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Technology · Content

YouTube

youtube.com

YouTube is a video platform. You can add a YouTube video or playlist to your own website by copying an embed code from the Share menu.[1][2]

YouTube is a popular video-sharing platform where users can upload, view, rate, share, and comment on a wide variety of video content. It offers personalized channels, live streaming capabilities, and monetization options for content creators.

YouTube belongs toVideo playerscategory.

How to embed

Click Embed in the Share options and copy the HTML code[2]

Privacy Enhanced Mode

Use the youtube-nocookie.com embed domain[2]

Child-directed sites

Sites aimed at children must self-designate when they embed YouTube[2]

Network access

Network administrators must allow youtube.com through the firewall[2]

132websites

use it — 5.2% of the 2,555 websites we scanned in the last 12 months

#1of 18

tools in its category seen in our scans (we recognize 50)

39public pages

on UptimeCard — open any of them to see how that site is doing

In short: an easy way to add video, since you only paste an embed code. Use Privacy Enhanced Mode for a lighter trail; ads can still show.[2]

5.39% of all websites we track run YouTube▼ 0.02 points since 20 Sep

Should you use YouTube?

The 10-second version, from the vendor’s own pages and what we see in our scans

YouTube fits if…

  • You want to show a video on a page without hosting the file yourself[2]
  • You want a privacy-friendlier embed[2]Privacy Enhanced Mode is available for embedded players on websites.

Look elsewhere if…

  • You want a player without ads and with your own branding[3][4]Vimeo lists ad-free hosting and a customizable player; Wistia lists an ad-free player.
Ads can still appear in an embedded player[2]
Age-restricted videos send viewers back to YouTube instead of playing on your page[2]

YouTube next to two other video hosts

Other ways to put a video on your site. Statements come from each vendor's own page; website counts are ours.

YouTubeVimeoWistia
What the vendor says
Ads in the playerAds can be servedin the embedded player[2]Ad-free✓video hosting[3]Ad-free player✓fast playback[4]
Free planNot stated on the pages readNot stated on its home pageFreeto create, host and share videos[5]
What we see in our scans
Websites running it1325.2% of 2,555 scanned sites291.1% of 2,555 scanned sites522% of 2,555 scanned sites
Typical page load time4.4 s37 public sites6.3 s9 public sites4.2 s✓34 public sites
Typical page weight4.1 MB✓typical home page4.9 MBtypical home page4.2 MBtypical home page
Security grade B or better33%✓3 of 9 graded sites score B or better—20%3 of 15 graded sites score B or better

Only what each vendor page states.

  • Vimeo: A video platform with ad-free hosting and a customizable player[3]
  • Wistia: Video hosting for business with an ad-free player and a free plan[4][5]

Choose YouTube if…

  • You want to embed a video by pasting a code from the Share menu[2]

Choose Vimeo if…

  • You want a customizable, ad-free player[3]

Choose Wistia if…

  • You want business video hosting with a free plan[5]

Products

YouTube lists several services under its own name

YouTube

This page

The video platform whose player you embed[1]

YouTube Music

Listed among YouTube's products on its about page[1]

YouTube Premium

Listed among YouTube's products on its about page[1]

YouTube Studio

Listed among YouTube's products on its about page[1]

YouTube Kids

Listed among YouTube's products on its about page[1]

Support and help for YouTube

How the vendor says you can reach it, and the public help community

Stack Overflow

11,537 questions[6]

[youtube-api] questions

How YouTube sites protect themselves

Share of the 132 sites we scanned that run each protection

HSTS61% · 80 sites

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) informs browsers that the site should only be accessed using HTTPS

reCAPTCHA27% · 35 sites

reCAPTCHA is a free service from Google that helps protect websites from spam and abuse

Protections add up, they do not replace each other: a site can run all of them.

What sites use YouTube for

An estimate from UptimeCard's technology map of 29 public sites

Runs the whole site25 sites

amazee.io · appfigures.com · bcit.ca

Hosts help, docs or support content2 sites

homey.app · quay.io

Publishes a blog or resources1 sites

memoq.com

Runs the marketing site1 sites

ashbyhq.com

Rough guide, not a measurement: each description is written automatically from the site’s technology stack and the site has not confirmed it. A site is counted once, in the first group its description fits (shop, help and docs, blog, marketing site; otherwise the whole site). Descriptions that only guess (“likely”, “may”) are left out.

At a glance

UptimeCard's own scans and tests of 2,555 websites · refreshed weekly

How YouTube sites scoreout of 100 · hover or tap a score for details

46PerformancePooraverage site: 5087AccessibilityGoodaverage site: 8979Best practicesFairaverage site: 9392SEOGoodaverage site: 92

Page load time

Loads about as fast as the average site

YouTube sites
4.4 s
All sites
4.3 s

Most YouTube sites load in 3.2–8.4 s. Home page weight: 4.1 MB vs 3.3 MB for all sites. 37 public sites measured.

