Searchable video without the $7,500/year minimum.
| Feature | host.video | Panopto |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $20/mo ($200/yr) | ~$7,500/yr minimum |
| Self-serve signup | Yes, 14-day free trial | No — sales demo required, no free trial |
| AI search inside videos | Included on all plans | Searchable knowledge management (core feature) |
| Auto transcription | Included, no per-minute fee | AI-powered captioning included |
| Embeddable player | White-label, embed anywhere | No embeddable player for external websites |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly/annual | Per-user/month, annual contracts |
| Modern UI | Clean, modern dashboard | "Beyond confusing" per user reviews |
| Video editing | Not currently offered | Basic editing (described as "barely extant") |
Panopto has a $7,500/year minimum with no free tier, no free trial, and no self-serve signup. At roughly 100 users, Panopto costs approximately $9/user/month ($10,800/yr). host.video starts at $20/mo ($200/yr) with a 14-day free trial. Even the Business plan at $1,000/yr is a fraction of the Panopto minimum.
Panopto user reviews describe the UI as "beyond confusing," the editor as "a barely extant piece of incomplete software," and processing times of an hour or more. Users report embedded videos frequently appearing locked, causing daily access request emails. host.video provides a clean, modern dashboard that requires no training.
Panopto is designed for internal L&D — it does not offer an embeddable player for external websites. host.video provides a white-label player you can embed anywhere, on any domain, with custom branding.
Panopto integrates natively with Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, and other LMS platforms. For universities and large enterprises with existing LMS infrastructure, Panopto has deeper integration points for course management and classroom recording workflows.
Panopto serves 1,600+ customers in higher education and enterprise learning, including Qualcomm, Boeing, and the University of Oxford. For large organizations that need a proven L&D-specific platform and have the budget, Panopto has a longer track record in that niche.
host.video Starter is $20/mo ($200/yr). Panopto minimum is roughly $7,500/year with per-user pricing: approximately $14/user/month for 1-10 users, $9/user/month at 100 users, and $5/user/month at 1,000+ users. For a 50-person team, Panopto costs roughly $6,000-7,500/year. host.video Business at $1,000/yr covers 10 users with 500 GB storage, 5 TB bandwidth, AI search, and custom domains. Additional users are $100/user/year. The same 50-person team on host.video costs $5,000/yr with more bandwidth and a modern interface.
Panopto is the right choice for large universities or enterprises with 1,000+ users that require deep LMS integrations (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard), classroom recording workflows, and have the budget for per-user pricing. If your primary use case is recording lectures and managing a campus-wide video library within an existing LMS, Panopto is purpose-built for that.
Choose host.video if you want searchable video hosting without the $7,500/year minimum, need an embeddable player for external websites, or simply want a modern interface that your team can start using in minutes. If you are a smaller L&D team priced out of Panopto, or you need video hosting that works beyond internal training, host.video delivers AI search and automatic transcription at a fraction of the cost.