Mux vs Vimeo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Vimeo grades higher than Mux: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Vimeo grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mux
Video API for storing, streaming and analyzing video in apps
Vimeo
Ad-free video hosting with a customizable player and review tools
Which one is for you
Pick Mux if
- Fits if you're a developer who needs video inside your own product
- Works for apps that want per-minute billing and playback analytics
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't write code, because there's no app, only an API
- Tight if you stay free, with 10 stored videos and no live
- Watch out: custom domains are $100 a month and live simulcast is $0.020 a minute per target
- Watch out: usage billing means the bill moves with your audience
Pick Vimeo if
- Fits if you embed videos on your own site and want no ads or suggested videos
- Works for creative teams passing cuts around for time-coded comments, from $12 a month
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, as 1 GB of storage is all you get for the life of the account
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $20 for Starter against $12 a month on the annual bill
- Pricey if you run webinars, since livestreamed events need Advanced at $75 a month billed annually
- Skip it if your videos pull huge audiences, since self-serve plans have a bandwidth limit of 2TB a month
- Watch out: the help center lists newer plans than the pricing page, the trial length isn't stated, and there's no Windows app
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMuxFair | 2.6GPAVimeoGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree to start and usage-based after, with Launch at $20 for $100 of credit. Cost depends on minutes, not seats, so it's hard to set against per-seat tools. | CStarter is $12 a month billed annually ($144), or $20 by the month, so just above this category's $10 middle for 1 user and 2TB. Livestreamed events are a long climb up, on Advanced at $75. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 100K delivery minutes a month, but only 10 stored videos and no live video, no card needed. | CFree stays free indefinitely with ad-free playback and 30-minute recordings. The catch is 1 GB of storage for the life of the account: it never resets, so a few long videos and that's the end of it. |
| Features | BHosting, delivery, live, analytics, a free player, AI workflows and signed URLs. The listing shows costs on top: custom domains are $100 a month. | BAd-free hosting up to 4K with HDR, an embeddable customizable player, passwords and unlisted links, time-coded review comments with versions, a browser recorder and editor, live events with Q&A. No gap in the hosting job. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record, and it's an API: you write code to use it, and there is no app. | B4.5 from 11,801 App Store ratings. The plans are the confusing part, since the help center also describes newer Core, Professional and Studio tiers alongside the ones on the pricing page. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb via API, with a free Video.js player and delivery to anything that plays video. | BWeb, Mac, iPhone and Android with an API, connecting to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Dropbox, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Zoom and Shopify. The only desktop app is for Mac, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | developers building video into an app | hosting videos with no ads around them |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Mux and Vimeo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mux starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Vimeo starts at $12 a month and scores 3.0.
Vimeo scores higher and starts $8 a month lower. Of the other screen recording and video tools on the chart, 26 score higher than Mux for less, and 2 score higher than Vimeo for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Mux also covers web analytics.
- Vimeo also covers templates, screen recording and video editing.
At a glance
| Mux | Vimeo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month for $100 in credit (Launch, prepaid) | $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 100K delivery minutes and 100K Mux Robots units a month, up to 10 videos stored, on-demand video only, no credit card. | 1 GB of total storage for the life of the account, one seat, ad-free playback, basic viewer analytics, and screen and webcam recordings of up to 30 minutes each. |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial offered on Starter, Standard and Advanced; the pricing page does not state its length |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mux | Vimeo.com, Inc. |
| Price read from | mux.com | vimeo.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mux
- Mux is an API, so using it means writing code; the pricing page lists no desktop or mobile app.
- The Free plan allows 10 stored videos and no live video.
- Custom domains cost $100 a month, and live simulcasting is $0.020 per minute per target.
Vimeo
- The Free plan is capped at 1 GB of storage for the life of the account; the allowance does not reset or renew.
- Livestreamed events and webinars need the Advanced plan at $75 a month billed annually, or Enterprise.
