10 Best WordPress Video Plugins for 2021

If you actively use videos on your WordPress website, there are lots of video plugins to take the experience on your site to the next level. Here are ten of the best!

10 Best WordPress Video Plugins for 2021

Are you looking for the best WordPress plugins for your videos? If so, you'll love today's post.

One thing you have to love about WordPress is the fact that there is a plugin for just about any need or scenario.

That shouldn't come as a surprise, especially when the official WordPress plugin repo is home to over 58,000 free plugins.

Then you have plugin marketplaces such as CodeCanyon that offer you thousands of premium WordPress plugins at dirt-cheap prices.

If you actively use videos on your WordPress website, there are lots of video plugins to take video experiences on your site to the next level.

Without a doubt, you can embed videos on your site without plugins, but plugins offer you more control over your video content.

In today's post, we share ten of the best WordPress video plugins to supercharge your video content in 2021 and beyond.

Without further ado, let us get down to business.

Top 10 WordPress Video Plugins for 2021

Videos offer you the chance to connect with your audience at a deeper level. They communicate emotions and engage your target audience better than text content.

Many businesses use videos with great success, and you too can capitalize on videos to pass your brand message and make it big.

We have listed the following plugins in no particular order, so pick one and run with the plugin that floats your boat. Just ensure it's perfect for your needs.

SmartVideo WordPress Plugin

Swarmify SmartVideo WordPress video plugin page

When you use video content on your site, you want to offer your visitors the absolute best viewing experience.

You want to reduce buffering, stall-outs, and low-quality video experiences that send prospects away.

More importantly, you want to create custom and professional video players without links that siphon your traffic.

That said...

SmartVideo is one of the best WordPress video plugins if you're looking to optimize video experiences on your website.

The plugin takes video experiences on your website from mediocre to pro-level in a matter of minutes.

For starters, SmartVideo offers you a clean, distraction-free, and fully customizable video player.

YouTube and other platforms usually offer you video players that are laden with links meant to steal your traffic.

Other than siphoning your traffic, links, and recommended videos on YouTube video players dilute your brand message.

Worse still, recommended videos and links could easily send your prospects to your competition.

Secondly, SmartVideo allows you to convert YouTube videos automatically. The feature is especially useful if you already have a ton of YouTube videos on your site.

Your existing (and future) YouTube videos are converted automatically and served (in the clutter-free video player we just mentioned) via Swarmify's accelerated playback technology.

On top of that, the SmartVideo plugin offers you:

  • Optimized viewing experience on every device, big or small
  • Continuous streaming optimization to avoid stall-outs
  • 8x less buffering and 12x faster video start-times than other platforms
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Support for multiple video hosting platforms
  • Ongoing support
  • Simple and affordable pricing
At Swarmify, our mission is to bring an accelerated, distraction-free video experience to websites of all sizes. Whether you’re a website owner, an agency, or you just want to get in on our affiliate program, we have a plan for you!

The plugin is super lightweight and easy to install you should be up and running in a matter of minutes.

The SmartVideo plugin is free to download at WordPress.org, but you will need an active Swarmify account to get the party started.

Download SmartVideo WordPress Plugin

Embed Plus for YouTube

Embed Plus for YouTube WordPress video plugin page

As we mentioned earlier, you can embed YouTube videos on your WordPress website easily.

You can either:

  • Copy-paste the YouTube video URL into your post/page, or
  • Use the WordPress native video player/Gutenberg block

But what do you do if you need more customization and control over your YouTube embeds?

Well, that is easy. You turn to the Embed Plus for YouTube WordPress plugin.

Embed Plus for YouTube plugin is not your typical embedding plugin. It takes your YouTube embedding game to the next level.

It comes with a ton of features that make embedding YouTube on your WordPress website a breeze. I'm talking about features such as:

  • Compatibility with Gutenberg editor, Elementor, WPBakery Page Builder, Beaver Builder, and SiteOrigin.
  • Create beautiful galleries from your YouTube channel or playlist.
  • YouTube gallery auto-play - Videos from your channel or playlist play continuously without requiring user input
  • Ability to embed YouTube live streams and premiere videos
  • Simultaneous playback - Visitors can choose to watch multiple videos at the same time

Embed Plus for YouTube makes customizing your YouTube embeds as easy as pie. You have plenty of options at your disposal, but sadly, you cannot remove YouTube branding completely.

Download Embed Plus for YouTube

WP Video Lightbox

WP Video Lightbox WordPress video plugin page

The more creative you serve videos on your website, the better the engagement you'll get. And we all know more engagement equals more conversions and sales.

Lightboxes are an effective way of serving videos on your WordPress website without distracting viewers or sending them to a different page.

And WP Video Lightbox is exactly what you need to showcase your videos in beautiful lightboxes.

But don't let the title mislead you, you can use WP Video Lightbox to display images, iFrames, Flash, and other types of media.

