you to distribute your content on two platforms: websites and applications. You can also power your custom applications using their API.

Web sites

Vimeo OTT offers plenty of features, customization options, and five built-in themes to help you build your website.

You can change and customize almost every aspect of your site theme, including site settings like title, main color, translation options, and more.

Other customization options are available:

• General settings - You can change the background color and image, button color, text color, navigation image, etc.
• Navigation options - Allows you to activate the visibility of categories created automatically to present your movie and series collections.
• Options Hero - Choose from monthly or annual pricing plans. You can also choose to blur your background image.
• Links at the bottom of the page - Add new pages.
• Custom styles - Custom CSS code.

You can also see in advance what your site looks like using preview mode.

You can also add your Google Analytics ID, Facebook Pixel ID, Facebook Pixel ID, Twitter Pixel ID, and Adwords Pixel ID to track and measure the effectiveness of the various ads on your site.

The other characteristics are as follows:

• Support for subscription services.
• Customizable navigation.
• Content navigation.
• Forums.
• Search option.
• Custom CSS.
• Analyses and reports.

The only downside is that the website theme editor is not visual at all. It may even seem completely archaic for some.

That doesn't bode well for a brand of Vimeo's caliber, especially considering the high price you end up paying to access most of its advanced features.

On the other hand, newer OTT platforms like Uscreen are doing better in this area.

For example, the Uscreen website builder is more pleasant to use, and you can make changes and preview them simultaneously.

The interface is also easier on the eye and the customization options are presented in a more intuitive way. They also have a separate column for SEO settings, which the Vimeo editor lacks.

If you can ignore the website editor, then Vimeo OTT is a decent tool for creating a website to host your OTT content.

3. Apps

The OTT video hosting platform from Vimeo allows you to create and launch your branded apps on all major app stores. Their team also takes care of customization, analysis, and regular updates.

Here are the devices that Vimeo OTT supports:

• ios
• tvOS
• android
• Android TV
• Roku
• Amazon Fire TV
• XBOX ONE
• Tizen TV

The mobile app feature is only available with plans of $500/month and up. That said, they do everything for you, including submitting and managing application development.

All you need to do is focus on your content. The applications are also fully customized and align with your product.

Here are all the features of the application:

• Free migration.
• Branded apps (with in-app purchases).
• Live broadcast with automatic archiving.
• Real-time information to help you analyze the performance of your application.
• 24/7 support for you and your subscribers

Plus, Vimeo integrates natively with numerous promotional tools to help you reach a wider audience.

Vimeo promotional tools include:

• Subscription promos - To create codes to offer discounts on customer subscriptions.
• Transactional coupons - Announce flash sales using coupons and free copies.
• Screeners - Create limited-time copies to promote your videos.
• Embed your trailer - Integrate your trailer into your other existing sites.
• API docs - Build a custom application with Vimeo's API technology.

4. Monetization

Selling your content is as easy as downloading it. Vimeo OTT supports three models of monetization : Subscription-based video on demand, transactional video on demand, and ad-supported video on demand.

Here is a quick overview of these models of monetization :

1. Video on demand by subscription (SVOD).

The SVOD model requires subscribers to pay a recurring fee - usually monthly or annually - to watch premium content. It is one of the most common and well-known monetization models, as evidenced by the success of OTT platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, etc.

According to Statista, revenue growth in global SVOD market is expected to exceed $87 billion by 2025.

SVOD will provide you with a steady stream of revenue and allow your viewers to watch as much content as they want.

2. Transactional video on demand (TVOD).

Transactional video on demand is another famous model for monetizing your OTT. The TVOD model consists in selling your videos or series to consumers on the basis of a pay-per-video or series basis.

Besides this one-time payment model, you can also rent your videos for a lower cost but for a limited time. The most prominent examples are Apple iTunes, Amazon store, etc.

3. Video on demand with advertising (AVOD).

This model is not as popular when it comes to monetizing your OTT content. With the ad-supported video-on-demand model, advertisers buy advertising space on your video shows to place ads in front of your audience.

Your viewers can watch your videos without paying any fees - they just need to watch a few ads while streaming. YouTube is one of the most prominent examples of AVOD models.

Monetizing with Vimeo also has other benefits, such as:

• You have total control over subscribers' data and brand.
• There are no hidden bandwidth fees.
• It allows you to promote your videos in all markets, in all languages and in all currencies.

5. Live event streaming.

Vimeo allows live streaming without advertising, but only as part of its business plan. Live streaming is suitable for events such as webinars, community engagement, product launches, virtual conferences, and more.

And the best? You can even sell access to these events using a live pay-per-session (PPV) model through individual transactions.

Setting up a live event on your brand app or site is easy, and you can do it right from your dashboard.