- Self-serve plans have a bandwidth limit of 2TB a month; accounts that expect more are asked to talk to sales.
- Vimeo's help center also describes newer Core, Professional and Studio plans, with Professional rolling out gradually, so the plans an account is offered may differ.
Key features
Mux
- Video hosting by the minute
- Prices are per minute of content, not file size, with no rounding up to the next minute. Input is free and storage starts at $0.0024 per minute.
- Video delivery
- 100K delivery minutes a month are free, then rates start at $0.0008 per minute.
- Mux Robots AI workflows
- AI jobs priced per minute or per job, including caption translation, summaries, chapters, key moments, content moderation and audio translation.
- Live video
- Live streaming on the paid plans, with live captions free for 6K minutes a month and simulcasting charged per target.
- Analytics and player
- Mux Data video analytics and the Video.js player are listed as free.
- Content security
- Signed URLs and domain and referrer restrictions are free. Media-grade DRM costs $100 a month plus $0.003 per play.
Vimeo
- Ad-free hosting up to 4K
- Videos stream at up to 4K with HDR and Dolby Vision support, and Vimeo places no ads before, during or after them on any plan.
- Customizable, embeddable player
- Embed videos on any site. Paid plans unlock player customization, and Standard adds your own branding, calls to action and lead capture forms.
- Privacy and access controls
- Paid plans add password protection, unlisted links and embed domain-level privacy. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and custom permissions.
- Review and collaboration
- Share cuts for review, collect time-coded comments, track versions and keep work in shared folders across team seats.
- Browser recorder and editor
- Record your screen, webcam or both in the browser and trim on a timeline. Text-based editing and AI teleprompter scripts start on Standard.
- Live events and webinars
- Advanced adds hosted livestreamed events with Q&A, polls and chat, streaming to multiple destinations and event-level analytics.
Plans
Mux
Free$0
100K free monthly delivery minutes and Mux Robots units, up to 10 stored videos and on-demand video only.
Pay as you go$0
per month plus usage
Usage-based billing with all API features, on-demand and live video, no storage limit and a $20 monthly usage credit.
Launch$20
per month for $100 in credit
Prepaid credits that apply to usage, with the 100K monthly delivery minutes and Robots units. Usage billing applies after the credits run out.
Scale$500
per month for $1,000 in credit
Prepaid credits for larger volumes, with the same monthly free delivery minutes and Robots units. Usage billing applies after the credits run out.
EnterpriseCustom
Steeper volume discounts over $3k a month, account security features, SLAs and 24/7 support.
Vimeo
Free$0
1 GB of total storage, one seat, ad-free playback, basic viewer analytics and recordings of up to 30 minutes each.
Starter$12
per month, billed annually ($144); $20 billed monthly
1 user and 2TB of storage, with a customizable player, password privacy and unlisted links, review tools and engagement analytics.
Standard$25
per month, billed annually ($300); $41 billed monthly
5 users and 4TB of storage. Adds player branding, a custom watermark, branded video galleries, lead capture and calls to action.
Advanced$75
per month, billed annually ($900); $125 billed monthly
10 users and 7TB of storage. Adds hosted livestreamed events with Q&A, polls and chat, multi-destination streaming and marketing integrations.
EnterpriseCustom
More users, storage and bandwidth, plus SSO and SCIM, custom permissions, advanced AI capabilities and dedicated support.
Ways to pay less
Mux
No public discounts listed.
Vimeo
- Annual discount
Save about 40% with annual billing
Starter is $12 a month billed annually against $20 billed monthly. Standard is $25 against $41, and Advanced is $75 against $125.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mux or Vimeo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Vimeo is cheaper to start with: $12 a month, against $20 a month for Mux. Mux starts at $20 per month for $100 in credit (Launch, prepaid), and Vimeo starts at $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Mux or Vimeo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Mux and Vimeo have a free plan.
Which platforms do Mux and Vimeo run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Vimeo lists macOS, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.