The ever changing winds at YouTube have caused many to look for credible alternatives. Heavy-handed ad placement policies, constantly changing terms of service, and an algorithm that never seems to be on your side as a creator have all contributed to this movement. The demand for competition in the video platform space has never been higher.

In this article, we will review five alternatives and competitors to YouTube. We will especially highlight which are true alternatives as opposed to video services that aren’t actually competing in the same sphere.

Twitch

Twitch is a live streaming platform that primarily focuses on gaming content. It offers a wide variety of features and ways to monetize content through subscriptions, donations, and more. Twitch has a large user-base with over 140 million monthly active users. This makes it a great place to kick-off your streaming career. While this platform might be focused on gaming, it has branched into other niches such as “Just Chatting” or “Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches”. Some downsides to Twitch include streamers having run into DMCA copyright issues as Twitch rarely takes the side of its creators in such disputes. Twitch is a great platform, however it is very competitive and hard to get to the top as it is hitting a point of saturation. If you are fine with grinding to be an Affiliate and then a Partner, it may finally pay off – but it will take serious persistence.

Utreon

Utreon is the newest addition to the stable of YouTube alternatives, having been founded in late 2019. Utreon has provided an alternative to those longing for a credible alternative to legacy platforms that have neglected innovation. Utreon especially excels on the user-interface front, which places it at the head of the running from a design point of view. Considering how easy it is to import existing content and sync from YouTube, Utreon makes switching as frictionless as possible.

What started as a video platform has grown into something much bigger – a place to bring your community and monetize it. Utreon’s functionality allows you to control and unify everything under one roof. This includes core YouTube functionality such as uploading videos, live streaming, and new community capabilities more reminiscent of Reddit that are in the works. Utreon currently allows creators to monetize their content with subscriptions, allowing them to earn a dependable revenue stream from their fans. “Ultra Chats” allow creators to earn revenue through live streams, and the community functionality allows their fans to share content, memes, text posts, and provides fun new ways to monetize and engage with their community. If you’re looking for a credible alternative, Utreon is a strong contender.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a platform that makes all lists of alternatives, as it is one of the longest standing and most established alternatives – except it was until it wasn’t. Vimeo has actually pivoted away from the YouTube style video platform model, and actively makes efforts to minimize the comparisons to YouTube. Vimeo is focused on the creative and artistic niches, and doesn’t provide significant discovery or search capabilities. Vimeo requires creators to pay for video storage past a certain free limit. That said, if you fit their target niche, it could be what you are looking for. It has great functionality for artistic teams, providing the ability to list job postings, edit projects as a team, and features enhanced customization of the player. If you are looking to embed content on your site, Vimeo is a viable option. You retain full rights to your content and won’t have ads placed on it like on YouTube. If you are looking for discoverability, Vimeo is not the place. In summary, Vimeo is more for established artists, rather than the average content creator.

Odysee

Odysee is a new successor to LBRY.tv, an alternative built on the LBRY protocol. The intention of Odysee is to be a credible alternative to YouTube with mainstream appeal. It provides syncing and import services for creators of different sizes and allows them to not only upload videos, but also conduct live streams, post blogs, and more. Odysee monetizes content through its crypto currency, the LBC. This is appealing to some from a technology point-of-view, but can be less appealing to the less technically inclined. That said, Odyssey has made significant efforts to simplify the rough edges around the technology. Odysee offers a wide array of content, with a mix of mainstream content and some that is more on the fringe of what YouTube tolerates. They provide a real alternative, with solid functionality and a growing user base. It is definitely one of the real alternatives.

Rumble

Rumble is one of the older YouTube alternatives and has recently gained traction. It started as a video licensing platform focused on cute cat and dog videos and embedding ads on news sites. With the joining of conservative creators that have had issues with YouTube, it has in effect pivoted to being a platform targeted to creators opposed to YouTube policies and issues primarily experienced by conservative creators. It has functionality that allows it to be considered an alternative, with decent discovery and an interesting daily battleboard.

Conclusion

These are all alternative platforms that were built to provide an alternative to YouTube by providing better policies or functionality for viewers and creators alike. We hope this list will help you understand why certain creators or viewers may want to join one over the other. We suggest Utreon, Odysee, and Rumble as strong contenders that we feel offer the best mix of functionality, interface polish, and the likelihood of long-term success.