Just go to the Content tab >> Create a live event.

Next, you'll need to enter essential details like the title, date, and time of the event.

As with regular video content, you should add details such as a short description, full description, content type, thumbnail, media type, etc.

Again, the entire process will be similar to downloading your video content.

One of the differences is that you can let your subscribers know when the livestream has started by sending email notifications. However, you don't have to worry about it since Vimeo does it automatically. However, you can customize notification settings.

Vimeo also allows you to broadcast your Livestream event to destinations such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.

Customer engagement functions are another asset. You can organize polls, Q&A sessions, display charts, etc. to engage with your audience during the live event.

You can customize the video player with your colors, full-screen graphics, add your logo, add speed controls, etc. There are even options for capturing email addresses and opting for domain-level privacy.

Other live streaming features include:

• Ad-free feed.
• In-depth analyses in real time.
• Set up a backup flow.
• The ability to monitor and control the quality of your feed.
• Seamless delivery with eCDN.
• Auto-archiving up to 4K.
• Remote training, on-site production, dedicated support, and service level agreements.

6. Analyses and reports.

Analysis and reporting are among the most essential features of Vimeo. Vimeo gives you access to in-depth analytics to help you determine viewer behavior, subscriber growth, free trial performance, unsubscribe rates, and more.

For starters, the Vimeo “Activity” dashboard consists of your monthly summary, which includes - gross revenue, expenses, and more. You can filter sales and revenue data in real time by dates or by products.

Other options are possible:

• Top performing videos - You can see your top-performing videos, video plays, finishes, user location, platforms, etc.
• Comments - Option to sort and view all of your comments.
• Blocked users - View your blocked users, who blocked them, when they were blocked, and other notes.
• Customers - It will give you an overview of the most recent activity of your entire audience.

The “Customer” section also provides customer and transaction data, including email addresses and place of purchase. There is an option to export customer reports that you can add to your CRM.

All of these statistics will help you identify:

• The reasons why subscribers are joining.
• Build your content based on what your subscribers are watching and where.
• Increase gross revenue and customer lifecycle value.

Another positive point is the integration with Google Analytics. This feature allows you to combine video analysis with website analysis and get a comprehensive and thorough analysis.

The only downside is that the custom analytics option is only available with the most expensive plans - starting at $500/month.

Web interface

Vimeo's web interface is functional but rather disorganized. It uses long lists of menus in some places, often with redundant options that appear elsewhere on the screen. There's a ton of white space, inconsistent colors, and no focal point on most screens, making it difficult to focus. The Vimeo dashboard is generally lackluster, especially considering that it's a platform for creativity. Even a dark mode would be a huge improvement. The YouTube Creator Studio has a more consistent and intuitive design.

In the top header bar, Vimeo shows the Manage Videos, Watch, On Demand, and Upgrade options.

The profile menu on the right side allows you to quickly navigate to your downloads or messages. The Account Settings section offers a host of control options, but the page itself is sprawling.

Vimeo should try to organize this section better.

You can fill out basic profile information, set notification preferences, and manage payments.

The Do More tab at the bottom of the page provides quick links to other actions, such as loading or organizing your videos, viewing stats, and upgrading your account.

The center console is divided into three tabs:

• My Feed,
• My Videos
• Trending.

My Feed shows popular videos from the categories, groups, or people you follow.

The Hot Videos section is also focused on content discovery, but it highlights videos that are currently popular on the platform or those chosen by Vimeo staff. The My Videos section allows you to view and sort all of your video uploads.

On the public side, Vimeo's video player is cleaner than that of youtube, in particular thanks to the absence of virulent comments and to the (sometimes random) list of recommended videos. The player's big buttons, black and blue color palette, consistent elements, and large default size really make a difference.

Plus, I like the fact that the entire top half of the screen is devoted to the video itself and nothing else.

Creation tools

Vimeo Create is a video creation platform that allows users to easily create and edit professional-quality videos. It is a cloud-based service that can be accessed through a web browser, making it convenient and easy to use from anywhere with an Internet connection.

One of the main features of Vimeo Create is its vast library of royalty-free music, which users can access and use in their videos. This makes it easy to find the perfect track to complement the visuals and add an extra layer of emotion and impact to the final product.

In addition to music, Vimeo Create also provides users with a wide range of templates and pre-designed elements to help them get started with their projects. These include intro and outro graphics, lower thirds, and other design elements that can be customized to match the corporate style and branding of the user's business or personal brand.

The platform also offers a range of editing tools to help users refine their videos and add professional touches. This includes cutting and cutting clips, adjusting audio levels, adding transitions, etc. Users can also add text, graphics, and overlays to their videos, giving them even more control over the final product.

