You’ve been appointed to spread the Word, and, as it turns out, streaming live church services is the ultimate platform to do so in today’s digital era. Though there are various technological advancements available to help us and for us to utilize, the actual technical side of this may be a little frustrating for all of us to figure out. Now, one of the primary streaming services out there is Facebook Live. But for us to reach more, we have to consider other options—especially when things are down at the site, and we have to move to another platform. Fortunately, there are other live streaming solutions out there available for us. In this post, we will give you Facebook live alternatives that you can use for your church services.
Youtube Live
YouTube Live is one of the simplest and most popular ways to connect with your audience in real-time. They have many features that can help you control your streaming and connect with your audience—whether you are streaming a Sunday service, weekly devotion, youth lessons, and more.
Since YouTube is already a popular site, streaming there will benefit you. Their algorithm prefers live streaming, and you could get a decent amount of traffic that you usually wouldn’t get on other platforms. A considerable benefit of this app is that it’s free, and you probably have it already. You can get live with all versions of the site by just clicking on the camera icon at the top of the screen, granting the app permission to use the camera, and then tapping “Go Live.”
Vimeo
Vimeo is a live streaming platform that is trusted by many. Create high-quality videos for your church and guarantee smooth streaming experiences for both you and your congregation. Broadcast to a variety of audiences, no matter how big or small they are. You can customize the privacy of your streaming event in the broadcast view. A password can also secure the selected video. You may also specify the privacy at the domain level to determine which websites are permitted to embed your videos on their site. Your viewers are offered the best quality video for their respective devices and bandwidth availability with all its features.
“We use Vimeo. Through our Vimeo account, we can link our FB page and YouTube channel, so it goes out to all 3 and archives on each platform when the service is finished.” – Greg Key.
Twitch
Twitch is one of the world’s most popular video platforms and community, especially for gamers. Over 45 million people gather there to broadcast, watch, and interact every month. Because of their focus on games, you may not have considered it as a contender. While that’s real, they’ve also grown to include and expand to more categories. The Amazon-owned streaming service is available on many platforms, including desktop, tablet, browser, and other devices, and focuses on real-time broadcasting. Its ubiquity, ease of use, and fast refresh rate make it an excellent service despite a few problems.
“I stream on Twitch. My Twitch channel is embedded on our website. Much easier than a YouTube Live embed. The Twitch channel is embedded in itself, so any time that channel is live, it populates on our website. Also, Twitch has opened doors of conversation we would never have had from other platforms.” – Joshua Fowler.
Boxcast
Though Boxcast is a home for many contents out there, it’s one of the most popular streaming platforms among churches. It makes it easy for organizations to deliver live HD video to anyone, anywhere, on any device. Boxcast offers multi-platform streaming, allowing its users to stream on other sites such as Facebook, Youtube, and even your website. It also lets users stream to Smart TV apps such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more. BoxCast does fantastic work of providing churches and their congregation with high-quality viewing services at a reasonable price.
DaCast
Dacast is an easy but powerful solution for streaming live videos. With streaming as our church’s solution to the current situation, the live stream hosting platform is designed to offer users all their needs. DaCast offers some top-of-the-line features to bring you the best streaming experience in general. Via cloud computing, it gives professional instruments and utilities to its users. It utilizes the content distribution network of Akamai to meet audiences worldwide.
Conclusion:
None of these platforms are perfect. They all have limitations and may come across several issues from time to time. But these live-streaming services are excellent Facebook live alternatives and offer a great quality experience for you and your congregation. For more information about streaming, we suggest looking through some of our past blogs. There is some really helpful information. Remember, it’s best to try what works for your church to help you accomplish your mission and expand your ministry.
