Top 13 YouTube Alternatives: Take Your Privacy Back from Google

YouTube has 2.1+ billion active users. It is, unquestionably, the largest and most popular video-sharing platform on the internet. Apart from hosting 800+ million videos, YouTube has emerged to be one of the most powerful marketing and revenue-generation tools out there.

Part of the reason why YouTube is so popular is that users can watch any video for free, or can they?

YouTube isn’t truly free. You pay with your privacy for every video you watch. The Google-owned video-sharing site employs aggressive user tracking for what it calls ‘customizing your experience’. It records everything from the videos you watch and the people you communicate with to your location and Chrome browsing history.

YouTube is simply too big for its competitors. That said, increasing privacy concerns coupled with annoying ads, censorship, and copyright issues encourage viewers and content creators to look for alternatives.

Other video platforms are still not on the same level as Google’s video-hosting site. None of them can fully replace it. If you think you won’t find your favorite videos outside YouTube, you can continue to use it while you protect your digital identity with a YouTube VPN.

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How Does a VPN Protect Your Privacy?

CyberGhost VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your internet traffic, so you can surf the internet with enhanced privacy. This way, YouTube or any other Google service won’t be able to track your data based on your IP address. That said, ensure you’re not logged into Google. If you are, YouTube can still track some information with your profile.

Switch to other video platforms to put an end to this outrage at once! Let’s compare the best alternatives to YouTube and see how they match up for your entertainment needs.

13 Best Alternatives to YouTube

Before you learn more about the alternatives, here’s a table that summarizes how they match up to the video-hosting giant: YouTube. Take a look at some YT stats and facts that’ll help you weigh up its competitors.

• • • • • YouTube highest video quality: 8K
        • Ad-free: No. Has a lot of ads. Pretty annoying.
        • Pricing: Free
        • Avg Monthly users: 2.3+ billion
        • Privacy: Collects and shares data aggressively

Youtube Alternative	Highest Video Quality	Ad-free	Pricing	Avg Monthly Users	Privacy Policy
1. Dailymotion	4K (Premium)	❌	Free	250 million	Collects some data.
2. Vimeo	8K	✅	Free. 500MB/week max uploads with the free plan.	230 million	Doesn’t sell data. Good privacy policy.
3. D.tube	1440p	✅	Free	1.85 million	Decentralized. Data is secure.
4. Twitch	4K	❌	Free	140 million	Collects and shares data.
5. Bitchute	480p	✅	Free	16 million	Collects some data.
6. Utreon	1080p	✅	Free	23.8K	Collects some data. Transparent privacy policy.
7. IG TV	1080p	❌	Free	1 billion	Collects data aggressively.
8. Facebook Watch	720p	❌	Free	1.25 billion	Collects data aggressively.
9. 9GAG TV	360p	✅	Free	150 million	Collects and shares data.
10. Crackle	1080p	❌	$4.99/mo	30 million	Collects some data.
11. Internet Archive	360p	✅	Free	30 million	Doesn’t collect data.
12. TED	720p	✅	Free	37 million	Collects some data.
13. Open Video Project	360p	✅	Free	6.4K	Doesn’t collect data.

1. Dailymotion

YouTube’s competition is almost non-existent. If you ask me to name one site to replace it though, Dailymotion would come right off the top of my head. The France-based video sharing platform is the world’s second-largest video site attracting 250+ million unique users per month.

Although its viewership is nowhere near that of YouTube’s, its excellent user interface and similar layout have YouTube running for its money. Content creators who emphasize video quality tend to choose Dailymotion over YouTube because it lets you upload in ultra HD without a significant drop in quality.

It’s a clear winner when it comes to embedded videos. The Dailymotion embedded video player fits sleekly on any webpage without obtrusive branding and playback options.

Dailymotion uses cookies to track some of your data. Hey, at least it’s not all going to Google.

Pros

• 🎯 Unlimited video uploads
• 🎯 4K upload and playback support
• 🎯 Smart embedded video player
• 🎯 Relaxed copyright rules

Cons

• 🚧 Smaller audience
• 🚧 Paid high-resolution videos

2. Vimeo

Vimeo is the place for high-quality content. The US-based website isn’t far behind Dailymotion with an average of 230 million users visiting the site every month. Filmmakers created Vimeo for artists of all kinds. This is why this video-hosting platform has quite the catalog if you’re looking for original works.

If you’re a content creator, Vimeo offers a range of features that make it easy to work with HD videos. You can also upload HDR videos in 8K, a feature no other YouTube alternative offers.