Where are they hosted?

Mostly Cloudflare and Amazon Web Services

  • Cloudflare31%
  • Amazon Web Services18%
  • Hetzner Online GmbH5%
  • Atlantic Metro Communications II3%
  • Other44%
United States 44%Canada 26%Germany 5%

Who uses it?

Educational Resources sites use YouTube 3.1× more than average

Technology and Software46%
Business Services1.7× avg21%
Educational Resources3.1× avg15%
Software as a Service (SaaS)8%

Share of 39 classified public sites. “× average” compares with all 961 public sites.

How YouTube sites are built

Closest partners. The number says how many times more often the tool runs on YouTube sites than on an average website. Hover a partner for its share of sites.

Apache HTTP Server3×Hotjar3×jQuery UI3×Microsoft Clarity2×Yoast SEO2×

Stacks we see most. Tools that tend to run together with YouTube on the same websites. The percentage is the share of all 132 YouTube sites that run the whole stack.

9 stacks · swipe, drag or use the arrows
#1

YouTube + WordPress + Yoast SEO + Contact Form 7

5.3%7 of 132 sites
#2

YouTube + Bootstrap + jsDelivr + jQuery CDN

3%4 of 132 sites
#3

YouTube + jsDelivr + Sectigo

3.8%5 of 132 sites
#4

YouTube + jsDelivr + Webflow

3.8%5 of 132 sites
#5

YouTube + GSAP + Adobe Experience Manager

3%4 of 132 sites
#6

YouTube + GSAP + Amazon ALB

3%4 of 132 sites
#7

YouTube + Bootstrap + Microsoft ASP.NET

3%4 of 132 sites
#8

YouTube + Bootstrap + Animate.css

3%4 of 132 sites
#9

YouTube + WordPress + Google Cloud CDN

3%4 of 132 sites

Usually installed alongside

The bigger the bubble, the more of the 132 YouTube sites also run the tool. Colour shows what the tool does. Hover or tap a bubble for details.

Google Analytics78%Facebook Pixel29%Linkedin Insight Tag25%Google Tag Manager75%Yoast SEO19%Cart Functionality14%Microsoft Advertising13%DoubleClick Floodlight11%OneTrust12%Funding Choices11%HubSpot11%
AnalyticsTag managerSearch visibilityOnline storeAdvertisingCookie consentMarketing

Similar tools in its category

Video players: 50 tools known, 18 seen in our scans

Brightcove53 sitesAlternativeWistia52 sitesAlternativeVideoJS33 sitesAlternativeVimeo29 sitesAlternativeMediaElement.js12 sitesAlternativePlyr12 sitesAlternativeJW Player11 sitesAlternativeTwitch Player5 sitesAlternativeKaltura30 sitesUsed together

How websites combine YouTube with other tools

Relationships found on the websites that use it, from the same map status pages show.

Integrates with another 25Complements another tool 10Overlaps with another 1

Websites using YouTube

132 websites use YouTube: 5.2% of the 2,555 websites we scanned in the last 12 months. A selection is shown below.

Scores are out of 100: P Performance · A Accessibility · B Best practices · S SEO. Green 80+, yellow 65–79, orange 50–64, red below 50. The dot shows whether our last scan found the site failing (red) or not (green); Red, amber or blue: an active incident on the site's status page (outage, degraded, maintenance) or a failing scan; amber also means a certificate ending within 30 days. Hover the dot for details.

Who is behind YouTube

From its own pages and public records, with sources

YouTube

since 2005[7]

Questions about YouTube

How do I embed a YouTube video?
Open the video, click Share, click Embed, and copy the HTML code into your page.[2]
What is Privacy Enhanced Mode?
An embed setting where a view of your embedded video is not used to personalize the viewer's browsing experience on YouTube. You turn it on by changing the embed domain to youtube-nocookie.com.[2]
Can I embed age-restricted videos?
Not in a way that plays on your page. Age-restricted videos redirect viewers back to YouTube.[2]
What if my site is aimed at children?
You must self-designate your site or app when you embed YouTube content.[2]
How many websites use YouTube?
We found YouTube on 132 of the 2,555 websites we scanned in the last 12 months (5.2%). 39 of them have a public status page.
What is YouTube often used with?
Among the websites we scan, YouTube is often found alongside Google Analytics (78% of its sites), Google Tag Manager (75% of its sites), PHP (46.2% of its sites).
What are the alternatives to YouTube?
Other video players tools we recognize include Brightcove, Wistia, VideoJS, Kaltura.

Is your website built with YouTube?

UptimeCard checks it around the clock, tells you the minute it stops answering, and gives your visitors a status page.

Monitor my site freeCreate a status page