Discover the Top 7 YouTube Alternatives for Monetization in 2025

Ready to skip the fluff and find the top YouTube Alternatives? My top picks are Uscreen and Thinkific.

It’s well-known that YouTube has long been the leading platform for video monetization globally. With more than a billion hours of videos viewed each day, YouTube is no longer just the place for TED Talks or cute cat clips.

Given the stories of substantial ad earnings, many creators are eager to launch a YouTube channel this year.

However, succeeding on YouTube is tough, and it was never a walk in the park. Building a channel and attracting a monetizable audience requires immense effort, time, and persistence—a challenge that has only increased over the years. The risks include setbacks, legal issues, and stiff competition.

If you’re struggling to generate income on YouTube, this article is just what you need. We will delve into why YouTube isn’t as profitable as many think, and explore some of the top alternatives that can help you better monetize your video content. You’ll learn about platforms offering lower barriers to entry and more reliable, higher income potential with advanced monetization options.

Let’s explore the best YouTube alternatives you can start using today.

Once you understand how to expand your business beyond YouTube and increase your earning potential, it’s time to review seven excellent video monetization platforms and alternatives to YouTube that can help you grow your video presence.

Uscreen is an all-in-one platform for video-on-demand monetization. It allows creators to transform their expertise into polished video products and share them widely. The platform is user-friendly, enabling quick uploads, seamless organization, and customization of your storefront’s appearance.

Regarding monetization, you can sell videos using various methods—such as one-time payments or subscriptions—host live streams across devices including OTT apps, monitor subscriber growth and attrition, and retain ownership of your audience contact details, a feature not available on YouTube.

In 2017, Francis Long started her YouTube channel centered around memory books. Despite an engaged following of over 17,000 subscribers, with 600,000 views and nearly 100 videos, her top month only earned her about $380, which wasn’t enough to support her full-time efforts. Recognizing that YouTube wasn’t the most profitable avenue, she sought a better monetization solution.

In 2019, she transitioned to Uscreen. This shift allowed her to create a dedicated platform where she could sell her content at a premium subscription rate. Within just seven days, her website was live, and within the first four months, she generated $13,000 in revenue.

Stories like Francis’ are quite common on Uscreen. The platform hosts hundreds of creators and businesses across various niches, allowing them to monetize their videos effectively. These creators can establish their own brands and generate consistent, scalable revenue streams.

Uscreen is equipped with integrated marketing and community features that help decrease viewer churn and boost earnings. You can create gift cards and coupons, use email marketing campaigns, interact directly with audiences through video comments, and even host live chats. The platform also supports over 1,000 integrations with popular online tools, offers detailed analytics, and provides more than 10 customizable website themes and video categories to match your branding easily.

Pricing begins at just $79 per month. For those wanting additional features, Uscreen makes it simple to develop your own app without coding experience. Since many viewers prefer high-quality videos accessible on smartphones, iOS, and Android devices, you can deliver your content seamlessly across all devices. View Uscreen plans and start with a 14-day free trial.

Thinkific is an online course creation platform that enables creators to sell courses delivered via video lessons. So far, it has helped course creators generate over $500 million in revenue. It is among the most popular alternatives to YouTube for online educators.

As part of the expanding online education industry, Thinkific is straightforward to use. While planning course content requires effort and attention to detail, once your course is live, it can earn passive income with minimal ongoing input. The platform charges a monthly fee, allowing unlimited course creation, and you retain all the revenue generated.

However, some users criticize Thinkific for lacking certain features. Unlike some competitors, it doesn’t include a built-in sales funnel builder, so you’ll need to use third-party tools for marketing funnels. Additionally, it doesn’t support live streaming, which is increasingly popular for engaging directly with students through live events. Incorporating live video features could help creators build stronger connections and gather valuable data to improve their courses and marketing strategies.

Coastal Drone is an example of a business leveraging Thinkific. They provide drone flight training and use the platform to reach more students seeking drone pilot certification.

Pricing for this platform begins at $39 per month, and you can try it out with their free plan. This allows you to explore its features before committing to a paid subscription.

Get started with Thinkific.

Patreon has revolutionized how content creators earn a living and establish independent careers. It is a platform where supporters pay monthly memberships in exchange for exclusive content. Using their video-sharing platform is free, but they take between 5% and 12% of your earnings, depending on your chosen plan. This platform is suitable for some creators, but not all, especially if you want to build a personalized brand. Patreon does not offer features like customizable websites to showcase your branding or quickly develop your own app, unlike platforms such as Uscreen. If you’re considering Patreon or already using it, check out Uscreen’s article explaining why it might be a strong alternative.

