Stillhaven vs others.

The short version

If you want to be found, use YouTube. Nothing else comes close for discovery, and it is free. Someone optimising for reach should be there, and we would say so to their face.

If the video is for your customers, your students or your clients, and it should play on your site without ads, without somebody else's video queued up after it, and without a logo that is not yours, that is us.

Where Stillhaven is the better choice

No ads on your videos, on any plan

Nothing plays before, during or after your video, including on Free. YouTube's terms grant it the right to monetise your content, and it may run ads on videos from channels that are not in its Partner Program, with no revenue share to you.

Your video ends, and nothing else starts

Our player stops, or loops if you tell it to. YouTube's embedded player keeps viewers on YouTube: related videos appear when playback ends and cannot be removed (setting rel to 0 limits them to your own channel, so a studio sees its own reel there rather than a stranger's; without it they can be anyone's), the pause screen offers more videos, and the logo links to the watch page on youtube.com, where the sidebar is other people's videos. Your video is also a YouTube URL, public or unlisted, that anyone can open away from your site.

Your branding, not theirs

From Creator up: your logo, your accent colour, and no Stillhaven badge at all. YouTube's player carries the YouTube logo, which links to youtube.com, and the parameter that used to soften it, modestbranding, was deprecated in August 2023 and now has no effect.

Embeds that stay where you put them

Allowed domains, on every paid plan: the video plays on the sites you list and nowhere else, and your analytics name any site that tried. YouTube offers embedding on or off; its domain rules exist only for partners using Content Manager.

Your original file, back whenever you want it

Every upload is kept as you sent it and is downloadable on every plan, including Free. YouTube hands back an MP4 at 720p or 360p.

Privacy that means private

Share pages can be turned off per video or for the whole library, can carry a password, and private channels put viewers behind their own sign-in. Nothing here recommends your video to strangers, because nothing here recommends anything.

Where YouTube is the better choice

You want to be discovered

YouTube is where people search for video, and its recommendations put your work in front of people who have never heard of you. We have no audience to offer you. If growth is the goal, YouTube is the better tool and it is not close.

You want it free, at any size

YouTube hosts as much as you upload for nothing. Our Free plan includes 10 GB of storage, 50 GB of monthly bandwidth and up to 30 minutes of new video a day, and paid plans start at $27 a month. If you are not spending anything and never want to, YouTube wins.

Your showreel belongs there

A public showreel or a channel you want found is exactly what YouTube is for, and we do not argue with it: the reach is real and the price is nothing. Client deliverables are a different job. A training cut or a wedding film usually should not be a YouTube URL at all, unlisted or not, and that is where a private page, review notes and the original file earn their keep.

You want the ecosystem

Subscriptions, live streaming, Shorts, community posts, and the possibility of being paid for views once your channel qualifies. We host video and stay out of the way: a share page here can take comments and reactions from the people you send it to, and that is as social as it gets.

Stillhaven and YouTube, side by side

Row by row, for the video you would rather keep on your own site. YouTube has no plans to compare, so the YouTube column describes the free service as Google documents it.

YouTube claims checked against support.google.com/youtube, developers.google.com/youtube and youtube.com/t/terms, and the logo, title and pause-screen links observed in an embedded player on 28 September 2026, on 18 September 2026. Prices move; if you are reading this much later, check theirs before you decide. Ours are on our pricing page, checked the same day.

What both of us do

Adaptive streaming that fits the viewer's connection.

Captions, either uploaded or generated.

An embed code that works on any site.

Analytics on plays and how far people watched.

Reach is worth calling out, because it is the whole reason to choose YouTube and we do not pretend to compete: a public video there can be seen by anyone; a video here is seen by the people you send it to.

Questions people ask

The short version

If you want video to capture leads, run A/B tests and feed your CRM, use Wistia. That is what it is built for, and we have not built any of it.

If you want a private, dependable place to host video, a player that carries your brand, and a bill made of two numbers you can predict, that is us. You will pay less for the same room.

Where Stillhaven is the better choice

You are ready to move, and re-uploading was the objection

The importer connects to your Wistia account with a read-only API token and moves the projects you pick in one pass: they arrive as folders, titles and descriptions come along, we fetch your original files, and the captions you edited in Wistia are imported as-is rather than regenerated. Re-running an import never duplicates a video. On every plan.

You want the same room for less

Creator is $27 a month month to month, or $22 a month on an annual plan, and includes 250 GB of storage, 1 TB of monthly bandwidth, 3 seats and no Stillhaven branding on the player. The nearest Wistia plan with those allowances and unbranded playback is Business, which is $99 a month month to month and $79 a month on an annual plan. Studio, at $79 month to month or $65 annually, still comes in under Business and includes 1 TB of storage, 2 TB of monthly bandwidth, 10 seats and 4K. Cheaper here either way you choose to pay, and either way you match.

Your team is going to grow

Seats are $10 a month here. There they are $31.25 per user month to month, or $25 on an annual plan. Viewers who only watch are a separate, larger pool on our side, so an audience does not cost you seats at all.

You want two numbers, not a feature matrix

You are billed on storage and bandwidth. From Creator up you get the branded player with no badge, public channels, allowed domains, password-protected share pages, client review, and the API and Claude connector. Captions, analytics and embeds are on every plan, including Free. Private channels, the CRM API, attachments, and 4K streaming start on Studio. We only ever sell more room, never a feature you already expected to have.

You want embed control that reports back

Allowed domains, on every paid plan: list the domains where a video may be embedded, per video or as a default for the whole library, and turn off its public page so your embeds are the only way in. When a site you did not allow tries anyway, your analytics name it. Site names only, nothing about the viewer.

