Top 5 Best HTML5 Video Players For Live Streaming & Video On Demand in 2024
Last Updated — February 06, 2024
Nine years ago, Steve Jobs wrote an open letter to Adobe regarding Flash and why it wasn’t allowed on iOS devices, listing out various shortcomings that Flash showed on mobile devices. Ever since then, Flash has been on a decline and has been replaced by HTML5.
The Demand For HTML5
HTML5 allowed audio and video embedding features through its <audio> and <video> tags. This fulfilled the increasing demand for custom online video players, especially in the advertising, marketing, and entertainment sectors. Not only is HTML5 natively supported by all browsers, but also it does not need any third party plug-ins to execute its resources.
It greatly enhances scalability and interoperability by reducing the cost of developing video streaming applications and seamlessly integrating all HTML elements on the web page without using any third-party applications or plug-ins. This allows for better video-on-demand and live streaming capabilities.
Owing to its immense features and advantages over Flash, HTML5 is currently the top choice for video player development. Some of the best video on demand and live streaming video players in the market run on HTML5.
#1 VPlayed — HLS Player for Video & Audio Streaming
VPlayed is a customizable HLS video player that provides both audio and video streaming options. It is a feature-packed player which supports both HTML5 and Flash, providing Adaptive Bitrate Streaming, Live Streaming, Video-on-demand, multiple video monetization options and a plethora of other characteristics that makes it the premier choice for enterprises.
VPlayed is highly customizable as well as scalable to over a million viewers simultaneously. Its UI/UX has been designed keeping in mind the viewer aesthetics, developing an immensely intuitive and responsive design. VPlayed has catapulted to the forefront of HTML5 audio and video players that are compatible with both Android and iOS devices.
Features:
- Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
- Multiple Format Compatibility
- Monetization Methods
- Faster Playback and Live Streaming
- Multi-Bitrate HD Encoding
#2 VideoJS — Custom HTML5 Video Player
One of the best HTML5 video players, VideoJS is an open source online media player which is compatible with multiple third-party plug-ins like Google Analytics, advanced format support such as HLS and DASH, playlists, branding plug-ins, etc.
Apart from being one of the top online video players, VideoJS is also an HTML5 video player building solution with brilliant customization potential and extendable support to YouTube and Vimeo. Although it’s primarily an HTML5 video player, it’s backend also contains optional support for Flash for browser versions that don’t support HTML5.
Features:
- Plugins Support
- Analytics
- Playlist Support
- Branding Potential
- Easy Setup and Highly Customizable
#3 Contus VPlay — Best Online Video Player for Streaming
Contus VPlay is a top-of-the-line HTML5 video player for enterprises and startups. With Contus VPlay, you can build a custom HTML5 video player that supports live video streaming, OTT, Video-on-demand and other feature-rich solutions for your consumers.
Lined with end-to-end encryption for extended security, this platform provides scalable and secure delivery to any device, be it Android, iOS or on websites. Contus VPlay has clever video distribution and monetization models that discover video preferences and browsing models to maximize reach and revenue.
Features
- Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
- On-Cloud Transcoding
- Customizable Stack and UI/UX
- HLS and HTML5 Streaming
#4 JWPlayer — HTML5 Video Player Adaptive Streaming
JW Player is one of the top HTML5 video players in the market that provides professional video on demand and live streaming solutions for startups and enterprises. They employ a data-driven approach, providing recommendations and analytics information to improve viewer experience and scalability.
They also provide iOS and Android SDKs to target mobile device users. Their simple and efficient UI/UX makes video streaming faster and much more reliable and they have multiple monetization methods for their clients to generate revenue.
Features:
- HLS and DASH Adaptive Streaming
- Cloud-Hosting
- Multiple Monetization Techniques
#5 PLYR.IO — Online Media Player
With its straight-forward and on-point approach, Plyr is definitely one of the cleanest and lightest online video players with an enterprise-level backend. It can handle high traffic, long HD video streaming and live streaming while having a user-friendly and intuitive UI/UX, making it immensely scalable.
Plyr is HTML5-compatible for all formats (audio and video) and all platforms (Android, iOS and Website). Moreover, it has in-built support for YouTube and Vimeo video playback along with monetization options for generating revenue, making it an amazing HTML5 online video player for websites.
Features:
- No Dependencies
- Multi-screen Compatible
- Open-source and Highly Customizable
- YouTube and Vimeo Video Playback Support