Vimeo offers an ad-free experience, which is great news for viewers but not for content creators. On top of no ad revenue, you can only upload up to 500 MB per week with the free plan.

When it comes to privacy, Vimeo has the edge over YouTube. It collects some data but doesn’t share it with third parties. Vimeo also offers extended options to keep your content private on the platform.

Pros

• 🎯 Ad-free
• 🎯 Supports 8K uploads and playback
• 🎯 Offers privacy control

Cons

• 🚧 Basic plan limited to uploads up to 500 MB/week
• 🚧 No ad revenue

3. D.tube

D.tube has a very similar appearance and layout to Youtube. If privacy is your primary concern, this decentralized video-hosting platform can be a great choice. You can store all videos on the D.tube blockchain. This means there’s little risk of the content getting meddled with or cybercriminals stealing user information.

This Youtube alternative supports free speech and doesn’t use AI-powered censorship. The community, however, regulates the content. D.tube focuses on providing quality but free entertainment for its users and returning 90% of the value back to them.

Content creators can also earn cryptocurrency, the D.tube coin, in return for their videos.

Pros

• 🎯 Is ad-free
• 🎯 Has decentralized content storage
• 🎯 Earn crypto with videos

Cons

• 🚧 Limited viewership
• 🚧 Limited content

4. Twitch

Twitch is most famous for its live streams. Although the Amazon-owned site is gradually expanding to other niches, the vast majority of its content is gaming-related. Video game streams, e-sport tournaments, and gaming discussions, you name it. Twitch is a gamer’s paradise.

Twitch may be another source of valuable personal data for Amazon, another tech giant gobbling up users’ information. That said, the streaming platform seems to have a decent privacy policy on the surface. It doesn’t sell data to third parties, but Amazon itself may use the data. We advise you to keep your address and other important details private on Twitch.

The primary difference between this streaming platform and YouTube is that you’ll find only live streams on Twitch. You can’t upload or watch pre-recorded videos unless they’re short snippets used as highlight videos.

Pros

• 🎯 Great for gamers
• 🎯 Developed user community
• 🎯 User-generated content

Cons

• 🚧 Tracked information
• 🚧 Live streams only
• 🚧 Advanced features available with subscription only

5. Bitchute

Bitchute is an ad-free, censorship-free alternative to YouTube. This video-streaming platform focuses on free speech. This is why it’s home to many controversial political content that wouldn’t find its way through YouTube’s AI censors.

Bitchute markets itself for its policy of free speech, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely private. The platform collects some data through cookies and users’ on-site activity.

Bitchute isn’t the best site if you’re looking for high-definition videos. That said, it does offer YouTube-like features for comments and indicators on videos that you’ve already watched.

Pros

• 🎯 Ad-free

Cons

• 🚧 Excessive political content
• 🚧 Some data collected
• 🚧 Low-quality video

6. Utreon

Although a newcomer to the video-hosting space, Utreon is gradually but steadily catching up to the giants of the industry. It offers a range of powerful features from HD videos to a seamless syncing capability with YouTube.

Utreon has a transparent privacy policy. It collects data on you but wants to be honest about it. Utreon also gives you an option to limit the data it collects on you, which is definitely a plus.

Utreon’s subscription plans allow content creators to monetize their work, letting them keep 75% of the subscription revenue. The site also plans to kick off monetization through an ad model. This would give creators an extra avenue to earn but will take away its ad-free status.

Pros

• 🎯 Transparent privacy policy
• 🎯 Relaxed rules
• 🎯 Synced videos from YouTube automatically

Cons

• 🚧 Fewer users

7. IGTV

The Instagram feed doesn’t play videos longer than 60 seconds. IGTV is a special feature of the social media app that lets users upload longer videos for streaming. Videos on IGTV can reach 1 billion+ Instagram users, making it one of the most powerful video-sharing platforms.

IGTV is best for mobile users. It lets viewers discover new videos while they swipe up just like TikTok. It’s not the best alternative for privacy-conscious users though. Instagram, and parent company Meta, are notorious for invading user privacy.

Pros

• 🎯 Easy video recording and uploading
• 🎯 Massive reach

Cons

• 🚧 Collects data aggressively
• 🚧 Can’t search for specific videos
• 🚧 Has maximum video length 10 minutes for regular accounts

8. Facebook Watch

Moving from YouTube to Facebook Watch due to privacy concerns isn’t the smartest move. Both platforms collect roughly the same amount of information.

