JW Player Makes Pro Edition Free, Aims to Help Indie Creators
Video player company JW Player announced today that it's Pro version is now free. Formerly, it cost $149 per year.
Features of the Pro version include:
- No JW Player branding
- 9 skins
- Overlays for social network sharing and related videos
- 5GB of hosting space and 25GB of streaming
- Analytics
- Player and platform APIs
The previous (paid) Pro version offered email support. That has been removed from the free Pro version, and is now a Premium version feature.
JW Player says that it made the Pro version free to help independent video creators who are held back by access to free analytics and customization tools. In a press statement, JW Player said it "aims to give the power back to these creators."
"Our success has put us in a position to change our business proposition and provide, for free, services that our competitors charge for or do not offer," said Chris Mahl, president of JW Player. "All content creators, regardless of their size, deserve the best video functionality available and that's what they will receive with JW Player."
The previous no-frills Free version has now been discontinued. Customers who already paid for the Pro version have been upgraded to the Premium version at no cost. The Premium version costs $299 per year, as before, and adds HLS streaming with multi-track audio, DASH adaptive streaming (starting next month), and, of course, email support.
Related Articles
Even free JW Player users can access the Apple TV App Builder, making a tvOS app that's ready for final approval in only one day.
18 Feb 2016
While 30% of video viewers use a smartphone to watch clips, only 10% of ads are in the mobile-friendly HTML5 format.
12 Oct 2015
Rewritten from the ground up, the player is now smaller and faster loading, with one unified version for both HTML5 and Flash video playback.
13 Aug 2015
The main reason to step up from free alternatives such as YouTube is to create a custom look. Here's how to achieve it with JW Player.
04 May 2015
Much has changed since the iPad was released five years ago, with HTML5 video maturing across all platforms.
06 Apr 2015
Publishers can stream adaptive HLS video to their native iOS apps, and use the same ad providers they work with for desktop content.
31 Mar 2015