The comparison of free video upload, hosting, streaming, sharing and downloading services.
Finding a free video hosting site that lets you post videos for free, create shareable urls and view them online?
There are a number of solutions, but they don't all offer the same upload size, storage, playback capabilities, or video retention.
Unlockify Stream
- Best for no-login uploads, streaming links, and multiple audio tracks
- Free upload: Up to 1.9 GB per video.
- Upload without creating an account. Features include a Telegram bot, downloadable video links, direct streaming URLs compatible with VLC, built-in subtitle support, custom SRT uploads, subtitle translation, and multi-audio track switching.
- Retention: No fixed expiration period verified; permanent availability is not guaranteed.
Streamable
- Best for sharing short video clips
- Free limits: 250 MB per video, maximum 10 minutes.
- Offers HD playback, shareable URLs, basic video editing, and website embedding. Free-plan playback is ad-supported.
- Retention: 90 days for free accounts. Guest uploads require registration to remain available beyond 48 hours.
Vimeo
- Best for professional ad-free video presentation
- Free limits: Unlimited public, non-embeddable videos; 3 GB total for embeddable or non-public videos.
- Provides high-quality playback, including 4K support, clean embedding, captions, and basic analytics. The free plan includes 1 TB monthly bandwidth for qualifying embeddable and non-public videos.
- Retention: No fixed expiration for active accounts; accounts inactive for one year may be removed.
ScreenPal
- Best for educational videos and screen recordings
- Free limits: 10 hosted videos and 15 minutes per screen recording.
- Includes screen recording, simple video editing, screenshot capture, and sharing tools. Useful for tutorials, training, and classroom demonstrations.
- Retention: No fixed free-video expiry verified; account and hosting limits apply.
Jumpshare
- Best for quick video sharing and collaboration
- Free limits: Guest uploader advertises 1 GB for MP4 and 250 MB for other video formats. Registered Basic accounts have 25 uploads, with a 250 MB general file limit listed in the plan comparison.
- Features browser playback, sharing links, screen recording, video markups, and timestamped comments.
- Retention: Guest uploads are deleted after 24 hours; registered users can retain files while their accounts remain active.
YouTube
- Best for reaching a public audience
- Free limits: Up to 256 GB or 12 hours per video, whichever is less, for verified accounts.
- Offers video sharing, subscriptions, captions, playlists, and embedding. Particularly suitable for creators who want viewers to discover their content through search and recommendations.
- Retention: No standard 90-day expiry; videos remain subject to account status, platform rules, and removal policies.
Dailymotion
- Best as a general-purpose video publishing alternative
- Free standard-creator limits: 4 GB per video, up to 2 hours, and 15 video uploads per 24 hours.
- Supports uploading, online playback, and video embedding. Standard creators are also limited to 10 hours of uploaded content per 24 hours.
- Retention: No fixed expiration period verified.
Wistia
- Best for business website video embedding
- Free limits: 25 GB total storage and 200 GB monthly bandwidth.
- Provides an ad-free customizable player, website embedding, privacy controls, and basic analytics. Wistia branding remains on the free plan.
- Retention: No fixed expiry verified; embedded playback pauses when monthly bandwidth limits are exceeded.
Cloudinary
- Best for developers building websites and apps
- Free limits: 25 monthly credits shared across storage, bandwidth, and transformations.
- Offers video uploads through APIs, video transcoding, adaptive streaming, and CDN delivery. More technical than ordinary upload-and-share websites.
- Retention: No fixed video expiration verified; usage and account limits apply.
Google Drive
- Best for private storage and sharing videos with specific people
- Free limits: 15 GB shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
- Upload videos, play them in the browser, share links, and manage access permissions. Playback resolution is limited to 1080p, and playback restrictions can affect viewers.
- Retention: No fixed video expiry verified; storage, account, and policy restrictions apply.
Which service should you choose?
Useful tools for easy sharing without sign-up are Unlockify Stream and Streamable. YouTube and Dailymotion are more appropriate for viewing the videos on a public video hosting platform. Vimeo and Wistia are of special interest to professional website embedding, while Cloudinary is targeted at developers.
An important correction to your Unlockify Stream description: There is no automatic time limit on videos, but don't overlook that I wouldn't promise that the videos will be there forever. It has terms that can be removed or accessed when it is suitable, its playback is partly Telegram dependent.
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