This video-sharing feature within the Facebook app is great to discover fresh content in a range of niches. Most content creators who upload their videos on YouTube also use Facebook Watch to maximize their reach.

Pros

• 🎯 Massive reach
• 🎯 High community interaction on videos
• 🎯 Easily shareable

Cons

• 🚧 Collects data aggressively
• 🚧 Isn’t ad-free
• 🚧 Has choppy embedded videos

9. 9GAG TV

If you’re looking for short, funny clips, 9GAG TV is the best place. This social media platform offers a feed brimming with memes, funny GIFS, and clips. Perfect for the average comedy fan to enjoy fresh content without ads.

Just like any other website, 9GAG TV collects some user data to customize user experience. What’s more, they blatantly share your data with affiliates, business partners, and other third parties.

9GAG TV isn’t the place for HD videos, but it’ll surely leave you laughing with its 150 million-wide community of comedy fans.

Pros

• 🎯 Fresh memes and funny videos
• 🎯 Wide range of categories

Cons

• 🚧 Sells users’ data
• 🚧 Offers low-quality videos
• 🚧 Has 20 MB maximum file size

10. Crackle

It’s also known as Sony Crackle. This YouTube alternative is for watching TV shows and movies specifically. You’ll only find original content from renowned production houses on Crackle.

Sony Crackle collects some data through your on-site interaction and with browser cookies. It uses the data to ‘improve its services’ and doesn’t share it.

The best thing about Crackle is that most of its content is free. Unfortunately, it’s not available in all countries. Good news: you can still watch Crackle with CyberGhost VPN even if you’re traveling abroad.

Pros

• 🎯 High-quality content
• 🎯 Private watching experience with CyberGhost VPN
• 🎯 Free content mostly

Cons

• 🚧 Geo-restricted to some countries
• 🚧 Unavailable upload videos’ feature

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11. Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a massive library of videos and other files anyone on the internet can access. If you can’t find an old movie or documentary anywhere else, you’ll likely find it here.

The site has no censorship, so anyone can upload anything on the archive. You won’t find your favorite HD shows on the Archive, but it’s a great resource for academic and historical content.

The website collects personally-identifying information on its users and claims to store away this data on publicly inaccessible web pages. It’s not the most transparent privacy policy you’d come across.

Pros

• 🎯 Free for everyone
• 🎯 Massive content database

Cons

• 🚧 Personally-identifying information collected
• 🚧 Low-quality videos
• 🚧 Slow video player
• 🚧 Outdated interface

12. TED

Switching to TED.com is a great option if you watch a lot of TED talks on YouTube. The official TED website offers all TED talks that encompass a wide range of topics from politics to tech.

The website collects some data on you as defined in its transparent privacy policy. TED makes clear all the purposes it may use your data for and doesn’t sell it to third parties.

If you’re a content creator, TED isn’t the YouTube alternative for you because it doesn’t let users upload videos. It’s perfect for you if you’re thirsty for knowledge.

Pros

• 🎯 Sleek video player
• 🎯 Category-based video catalog
• 🎯 Ad-free videos
• 🎯 Transparent privacy policy

Cons

• 🚧 Only for TED talks

13. Open Video Project

The Open Video Project is an initiative of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Interaction Design Laboratory. This website primarily hosts academic content. You’ll find all kinds of documentaries, lectures, and historical video clips at the OV Project.

While this isn’t exactly an alternative to YouTube, its massive database of videos makes it a great resource for researchers.

Pros

• 🎯 Free

Cons

• 🚧 Offers downloads only
• 🚧 Has low-quality videos

Please note that despite switching to YouTube alternatives, Google may still be able to track your activity with browser cookies or other tracking software. This is why you need a reliable VPN with premium privacy and security features to help hide your digital identity and protect your privacy online.

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If you’re on YouTube or a different video-hosting website, almost all websites track you with browser cookies and account history. The only way to stop this blatant invasion of privacy is to simply not log into any website that tracks your activity and use a VPN.

CyberGhost VPN helps you keep your digital footprint minimal. Get CyberGhost VPN to hide your data from spying eyes and use the internet without constantly worrying about snoopers.

The Bottom Line

None of the platforms I’ve mentioned above can really match up to YouTube in terms of content and viewership and that’s something we have to come to terms with — for now. Switching to different sites for your daily dose of entertainment still does well to break the constant stream of information Google collects on you.

That said, if you’re still using Google as your search engine, switching to YouTube alternatives won’t stop it from tracking you. Consider switching to a privacy-focused browser and making your connection private with CyberGhost VPN.

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