Uploading videos is an excellent method to connect with your website visitors, enhancing engagement, and it’s a trend that is rapidly gaining popularity on websites. According to Social Media Week, videos are projected to constitute 82 percent of global internet traffic in the near future.
While many opt for plugins to incorporate videos into their sites, a brief exploration of the plugin repository unveils a vast array of options.
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To assist you in selecting the optimal method for showcasing videos on your website, we have evaluated the finest plugins, comparing them based on their features, advantages and disadvantages, user-friendliness, and pricing.
The best WordPress video plugins
Easy Video Player
Easy Video Player stands as a WordPress video plugin, enabling you to seamlessly integrate content from various popular video-sharing services into your site. Additionally, the tool allows you to showcase content stored in the Media Library. Equipped with a range of shortcodes, the plugin facilitates the addition of videos at any location on your site. You have the flexibility to control the video player’s size, as well as set videos to loop or autoplay.
Key features of Easy Video Player:
- Shortcodes that let you control and embed videos
- A simple interface
- Support for self-hosted and third-party videos
- The ability to use CSS to customize the video player
Pros of Easy Video Player:
- The interface is simple and quick to learn.
- The plugin is completely free, with no premium options.
Cons of Easy Video Player:
- You have to host your content on your website or use a video service (such as YouTube or Vimeo).
- Easy Video Player does not include blocks for the WordPress editor, so you have to rely on shortcodes to add your content.
- It can be tricky to match the player’s appearance to your brand if you’re not comfortable editing CSS.
- The player doesn’t provide many features beyond simple video playback.
Ease of use:
Embedding a video with Easy Video Player is fairly straightforward, utilizing shortcodes. However, working with shortcodes might present a slightly steeper learning curve compared to adding blocks in the WordPress Editor. Furthermore, customization of the video player’s appearance requires the use of CSS. While documentation is somewhat limited, the developer consistently addresses support issues in the WordPress repository.
Pricing:
Free
Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery stands out as a versatile gallery plugin that accommodates both images and videos with its intuitive drag-and-drop builder. This feature enables the creation of video galleries using pre-designed templates that can be tailored to align with your site’s branding. The plugin supports a variety of video sources, including uploads to your website, as well as content from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, DailyMotion, Twitch, or VideoPress. Additionally, Envira Gallery provides social sharing buttons and the capability to watermark your videos.
Key features of Envira Gallery:
- Video slideshows
- Customizable galleries
- Searchable and filterable galleries
- Social media integrations
- The ability to use videos hosted on your website or on popular external services
- Video watermarking
- A fully responsive design
- Video password protection
Pros of Envira Gallery:
- Powerful gallery features allow you to create collections of searchable and filterable videos.
- You can encourage visitors to share your content through inbuilt social media integrations.
Cons of Envira Gallery:
- The plugin does not provide any video hosting. This means you have to host your videos on your website or use external services such as YouTube.
- While you can customize video galleries, the video player has limited customizability.
- Videos are only supported on Pro plans and above. The free and cheaper paid plans are not suitable for videos.
Ease of use:
The plugin’s drag-and-drop interface simplifies the process of creating video galleries. Nevertheless, utilizing the plugin for showcasing individual videos poses a more intricate challenge, as does engaging in advanced customization.
Pricing:
Video is supported with the following plans:
- The Pro plan supports five sites and includes features like eCommerce integration, deep linking, and Elementor integration for $89 per year (normally $99 per year).
- The Lifetime plan supports unlimited sites and includes premium support and multisite support for $269 one time (normally $299 one time).
Feeds for YouTube
This plugin enables the integration of YouTube channel feeds into your WordPress website via a customizable gallery. Users can conveniently search and filter through the content. Additionally, you have the flexibility to incorporate custom actions triggered by a visitor’s pause or upon reaching the end of a video.
