Producing online course videos has become a major business in the past few years since the internet is a constantly growing platform with billions of global audiences.
As technology gets better and faster, hosting online video courses has become a major attraction.
It makes sense, after all, since the internet is a nearly endless pool of knowledge, information, and new skills.
On top of that, it’s widely accessible, with many people being able to even view their video course on their cell phones.
Learning at a physical school requires you to regularly travel to a building at a set time, as well as live close enough in the first place.
With course videos on the internet, they can be accessed whenever and wherever you want.
But what are the top video hosting platforms for you to put online courses onto? The location of your videos is very important because you’ll want to give students a smooth and faultless experience with these video platforms.
Buffering, crashing, and other problems will put students off!
Thankfully, we’ve got the answers for you. In our detailed Best Of guide below, we’ve got a list of the best video hosting for online courses.
With each one, we’ve got a detailed breakdown of its key features and what makes it great.
By the end, you should have a good idea of what video hosting platforms you want to use for your own online courses.
1. Panopto
We’re starting our list off with Panopto, which is a very popular video hosting platform.
It’s especially popular with educational institutions, like colleges, as a great way for them to share video content with their students and teachers by using this video hosting service to spread online education.
However, it’s also been adopted by lots of businesses, because of its simplicity to use and its handy features.
What Does Panopto Offer?
The aim of Panopto is to make video sharing easy, with a secure platform that will allow you to share knowledge quickly and in a very accessible way.
For a start, Panopto has their own free video recording software, which allows you to record both video messages and presentations without having to download or install anything.
In only a few clicks, you’ll be able to record HD video from your webcam, as well have it paired with footage of your computer screen (and other sources) to accompany what you’re teaching.
It’s an incredibly quick system, without the hassle of getting plugins or apps, which makes it much easier for you to get straight into recording your course site content.
On top of that, you can record online and offline, making it easily accessible to whatever situation you’re in at that moment.
You can even record on the go by using your smartphone, allowing you to create and hosting for online courses whenever you’re free.
It’s also possible to do live videos with Panopto, thanks to its live-streaming features. With just a single click, you’ll be able to stream something to as many viewers as you might have.
So, if you’re doing a live video interview with a person for your online course, you can Livestream it to your students without having to record it and upload it later.
Of course, once you’ve got all your videos, they can be easily and securely managed.
Panopto uses a video CMS (Content Management System) to help to manage and deliver your videos onto the internet securely, with users only being able to access them when they sign-in with the relevant authentication systems.
Additionally, you can create playlists and track the student engagement, seeing what course videos are most popular.
In Summary
- Easy and quick video recording
- Record multiple screens and sources
- Record anytime and anywhere
- Livestream video
- In-depth video management
Check out Panopto here.
2. Wistia
Wistia is a video marketing platform that allows you to create and host videos, as well as market them around.
On top of that, it allows you to analyze the performance of your videos with video data and insight, so that you can see where to improve.
It’s also got a sleek, customizable video player that will make watching your online courses easy and pleasurable for students.
What Does Wistia Offer?
First things first, Wistia offers an easy way to create and edit your video content.
Their screen recorder, Soapbox, is based right within your browser, so you can record videos straight from whatever browser you’re already using.
This means that you don’t have to download extra programs or plugins, you can simply get recording your online courses straight away.
With Soapbox, you can record both your webcam feed and your computer screen footage, allowing you to guide students through visual information, like slides and sources, while still showing your face.
It makes for an overall more involving teaching experience. After you;ve got your recording, you simply export it to Wistia.
Wistia offers a simple video editing platform too, where you can trim your videos down and edit them.
This will make your content more concise and focused, allowing you to easily get rid of any unnecessary parts and keeping your students from losing engagement.
Thankfully, the editing tools are really straightforward and streamlined. You won’t be able to do everything, but it does mean that it’s accessible to anyone, even people who have never edited.