Pomplamoose, a popular American musical duo composed of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, uses Patreon to share their music and offer exclusive weekly content to subscribers. Jack is a multi-instrumentalist, while Nataly is a singer-songwriter and bassist.

Patreon charges creators a starting fee of 5% of their monthly income, meaning the platform profits only when creators succeed.

It’s almost impossible to imagine a modern world without Facebook. The platform has completely transformed social media, and with the rise of video content, creators now have new opportunities to monetize large audiences. Similar to YouTube, Facebook allows anyone with an account to broadcast videos to a global audience, but it takes a 45% cut of the ad revenue generated through its platform. Additionally, Facebook restricts access to detailed audience data, so creators need to diversify their monetization strategies beyond just ad revenue to maximize earnings.

Facebook boasts an enormous reach, making it possible to attract more users into sales and marketing funnels if you develop a solid promotional plan. This can help convert viewers into paying customers, as detailed in guides like the one linked here. However, standing out on Facebook requires consistently producing engaging content because users tend to scroll through their feeds quickly. Your videos must capture attention immediately, or they risk being buried under a flood of content—from short clips and TV shows to memes, trending music videos, gaming videos, GIFs, and other pop culture phenomena.

Facebook also suggests related videos in playlists, often from competing creators, which means the platform acts as a crowded competitive space. Gaining and maintaining user attention demands persistent effort and strategic content distribution. While Facebook isn’t the direct replacement for YouTube, it remains a valuable platform for ad monetization and audience engagement.

Instagram is owned by Facebook and shares many similarities with its parent platform’s video strategy. Creators can earn about 55% of ad revenue from videos hosted on IGTV. Like Facebook, Instagram limits access to detailed user contact information, but there are still multiple ways to monetize your content through other methods.

For example, Greg Preece, the founder of Start Starting Up, uses IGTV to promote online business courses. He effectively monetizes his videos through affiliate marketing and embedding links in his posts. Overall, IGTV and Instagram’s platform serve as excellent alternatives to YouTube for earning income via brand sponsorships, affiliate deals, and collaborations.

For those seeking further monetization avenues, sponsorship deals are also an option. For example, influencer Virgi Lantu shares engaging videos on Instagram, promoting contests like a Mastercard promotion, which can boost follower engagement and earnings.

To many users, Twitch is almost synonymous with online gaming videos and live streaming platforms. It’s a free service that provides various monetization options for affiliates and partners. Affiliates can accept donations, sell merchandise, and earn through monthly subscriptions. The partner program offers those who qualify a share of revenue from ads, as well as earnings from bits— virtual cheers viewers can use to support streamers. However, Twitch does not publicly disclose specific income details for its program members.

Although Twitch has transformed the online gaming landscape, building a channel on this platform has its challenges. The platform is crowded with countless gamers and content creators streaming on diverse topics like gaming, music, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Keeping up with this competitive environment requires dedicating many hours to live streaming, which can be difficult to sustain. Despite these hurdles, Twitch remains one of the best free alternatives to YouTube for gaming enthusiasts wanting to create and grow a community.

TimtheTatMan is a well-known Twitch gamer. He earns income not only through viewer donations but also by promoting gaming equipment, such as hardware from NZXT BLD.

Vimeo is a popular alternative to YouTube that specializes in the professional and creative video sharing community. It allows creators to develop their channels, sell videos, and offer subscription plans for exclusive content. Vimeo also provides OTT applications for increased accessibility, although these are only available on their top-tier enterprise plans, which start at $500 per month and require a minimum of two apps. Live streaming is available but only on the most expensive plan, which requires contacting Vimeo for pricing.

Vimeo’s platform has room for improvement. The options for video hosting and customization are limited, with few themes and basic editing capabilities. Its marketing tools are not as advanced as some competitors, making scaling a brand more challenging. Additionally, the lack of extensive integrations with other business applications can hinder online business growth, especially if you rely on certain tools to streamline operations.

Millionaire Hoy is a fitness content creator who transitioned from YouTube to Vimeo to enjoy greater freedom and higher earnings from his videos. Since making the switch, he has been able to transform his business and increase his revenue.Focusing on memberships and recurring payments can provide a more reliable income stream compared to solely relying on YouTube ad revenue.

Subscription pricing on platforms like Vimeo begins at just $7 per month (if paid annually), offering features like video creation tools and unlimited screen and webcam recording.

While many creators initially focus on YouTube, it’s important to note that other platforms like Dailymotion, Metacafe, Veoh, DTube, and 9GAG also offer alternative avenues for monetization.

Why should you seek alternatives to YouTube for earning from your videos? While YouTube offers an expansive audience and diverse content, earning a substantial income isn’t guaranteed for everyone. According to a Bloomberg article, only the top 3% of YouTubers make less than $17,000 annually, with the remaining 96.5% earning between $0 and $12,140.

