Top WordPress Plugins for Video

Editor’s note: Post updated in January 2022 to reflect new plugins.

The high surge of content creation and vlogging has further increased in the past couple of years. This makes installing WordPress Plugins for video quite a necessity for bloggers. Nowadays, internet users of ALL ages find excitement in engaging with others not only through watching videos but also in creating and sharing them. This is especially true during the current pandemic when people have found that internet videos (watching, creating, and sharing) are a great source of entertainment.

In fact, internet videos are so influential that a good majority of social media platforms have adjusted their designs to encourage their users to create and share more videos. This is quite evident with Facebook Stories, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. This has encouraged websites and blogs to adjust and incorporate more videos into their content.

While, yes, you can easily embed some code into your blog post, there are many WordPress plugins for video. From helping you share self-hosted videos to displaying videos from YouTube or social media in a beautiful way, there’s something for everyone.

Quadlayers TikTok Feed

In the last two years alone, the quantity of TikTok users has grown exponentially. TikTok’s content is made up entirely of videos created by its users and learning how to integrate a website with the platform can be highly beneficial. This Quadlayers TikTok Feed plugin (or WP TikTok Feed) allows for the easiest integration. So, what benefits can we gain from installing these kinds of WordPress plugins for video? It simplifies video uploads onto your WordPress site. Other than that, it easily recovers data from your feed including likes and comments.

Embed Plus for YouTube

If YouTube is your go-to video site, this plugin will help you save time. You can search and directly embed videos, view analytics and even see what people across the web are saying about a video. Its settings page also allows you to automatically set defaults for videos you embed. The latest update also puts ease in embedding entire channels which allows readers to scan through a channel’s entire gallery. All these are among other great features.

Instead of copying and pasting HTML code, all you have to do is copy and paste the YouTube video URL into your post. That means no more messing around with code, and with the proper dimensions for video embeds set in the defaults, no need to edit that either.

The best part about this plugin? Well, it is compatible with both the Gutenberg block editor and the classic WordPress editor.

Envira Gallery

Envira Gallery is more of a gallery plugin with a WordPress capability. Still, for its designated purpose and the bonus, it’s one of the best, meaning you wouldn’t want to ignore this one. It comes with its own Videos Addon feature for WordPress and this lets you grab clips from YouTube, Wistia, or even your own self-hosted WordPress videos.

Additionally, you get plenty of options when it comes to customizing your video embeds for your website. Envira Gallery lets you display videos with several options and easily too. The said plugin lets you drag and drop to add videos or a gallery of videos on your blog. Of course, some of its more advanced functions come in at a premium price, but you can stay free if you want.

All-in-One Video Gallery

The downside to incorporating internet videos into any blog is the fact that there are just too many video types and formats. What this plugin boasts about is that it supports all types of videos and video-hosting services. Its flexibility and compatibility are what hooks bloggers to this plugin – even if your blog and your video have different hosts. Although the free version is a bit limited, it is still complete enough for any blogger’s use.

YourChannel

Up next is a plugin that’s most likely best suited for content creators who also dabble in videos. If, in addition to your website, you’re also a YouTuber and want an easy way to both manage your YouTube channel and embed your videos to your main site, then YourChannel is perfect for you. It’s not as popular as some of the more mainstream options in this list but it also has a free version.

With YourChannel, you can easily turn your website or blog into a place of engagement similar to YouTube. The best part is that you don’t even need additional storage for this; YourChannel lets you load your videos and playlists from the comfort of the WordPress site, with no need for additional messy tabs, leading to overall better user experience. It’s also quite easy to set up.

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VideoPack (formerly Video Embed & Thumbnail Generator)

Depending on what you’re working on, some videos may not be best uploaded to a site like YouTube. For example, if you’re selling a product or wanting a video to be seen by only a select group of people. With Video Embed & Thumbnail Generator, you can easily embed self-hosted videos in a wide variety of formats. Once a video is uploaded, you can choose a thumbnail from the video to set as the featured image, or add the URL to a different image.

What is great about this plugin is the fact that it automatically selects the resolution closest to the size of the player, or nearest to what you have set as default. Viewer control also isn’t an issue as you can provide a button for your viewers to manually select their preferred resolution. Videopack’s blogger favorite feature should be the Videopack Ads premium add-on. This allows bloggers to add advertisements to the videos.

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ARVE

ARVE sounds like new bleeding-edge technology and depending on how much you like it, you can treat the plugin that way. It actually stands for Advanced Responsive Video Embedder. As such, it does what it’s been named for and then some more. ARVE is compatible with a wide variety of video formats and websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Facebook, HTML5, and more.

For some, ARVE might even be the best there is given its versatility and flexibility when it comes to different video types. To that end, you can think of ARVE as a Swiss Army knife for video embeds. It likely has a solution for every compatibility problem you’ll face if you want to show videos on your website. Surprisingly, it also comes with a free and premium version. It is also compatible with both the classic WP editor and the Gutenberg block editor.

Elite Video Player

Elite Video Player’s name precedes its reputation. That “elite” moniker is not just for show or marketing– it really is one of the cleanest and most functional WordPress plugins for video. Unlike other plugins, this has unique features that bloggers simply can’t pass on. One unique feature is its compatibility with YouTube’s live-streaming and 360 VR videos that gives viewers a unique omnidirectional experience. Another would be the plugin’s support for Google Drive and Dropbox videos.

Spider Video Player

Spider Video Player is similar to Elite Video Player but can be simpler to operate. It also allows for customization provided you know how to code a little bit with HTML5.

Additionally, Spider Video Player proudly boasts compatibility with a lot of devices from phones, desktops, to even tablets. This has much to do with how it implements utilizes for Flash and HTML5 where the latter would be a backup to the former if it turns out that a device does not support Flash. Thankfully, such generous features also come with a free version in case you’re just starting out.

Video Portal

More of an add-on than a plugin, Video Portal extends and improves features of your existing video plugins. One unique feature would be its Facebook login component. This allows users to review videos watched, playlists, “liked” videos that are linked to their personal Facebook accounts, in case they wish to embed them into their blogs.

If you are looking for WordPress plugins for video – these are probably the best ones to explore!

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