Periscope was a video streaming app and social network developed by Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein. The app was acquired by Twitter in 2015, before its official launch.
Periscope has shut down now so there is a definite need to look for alternatives. Among the more popular Periscope alternatives are Twitch, BigMarker, Facebook Live, YouTube Live and others. The best Periscope alternative is YouNow. Not only does it offer plentiful features but it’s a great platform for content creators to experiment and grow.
More about Periscope
Periscope was created when Beykpour read a newspaper article about the Indian Ocean tsunami that had occurred the previous year.
He thought it would be interesting to watch footage of the event from the perspective of people who were caught up in it.
The idea for Periscope came from Beykpour’s desire to witness other perspectives and experiences in real-time from anywhere in the world.
Periscope launched in March 2015 on iOS and Android. In June 2015, Periscope announced that users had created more than 100 million broadcasts and were watching 40 years of video per day on the service.
This is why many people were surprised to learn that Periscope was shutting down.
Periscope was a subsidiary of Twitter until it was shut down in March 2021, after a five-year run due to poor user numbers.
These top 15 Periscope alternative examples can turn into quite a useful resource as a kick-off point for your online presence strategy.
Best Periscope Alternatives
1. Twitch
Twitch is a platform that lets you watch, create, and interact with live content. It is one of the best Periscope alternatives as it lets you stream live videos, music performances, eSports, talk shows, and much more.
Twitch has a wide variety of options to choose from. You can easily explore and find what you like within no time. You can also broadcast your live content right from the app.
It also lets you broadcast your games directly onto the platform with ease. It keeps track of all your broadcasts and lets you access them anytime from anywhere.
It supports multiple languages so that everyone can enjoy their favorite content in their language without any hassle.
The app has millions of users, and you can go live on it within seconds. There are many features in place inside it to make sure that your experience is top-notch.
This app’s community is also very friendly and helpful, which is an added advantage. There are also many tools that you can use while streaming to enhance your live-streaming experience to another level altogether.
Twitch subscriptions are based on local costs of living, enabling creators to grow their community and revenue as more viewers become supporters over time.
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2. YouNow
YouNow is one of the most popular platforms for live video streaming that allows you to broadcast your live channel and watch other people’s channels.
The platform offers a variety of features, including features like chat, gifts, reactions, live and private broadcasts, etc. If you like to stream videos on Periscope, YouNow is an excellent alternative for you.
Other than helping you go live, it allows you to discover exciting live streams from around the world. Like Periscope, it lets you engage with broadcasters via comments and Tweet them directly from the app.
It offers two modes, namely ‘Live Mode’ and ‘Replay Mode.’ It lets you watch live videos from all around the globe. The app has an easy-to-use interface which makes it an ideal choice for beginners who don’t have any prior experience in using this type of app.
It is compatible with all major platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry, and more.
This application is a great choice if you are looking for a Periscope alternative that focuses on gamers only.
YouNow subscription costs $4.99 per month.
3. StreamYard
StreamYard is a powerful Periscope alternative for live streaming, webinars, and interviews. It offers some of the best features for live broadcasting.
It’s an online tool that lets you stream to multiple platforms like YouTube, Facebook Live, LinkedIn, Twitter, Twitch, and more. You can do interviews, Q&A, and talk shows with your co-hosts or guests.
It offers customizable layouts and themes to customize it according to your brand. The branding feature allows you to display your logo on your videos and landing page links for people to learn more about you or buy from you.
You can share your screen or upload files to use during the show. This is great if you want to share a presentation or document during webinars or live streams.
You can also schedule your live streams ahead of time so that people know when they should drop by your show and interact with you or buy from you. You can also record the video so that people who missed the live session can watch it.
StreamYard has a free version, but it has limited features. For example, you can’t have more than 10 participants in your video. However, with the paid plan, you can have an unlimited number of participants.
The Basic plan goes for $20 per month while the Professional plan costs $39 per month.
Find out which is the better platform between Restream vs StreamYard.
4. BigMarker
BigMarker is a webinar platform that offers advanced features for those who want to broadcast and monetize their content.
BigMarker also provides a platform for webinars, which can be used for more than just live streaming events. You can use it to host seminars or business meetings as well.
BigMarker is an excellent alternative to Periscope and has the same features. In addition to this, BigMarker’s white-label feature allows you to customize every aspect of your channel, from the logo and colors to the navigation bar.
This makes it easier for companies to use their branding for their live streams. BigMarker’s analytics tool helps you understand what works best for your audience so you can improve the quality of future events.
BigMarker offers many other features, including custom registration forms, pay-per-view ticketing options, and post-event recording capabilities.
They have packages as low as $79 per month and as high as $299 per month.
5. Facebook Live
Facebook Live is a great alternative to Periscope. It’s free and easy to use, making it perfect for those just getting started with Facebook Live.
You can broadcast live directly from your smartphone or stream a computer desktop or webcam. And you can do it all in HD.
Facebook Live supports both horizontal and vertical streaming, which means you can shoot a video in portrait mode if that’s your thing.
There’s even an option to draw on the screen while you are broadcasting, which is a fun little creature feature that isn’t available on most other platforms for live streaming video.
When you start a Facebook Live session, the video automatically pops up in your follower’s news feeds. And if you’ve got an email list, you can also send a notification about your video to increase engagement and viewership of your live broadcast.
At the end of the session, you can save the broadcast as a video on your page and share it from there so people who missed it can watch it later. Facebook Live is free.
6. Restream
Restream is one of the best alternatives to Periscope because it allows you to broadcast on 30+ different platforms simultaneously!
Rather than creating and managing accounts on each platform, Restream lets you do it all from one place.
