Video Requirements Calculator
Compare private video platforms, video hosting services, streaming platforms, OTT systems, cloud storage, developer infrastructure, and self-hosted media servers using your actual requirements. Results are transparent, reproducible, and calculated without requiring an email address.
1What are you trying to do with your videos?
Choose the option that best matches your primary goal. The goal helps classify the job-to-be-done; it does not secretly force a specific provider to win.
2Who needs to watch?
Audience is useful context, but it carries only 5% of the balanced default score so labels such as “family” do not determine the winner by themselves.
3AHow should people get access?
This is a hard requirement. A provider verified below the VNAS required threshold cannot compensate with unrelated features.
3BShould your videos appear in public search, feeds, or recommendations?*
This controls whether public discovery is wanted, unwanted, or neutral.
4Where do your videos need to be watched?
Required is an eligibility rule. Preferred contributes to the decision score. Unknown provider data stays unknown.
5Which capabilities do you need?
These concrete capabilities receive the largest balanced-default group weight because they most directly distinguish video solutions.
6How much technical management do you want?
This helps distinguish managed SaaS, advanced hosted platforms, developer infrastructure, and self-hosted media servers.
7What size video library and audience are you planning for?
Use approximate values. Leave a field blank when you do not know it.
Price is off by default because vendor pricing changes frequently. Unknown cost is never treated as expensive.
8Review the weights used in your recommendation
We won't choose your priorities for you. Balanced defaults total 100 points. Required capabilities remain eligibility rules regardless of their score weight.
| Question / priority group | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Goal fit | Classifies the main job-to-be-done without overpowering concrete requirements. | |
| Audience fit | Useful context, intentionally kept low so audience labels do not decide the winner. | |
| Privacy & access | Access control can make a platform fundamentally unsuitable. | |
| TV & device support | A required playback device can determine whether a solution is usable. | |
| Capabilities | Concrete features are the strongest direct differentiators among platforms. | |
| Technical management | Separates turnkey SaaS from developer and self-hosted approaches. | |
| Scale & budget | Scale and verified cost can materially change the practical fit. |
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Top solutions for your requirements
All solutions ranked
| Rank | Solution | Score | Required met | Evidence | Status |
|---|
Decision scores show how well each solution satisfies this requirement set under the selected VNAS weights. They are normalized utility scores, not probabilities or statistical confidence.
Learn more about private video hosting, video hosting options & VNAS scoring
Compare Private Video & Video Hosting Solutions
There is no single best video hosting platform for every use case. A marketing team may need analytics and embeds; a family may need private video hosting with invited access and TV viewing; an organization may need authenticated training video; a developer may need encoding and delivery APIs; and a creator may need public discovery or subscriptions. The Video Requirements Calculator compares these different solution types using the requirements that matter to you.
What is private video hosting?
Private video hosting is the storage, management, and streaming of video for a controlled audience rather than unrestricted public discovery. Depending on the platform, access may use individual invitations, authenticated accounts, passwords, unlisted links, SSO, subscriptions, domain restrictions, or other controls. The best private video solution depends on who should watch, how access must work, where viewers need to watch, and whether the videos are temporary shares or a long-term archive.
How the ClosedCast VNAS Scoring Model works
VNAS — the Video Needs Assessment Standard — separates hard requirements from weighted preferences. Required capabilities are checked before ranking. Eligible solutions are then scored with a transparent weighted-sum decision model. Unknown provider information remains unknown rather than being silently converted to failure. The complete questions, criteria, provider data, evidence registry, and model instructions are machine-readable so AI assistants can reproduce the calculation independently.
View scoring model · View provider data · View evidence sources · AI agent manifest
Video Hosting & Private Video FAQ
What is the best private video hosting platform?
There is no universal winner. The right private video platform depends on access control, audience, organization, required devices, technical management, scale, and other capabilities. This calculator evaluates those requirements rather than assuming one provider is best for everyone.
How do I choose a video hosting platform?
Start with required access, required playback devices, core capabilities, technical-management preference, and scale. Mark true deal-breakers as Required and use preference weights for trade-offs among the remaining eligible solutions.
Can the calculator recommend something other than ClosedCast?
Yes. ClosedCast is evaluated under the same published VNAS rules as every other provider. Public publishing, marketing, OTT, developer, file-storage, enterprise, or self-hosted requirements may place another solution first.
Is a VNAS score a statistical probability?
No. A VNAS score is a normalized decision-utility score from 0 to 100. It measures fit against the selected requirements and priorities and must not be described as a probability that a provider is correct.
Can an AI assistant run the assessment independently?
Yes. The question schema, provider matrix, evidence, formula, and scoring rules are published in machine-readable formats. An AI agent can ask the questions conversationally, calculate locally, and optionally compare its result with the calculation endpoint.
Is cloud storage the same as video hosting?
No. Cloud storage is optimized primarily for files, folders, synchronization, backup, and transfer. Video hosting typically adds streaming delivery, player experiences, video-specific organization, analytics, access models, or publishing workflows.
ClosedCast is an emerging leader in private video streaming , helping families, churches, teams, and organizations securely archive, share, and watch private videos online and on TV.