Member Avatar for veledrom

Hi,

I have a video in youtube and I am directing users from my website to youtube to watch the video. Some people don't direct users to youtube and let users to watch the video while in their sites. Does this put extra work weight on my site, hosting, bandwidth etc? Which one is better?

Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Member #46692

Dani AI

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— concise summary that builds on the replies from , , and @Member46692: the choice is a tradeoff between control (no ads, custom player, precise analytics) and operational cost/simplicity (storage, encoding, bandwidth, CDN). Hosting on YouTube offloads delivery, encoding and adaptive streaming; self-hosting or using a paid video host gives control but requires you to pay for transfer, storage and quality-of-service.

Practical options and when to pick them:

  • Keep YouTube (embed) when you want zero infrastructure work, automatic multi-bitrate delivery and free global reach, but expect YouTube branding/ads and possible user diversion. Use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode if tracking is a concern ().
  • Use a paid hosting platform (Vimeo Pro, Wistia, Cloudflare Stream) when you need no ads, finer privacy/analytics, or branded players. Cloudflare Stream is an example that combines hosting, transcoding and CDN in one place (Cloudflare Stream).
  • Self-host only if you need total control and are ready to run encoding + CDN costs (S3 + CloudFront, etc.). Check provider pricing first so you can estimate GB/month charges (AWS S3 pricing and CloudFront pricing).

Implementation tips you can apply immediately:

  • Provide multiple bitrates (HLS/DASH) or at least an MP4 (H.264/AAC) fallback for broad compatibility; see the HTML5 <video> reference (MDN video element).
  • Lazy-load the player (load iframe or video only on click) to avoid slowing page load and reduce initial third-party requests.
  • Confirm you own distribution rights before hosting or embedding.

Recommendation: for most small/medium sites embed (or use a paid host) rather than full self-hosting. Self-hosting is reasonable only once you’ve modeled expected transfer volumes and budgeted for CDN/encoding.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for matricol

bandwith its a problem .. so I use youtube

Member Avatar for rdowney24

you have to think about the bandwith, the problem with youtube is ads, and user diversion to youtube.

Rich

Member Avatar for rocco88

It depends on the type of video. It could be a bandwith issue.

Member Avatar for Member #46692

With your own content that isn't implicated by copyright restrictions, you can embed the youtube video on your site. That way you have no bandwidth issues, just the youtube adverts which pop up.

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