Is There An Alternative to YouTube? I Review 5 Contenders

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A month ago, after YouTube started stuffing ads into non-monetized videos and ramping up censorship, I decided to see if there are any viable alternatives for sharing and consuming videos. I also wanted to understand how good streaming performance and discovery are. Here’s what I found.

I’ll sum up my thoughts on:

  1. DailyMotion
  2. BitChute
  3. DTube
  4. PeerTube
  5. Vimeo 

1. DailyMotion 

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DailyMotion is the closest YouTube alternative.

PROS

+ ease of use

+ design

+ mass-market content (music & entertainment focus)

+ for creators not looking for discovery: good place to park public or password-protected videos

CONS

– depth by category is low

– some upload limits

 

2. Bitchute

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Bitchute has the makings of a YouTube alternative but it’s a thematic ghetto.

PROS

+ clean design

+ decent traction on top videos

+ active community

CONS

– content range: right wing to conspiracy. Way too much.

– mainstream creators will not want to be associated with what’s here

3. DTube

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DTube is a blockchain free speech video platform. It pays a useless crypto coin to participate.

PROS

+has most of the basic features

CONS

– odd top categories

– blockchain system complex & pointless

– low engagement

– no discovery or useful content. Feels like you’re always a click away from terrorist training.

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4. Peertube 

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Peertube is so repellant, I won’t even bother discussing beyond this: you create your own servers to host god knows what with god knows who. It’s the calculus of video sharing platforms. Avoid, unless you hate your life.

5. Vimeo

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Vimeo is now a corporate hosting service provider, not a tube site.

PROS

+ for ~$80 a year, indie creators can still have an attractive place to host their videos

+ versatile cross-platform uploading

CONS

– no discovery or content

– $$$$ corporate focus

Conclusion

Overall, there is no alternative to YouTube, unless you have a very narrow use case. For now, YouTube remains the only game in town for discovery and free hosting, albeit laden w/ads and increasing censorship.

And while wasting time doing this, I realized why I will never look like Olivia Culpo. Her skin routine has 40 STEPS!! I’d rather look like a monster.

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