Who Owns Vimeo? (Vimeo Explained)

James Orublig / Updated 15 December 2023 7:35 am / 3 minute

Vimeo is one of the, if not the most popular, video platforms for professional video creators. There are various engaging videos on Vimeo that are creative and entertaining. But today, we’ll look at the topic of who owns Vimeo.

Contents

Vimeo offers an ads-free video-sharing platform for common users while providing various paid subscription plans to upload videos. This is because Vimeo focuses on the creative aspects of filmmaking instead of the unlimited upload options of YouTube.

Brief History of Vimeo

Firstly, Vimeo was a side project of two web developers, Jake Lodwick, and Zach Klein. If you are asking what is Vimeo, it is a video platform. They launched Vimeo in late 2004 as a video-sharing site with advanced customization options, which were rare at the time.

After Google acquired YouTube for over $1.65 billion in 2016, video-sharing sites started to get much more attention. IAC, an American media holding, was interested in the side project of these two web developers. Eventually, Vimeo was bought by IAC in the same year and is still owned by IAC.

After years, Vimeo focused on providing more useful upload tools and curating better content for its users. Besides this, the platform improved its video player tremendously and offered the first HD content option among other video-sharing sites.

Now, Vimeo is both a video-sharing platform and software as a service provider focused on video content. On Vimeo, users can create video content from scratch by using the “Vimeo Create” feature. It is also possible for subscribed users to enjoy its other features such as “Vimeo on Demand,” “Vimeo Live,” “Vimeo Analytics,” and many more.

Today, almost up to 1.5 million paid subscribers to Vimeo enjoy and utilize its amazing features.

Vimeo Subscription Plans

If you’re an everyday user wanting to watch Vimeo’s creative videos, you don’t have to pay for it. There is no limit to watching Vimeo videos for any user. However, you are only required to pay to watch “Vimeo on Demand” videos or plan to upload videos to the platform.

Vimeo offers various subscription plans with varying features for its users. To illustrate, Vimeo Plus subscribers can upload up to 5GB per week, while Vimeo Premium subscribers can upload up to 7TB total with no weekly limits. You can choose one of the best for you by reading the Vimeo Support articles.

If you are a person who wants to be watched on Vimeo, also it is free to upload videos. You can buy Vimeo followers to increase your engagement.

YouTube vs. Vimeo

Even in the first days of its launch, people compared Vimeo to YouTube. Although the two display some similarities, they are two different video-sharing platforms designed for different needs. As Vimeo’s CEO, Anjali Sud, states, “Today, we do not view YouTube as a competitor. We think of ourselves as a software-as-a-services company.”

We listed some of the most prominent differences between them below:

Target Audience

YouTube is a vast video-sharing network with more than 2 billion active users worldwide. While Vimeo has about 170 million active users, 42 million of them are located in the US. This huge difference in user counts is mostly due to Vimeo’s narrow target audience. The platform is specifically designed for video content enthusiastic users that love videos with a creative edge.

Memberships

As mentioned above, Vimeo offers many membership options to its users who want to upload videos. YouTube offers unlimited uploads and storage for its users. Additionally, YouTube only offers one paid subscription called YouTube Red.

Monetization

Vimeo doesn’t run ads on videos. Its main revenue source is based on paid subscriptions. While YouTube offers a partnership program for its creators to share the ad revenue on their videos.

Who Owns Vimeo in Summary

To conclude, Vimeo started as a side project of two web developers who are into videos. After its initial success, its parent company was acquired by IAC, which is an American media holding that owns brands across more than 100 countries. To sum up, Vimeo is about Vimeo is a great platform to share your professionally-made videos and interact with other filmmakers. Besides filmmakers, common users also can watch beautifully made videos on Vimeo freely.

Frequently Asked Questions About

Does Google own Vimeo?

Google doesn’t own Vimeo. IAC owns Vimeo, a media holding based in the US.

Does YouTube is the biggest competitor of Vimeo?

While Vimeo executives repeatedly stated they are not competitors with YouTube, it is clear that the platform is the best alternative to YouTube today.

Is Vimeo banned in some countries?

Vimeo is banned in a couple of countries in the world, including China and Indonesia.

Do people get paid on Vimeo?

You can make money on Vimeo by using its built-in features. “Tip-jar” and “Vimeo on Demand” are built-in monetization tools of Vimeo.

Does Vimeo block music videos?

Vimeo doesn’t block music videos if the uploader has its property rights. Copyright holders choose not to upload videos to Vimeo as the platform doesn’t have suitable monetization features.

James Orublig

Posts: 539

Hi, my name is James but my friend calls me JamesTheNews since I always have the latest news about social media. Follow my blogs to learn every bit of trickery there is to social media.