Once you’ve got your videos, you can easily manage and share them. On top of that, it’s very simple to embed the videos onto your own website, helping you to share your online courses even further.
Videos can also be played with Wistia’s sleek and customizable video player, allowing you to even tailor the look and feel of how your videos are played to your style and content.
It’s all about creating a more unified experience in line with your teaching.
In Summary
- Easily record from your browser
- Simplified editing tools are accessible to anyone
- Manage and share your videos in a straightforward way
- Embed videos onto your website
- Customizable video player
Check out Wistia here.
3. Vidyard
Vidyard is a helpful and easy-to-use best video hosting site with a variety of features that will allow you to easily record and share your online courses.
What Does Vidyard Offer?
You can record your videos in a variety of ways, whether you use Vidyard’s desktop or mobile apps, or their browser extension.
This makes video recording very easy, because you can choose how you do it and what process works best for you.
As for the videos themselves, you can record your webcam feed alongside your computer screen, allowing you to create an online course video where you can clearly speak through visual aids.
Once you’ve got your video, Vidyard offers quick video editing tools.
They aren’t the most in-depth, but instead allow you to make quick and simple cuts and trims, making your video more precise and keeping students engaged.
Better yet, the simplicity will mean that anyone can do it.
With Vidyard, you get fast video uploads, saving your precious time. On top of that, you can upload in almost any video format, making it accessible.
Passwords help to keep the host videos secure, allowing only the right students to see them, and all videos are hosted online in ad-free capacity.
Better yet, the video quality is crisp and load quickly.
In Summary
- Easy video recording
- Record webcam and screen
- All the tools are very simple for editing
- Quick uploading
- Videos load quickly for students
Check out Vidyard here.
4. YouTube
YouTube is not only the most popular video hosting solution in the world but also one of the most popular websites period.
Over 2 billion people actively use YouTube videos (you’re probably one of them!), which means that there is an enormous customer base out there for your online course videos.
What Does YouTube Offer?
Although YouTube videos are the most popular video hosting platform on the internet, it sadly doesn’t have a recording function built into it.
Although you can do live video streaming from it, you can’t record videos for later uploading since YouTube doesn’t have a webcam feature.
This is a shame and certainly makes it less accessible than the other platforms we’ve looked at, but there is plenty of software you can get to record the videos instead.
Similarly, YouTube only has a very basic video editing tool set. You can trim and cut videos easily in YouTube Studio, but you won’t find many other editing features.
Thankfully, at least this makes it accessible to novices.
Where YouTube excels is in its video hosting service. You can upload videos easily, and they will all be clearly organized in your YouTube channel’s profile page.
You can make playlists and use the video privacy feature to unlist too. You’re also able to profit from your videos thanks to adverts, which is what a lot of free online course channels do.
Best of all, there’s a massive potential audience base, due to the 2+ billion active users.
In Summary
- Most popular best video hosting platform
- Over 2 billion active users
- Easy uploading and video management
- Basic editing tools
- NO recording
- You can embed youtube videos from you youtube channel
Check out YouTube videos here.
5. Vimeo
Vimeo is another popular and right video hosting platform that you’ve probably heard of. It offers a wide range of features and a good active user base.
What Does Vimeo Offer?
First of all, Vimeo actually does offer a screen recorder, unlike YouTube.
Vimeo Record is a free recorder that allows you to record footage from both your webcam and your computer screen, and it can all work with a simple Chrome extension.
Unfortunately, it isn’t available on other browsers, so if you want to record another browser, you will have to start recording in Chrome and then select “full screen”.
Vimeo also has a free video editor that is perfectly easy for people with no editing experience.
You can crop and trim videos, as well as merge them and all kinds of stylish additions (like filters, text, music, and more!)
Once you have your online course videos, you can upload them from anywhere: computer, mobile devices, cloud storage platforms.
You’ll be able to easily manage and share your videos once on the platform, and there is lots of storage space thanks to flexible storage options. You can even upload in up to 8K quality-wise!
