Move your video library in under an hour
Dacast auto-renews with no warning. There is no consent policy before they charge, and cancellation requires submitting a form and sending a separate email before your renewal date. Refunds are refused as a matter of policy.
The platform is described as "technology stuck in 2014." The control panel is buggy — changes are not always saved on the first try. Audio and video sync issues are reported. The PPV interface is cumbersome.
DRM and AES encryption are only available on the Scale plan at $165/month or above. Lower tiers have no content protection beyond basic password fields.
Before: a buggy control panel that loses your changes. After: a clean dashboard where settings save instantly and videos process in minutes.
Before: surprise auto-renewals and no refund policy. After: transparent pricing, cancel anytime from your dashboard, no emails required.
Before: basic playback with a third-party player (THEOplayer). After: automatic transcription, chapters, and adaptive HLS streaming with a native player.
Log into your Dacast account, navigate to your VOD content, and download source files for each video. Dacast allows individual file downloads from the content management section.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial. Configure your workspace, custom domain, and player branding.
Upload via the dashboard, or use Google Drive, Dropbox, or S3 import for bulk transfers. Resumable TUS uploads handle large files reliably.
Replace Dacast player embeds on your site. Search for "dacast.com" or the Dacast iframe code in your templates and swap with host.video embed snippets.
Test playback on your site, confirm transcriptions are generated, and verify your custom domain. Cancel your Dacast plan — and make sure you cancel before the auto-renewal date.
Dacast embeds reference their player hosted on Dacast's domain. These will stop working if your Dacast account is canceled or expires. Replace all embed codes before your subscription ends. Given Dacast's strict auto-renewal and no-refund policy, plan your migration well ahead of your renewal date to avoid being charged for another billing period.
A library of 50-100 videos can be migrated in under an hour. The main effort is downloading from Dacast (which is done per-video) and replacing embed codes on your site.
Export any Dacast analytics you need before canceling. Note that analytics on Dacast's basic plans are already limited. host.video provides full engagement tracking from day one.
host.video is focused on on-demand video hosting. If you use Dacast primarily for live streaming, evaluate whether your live needs can be handled separately while using host.video for your VOD library.