Vimeo Create is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for anyone to create professional-quality videos regardless of their experience level. It's also fully integrated with Vimeo, the popular video hosting platform, so users can easily share their finished videos with a global audience.

Overall, Vimeo Create is a powerful and versatile platform that is ideal for meeting a wide range of video creation needs. Whether you're a business owner looking to create marketing videos, a social media influencer looking to produce engaging content, or simply someone looking to create home videos for fun, Vimeo Create has the tools and resources you need to produce high-quality results.

Mobile app

The Vimeo app on iOS is pretty with its blue and black theme.

The main screen consists of the home, videos, plus icon, stats, and sleep. Watch contains the people and channels you follow, much like your stream. You can also minimize the current video as you scroll through the feed.

By selecting the Plus icon, you can download an existing video or save a new one. The analytics cover everything from views to impressions to display rates and likes, etc. The user interface is more or less similar to that of Android.

However, if you want to do extensive editing, the web browser is the best option with its multiple tools for creators. The phone app is suitable for quick downloads on the go.

Pricing

Vimeo offers three packages to help you develop your OTT business:

• Starter - $1 per subscriber, per month
• Growth - Starting at $500 per month
• Company - Plan on quotation

The Starter plan only gives you access to apps or websites only - you can't use branded apps with this plan. You can also monetize your content using only two models, including TVOD and SVOD.

The Growth plan gives you access to branded apps, all monetization models, live production services, dedicated customer support, a live streaming feature, and personalized analytics.

The Enterprise plan offers all the features of the Growth plan, as well as access and support to APIs and SDKs. It also allows for simultaneous flows and digital rights management (DRM).

You also have a chance of getting volume discounts with Growth and Enterprise plans.

Alternatives to Vimeo

Now that you know the various features, pros, cons, and pricing plans of Vimeo, it's time to see its alternatives. I've reviewed Vimeo's best OTT alternatives to give you an idea of how it stacks up against its competitors.

Here is a comprehensive analysis of three of the main alternatives: Uscreen, Muvi, and Dacast.

1. Uscreen.

Uscreen is an all-in-one, SaaS-based OTT platform that allows you to launch your own branded multi-screen OTT applications.

The platform comes with numerous built-in marketing and automation tools to help you launch and promote your streaming platform and OTT applications.

Here's a quick overview of all the features you get with Uscreen:

• Video CMS - Uscreen allows you to upload and organize your video content in bulk. You can even categorize content and add custom tags, filters, and download extras.
• Live broadcast - You can schedule your live events in advance and build excitement with a countdown timer. You can view your live stream for free, by pay-per-view, or by subscription.
• Monetization options - Offer subscription service models, videos for rent, or one-time purchases to access your videos and live streams. Uscreen will help you create exclusive experiences for your subscribers with coupons and promotions. You can accept credit card, Stripe, and PayPal payments.
• In-depth analyses - Uscreen sales and video analytics will help you identify what your audience likes and how your content is performing.
• Launching branded apps - The OTT tool helps you create and launch branded apps to display your content across multiple devices. Their team takes care of everything for you, including regular publishing and updates.
• Integrated marketing and automation tools - Uscreen's built-in marketing tools and integrations help you set up comprehensive sales and marketing funnels. You can generate leads and turn your audience into paying subscribers.
• Community feature - Uscreen's community feature allows you to spark conversations through comments and live discussions. You can either develop an existing community or create a new one.

Additionally, you can use the knowledge base to become familiar with the tool. It also provides access to strategies such as how to maximize the use of the retention tool built into Uscreen.

Pricing

OTT apps and features are only available with the quote-based “Enterprise” plan.

2. Muvi.

Muvi is another all-in-one OTT platform that helps you launch streaming services across web, mobile, and TV ecosystems. All services are end-to-end, fully managed, and you can control everything from a central content management system.

Here is a quick overview of all the features you get with Muvi:

• Live streaming - It allows you to live stream events, conferences, meetings, meetings, TV channels, games, etc. The OTT platform provides an end-to-end live streaming solution that delivers your content around the world with low latency.
• Launch a multi-screen video on demand (VOD) platform - This solution helps you launch your own multi-screen video on demand (VOD) platform. End-to-end OTT video features include a video player, CMS, billing engine, website, mobile, and TV apps.
• Monetization options - Muvi helps you monetize your content on all fronts, including subscription, pay-per-view, or ad-supported model. The money will be directly linked to your bank accounts with no transaction fees or commissions.
• Analyses and reports - Muvi's analysis and reporting tools allow you to identify the habits of your customers. You can also determine which content is generating the most views and higher engagement.
• Audio/music streaming service - The platform also allows you to launch your branded audio or music streaming service. You can stream audio or music to a variety of devices.
• Live broadcast - You can start your own live broadcast radio channel and start broadcasting talk shows.

