Do you love to interact with people online? Live Streaming is a way of interacting with an audience, well, live. The trend of going live has been gaining a lot of popularity and more and more people are using live streaming platforms to reach and connect with their audience. Yes, you can too stream any of your life events live. For example, if you are visiting a new place, you come live on social media platforms to share your experience and your friends can watch it too. In fact, the stream can be about a new recipe, a workout routine, literally anything. Sharing with the world has just become EASIER and REAL-TIME.
Rise of Live Streaming Platforms
As mentioned above, anyone who has a smartphone any other device with a front camera can go live from anywhere they want. One of the factors, responsible for the rise of live streaming can be the live feature introduced by the very popular social media platforms. For example, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter all have live feature.
It is projected that by the year 2021, the Live streaming industry will be more than $70 billion worth.
Live video streaming has opened up new avenues for brands as well. This way they can communicate their stories well and increase customer conversion rates. In 2018 more than $90 billion was spent by brands on video content and by 2023 it will cross the $100 billion mark.
Make Money With Live Streaming
Well if you want to get on the bandwagon, it is not too late. If you have some interesting video content ideas, get ready to make some money out of it. Now there are various ways in which you can money out of your live stream, we have mentioned a few here.
- Many live streaming platforms offer the streamer the Pay Per View Subscriptions. This is a pretty simple idea, as a streamer, you can ask your subscribers or viewers to pay for hidden content. Hidden content has to be special, behind the scenes, bloopers or you can also do giveaways. But please note that the special or hidden content should be worth the money.
- You can also make an account on Patreon for the payment collection, although it is not a live video streaming platform, it is easy to integrate with platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram, and Twitter
- To give you an idea, Video creators received more than $3.5 million and Patreon made it possible.
- Another great approach to make money through live streaming is through Affiliate programs.
- To give you an idea, you can include a product link from your sponsors, and every time, someone visits via that link and buys the product you get a certain percentage (commission) of the sale.
- You can sign brand deals and get sponsorships. When you endorse a brand and discuss its usage, it definitely builds the trust of the viewers and converts them into potential customers.
- With brand deals and sponsorship, you as a streamer may get cash or sometimes free product and merchandise.
- You can create and sell your own merchandise and it is a viable revenue model. Be it t-shirts, mugs, keychains, creators and streamers brand them and sell it off. You can wear it during your live stream and include all the buying information for the viewers.
Top 15 Live Streaming Platforms
If you are a first-timer gearing up for a live stream gig, let us help you sort the best live streaming platforms. Here is the list of 15 best live streaming platforms.
1. Uscreen
This Stream platform is an across the board video monetization platform so that streamers and creators can have a reliable income and more control over what they create or play. Among the Best live streaming sites, this on top of video-on-request and enrolment has various key features and helps you quickly monetise your works.
Key Features:
- Among the Popular live streaming sites, Unscreen comes with live chat to enable you directly interact with your audience
- Automatic recording so that you can go back in time, if you have missed anything
- It is powered by Leading global Content Delivery Networks (CDN)
- Offers unlimited bandwidth with any number of people joining you
- Via a pay-per-view option, you can also monetize your live streams/ video created
- Any device can have the broadcast your live streams
- Email and in-app notifications features for your audience
Cons
- Cannot work properly without a stable internet connection
- No surety of what is being relayed since unsure of individual fact-checking, research and production of genuine content.
Pricing
- Basic Plan: $79 per month towards 50 hours of video storage, one admin user and email support.
- Growth Plan: $159 per month for 150 hours of video storage, 10 admins, 3 to on-on-one on-boarding, chat as well as an email support system
2. Brightcove
Among the popular online streaming sites, Brightcove takes pride in being employed at BBC and Adobe. It is an enterprise-level solution that covers all from entertainers, broadcasters, and marketers as well as internal communication. It helps you deliver the content to a global audience Here are its salient features:
Key Features
- High-quality stream platform with SSAI that helps you monetize your content
- You can add the streaming to your social media handles
- You can bypass ad blockers
- The content can be geo-restricted
- High-security features to secure privacy
- Above all along with live video streaming, it ensures better ad performance, HD playback quality, and enhanced monetization due to social media engagement that ensured increased traffic.
Disadvantages
Again the facts, the authenticity, the total control lies in the hands of the admin and the audience has to rely on third-party to fact check
Pricing
Refer to the latest pricing on the Brightcove website via the CONTACT COLUMN
3. Kaltura
Kaltura stream platform values having the aptitude to help schools, ventures, and media organizations via influencing video to instruct, learn, impart lessons, team up and engage. It gives these clients both live and on-request video SaaS arrangements.
Key Features
- Easy Integration: Among the live-streaming platforms, Kaltura ensures easy creation, editing and as well as managing HD videos and that to several devices at one go, LIVE and on-demand.
- Valuable for Business: Among Popular live streaming sites, Kaltura is an opportunity for corporations to create quite engaging communications. For instance, the CEO can LIVE stream his annual or bimonthly speeches, HR can conduct training sessions etc.
