10 YouTube Alternatives for Content Creators

YouTube channels are a popular way for influencers to share content — in fact, over 60 million creators call the platform home. Despite this huge user base, other streaming sites may be a better fit for some creators. Perhaps you’re looking for a platform with less competition, or maybe you want to crosspost and increase your reach. Either way, there are many YouTube alternatives to choose from.

Keep reading to discover 10 alternatives to YouTube for creators.

What’s YouTube’s Biggest Competitor?

Many people would likely name TikTok as YouTube’s biggest competitor. After all, TikTok has nearly 1 billion monthly users, ranking it among the top five most popular social media platforms worldwide. However, TikTok focuses on short-form content (and it might get banned), so another site may better fit the title of YouTube’s biggest rival — Vimeo.

Although it doesn’t have as much content as YouTube, Vimeo has a dedicated, professional creator community. This platform offers high-quality video streaming, a built-in video editor, and various ways to monetize content that many people find appealing.

10 Alternatives to YouTube

If you want to expand your reach online, here are the top apps like YouTube to consider.

1. Vimeo

Vimeo has offered high-definition video streaming to viewers worldwide for over twenty years. Its clean interface makes browsing, commenting on, and sharing videos easy, which explains its reputation as a popular YouTube alternative.

‍Pros:‍

• High audio and video quality, including 8K
• Tools for adding time-coded notes and comments inside videos
• Ad-free viewing options
• Customizable privacy options, including password protection and exclusive access

‍Cons:‍

• Premium features are only available with a subscription
• Free version limits uploads to 500MB per week
• Smaller audience makes it more challenging to gain followers
  

2. Twitch

Twitch began as a live streaming platform for gamers but now hosts varied content, including music performances, talk shows, and cooking demonstrations. While not as big as YouTube, it still has millions of monthly users you can connect with through live chats and subscriptions. 

‍Pros:‍

• Numerous ways to monetize content
• Diverse content categories
• Easy for creators and followers to interact in real time

‍Cons:‍

• Exclusive focus on live-streaming
• Harder to grow an audience from scratch on the platform
• Highly competitive
  

3. Facebook Video

Formerly called Facebook Watch, the platform’s Video feature is home to original TV shows, short-form content, longer uploads, and live streams. Facebook has a dedicated tab for videos and also includes these posts in people’s regular feeds. Viewers can find new content simply by scrolling the Video tab, or they can select specific content categories and hashtags to explore.

‍Pros:‍

• Large existing user base
• Crosspost to Instagram automatically
• Flexible content styles and categories
• Multiple monetization options, including in-stream ads, subscriptions, and fan donations

‍Cons:‍

• More competition than niche platforms
• Harder to target younger audiences
• View counts tend to be lower than YouTube

4. Reddit

Known as “the front page of the internet,” Reddit is a social media site with a large community of anonymous members. Users post memes, videos, and text about specific categories — these groups are called “subreddits.” The platform is quite popular, with millions of monthly users logging on. 

‍Pros: 

• Large audience and plenty of unique niches to connect with
• “Popular” page to promote content to new viewers
• Profiles are anonymous, so people are more likely to like, comment on, and share posts

‍Cons:‍

• May be hard to grow a new account from scratch
• Video upload limits of 15 minutes
• Audiences may not enjoy self-promotion posts 

5. Dailymotion

Dailymotion streams videos worldwide in 183 languages. Like YouTube, Dailymotion offers a free version with ads and a premium option. Subscribers don’t see ads and get additional benefits like unlimited custom players, embeddable playlists, and 4K support.

‍Pros:‍

• Wide selection of creative short films and animation
• Easy to monetize content and generous ad revenue sharing
• Enable protections to hide videos from search engines or require a password

‍Cons:‍

• Free version is ad-heavy
• Minimal monetization options aside from ads
• Limits free users to 10 hours of content uploaded per day and 2 hours per file
  

6. 9GAG

Hong Kong businessman Ray Chan launched 9GAG in 2008 as a humor-based alternative to email. What began as a side project for Chan quickly became a successful social media platform for videos and memes, and it’s still popular today. Similar to Reddit, people follow several categories they’re interested in to see and upload related content. 

