7+ Best OTT Platforms [Reviewed for 2021]

You and I are living in a world where traditional cable and satellite have fallen to the wayside.

Streaming has taken its place where consumers can view live streams, 24/7 linear streaming (like TV broadcasting), and shows and movies at any time with just an internet connection.

Think Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, etc.

These are examples of OTT, or “over the top” platforms that allow us to stream this kind of content without cable or satellite.

YOUR business can create its own channel and OTT app.

Hosting your own channel, live streams, and videos can be a reality with the right OTT platform – just check out this list of the best OTT platforms and content providers of 2021.

What Are the Best OTT Platforms?

1. Uscreen – Best platform for publishing and monetizing your own branded OTT content
2. Dacast – Best platform for hosting OTT live streams on mobile and TV devices
3. Vidyard – Top video service and OTT video streaming platform plus screen recording for businesses
4. Vimeo OTT – Easy OTT platform for subscription-based streaming on video apps
5. JW Player – Cost-effective OTT app creation partnered with Float Left
6. Brightcove – All-in-one OTT platform for businesses with unique needs and budgets
7. IBM Watson Video – Top platform for advanced OTT solutions for leading companies

#1 Uscreen.

Overview

Uscreen makes the top spot on our list.

With this OTT platform, you have the power to create and own all of the assets of your engaging, high converting media content.

Uscreen’s team helps you build your own OTT apps where you can host, manage, and stream video content and online courses over the internet rather than cable.

Place and verify an order with all of your apps’ information and assets.

From there, Uscreen’s team will publish your app in 30-60 days.

Uscreen offers you the tools to monetize your live stream or video on demand (VOD) content on a global scale by accepting 130+ currencies.

Generate profit by offering subscriptions, one-time payments for lifetime access or bundles, and rentals.

Uscreen’s HTML5 video player is powered with TWO global CDNs so your video content is optimized for high quality viewing all over the world.

Check out the highlights and features below to see more of the pros to having Uscreen as your OTT platform.

Highlights

• White label customization so that your brand can be recognized and remembered by users on mobile devices, tablets, computers, and TVs
• Customers can stream your videos seamlessly and uninterrupted with your branded Apple Watch app
• Distribute your video content to Roku, fire TV, Apple TV, Smart TV, and give customers the option to broadcast to Chromecast and Apple Airplay so they can watch your content on their favorite streaming service
• Increase sales with payment options through credit cards, Paypal, and other payment integrations with Stripe, Authorize.Net, or Uscreen Gateway
• Detailed reports and analytics where you can see which of your videos perform best, so you can focus your efforts on creating more successful content
• Centralized content management system (CMS) makes hosting video content easy, from upload to delivery
• Thousands of third-party integrations plus affiliate tracking and reporting, marketing and sales management, and Google Tag manager
• Live streaming videos are recorded and available for playback on demand

Pricing

Annual billing prices are reflected above.

If you want live streaming, advanced integrations, conversion tracking, and advanced customization features, then go with the Amplify plan at $399/month.

The Enterprise plan has custom pricing and with it, all of the white-label customization features.

Enterprise comes with developer tools like public API access and webhooks, personal support with an account manager, and all of the Native App features.

Like TV OTT apps, mobile OTT apps, Apple watch fitness tracker, VOD and live audio and video streaming on the apps, and more.

Bottom Line

Uscreen is our favorite VOD platform for its endless number of features, services, and monetization tools.

Check out Uscreen with a free trial of the Amplify plan.

Create OTT content that grows your business and elevates your customers’ viewing experience by clicking the button below.

#2 Dacast.

Overview

Dacast makes the second top spot on our list for being the best streaming platform.

Here are the pros of using a top professional live streaming service like Dacast…

High quality video and audio with the support of a global CDN attracts your audience and keeps their focus on an optimized live stream or VOD.

You receive the tools and support you need to monetize your content globally – whether it’s through pay-per-view options or subscriptions.

Revenue is maximized instantly with white-label customization and access to analytics, because you gain the control to showcase your brand’s message and improve engagement performance.

Let’s move on to the highlights below to learn more about how Dacast helps you launch the best live streaming content.

Highlights

• Make your content easily accessible yet secure and have the storage space to scale your business with a cloud-based video platform
• Market your brand’s message and personality with Dacast white-label player theme
• Video content management API and player API for designing, developing, and automating your streaming platform, CMS, and mobile apps
• Adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming and multi-bitrate (MBR) streaming so your viewers don’t bounce – they can stream your content on any device and internet connection
• HTML5 adaptive video player is compatible with mobile devices to smart TVs
• Upload live recordings to your video on demand library so viewers can replay your videos on their own time
• Security features like geographic and referrer/website restrictions, so you can control where your media can be seen
• 24/7 live customer support, so any and all problems are solved efficiently

Pricing

Use Dacast’s bandwidth calculator tool on the website to figure out which plan is best for your business.