- Amid one of the most sought after live streaming platforms, Kaltura offers regular support services for clients
- Privacy and Security: High-level security and privacy measures as per international standards, makes it among the best live streaming sites.
Disadvantages
Due to being completely SaaS based, initially the Kaltura live video streaming apps can be overwhelming for beginners especially the content creators, but usage becomes easy with time and learning.
Pricing
After a 30-day trial period it becomes a subscription based service, for which you can check out their website.
4. Panopto
A great Live video streaming especially for businesses and educational institutes, it not only offers LIVE streaming but also has a very secure library for content storage and management. Among the Live streaming platforms, Panopto offers secure LIVE streaming instead of public streaming. Thus, quite helpful during events like business meetings, college lectures, or conferences.
Key Features
- Live streaming can be recorded for revisiting it later
- Only the right people can tune in so participants are given LOGINs and Passwords
- Among the popular live streaming sites, you can use this to broadcast to any number of people
- You can LIVE caption your stream so as to reach the visually impaired audience if any
- Also it comes with live chat features
- Real time monitoring of analytics
Disadvantages
Again the control of the content, its authenticity, facts etc all depend on the one who created it. Users have no say during access.
Pricing
You can have a free trial account plus can use it for 100 hours of free streaming without any charges per month. Beyond that you will need to spend $14.99 towards 50 hours of video storage and unlimited streaming per month.
5. Muvi
Among the popular live streaming sites, Muvi is ideal for OTT media. Besides live video streaming you can also do audio streaming, offer content on demand, broadcast content, and there is ZERO CODING needed. What makes these live streaming platforms unique and among the best live streaming sites for OTT?
Key Features
- AS live Stream platform, that is accessible through mobile and TV apps
- Has built-in SEO tools
- There are multiple payment gateways
- Even on low quality internet, you can stream well
- Has a library to store content
- Also offers interactive presentations
Disadvantages
- Among the Live streaming platforms, that come under excessive use risk since the usage control is in the hands of the user
- content can be unsuitable for the audience, so parents will have to keep a watch if children are watching an OTT platform.
- Mobile & TV apps come at an additional cost
Pricing
- Basic Plan starts at $149 per month
- Enterprise package with a shared server can go upto $1490 per month, depending on the features you seek.
6. Cincopa
A LIVE stream platform that helps you host, manage, enhance, publish as well as monitor your LIVE content. Among the best live streaming platforms for hosting business meets, Cincopa also offers broadcasting capabilities. Besides its own features it can also use streaming software like OBS, Wirecast, and Zoom studios for live streaming. So you can enterprise internal communications as well as organise events, team chats, etc.
Key Features
- If the user has missed anything, they can go back to the beginning of the LIVE stream
- Plug and play RTMP link to integrate with Apps like Zoom
- AutoSave feature makes it among the best live streaming sites
- You can integrate live video streaming apps to share the live stream on your social media handles
- Among all the Live streaming platforms, this one helps have multiple speakers and hosts
Disadvantages
As per the users the common concerns have been:
- The analytics are very lacking.
- Recording can happen only from the beginning and not for portions that you would want to save
Pricing
- Plus Plan comes for $25 per month.
- Corporate Plan: Has everything that the Plus Plan has along with access restrictions and options to integrate your platform with Zoom. It comes for $99 per month.
- Agency/Enterprise Plan: The add ons here are unlimited storage and traffic; real time analytics and a dedicated manager for your account. Comes at $350 per month.
7. Reddit Live
Reddit is a Live video streaming that is considered a community-centric social network. It helps connect the like-minded only as per the topic. You get comments and votes to help you decide your audience. Among the Best live streaming sites, that helps filter a boring audience so that you have better engagement.
Key Features
- Record live stream for later use
- You can live stream for longer than 3 hours. So you can hots award functions here
- Can broadcast both on the as well as the desktop.
- Go live as often as you want.
Disadvantages
- Luck should favour your with upVOTES so that your are able to LIVE STREAM
- Limited Access for Sub-Reddit plan that too only on Wednesday from 1pm to 5pm PT
8. Twitch
The number one platform for live streaming and one of the most popular for the gaming genre. It is available for desktop and mobile, iOS, and Android devices and has around 15 million active users regularly.
According to Statista, there were approximately 7 million active streamers on Twitch and as of Dec 2021, the number has risen to a whopping 10.4 million streamer. And since it focuses on live streams of games, i.e, video games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Escape From Tarkov, and many more. It also broadcasts live sports and thus there is huge potential in esports and broadcasting.
Best features
- live stream esports professionals and tournament at any time of the day.
- Each live stream has a dedicated chatroom and brings the gaming community. Streamers can control what appears on their stream.
- Twitch supports and hosts community meet up for members. It hosts such meetups in 40+ cities around the globe including cities in the U.S and Australia.
Cons
- The lack of parental control.
- It is a platform only for live streaming
Pricing
- Standard is available for free
- Turbo is priced at $8.99 per month
- Prime is available at $12.99 per month
9. YouTube Live
Youtube for decades has been entertaining us with videos made by creators all around the world. Second, after Facebook, Youtube has the highest number of monthly active users and there are more than 2 billion users around the world.