Pricing

Payment plans start at $399/month + $299/app + infrastructure cost, making it more expensive than Vimeo and Uscreen.

3. Dacast.

Dacast is an online live streaming video platform that allows you to stream and host live and on-demand video content. It also helps you distribute and monetize streaming videos across multiple platforms.

Here's a quick overview of all the features you get with Dacast:

• Live Streaming - It allows you to stream your content live with the help of leading CDN partners and 24/7 online and phone support. You can also host live streams with an unlimited number of viewers around the world.
• Custom branding - You can incorporate logos, color palette, and fonts for a brand-consistent viewing experience.
• Intuitive content management system (CMS) - The platform's video hosting solution allows you to upload, organize, organize, monetize, analyze, and share your content from a single administration. It also helps you transcode and create automated workflows using video APIs.
• Monetization - Dacast offers several monetization options, including subscription VOD, transactional VOD, or ad-based subscriptions. Pay-per-view and subscription options are also available to monetize live channels.
• Integrated payments - It has an integrated payment system that allows you to accept payments by credit card or PayPal. You can also make it easier to control rates and promotions thanks to an advanced paywall integrated into the player.
• Real-time analytics - Dacast's real-time analytics help you measure the performance of your live online video broadcast.
• Streaming on social networks - You can also stream live videos on all social media networks, such as Facebook, YouTube, etc.
• Countdown - engage your audience with the live countdown timer and make sure your viewers don't miss out on the big event.

Dacast does not have built-in application creation features. You should use its APIs to develop your own OTT application.

Pricing

Pricing plans start at $39 per month and go up to $188 per month.

Customer Support

At Vimeo, they value the support needs of their customers and users very much, which is why they offer a range of services to help them along their journey.

In addition to an extensive library of knowledge base articles about their products, users can also contact their customer service at any time by phone or email.

If they wish, customers can also open a problem ticket to request technical support and have it handled expertly by a member of their team. Additionally, many popular platforms also have useful community forums where users can come together to ask questions or exchange advice.

With these resources at their fingertips, customers and users can get comprehensive coverage and support whenever they need it.

How do I download Vimeo videos?

Downloading Vimeo videos is pretty easy. All you need to do is follow these steps:

• Go to the web and copy the video page address or you can right-click and copy a video link from the Vimeo search results.
• Or you can get the address from the share sheet.
• Open the Vimeo downloader in a web browser. Using the Vimeo downloader will help you download videos easily.
• Paste the URL into the video address field.
• Click on Submit. If pop-ups like “Download Ready FREE Multy App Search” appear, close them immediately.
• You can either right-click on “Download Video” and select “Save Link As” or press and hold on your phone.
• Confirm your download You can choose to rename the file.
• Your video should start downloading after you confirm your download.
• Look for the video you uploaded.

Now that you know how to download Vimeo videos, go and try it out.

FAQs

Does Vimeo Basic have a free trial?

No Vimeo Basic is perfect for people who want to join our amazing community but don't plan on downloading tons of HD videos every week.

If that's the case for you, you might never pay a cent for Vimeo.

Creators and businesses often upgrade their subscriptions because they want to store more videos, benefit from advanced player customization and privacy options, access powerful marketing and analytics tools, stream live events, and more.

Can I stream live with Vimeo?

To be able to broadcast live, you need a Vimeo Premium subscription, which includes a variety of live streaming tools for your events.

Their offer of Livestreming was designed as a high quality solution for professionals.

In addition to live streaming features, Vimeo Premium includes all the video hosting tools that Vimeo is known for, to make your entire workflow easier: from marketing to collaboration, to analytics, and more.

Final Verdict

Hopefully, this in-depth review of Vimeo OTT will help you make the right decision when it comes to choosing the best OTT platform.

Let's quickly summarize this Vimeo review.

Vimeo is one of best OTT platforms from the market and has impressive features to make creators feel at home. It has a great video player, fully customized applications, solid reporting tools, versatile monetization options, and more.

Overall, the Vimeo OTT platform is suitable for creators, advertisers, and individuals who want to create high-quality content without any restrictions. However, it is slightly expensive, and its user interface and website editor leave a lot to be desired.

The web interface has a lot of redundant white space, is a bit disorganized, and the colors are inconsistent. There is another department where Vimeo is sorely lacking, and that is marketing and automation tools.

When paying up to $500 per month, you expect stronger lead generation features, like email automation, landing pages, upsells, etc. Again, you need to look elsewhere if you want these advanced marketing features.

If these are areas where you don't want to compromise, I suggest you opt for an OTT platform like Uscreen.