Vimeo Updates Pro Plan With More Storage, Unlimited HD Playback

Small businesses have more choices than ever when looking for video hosting (including, of course, always-free YouTube), so Vimeo has upgraded its Vimeo Pro service to stay competitive.

Vimeo Pro still costs $199 per year, but companies now get a lot more for their money. For one thing, they get 1TB of video storage per year, up from 50GB previously. Subscribers don't get that all at once; they get up to 20GB per week (enough for 5 hours of HD video), so that if they're using it all they'll have 1TB stored by the end of the year. It's a smart move from the people at Vimeo, who know that few companies will actually upload 5 hours of HD video each week.

Subscribers also now get unlimited HD video playback. Whether you're showing your videos on a Vimeo page, embedded on your site, or even on mobile devices or connected TVs, there's no limit to HD playback.

Vimeo is placing a premium on support with this upgrade, something that should please experienced video professionals. Vimeo promises to respond to emailed support questions in one hour on weekdays (around the clock) and one day on weekends. Considering that YouTube has no support at all, it's a helpful feature.

Vimeo debuted the ability to sell and rent online videos in March, 2013, and that service is available to Pro members. Create an online video store: set your own prices, sell preorders, and keep 90 percent of the revenue (after transaction fees).

For businesses serious about their image, Vimeo offers a professional-looking video player with no distracting ads or referrals to other videos. As before, Pro subscribers get portfolio pages to show their work and review pages to share work in progress privately.

When it debuted Pro service, Vimeo gave small businesses video hosting at a price anyone could afford. With this upgrade, it's removing all limits on quality playback. Vimeo Pro seems like an easier choice than ever.

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net