‍Pros:‍

• Numerous content categories 
• Easy-to-use interface
• Offers ad-free option

‍Cons:‍

• Users face upload cooldowns and daily quotas
• No long-form content — videos can only last a couple of minutes
• Limited copyright protections
  

7. DTube

DTube is a social media platform that operates on the blockchain, meaning a single company doesn’t control the site. Instead, a network of different computer servers and individuals host the content. This means DTube doesn’t rely on an algorithm to moderate or promote content. Viewers are in control, boosting a page’s visibility purely on likes or dislikes. Another unique thing about this platform is its monetization model. As people engage with your videos, you can earn a form of cryptocurrency called DTube Coins (DTC) as a reward. The platform also gives viewers DTC for commenting, upvoting, and tagging posts. 

‍Pros:‍

• Ad-free 
• Strong privacy protections
• Community-driven system

‍Cons:‍

• Video monetization ends seven days after uploading
• Limited ways to edit or alter content
• Cryptocurrency is the only form of payment available

8. Odysee

Odysee is a blockchain-based platform similar to DTube. It lets users upload, share, and monetize content using a cryptocurrency called Library Credits, or LBC. Users earn LBC rewards for reaching view and subscriber milestones and completing tasks on the site, including watching videos. 

‍Pros:‍

• Appearance is similar to YouTube, which makes it easier to use
• Diverse and unique content
• Strong privacy and content protections
• Ad-free

‍Cons:‍

• Challenging to learn for people who are unfamiliar with blockchain technology
• Minimal monetization options
• Fewer users and limited algorithm can make it harder to build an audience
  

9. PeerTube

PeerTube is a free, nonprofit video-sharing platform. Using their open-source software, you can build and moderate your own site. This gives you total control over how you upload and share content with audiences.

‍Pros:‍

• No recommendation algorithms
• Ad-free
• Strong privacy and free speech protections

‍Cons:‍

• Technical knowledge required
• Can be challenging for viewers to find content
• Niche audience

10. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is an online library and nonprofit that preserves digital content. They provide free access to videos, websites, music, and other digital media. While they allow users to upload and download materials, most site content is automatically collected and preserved by bots.

‍Pros:‍

• Free to use
• Ad-free
• Varied content

‍Cons:‍

• No way to monetize content
• Used as more of a historical record than an updated video streaming platform

Make Your Videos Stand Out With CaptionsThere’s no shortage of YouTube alternatives where you can upload content. Once you pick your preferred platforms, it’s time to start filming and editing content — that’s where Captions comes in. Captions’ editing tools speed up the video creation process, giving you more time to think of video ideas to boost your channel’s reach. In just a few clicks, you can create AI avatars to read a script, compose royalty-free background music for your clips, and add captions or subtitles to your videos. Get started with Captions today and begin working on your next video project — no experience required.FAQsWhat Are the Best YouTube Alternatives for Monetizing Content? Plenty of platforms offer monetization features, but some creators prefer Twitch — you may even find it’s better than YouTube’s Partner Program. Ways to monetize content on Twitch include:

• Offering paid subscriptions
• Accepting donations
• Partnering with brands to sponsor products or services
• Earning commissions through affiliate marketing
• Selling merchandise
• Running ads during streams

Which YouTube Alternatives Offer Better Privacy? Sites that aren’t owned by a single company, also known as decentralized platforms, usually offer better privacy than YouTube. For example, DTube and Odysee both host videos using blockchain technology. This shields creators from censorship and protects user data through data encryption. What Video Platforms Are Best for Educational Content? Popular educational video sites include Coursera, EdX, and Udemy, which offer video courses from top universities and businesses. These sites provide some free courses, while others are available for one-time purchase or through a subscription. For free educational content, check out one of these free alternatives to YouTube: 

• Khan Academy — Math, science, arts, and humanities
• TED — Presentations from top speakers, researchers, and business leaders
• PBS — Science, technology, biology, and nature

Are There Ad-Free YouTube Alternatives? Multiple apps, including Vimeo, Daily Motion, and Twitch, offer ad-free viewing. Like YouTube, most sites only allow viewers to skip ads if they pay for a premium subscription. However, a few platforms don’t run ads at all.