This discrepancy stems from several factors. Videos must be suitable for advertisements, meaning they need to align with advertiser-friendly content—one that fits certain industry standards and appeals to specific audiences. If your videos are not considered ad-friendly, they won’t generate revenue, and choosing niches with high ad spend can boost potential earnings.

Since YouTube is owned by Google, your content can be marked as unsuitable for ads if it doesn’t meet certain criteria, limiting earning potential. Additionally, YouTube takes a significant share of ad revenue—45%, leaving you with only 55% of what advertisers pay. As your channel grows, your earnings are capped at this percentage unless your audience expands exponentially and your content outperforms competitors.

The platform’s competitiveness also poses a challenge. Despite having billions of monthly viewers, YouTube hosts countless creators vying for attention. According to Tubics, there was a 40% increase in new channels in 2019. Ranking higher on search results and maintaining visibility requires understanding and adapting to YouTube’s ever-changing algorithms, a task that becomes increasingly difficult over time.

Recent policy updates have further impacted creators’ income prospects. YouTube now requires channels to meet minimum milestones, such as 4,000 hours of watch time and at least 1,000 subscribers in the past year, to qualify for monetization. Achieving these thresholds takes significant effort, especially since building a loyal subscriber base is a lengthy process. Channels near these limits may find it challenging to start earning money, which complicates the user experience and earnings potential.

Additionally, there is COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act enacted in 1998. Its purpose is to prevent deceptive marketing practices aimed at children, especially those that involve collecting their personal information. In essence, COPPA restricts content creators on YouTube from producing and sharing material that is designed to appeal to children.

The main issue with COPPA is that its broad regulations make it difficult for honest YouTubers to earn a sustainable income. Violations can result in fines of up to $42,000 per infringing video. This risk underscores the value of exploring alternative platforms for content sharing.

Let’s examine how creators can build more predictable and potentially higher income streams outside of YouTube. Based on our experience at Uscreen, we’ve observed content creators transition from earning minimal ad revenue to generating thousands of dollars each month.

Diversifying your income sources means exploring new monetization opportunities that have proven successful. Here are some key methods to consider:

Monetizing video content doesn’t necessarily depend on ad revenue alone. Below are seven popular ways to generate income from videos.

VOD involves offering videos that viewers can access on demand, either free or paid. To focus on monetization, let’s explore three types of VOD models you can implement:

This model grants subscribers unlimited access to content for a recurring fee. Platforms like Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV, DisneyPlus, and Amazon Prime popularize this approach, allowing users to watch a wide array of movies, TV shows, and series in high definition for a monthly payment.

With rentals, viewers pay a one-time fee to stream a video for a fixed period, such as 24 or 48 hours. This offers flexibility for audiences who want access to specific titles without a subscription.

This model provides viewers with permanent access to content upon a single purchase. It’s ideal for high-value videos or courses where ownership is essential.

Affiliate marketing involves recommending products or services to your audience and earning a commission on sales you facilitate. It’s straightforward to implement and can be quite profitable, especially with trusted recommendations. More details can be found here.

Partnering with brands for sponsorships requires a sizable audience to attract potential sponsors. Once you’ve built a large following, you can negotiate deals that involve featuring products or services in your videos, creating mutually beneficial campaigns.

Creating and selling physical products remains an accessible way to monetize your channel. By developing your own products and promoting them within your content, you can turn viewers into customers. Building an effective outreach and promotion strategy is key to scaling sales.

Digital info products—such as eBooks, guides, online courses, or membership sites—are popular offerings because they are easy and inexpensive to produce, with high profit margins. To succeed, focus on delivering valuable, high-converting content that addresses your audience’s needs.

Live streaming has gained popularity with platforms like Twitch and YouTube expanding live features. You can monetize live streams through pay-per-view access or by gating content behind a fee, requiring platforms that support streaming and payment processing.

As demonstrated, many monetization options are available beyond relying solely on YouTube ad revenue. Employing multiple strategies not only diversifies income but also stabilizes it against platform policy changes.

Video monetization platforms abound, but not all are equally effective. To achieve consistent and substantial earnings, it’s crucial to expand your horizons beyond YouTube and explore various offerings tailored to your audience. Experiment with different methods and find the combination that works best for you.

For further insights, check out StepThroughThePortal.com, where we discuss other viable alternatives like podcasting. It’s a lesser-known option that can complement your content strategy. Learn more about the comparison between podcasting and YouTube.

Guest author Amir Uscreen is the digital marketing manager at Uscreen, a comprehensive OTT and video monetization platform. Uscreen supports creators and entrepreneurs in monetizing their videos and building thriving online businesses around their content.