Some of the biggest pros about the Dacast plans is that all of them come with unlimited live streaming, custom branding, ad-free streaming, and 24/7 support.

The Business plan is only $188/month when billed annually. You get 1 TB of storage which is about 500 hours worth of video, unlimited channels, and access to phone support.

Bottom Line

Dacast offers a full-scale set of tools to help you launch and manage high quality live streaming video.

Sign up for a free trial of Dacast plans like Starter, Event, and Scale.

#3 Vidyard.

Overview

Vidyard’s OTT service is geared towards businesses for lead generation and conversions through its marketing and sales-focused features.

Create videos with advanced screen recording and screencasting features and tools on internet browsers and mobile devices.

Schedule video releases and set expiration dates.

Upload ad-free videos in any format and share them in emails, sales engagement platforms, and social media sites.

Use Vidyard’s SEO services to make your videos rank in search results.

Keep reading to find out more about Vidyard’s video hosting services.

Highlights

• Vidyard’s video player supports 4k resolution and immersive 360 video that capture your audience’s attention
• Detailed video analytics through view notifications, view counts, performance insight, reports, and more
• Seamless embeds, Calls-to-Action tools, and screen recording options
• Store your business’ Zoom meetings and webinars right into Vidyard
• Customized landing pages for videos so that your videos match your brand as a whole
• Share to Youtube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter so your videos are found on multiple media and social platforms
• Integrate with Outreach, SalesLoft, Salesforce, Marketo, Zapier, and more to create easy and cost-effective productivity and operations

Pricing

Start creating and hosting unlimited video content with Vidyard’s Free or Pro plan for only $15 per month when billed annually.

Upgrade to the Teams plan at $300 per month to receive features like in-video Calls-to-Action (CTA), Zoom integration, and video analytics.

Vidyard’s Business plan offers access for 5+ users and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, and other CRM systems.

Plus, 100 embeds, more video sharing customizations, video analytics reporting, and more.

Bottom Line

Vidyard is our favorite for OTT video hosting and screen recording.

Click the button to check out Vidyard’s Free, Pro, Teams, or Business plan now.

#4 Vimeo OTT.

Overview

Want to transform your video content (live streams, on demand video, etc.) into OTT monetization?

Vimeo OTT can do that.

Vimeo’s team will maintain your app on every platform so that you don’t have to, saving you tons of time.

Get paid with monthly payments from Vimeo OTT through Stripe Connect.

There are a few fees that Vimeo OTT is transparent about on their website, such as international payout fees and European VAT taxes.

Highlights

• Monetize your videos through a membership subscription service with payments made globally
• Offers revenue streams with advertising, registrations, and one-time transactions
• Analytics features that help you continually improve your content and grow revenue
• Easily migrate all of your content and data into Vimeo OTT’s platform
• Build branded apps on all of the most popular platforms like Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV, Tizen, Xbox, and iOS and Android
• Option to use Vimeo’s API to customize your apps to fit your brand’s image and message

Pricing

Vimeo pricing is extremely affordable for any budget.

The Starter plan is only $1 per subscriber per month.

The Growth plan starts at $500 per month. You can build your own branded apps and publish to Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Android TV, Roku, Samsung Tizen, and gaming apps like Xbox.

Take note that live tv streaming and ad-supported revenue streams are included only in Enterprise.

Enterprise offers access to digital rights management (DRM) and API and SDK support.

Bottom Line

Launch your OTT streaming service with Vimeo now by clicking the link below.

Start a 30 day free trial of Plus, Pro, or Business.

#5 JW Player.

Overview

In 2019, JW Player, partnered with Float Left, introduced OTT apps to help clients and media brands launch platforms to reach more of their audience.

JW Player offers a cost-effective and quick launch of OTT video apps in only 15 days.

Check out the highlights for all of the pros to using this new OTT platform.

Highlights

• Upload and publish VOD recordings, host live streams
• Monitor your engagement with real-time analytics
• Social sharing and recommendations to increase views on videos
• Monetization with advanced advertising features
• iOS and Android software development kits
• Multi-bitrate video transcoding and HLS/Dash adaptive streaming
• Reliable HTML5 video player and open API for customization

Pricing

JW Player is the most budget-friendly option to help you get started with hosting video content.

The Starter plan begins at $10/month.

Start streaming media and video content on the HTML5 video player and build a video gallery for your viewers to access.

Or jump right in with Enterprise for custom pricing. Enterprise’s features include real time analytics and social sharing.

Bottom Line

Check out JW Player’s 30 day Trial Subscription for a combination of Starter and Enterprise features.

#6 Brightcove.

Overview

Did you know that in Streaming Media’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards, Brightcove took home the title of best video platform for small and medium businesses?

Brightcove offers multiple OTT solutions and products – here, we will mention Brightcove OTT Flow and Flow X (powered by Accedo) and Brightcove Beacon.

