Vidyard vs Wistia Comparison 2026
Both cover video hosting and analytics. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Video hosting that reports who watched what
Video hosting for video your own site depends on
At a glance
- Vidyard starts cheaper, at $24.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Vidyard | Wistia | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $24 | From $79 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Not stated |
| Covers | Video Hosting, Analytics |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Vidyard
Video hosting that reports who watched what
Vidyard hosts video for people who need to know what happened after the embed loaded: which viewer watched, how far they got, and what to do about it. That is a sales and marketing shape rather than an audience one, and it is the reason to choose it over a general host. For a creator it earns its place on a course page, a pitch to a sponsor, or anywhere a play is a lead rather than a view. There is a free tier with a video cap.
Our note
Only worth the per-seat price if somebody acts on the viewer data, because that reporting is the entire difference from a cheaper host. For publishing to an audience rather than to named people, look at the general video hosts on this site first.
Wistia
Video hosting for video your own site depends on
Wistia puts video on your pages with a player you control and analytics counted per viewer rather than per view, which is the difference between hosting and uploading to YouTube. Heatmaps show the second people stop watching. It is priced for a company rather than for one person, and the step from free to $79 is where most creators make their decision.
Our note
The price is the whole argument. Wistia earns $79 a month when video is doing sales work and the heatmaps change what gets made next; when it is doing brand work, host it free somewhere and spend the difference on the edit.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.