You want quiet software

No feed, no recommendations, no advertising anywhere in the product, including on the free plan. Your video plays and the software stays out of the frame.

Where Wistia is the better choice

You want video to do marketing work

Wistia builds lead capture forms and calls to action into the player, runs A/B tests, shows per-viewer heatmaps, and pushes that data into HubSpot, Marketo or Pardot. Stillhaven has none of this and is not trying to. If your video is the top of a funnel, Wistia is the better tool and it is not close.

You run webinars or a podcast

Wistia hosts webinars with Q&A and polling, and distributes podcast episodes to Apple and Spotify. We do neither.

You want the most generous free plan

Wistia Free gives 25 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth a month. Ours gives 10 GB and 50 GB. If you are only kicking the tyres, theirs holds more.

Stillhaven and Wistia, side by side

Creator and Studio against Wistia Business. Creator is the plan with Business's allowances, so the room matches row for row; Studio is the plan at Business's price. Both billing periods are shown, because Wistia's page opens on the annual rate.

Wistia figures checked against wistia.com/pricing and wistia.com/features on 26 August 2026. Prices move; if you are reading this much later, check theirs before you decide. Ours are on our pricing page, checked the same day.

What both of us do

Adaptive streaming, captions, and a player you can brand.

Private, signed delivery and control over who can watch.

Your original upload is kept, and either platform will hand it back to you.

Embeds that work on any site, and analytics on how far people watched.

Downloads are worth calling out, because it is a claim we make loudly elsewhere and it is not a difference here: both platforms keep your original upload and will give it back. Ours is downloadable on every plan, including Free.

Questions people ask

The short version

If you want live events, a deep review toolset, marketing integrations and the biggest storage allowance in this price range, Vimeo is the more complete product and the more mature one.

If you want a bill made of two meters that behaves the same way every month, a player that keeps playing when you are busy, and pricing that does not depend on which plan lineup you signed up under, that is us.

Where Stillhaven is the better choice

You want the bill to be two numbers

You are billed on storage and bandwidth, and every paid tier includes the same features apart from four that start on Studio: private channels, the CRM API, attachments, and 4K streaming. Vimeo sells features by tier and fixes the number of users per plan, so branding in the player, lead capture and calls to action all wait for Standard, the second paid plan.

You want playback to survive a good month

Past your bandwidth allowance, videos keep playing and the overage is billed by the gigabyte at a rate published on the pricing page. Vimeo sets a 2 TB monthly threshold across its self-serve plans; pass it twice in a year, or 10 TB once, and their team contacts you with two options, reduce usage or move to a Custom or Enterprise account.

You want the price you saw month to month

Studio is $79 a month month to month and $65 on an annual plan. Vimeo Advanced is $125 month to month and $75 annually; Standard is $41 and $25. Their annual rate is the one on the page, and month to month costs around two thirds more. We are the cheaper column on either period.

You want the plan you bought to stay the plan you bought

Vimeo has retired Plus, Pro, Business and Premium and sells Starter, Standard and Advanced instead, and accounts opened since 17 June 2024 are on a lifetime storage cap rather than the allowances older accounts kept. The company was sold to Bending Spoons in a deal agreed in September 2025 and closed that November. None of that is a criticism of the product. It is a reason to prefer a vendor whose only tiers differ by room, with the four Studio exceptions named above.

You want embed control that reports back

Allowed domains, on every paid plan: list the domains where a video may be embedded, per video or as a default for the whole library. When a site you did not allow tries anyway, your analytics name it. Vimeo restricts embeds by domain too, on every plan; what we add is the per-video setting, the account default, and the report of refusals.

You are ready to move

Drag an exported folder into the uploader and its structure becomes your folders, or import from Wistia directly. Originals are kept and downloadable on every plan, so leaving us is as simple as arriving.

Where Vimeo is the better choice

You want more storage for the money

Vimeo Advanced includes 7 TB of storage and Standard 4 TB, against 1 TB on our Studio plan. If your library is measured in terabytes and your audience is modest, Vimeo holds more for less.

You run live events

Vimeo Advanced hosts livestreamed events with Q&A, polls and chat, streams to multiple destinations, and offers DVR streaming. We host recorded video only.

You want the deep feature set

Review and collaboration tools on every paid plan, lead capture and calls to action from Standard, marketing automation integrations on Advanced, and SSO and SCIM on Enterprise. Vimeo is a mature product and most of that list is years ahead of us.

You lock embeds on the free plan

Domain-level privacy is included with every Vimeo plan, up to 50 domains. Ours starts on Creator, because Free is a trial surface. If you need a domain lock without paying, Vimeo has it and we do not.

Stillhaven and Vimeo, side by side

Studio against Vimeo Advanced, the two plans a team weighing 4K, private audiences and a real bandwidth allowance is actually holding. Both columns show both billing periods, because Vimeo opens its page on the annual rate.

Vimeo figures checked against vimeo.com/pricing and help.vimeo.com on 18 September 2026. Prices move; if you are reading this much later, check theirs before you decide. Ours are on our pricing page, checked the same day.

What both of us do

Ad-free playback on every plan, including free.

Adaptive streaming, captions, and a player you can brand.

Password-protected and unlisted sharing, and control over who can watch.

Embeds that work on any site, restricted to the domains you choose.

Analytics on plays and how far people watched.

Ads are worth calling out, because Vimeo is often compared with YouTube on that point and it is not a difference here: neither of us runs ads on your videos, on any plan. Vimeo's end screens are configured by you and show your own videos or a call to action, never somebody else's.

Questions people ask