Videos can also be kept private thanks to custom password protection, meaning that you can set course videos for certain students only.
In Summary
- Easy screen recorder BUT only available via Chrome extension
- Good editing tools
- Flexible storage
- Password protect videos
- Easily manage, organize, and share videos
Check out Vimeo here.
6. Uscreen
Uscreen is a popular video hosting for online that offers a range of key features, particularly towards video marketing and monetization.
What Does Uscreen Offer?
Uscreen unfortunately doesn’t have a video recorder built into it, but it does allow you to at least perform smooth livestreams.
As for its Content Management System, it allows you to upload your content easily, either by individual video or in bulk. After that, you can organize them.
Your channel page offers what Uscreen calls a “Netflix-style catalog”, with an incredibly sleek design and an easy to use interface.
Students will easily be able to browse through your online course videos.
The video player also has top quality playback, giving your customers a stress-free experience that’s perfect for learning.
On top of that, you’ll get a whole range of marketing tools and analytical data, seeing where your videos could be performing better.
It all goes towards building a customer base and a community, and you can monetize your videos simply with a fixed fee.
In Summary
- NO video recorder, but sleek live streaming
- Upload and manage videos easily
- Beautiful design when browsing videos
- Top-quality video playback
- Marketing tools and analytical help
Check out Uscreen here.
7. Vdocipher
We’re finishing our list with Vdocipher, an impressive video hosting site that especially focuses on the security of your content.
What Does Vdocipher Offer?
Although Vdocipher doesn’t offer a video recorder for you to directly record your webcam and/or computer screen footage, it does allow you to upload your videos from anywhere once you’ve made them.
Whether it’s straight from the desktop, via Google Drive or Dropbox, or even FTP, you’ll be able to get your videos uploaded onto Vdocipher in the way that’s easiest and most accessible to you.
Once they’re uploaded, users can watch them with a smart HTML5 video player.
You can add subtitles with this, making your videos even clearer and more accessible, and users can easily engage with your online courses thanks to the responsiveness of the player.
A simple dashboard also allows you to manage your videos. You can organize them into folders, change the thumbnails and the security settings, and even look at the video’s analytical data.
Security is one of the biggest draws of Vdocipher, though. All the video streaming is DRM encrypted, which means that nobody can steal your online courses with a downloader or a plugin.
On top of that, you can also add watermarks to the videos. They can even be specific to the users, displaying their email or usernames.
In Summary
- Great security features to protect your online course videos
- NO video recorder, but upload videos easily and from lots of sources
- Responsive video player
- Easy to use dashboard
Check out Vdocipher here.
Finding The Best Video Hosting Sites
When finding the best video hosting site for your online courses, you’ll want to look out for a variety of factors.
Pricing Models
We haven’t touched upon pricing models in our list, but you can expect the best video hosting platforms to cost money.
This can be a shame, but since you’ll be earning an income from your online courses, it’s worth the expense.
Each video streaming business has various different subscriptions, each with different prices.
Try to find one that is affordable for you, but also offers most of the features that you’ll want.
There are free video hosting platforms out there, but they may be lacking features.
YouTube is free, for example, but you need to pay if you want to upload longer videos and monetize your content.
Video Recorder
A lot of the platforms we looked at offered video recorders, which are a great time-saver.
With these, you can easily record your webcam and screen footage straight away, making the process of video creation extra easy.
However, some platforms don’t offer this, and you’ll have to download an external video recorder.
Video Management
You’ll also want to ensure that organizing your videos is easy, allowing you to organize them into playlists and change the settings on each one.
Additionally, you’ll want an attractive channel presentation to engage students.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Online Courses Are Most Popular?
If you want to pursue the most popular course areas, you could make online videos about health and fitness, trading, graphic design, personal development, and graphic design.
Final Thoughts
The final note is the there are lots of video hosting platforms for your online courses, each with their own features. Use our guide to find the one that’s best for you!
