After a production has wrapped, the most common question we receive from clients is: "How should we host our video?" There's no right answer. You have to look at the pros and cons of each option, and see what's right for you.
Self-hosting: Hosting is something you can do yourself. All but the most basic web-hosting packages give you the means. The most common movie format has been Flash, but it's not longer as safe a choice as it had been. The burgeoning popularity of Apple's iPad, iTouch, and iPhone -- none of which play Flash at all -- has made self-hosting in Flash video a bit more problematic. Check your website analytics and see how much of your audience you would be losing.
Unfortunately, YouTube does not offer 'white-label' hosting services; that is, the YouTube watermark will appear on the bottom right of your embedded video. Given YouTube's association with all sorts of less-than-classy content, this can be a liability.
Advantages: Even massive bandwidth use is free; views on your site are added to your YouTube total.
Disadvantages: Brand watermark and its associations.
Vimeo Plus: Although it is known as a slightly hipper YouTube competitor -- that is, a provider of free video hosting with ads -- also offers a $59.95/year Vimeo Plus package that might meet the needs of some individuals. The Plus package gives you better encoding, no ads, unlimited HD uploading, and the ability to do some customization on the player, including removing the Vimeo logo from it. It doesn't give you a variety of "skins" for your player, as some commercial hosts do. However, the Vimeo Plus is not available for commercial use. The exception to that is independent video producers and some other members of the video-making creative community.
Advantages: Low cost, good compatibility with universal embed code, unlimited bandwidth on plays.
Disadvantages: No choice on movie 'skins'; no commercial use allowed, with some exceptions for the creative community.
Vimeo Pro: Within the last week, Vimeo has unveiled their new commercial hosting service. At $199/year, they are undercutting the competition on price fairly dramatically. Also, they've added some additional features not included in Vimeo Plus: a brandable Player, and hosted portfolio sites, and they're even supporting third party players for your videos, so you're not stuck with the Vimeo player look if you don't want to be.
So is Vimeo Pro the winner? Well, other commercial hosts offer more advanced metrics, and some other bells and whistles. But Vimeo Pro is now undoubtedly the value leader.
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