OTT Flow and Flow X, released in 2018, allows video creators and broadcasters to host content on more platforms and with more flexibility.

Brightcove Beacon, released in 2019, is a SaaS-based platform with a CMS and modernized process to help businesses launch their OTT service.

Monetize your content with AVOD, TVOD, and SVOD – or in other words, ad-supported revenue, pay-per-view or transactional TV, and subscriptions.

Brightcove uses a cloud-based video player called Brightcove Cloud Video.

Continue reading to find out more pros about including Brightcove in your business…

Highlights

• Monetization streams through ad-supported videos, subscription-based content, TV everywhere, or pay-per-view that increase revenue
• Publish your content to OTT platforms like Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Xbox, Playstation, other gaming consoles and more, depending on if you have Brightcove’s OTT Flow vs. OTT Flow X
• Open-source HTML5 video player that is customizable and offers high quality viewing options to all users and bandwidth connections
• Native apps for iPhone, Android, tablets, and Smart TVs that increases accessibility to your video platform
• Create and host all kinds of OTT media like VOD, live streams and events, offline content and linear TV
• 100+ third party integrations with Brightcove’s partners like Google Ad Manager, Hubspot, Oracle, WordPress, and Amazon Web Services

Pricing

Brightcove has custom pricing for every one of their plans from Starter to Professional to Enterprise, both under the Marketing and Enterprise columns. However, these plans don’t include their OTT platform.

In the Monetization column, you can see the bulleted point “OTT Solutions.”

Pricing is specific to each client.

Bottom Line

Check out Brightcove’s Customer Stories to read about how an OTT platform can transform your business.

Start a trial of Brightcove’s Video Cloud or call to learn more about their OTT service by clicking the button below.

#7 IBM Watson Video.

Overview

IBM Watson Video offers a cloud video OTT platform for your business to broadcast live streams, TV shows, and other VOD content to viewers all over the globe with its multi-CDNs.

IBM’s Video Streaming software includes services for Live chat and Q&A during live streamed events, HD live broadcasts, and recorded live streams.

You can rely on IBM Cloud security to protect your enterprise content and privacy needs.

A few companies whose businesses benefited from this OTT service are SiliconANGLE, Digital Hub, and SolarCity.

Check out the highlights to learn more.

Highlights

• API and white-label customization supports your branding across multiple OTT platforms including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, and more
• Manage every detail of your content with IBM Watson’s CMS and Video Editor
• Monetization options like pay-per-view, subscription-based, and ad-supported videos on demand
• Multi content delivery network (CDN) provides global access to your online video content and live video streaming
• Transcoding with ABR streaming on mobile and tv so your content can be viewed over any bandwidth or connection speed, for either on demand playback or live streaming

Pricing

IBM Watson organizes their 3 plans into Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

You can choose the plan that fits best for you based on the size of your business and budget.

Silver starts at $99/month for 100 viewer hours, 5 channels, and 1 TB video storage.

Gold starts at $499/month for 2,000 viewer hours, 10 channels, and 2 TB video storage.

Platinum starts at $999/month for 5,000 viewer hours, 20 channels, and 5 TB video storage.

Bottom Line

Click the link below to broadcast your videos and access IBM Watson’s advanced video streaming service.

Start a 30 day trial or sign up for a custom plan that will bring your videos and business to life.

What Are OTT Platforms?

OTT platforms, also known as over-the-top apps, are video streaming services that allow viewers to stream live or prerecorded video content over an internet connection.

What is live streaming vs. video streaming?

Live streaming is when viewers are watching video content being filmed in real time. For businesses, live streaming can boost audience engagement.

Video streaming is what you see on Hulu and HBO. It is also like Netflix where viewers choose videos to watch on demand instantly. For businesses, this gives customers access to monetizable content that’s been edited and perfected anytime, anywhere.

Both live streaming and video streaming only require an internet connection.

How to Choose the Best OTT Platform.

There are tons of great OTT platforms.

Don’t overthink it.

Decide what kind of multimedia your business will be creating and evaluate your monthly or yearly budget for a platform.

Once you make your choice, stick with it and move on to what matters; the videos.

How do you want to monetize?

What are your primary goals for having an OTT platform?

All of the OTT platforms mentioned above offer either a free plan or free trial, so you can test out one or more before committing to your favorite.

Wrap Up.

Here’s a quick review of the best OTT services of 2021.

Uscreen is the top OTT platform for creating and hosting content that converts.

Dacast is our favorite platform for professional and complete live streaming services.

Vidyard offers OTT video streaming services and screen recording to help businesses meet their marketing and sales goals.

Vimeo OTT is the platform that helps you establish and host subscription-based streaming.

JW Player is a new and cost-effective option for launching OTT video across platforms quickly.

Brightcove is an industry leader in OTT with plans built specifically for each client or business.

IBM Watson Video is an advanced OTT solution for leading entertainment and tech companies.