Restream also provides analytics to learn about your audience and what type of content they engage with.
It’s the best way to live stream to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and 30+ other streaming services at once.
Grow your audience everywhere; engage followers, customers, or employees worldwide, wherever they watch.
Easily stream from any device across social media platforms or your website. Throw stellar events and make your streaming business thrive.
Their prices range from $16.00 per month for the standard package to $41.00 per month for the professional package.
Want to explore Restream like tools? check out this post.
7. YouTube Live
YouTube Live is Google’s live streaming service. It can be accessed through the YouTube website and mobile app, which is available for free on iOS and Android.
The platform has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for beginners and experts alike. To start streaming on YouTube Live, you need to create a channel first.
Then, simply go to your channel’s Video Manager section and click on “Live Streaming” to set up your broadcast. You can also do this with your phone using the YouTube mobile app.
YouTube Live is widely used by celebrities and personalities worldwide. As such, it allows people to add custom branding to their live streams and invite other people to collaborate with them through co-streaming.
Surprisingly, users can also broadcast their videos on a 360-degree angle view. In addition, you can incorporate your live streaming videos with your normal YouTube videos.
The service is free to use and also supports commercial broadcasting. With this feature, you can earn money through ads and donations. Interestingly, you can set up a countdown before your video goes live.
Find out the best alternatives to YouTube.
8. Vimeo
Vimeo Live is a very capable alternative to Periscope. It is also a very popular live streaming platform that has been used by many media companies and influencers around the world. There are some things that Vimeo Live can do that Periscope can’t.
For example, Vimeo Live lets you live stream from both your desktop and your mobile device. You can also upload videos directly to the Vimeo platform with the help of its API.
The platform provides you with free hosting of your videos and gives you access to numerous tools to customize your videos.
The platform has an easy-to-use interface which makes it easier for the users to operate it. The site also gives you access to a lot of tutorials and other online material that helps in making better videos.
Vimeo also allows you to watch live streams without having an account on the website, as well as provide you with an HD quality streaming experience on any device.
Vimeo price plans start at $7/month to $75/month.
Check out this post to explore platforms similar to Vimeo.
9. Twitter Live
Twitter Live is another Periscope alternative that allows you to reach out to your audience in real-time. You can broadcast live videos and interact with your audience, joining the conversation via comments and hearts.
You can also watch live videos from other people and personalities around the globe. This app is fantastic for building a strong community and engaging with them daily. Watch news, sports, politics, and other events in real-time.
Fortunately, this is also a subsidiary of Twitter and offers the same features. It’s a standalone app introduced by Twitter to live stream videos on the app.
The main motive behind this was to make content easy to share with others. People can easily post the videos on other platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
This is perfect for when you only want a certain group of people to be able to see what’s going on. If you have multiple Twitter accounts, you can also use this app to broadcast from all of them simultaneously so that you can get more exposure.
Twitter Live is available on both Android and iOS devices, and it’s free to use.
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10. Livestream
Livestream is another video-sharing app that allows users to live stream and broadcast their videos across their social networks.
Whether it be broadcasting news, events, or even just your daily life, Livestream is one of the top live streaming apps on the market.
Livestream is available for download on both Apple and Android devices, as well as Mac and PCs.
The app/software allows users to switch between landline and mobile cameras seamlessly. Using this feature, users can capture moments from their phone, tablet, or laptop cameras.
Aside from live streaming capabilities, Livestream offers its users a platform for sharing videos with friends and family in real-time.
Users can also chat while watching a video through the app’s built-in chat room feature. Livestream also has a built-in scheduling calendar that helps individuals keep track of any upcoming events they want to share with others.
You can share your live streaming on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Twitch, etc. The free version of Livestream has limited features like single camera support, broadcasting restriction up to four hours weekly, and no branding customization options are available.
For using the premium version of Livestream, you will have to pay $75 per month.
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11. LinkedIn Live
LinkedIn Live, the video platform launched by the Microsoft-owned social network in 2019, has added new features to its service aimed at businesses.
The update is part of a broader effort by LinkedIn to diversify its offerings beyond basic social networking and job hunting.
The company has been adding new features like podcasts and stories, trying to compete with Facebook and other platforms that have dominated those areas.
Now that more than half of the world’s internet users are on social media, companies have been looking for new ways to reach them.
One approach is live streaming, which has become popular on platforms like Twitch, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live.
LinkedIn Live allows companies to broadcast events in real time — whether it’s a product launch or a Q&A with an executive — to their followers and potentially reach millions of viewers.
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12. Hype
The hype has been called a “Periscope Killer” by many insiders, as it was created with the specific objective of improving on what Periscope offers and providing an alternative.
Hype is a live video streaming app that lets you share your moments with your friends and family. With Hype, you can broadcast a private or public event and chat in real-time with other viewers.
Hype gives you a chance to be the center of attention. Let your followers get to know you and let them feel like they are part of your life.
You can have as many followers as you want and as many fans as you can. Be creative and share anything you want, from your thoughts to your activities, from food to fashion, from selfies to pictures of the city where you live.
To make things more interesting, Hype gives you the option to invite people to follow your live stream. You can also send an instant message during the show and get feedback on what people think about your videos.
With Hype, there are no limits when it comes to video content sharing. The app is constantly evolving, adding new features and improving its interface to stay up-to-date with all the latest technologies.
Contact support for updated pricing.
Bottom Line
Based on our research, we would suggest YouNow as the replacement for Periscope. This is simply because of its ability to earn revenue for users who go beyond watching and start creating content.
YouNow’s appeal lies in the real-time interaction between the presenter and viewers. That said, the decision is yours. Choose what best suits your needs.
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