Live streaming has become a part of so many people’s lives that it is now a common day tool as part of their regular workday. The massive shift to working online created equal opportunities for both corporate and entrepreneurs to work remotely as well as provide support for customers during the CoVid 19 pandemic that swept through the world earlier this year.
There are many different platforms with different features and services. Here is a list of 12 tools for video live streaming that provide features to interact either with a few colleagues and teams, or audiences of thousands. Some of the tools are free, while others start at inexpensive monthly pricing.
ZOOM
“Can you jump on a Zoom call” has become almost as synonymous as, let me google that. Zoom has the ability to provide both workspace collaboration or video webinars seamlessly with the download of their custom software to your phone, tablet, laptop, or computer. With the ability to host from 100s to thousands of interactive users, on the backend, it also allows social interface with Facebook and Youtube integration. You can engage, track, and monetize with this free and paid video platform starting at $12.49 a month.
Facebook LIVE
Facebook LIVE provides the ability to broadcast a discussion, performance, Q&A, or even an event to either your Facebook profile page, a business page, or a group page for free with their app. Facebook LIVE has the ability to schedule broadcasts with their Live Producer up to 7 days in advance of your video time and alert your followers that you will be going live. One of the great advantages of Facebook LIVE is the cost – it’s free.
YouTube Live
YouTube is no longer just for watching recorded videos. The ability to live stream your event, class, broadcast, with your viewers is available through their live feature. You have to have at least 1,000 subscribers and like most streams some type of an encoder to send to YouTube Live.
You can make the live streams be public, private, or even unlisted if you only want to playback to a select group. Cost Free.
StreamYard
One of the advantages of Streamyard is that it can run from your Chrome or Firefox browser and is cloud-based rather than having to download an app and actual software to your device. The downside of this great program is the number of participants that can be seen at any time. Currently, you can have 10 people in the broadcast studio but only 6 people in the stream. However, do not be put off on the participants as you can easily swap people in and out of the broadcast and the audio and 1080p video are both better than other streamers, and the crazy number of additional streams you can send to via RTMP is amazing. Currently, it is 30 different types of additional streams. StreamYard starts at $20 a month for full features and removal of their watermark top right bug.
Vimeo
Vimeo’s Live Streaming is available in their Premium plan and allows you to live stream to Vimeo and simulcast stream to other social platforms like Facebook, Youtube, etc. In the premiere plan, you can stream to unlimited viewers and also chat, poll, and Q&A. A big advantage of Vimeo is the broadcast of your event is in full HD with adaptive streaming, giving your viewers the best quality across all devices, even with limited bandwidth. And when your event is over, it’s auto-archived in up to 4K. Included in Premiere is Studio 6. It allows you to connect any camera to your laptop and switch feeds, create layered graphics, add pre-recorded videos, and master everything with the audio mixer. Download it today.
Instagram Live
Instagram Live is a feature on Instagram Stories that allows users to stream video to followers and engage with them in real-time. This increases interactions with followers creating more engagement. As you are mostly using your phone for Instagram Live there is virtually no cost involved as there are no fees to broadcast live. Similar to Facebook you can track engagement viewer counts and metrics to analyze performance and engagement.
Once you have finished streaming your video, you can save, repost the content.
IBM Cloud Video
IBM Cloud Video, formerly USTREAM a very popular streaming service. Their paid services are 3 platforms for all types of broadcasting and enterprise-level video broadcasting. This service is extremely useful when wanting to embed or stream to/from your website. IBM’s Watson is a machine learning program built in that automatically helps deploy virtual assistants for speech to text, closed captions, etc. Start with a free 30-day trial and then the price starts at only $99 per month.
Restream
There are basically 3 different aspects that make Restreams stand out from other streamers. Number one is its ability to stream to 30 other platforms simultaneously. Two is the ease to schedule a pre-recorded video for playback to any of its 30 channels. Three is their ability to advertise within the restream community, creating RAds.
There is a free version available with a watermark that will stream to all platforms and then the paid services start at $16 month billed yearly.
Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect is a premier streaming software with a mega list of available additions that cater to everything imaginable for Meetings, Conferences, and Classrooms.
With a multi-layered security system built to meet the most regulated industries, Adobe Connect provides users with customizable layers, add on images, multiple chat rooms, polls, quizzes, breakout rooms, and restreams known as Pods to personalize your virtual experience. These features make Adobe Connect a powerful virtual broadcast tool. See their current webpage to check what Free trial offers they have. Some of their offers are free for 3 months? Prices start at $50 a month.
Be.Live
Be.Live is another dedicated cloud-based streaming platform producing content to Facebook Live and YouTube Live. This player will also allow embedding into webpages. Some of the unique features in Be.Live is its ability to rewind the live stream as it is playing and allowing live chat with participants as well as presenters. You can do mini slideshow presentations, or a full webinar course, interviews as well as share the presenter’s screen.
Crowdcast
Crowdcast is an online platform running in your browser that allows you to bring in up to 3 guests or screens. You can screen share to allow showing a video or presentation for your webinar or products. Plus an advantage of Crowdcast is its integration possibilities with Zapier.
With Zapier you can connect to the apps you already use, including over 500+ tools like MailChimp, InfusionSoft, Aweber, and Salesforce. Push data from your events, connect to your email list, automate your workflow. And our advanced built-in analytics gives you powerful insights you can export as CSV. Track, learn, improve to drive leads, and sales.
LinkedIn Live
LinkedIn is the latest social network with its own video streaming service, LinkedIn Live. One of the key factors of using LinkedIn Live is that your main audiences will be professional people or business owners. This tool is a great tool for broadcasting conferences and industry events. It is also a must for people working with B2B marketing.
Engagement from LinkedIn Live videos on average gets 7x more reactions and 24x more comments than native video produced by the same broadcasters.
Stephen Brown
Resource Group Media
I am continually searching online for new ideas that can facilitate me. Thanks!