When Vimeo pivoted away from catering to filmmakers a few years ago, it made me nervous. (I’m a “Plus” subscriber that uses the service to share edits with clients.) At that time, Vimeo started pushing is OTT services more. Some of your favorite streaming apps are probably running on Vimeo tech — Criterion Channel, Dropout TV, Troma Now.
In any case, the thought has crossed my mind that if I were to ever start my own channel, I’d probably build it on Vimeo OTT.
Now they’ve been sold to Bending Spoons, and the new boss fired a huge amount of Vimeo employees.
How will this shake out? Will Vimeo pivot again or be sold for parts? If you pay for Vimeo like I do, you might consider other options for the future.
Here’s the article from Slate:
https://slate.com/technology/2026/01/vimeo-layoffs-youtube-video-internet.html
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Mike Boas I don't know, but as a serial streaming service entrepreneur, I would never consider Vimeo or its services. They are designed to extract every penny you could make, and charge you above that for the privilege. You can do everything you want on AWS, which is likely what Vimeo itself uses.
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Not sure which of the two Vimeo services you’re comparing to Vimeo. The video-sharing I do with client work, or the OTT channel creation?
In either case, I would want a turnkey service, rather than something I’d have to build from the ground up. For video sharing, I’ve been using Dropbox.
Does AWS have an OTT service? My experience with AWS webhosting about ten years ago was not great. I know half the internet is hosted there, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of their website hosting service. At that point, for various websites I had built, I had used Dreamhost, Hostgator, and Network Solutions, among others. I moved out of AWS as soon as I could.
I have nothing against folks who are more techie and like that kind of platform, but I’d rather focus on the creative and use a service that is already built to work.