Introduction
Launched in 2005, YouTube has always been a massive success in the internet world. Popular across the globe, this video search engine is available in more than 98 versions. From unboxing videos to high-quality educational stuff, from cartoon shows to business ideas, YouTube has it all for almost all age groups. There are more than 122 million users per day on YouTube making it one of the most visited platforms in the world. Although a forever go-to for more than a decade, today, it is turning a bit too competitive and complex for users and content creators.
Reasons Why YouTube is the Leader
Apart from being easy to use and understand, there are a few more factors that contribute to making YouTube the first on the list:
- YouTube has more than 2.5 billion users worldwide
- Top-notch AI that suggests audience-preferred content
- After Google, its only YouTube that people rely on to get the answers to their questions
- YouTube adapts to local markets and local languages giving access to launch content in more than 80 languages
- YouTube is a great space for marketing for more than 60% of business owners in the world
- About 500 hours of video content is uploaded every minute making it a never-ending pool of content to be consumed by users
- People find 90% of their new product choices on YouTube
What Makes YouTube so Competitive?
YouTubing is a trend. And, you wouldn’t deny the fact that every other person wants to do it. But, only a few of the first-timers make it through and stay consistent with quality content. Well, even with that single-digit percentage of people being in the YouTube game consistently, the competition is really high. Apart from winning the first 1000 subscribers and hitting the 4000 hours of watch time, there’s so much more to it:
- An already available large pool of content on almost any topic you wish to target
- Audience preferences to follow influencers and give less to no attention to the newly uploaded content Streaming content on YouTube without any monetary benefits for about a year
- Ads as the major source of earning
- A huge number of users quit subscriptions every day
- Increasing competition in every niche
YouTube Alternatives
YouTubing has been considered a career choice for more than a decade now. But today, it is not an easy nut to crack. With the algorithms, audience behavior, and monetary policies getting more stringent day by day, content creators are starting to switch to other video streaming channels. Here are a few alternatives to YouTube you must consider as a user and a creator:
Vimeo
It is a preferred platform for creative and artistic content creators. Launched by film industry experts for the distribution of their content, it has a DNA of unique creation in itself. Vimeo is used by users, especially for categorized content. For example short stories, documentaries, tutorials, etc. Vimeo is best known for its publishing 4K ultra HD resolution videos. Apart from that the other features of video likes, comments and shares remain similar to YouTube. Vimeo is a platform run by subject matter experts for professionals working in similar areas of work. It is a paid platform and has only about 170 million active users. However, the audience on this platform is 50% more qualitative than that on YouTube.
Best For: Creative content creators like musicians, story-tellers, filmmakers, marketers, and artists
Supports: Android, iOS, and Windows smartphones
Disadvantages: Some essential uploading features are paid
Dailymotion
A platform very similar to Youtube in terms of video resolutions, video length and interface, Dailymotion is almost nothing different from YouTube. Not only this, but the versatility of content on this platform is also similar to that of YouTube. The major difference, however, is the competition. Dailymotion has about 300 million active users. So, the most viral videos herein gain only a few thousand views in total. On the other hand, it is important to note that, with the smaller audience that Dailymotion has, it is a lot easier to hit the trending list and video promotion prerequisites. From a user’s point of view, Dailymotion is a great choice to make for its high-quality, uncompressed videos.
Best For: Content creators with a smaller audience or user base
Supports: Android, iOS, and Windows devices
Disadvantages: Supports videos only up to 20 mins
IG TV
One of the best alternatives to YouTube, IGTV is a TV channel or a video platform by Instagram. Despite being a comparatively newer platform, it gained enormous popularity and success. IG TV allows videos ranging from 15 seconds to 60 minutes, in MP4 format. It is basically a mobile-optimized platform and is a boon to content creators targeting active mobile users (which is larger than you think, about 5.5 billion). IG TV offers its uploaders the features to edit and beautify their content online in a creative way with its amazing filters, stickers and music. This feature makes IG TV stand out from the competition. The game-changer in the IG TV game is the use of hashtags. Instagram has a huge pool of young audiences actively exploring hashtags giving the videos a higher chance of ranking.
Best For: Businesses with low budgets, content creators with a younger audience, content creators building long forms of visual content.
Supports: Android, iOS, and Windows devices
Disadvantages: Monetization of content on this platform is a challenge in itself. Supports only Portrait mode videos.
DTube
A perfect alternative for YouTube, without any risk of tampering with the content. DTube is decentralized with all its storage on the blockchain. This means it has almost no risk from hackers with respect to data privacy. The best part of DTube is that it doesn’t have ads interrupting your content. Apart from that, the quality of streaming content is monitored by the blockchain community. Trending and high-quality content creators get an earning opportunity in terms of cryptocurrency revenue. DTube has a comparatively smaller audience. It is also against AI-based censorship and supports free speech.
Best For: Enthusiasts of the Blockchain community, users concerned about the privacy of content
Supports: Android, iOS, and Windows devices
Disadvantages: Very limited and small size of the audience, interface not people-friendly and engaging.
Bitchute
Designed primarily for providing a platform for free speech, Bitchute indeed walks the talk. Users facing rejections and deletions for their content often choose Bitchute. A platform with about 40 million users allows content creators to address sensitive topics in politics, social life, etc. It is best-known amongst the users as well as creators as a space for controversial content. Bitchute is free from ads and hence a lot more comfortable.
Best For: Content creators producing content on sensitive topics
Supports: Android, iOS, and Windows devices
Disadvantages: May lead to controversies, has a smaller and subject-specific audience
Conclusion
YouTube is a tough player for it is popular and chosen by people for its versatility and quality. But, as a creator or a user, if you are looking for something beyond what Youtube has to offer you, these alternatives should be your go-to! Not only are they close to the features of YouTube but also have a number of advantages that might appeal to you. While Dailymotion is almost similar to YouTube, Vimeo is known for its creative content. Similarly, depending on the young age group of your audience you must consider IG TV over YouTube. From a business and monetization perspective, DTube could bring fortunes too.
Have you found where you are signing in next if not browsing YouTube anymore? Let us know in the comments.