Key features of Feeds for YouTube:
- The ability to add an entire YouTube channel or playlist to your website
- Customizable galleries with search and filter
- Fully responsive feeds and galleries
- The ability to add CTAs and other features to videos
- Designed for speed with caching and minification
- Infinite loading capabilities
Pros of Feeds for YouTube:
- You can share content you’ve already uploaded to YouTube on your website, making this plugin great if you have an active YouTube channel.
- You can customize your video feed to match your brand.
- You can choose to share likes, reactions, and comments from YouTube alongside the videos.
Cons of Feeds for YouTube:
- Your content has to be on a public YouTube channel to display it on your website.
- No other video sharing sites are supported, and you can’t use it with videos you’ve uploaded to your Media Library.
- While a free version of the plugin exists, it has very limited functionality.
Ease of use:
There’s only basic documentation available, making it best for people who have some experience creating WordPress websites.
Pricing:
- A free version is available with limited features.
- The Personal plan includes all features for one website at $49 per year for the first year. It renews at $98 per year.
- The Business plan includes all features for five websites at $99 per year for the first year. It renews at $198 per year.
- The Developer plan includes all features for 25 websites at $149 per year for the first year. It renews at $298 per year.
- The All-Access bundle includes all of Smash Balloon’s other tools for unlimited websites. It’s $299 per year for the first year and renews at $598 per year.
Presto Player
Presto Player stands as a WordPress video plugin that facilitates the integration of videos from diverse sources. It provides a myriad of features for embedded videos, encompassing advanced customization options and the ability to designate videos as private. The plugin also grants users the choice to enhance videos through features such as chapter splitting, making them sticky, and incorporating calls to action.
Key features of Presto Player:
- The ability to display calls to action at various points in your video
- The ability to split videos into chapters
- Sticky video support
- Subtitle support
- HTML5, YouTube, and Vimeo support
- The ability to stream the same video from multiple sources
- The ability to create private videos
- Video analytics
- A responsive video player
Pros of Presto Player:
- You can modify your embedded videos in a variety of ways, including adding CTAs and splitting them into chapters.
- Presto will work with videos hosted on any publicly-accessible service.
Cons of Presto Player:
- You have to host videos on either external video services, such as YouTube or Vimeo, or on your website.
Ease of use:
The number of options within the plugin can make it more challenging to use. This complexity may get in the way if you just want to add a video without any call to action or additional features.
Price:
- A free plan is available, but with very limited features.
- The Starter plan includes all features for one site for $69 per year (regularly $99 per year).
- The Pro plan includes all features for 25 sites for $99 per year (regularly $149 per year).
All‑in‑One Video Gallery
All-in-One Video Gallery is a WordPress plugin that empowers you to showcase videos within searchable and filterable galleries. It facilitates the grouping of videos into distinct categories and the creation of responsive thumbnail galleries. Compatible with videos stored in your WordPress Media Library and those hosted on specific video-sharing platforms, this plugin provides a versatile solution for organizing and presenting video content.
Key features of All‑in‑One Video Gallery:
- The ability to embed videos from your website and from popular video hosting platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook
- Support for social media sharing
- Support for pop-up videos and ads
- Subtitle support
- Playback speed control
- The ability to automatically import videos from a YouTube channel or playlist
- The ability to display live streams from YouTube or Facebook
Pros of All‑in‑One Video Gallery:
- You can fully customize the player and gallery appearance with brand colors and logos.
- You can display videos by themselves or in galleries.
Cons of All‑in‑One Video Gallery:
- Videos have to be hosted on your website or on a third-party video hosting platform.
Ease of use:
The plugin has a wide range of options, which can make it a bit overwhelming for beginners.
Pricing:
- The Free plan offers the majority of video functionality at no cost.
- The Pro plan adds features like custom branding capabilities, all gallery templates, and support for uncommon video formats for $4.99 per month.
- The Business plan adds features like monetization options and upgraded support for $9.99 per month.
Note that there are additional pricing options depending on how frequently you’d like to pay and the number of sites you own.