YouTube has been working constantly on the video quality and legality of content it offers and it also launched YouTube Live. It helps the streamers meet their audience’s live. With just one account on YouTube, you have access to its Live feature as well. You need no other platform. It presents the streamer with powerful analytics and interactive communication.
Best features
- It allows effortless monetization of the live videos.
- Effective and helpful tools easily manageable by even beginners.
- It allows Mobile live web telecasting. Cutting the need for extensive production or a lot of equipment.
Cons
- It lacks live streaming enhancing tools like picture-in-picture, multi-camera streaming, background audio playlists, etc.
- It is blocked in many countries including China, so your target
Pricing
- YouTube LIVE Streaming services are free of cost.
- But here are some requirements:
- You need to have a minimum of 100 subscribers.
- You need to have an account verified by your mobile number.
10. Facebook Live
Yet another Social media platform that allows seamless live streaming is Facebook. Facebook Live allows you to broadcast live video to your friends, audience via your profile or company’s page. Launched in the year 2016, many brands and marketers are already receiving benefits from it.
Best feature
- Excellent platform for news sharing, Q&A sessions, sneak peek of a new product launch, and behind-the-scenes at a live event.
- Facebook live allows you to choose your target audience. You can target location-based audience.
- It sends out instant notifications to followers once the person or business goes live.
Cons
Interaction with the audience is limited
Pricing
The Facebook live streaming platform is available for free to those who have an active account on Facebook.
11. Periscope
A live streaming platform that garnered 1 million within 10 days of its launch, Pericope acquired by Twitter created headlines in 2015. It became a major market plater in video broadcasting and a fresh social media sensation. The platform has 1.9 million daily active users and to date, there have been 200 million broadcasts on Periscope.
Best features
- Using periscope puts your best tech foot forward. It uses cutting edge technology for live broadcasting.
- Interactive platform and instant feedback from the audience.
- Option to set video replay settings for all your broadcasted videos so that viewers can view and enjoy them anytime.
- Once Streamers goes live they can receive notifications about supporters, comments, and new joining.
- Viewers or your audience can invite others to watch your streams
Cons
- It doesn’t support monetization,i.e, pay per view, or subscription.
Pricing
- It is free of cost
12. Instagram Live
Instagram is the place that gave birth to organic influencers be it for fashion, lifestyle, body positivity, or cooking and art. It launched Instagram Live in the year 2916, and we can tell one thing for sure, that brands and businesses love it. A great live streaming platform to connect with our followers in real-time.
Best Features
- Once done with a live session you can save a replay of video to your Instagram Stories
- Interact with followers and react on their send likes or comments
- It also allows you to pin selected follower comments to the top of the video.
- You can track viewer engagement and metrics.
- It sends an automatic notification to your followers whenever you are on for the live stream.
Pricing
- Available free of cost. You just need to have an account or profile on Instagram.
13. Dacast
A combined platform that offers video management and live streaming solutions Dacast was launched in the year 2008 and the platform is designed and suitable for streamers from enterprises, institutions, and other expert organizations.
Best Features
- You can easily embed videos on your website.
- Round the clock tech support.
- Offers multi-bitrate streaming to audiences.
- Multiple monetization options such as SVOD, AVOD and TVOD.
Cons
- Technical aspects take time to get hold of
Pricing
30 Days Free Trial Available
- Starter Pack- $19 per month billed annually
- Premium Pack- $125 per month billed annually
- Enterprise Pack-$289 per month billed annually
14. Vimeo Live
In the year 2017 Vimeo acquired the live streaming platform and also offers video hosting. Vimeo live offers great audience interaction, Q&A, live polls, email capture, and custom calls-to-action. It also allows you to live stream to up to three separate platforms simultaneously via an RTMP stream.
Key features
- Offers hardware and software for good output
- Creators can host unlimited streams and viewers
- Every pricing plan offers a huge storage space.
- Analysis Display
- Pay per view option available
- Easy to use user interface
Cons
- Traffic is limited compared to other sites
Pricing
30 Days Free Trial Available
Billed Annually
- Plus-$7/mo
- Pro-$20 /mo
- Business-$50/mo
- Premium-$75/mo
15. YouNow
YouNow is a social live streaming platform, you will find amazing creators with exceptional talents and you can also video chat with anybody in any part of the world. You can stream directly from your phone or a desktop.
Key Features
- Creators can receive gifts from their followers
- Age demographic is 18-24 years for both creators and viewers.
Cons
- Stream for longer to get more likes
Pricing
- Available for free
Conclusion
Live Streaming can pay off really well if you have the right content to offer. Always take care of the guidelines each platform states. So what’s stopping you?
If you are still confused, you can always begin with live streaming platforms that are free of cost or ones that offer 30 days free trials like Vimeo Live and Dacast.
Let us know your views on the above mentioned live streaming platforms, and your suggestions are always welcomed.