The online world has changed significantly over the past few years. Not so long ago, just browsing a site was all you could do. However, with the rise and mass popularity of social media, people are looking for ways to interact more with their online environment.
This is where live streaming could be very useful; it doesn’t only provide entertainment but also helps you build your influence and gets your site more continuous attention as it builds a level of personal trust with visitors that other sites just don’t have.
For that reason, here are the top plugins you can use to stream directly from your WordPress website.
1. Flow-Flow Social Stream
This plugin allows you to embed videos from multiple social media platforms. So if you’re looking for a tool to help you live stream videos from Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, this might be the tool for you.
It’s fully responsive, meaning it’s going to work flawlessly on any screen size and device. There’s even an option to stream multiple feeds on a single page. You can stream up to 5 Facebook feeds, 7 Twitter feeds, and 3 Instagram feeds without having to click on another page.
Flow-Flow Social Stream also comes with more than a few designs to make sure your videos fit the aesthetics of your site perfectly. There’s even an option to mix various elements such as videos and images all in one place.
FEES: Its price is just another great thing about this plugin; it’s completely free for up to 4 sources. If you need more than that and some extra neat features, you’ll be looking at a price of $39.
2. bzplayer Pro
bzplayer Pro is an extremely useful tool if streaming is a staple part of your site. It supports live streaming both in MPEG and HLS; if however, you need to outsource your video from somewhere, you can do so by using either Google Drive, YouTube, or YoutTube live.
There’s extensive browser support, so you can use pretty much anything from Safari and Opera to Chrome and Firefox.
Some of the other fantastic features include things like resume playback, which allows your user to watch a video from the moment where they paused instead of having to start it again and attempt to rewind back to the right moment, remember volume meaning that the volume set by a user on one video will automatically be set for all videos, and the ability to either include a download button right on the player or disable downloads altogether.
FEES: There are two different licenses you can get if you decide to purchase bzplayer Pro. The first, regular license, is going to cost you $21 and the extended one $145. Both of the licenses come with extra fees if you wish to have support for a full year.
3. Easy Video Player
Much like the aforementioned bzplayer Pro, Easy Video Player is quite a comprehensive plugin answering most of your live streaming needs. By using this plugin for streaming, you’ll be able to add subs, have the viewer choose between various video qualities as well as playback rates, and have an automatically generated thumbnail.
It supports a vast array of file formats, pretty much anything you can think of from MP3 and MP4 to Vimeo videos and self-hosted ones.
This plugin is also great for your entrepreneurial needs, giving you the ability to include an ad in any of the videos on your site. You can add pre-roll, mid-roll, as well as post-roll ads, banners, and pods. And if you happen to be worried about stealing, Easy Video Player also has the ability to encrypt any video by crawling the page source.
FEES: This one is a bit pricer than the ones we recommended previously but taking into consideration everything you can do with it, we’d say it’s well worth the price. The regular license for this product is going to cost you $59 and the extended one $186. This product also comes with additional fees if you choose to extend your support.
4. WpStream
WpStream is a no-fuss straightforward plugin for, as its name suggests, streaming. By using it, you can either stream directly from the browser or use a broadcasting software like Wirecast or Larix. Video playback is compatible with virtually every browser and platform, so you don’t have to worry about that ever again.
By using WpStream, you’ll be able to create unlimited channels, unlimited videos, and have an unlimited number of viewers. Every video you post using WpStream is fully encrypted, and your privacy is 100% safe. There’s also an option to monetize your videos by installing the WooCommerce plugin and turning your videos into products.
The team behind it has also recently launched a consultancy program, so if you don’t know exactly what you need, they’ll be able to help you out.
FEES: There are 4 different subscription plans you can choose from, the cheapest one being the Family plan for $19/mo, then you have the Team plan for $49/mo, followed by their most popular plan Friends for $149/mo, and lastly the Fans plan for $399/mo.
5. Hapity
To wrap this list up, we wanted to recommend at least one plugin that’s completely free, and that’s where Hapity comes into play. It’s very simple to set up and use. You can be done with the entire setup process in under five minutes, and once you’ve completed that, all it takes to start streaming is one click.
Hapity hosts videos for you on its cloud storage, and it even creates backups for you on your phone. Along with that, a definite plus side is that by using Hapity and streaming on your website, you own your content.
FEES: As we’ve already mentioned, it’s completely free!
Final Thoughts
There’s a whole ocean of streaming plugins out there, and sometimes it’s difficult to make up your mind and choose the right one. Hopefully, this article helped you find your way of streaming freely, on your own terms, without using any mass media.