WP Video Lightbox comes with a lot more features, including:

  • Ability to disable suggested videos at the end of a YouTube video
  • Automatic thumbnails for videos
  • Video descriptions
  • Easy to use shortcodes
  • prettyPhoto integration
  • Multiple themes for the lightbox window
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Video controls
  • Autoplay
  • Support for YouTube and Vimeo

WP Video Lightbox is an amazing plugin if you are looking to use lightboxes to display your videos. It's super-duper easy to use.

Download WP Video Lightbox

Easy Video Player

Easy Video Player WordPress video plugin page

Video marketing is already challenging as it is. You have to jump a lot of hurdles from production to distribution and beyond.

Executing a video marketing strategy is hard, so you don't need a WordPress video plugin that makes your work harder.

Instead, you need a beginner-friendly video plugin that ensures you don't break your back just to showcase your videos.

One such plugin is the Easy Video Plugin by Noor Alam of Noorsplugin.com. It helps you manage the complexities of embedding responsive videos on your site.

It's incredibly easy to install and doesn't come with feature-bloat that is characteristic of many other plugins.

Easy Video Player ships with an excellent list of features, such as:

  • Embed both self-hosted videos and videos hosted externally
  • 100% responsive design
  • Embed videos with poster images
  • Activate controls such as autoplay, loop, and mute
  • Customize the video player extensively using CSS
  • Shortcodes

Easy Video Player was made for one purpose only; to make embedding videos on your WordPress as easy as A, B, C.

It doesn't let you remove YouTube logos and links, but it gets the work done. It's the perfect WordPress video plugin for beginners.

Download Easy Video Player

FV Flowplayer Video Player

FV Flowplayer WordPress video plugin page

At times, you just need a badass WordPress video plugin that does everything you need.

But coming across such a gem is rare, especially if you're not willing to spend a dime.

But not today.

Ladies and gentlemen say a big hello to the FV Flowplayer Video Player WordPress plugin.

This thing is a beast I tell you and comes with a million and one features you might feel overwhelmed at first.

FV Flowplayer is a custom HTML 5 video player that comes with Flash fallback for legacy browsers.

The best feature is the video player is fully customizable and fully brandable (goodbye, YouTube logos).

If you have the skills, you can even create your own video player from scratch using HTML and CSS!

And for such a powerful WordPress video plugin, you might think it will knock out your server. On the contrary, FV Flowplayer is just 118kB of JavaScript and 10kB of Flash code.

Other notable features include (but not limited to):

  • AB looped playback
  • Powerful playlists
  • 100% responsive design
  • 98% browser coverage
  • Full support for Amazon S3 and CloudFront, among others
  • Supports intelligent video ads
  • Searchable video transcripts
  • Lightbox
  • Display popups with any HTML content at the end of a video

FV Flowplayer Video Player is a fully-fledged WordPress video plugin that does the heavy lifting for you. Better still, there is a premium version that offers you more features and professional support.

Download FV Flowplayer Video Player

Envira Gallery WordPress video plugin page

At times, it pays to go with established and well-known brand names when making a purchase decision.

Often, it saves you a lot of undue stress down the line because you're working with a tested product that has been around for a while.

Envira Gallery is one such plugin. It's one of the most popular WordPress gallery plugins.

It allows you to create beautiful photo and video galleries with just a few clicks. It's a premium plugin that costs between $19 and $89/year. If you don't want to pay yearly, you can make a one-time payment of $269.

The high price offers you an excellent suite of features to supercharge your videos and grow your online presence.

It supports embedding videos from multiple sources including self-hosted videos, YouTube, Instagram, Daily Motion, Facebook, Vimeo, Wistia, and so on.

It offers you a ton of display options to showcase your videos including lightboxes, grids, masonry, albums, and the list goes on.

You also get a drag and drop builder to create galleries effortlessly.

Other Envira Gallery features you'll love include:

  • Social media integration
  • Multiple gallery templates
  • WooCommerce integration
  • Watermark and password protection
  • 100% responsive and mobile-ready
  • Deep linking and pagination which is great for SEO

Envira Gallery offers you a suite of add-ons that will bring life and style to your WordPress video hosting website.

Download Envira Gallery

Ultimate Video Player

Ultimate Video Player WordPress video plugin page

If your livelihood depends on your WordPress video site, you invest in the best tools and services to keep everything running smoothly.

You want the best video hosting and top-notch CDNs to ensure your viewers enjoy buffer-free and fast video experiences.

Additionally, you want to invest in a professional video player that tells the world you know exactly what you're doing.

If you're in the market for a WordPress video plugin that won't disappoint, you can't go wrong with the Ultimate Video Player plugin by elite developer FWDesign.

Retailing at just $69 at the time of writing, the Ultimate Video Player WordPress plugin will change how you serve and monetize videos on your site.

It's packed to the brim with all the features you'd need in a video plugin, and a stellar buyer rating of 4.74/5.00 says you're in safe hands.

Here's a list of what to expect:

  • Advanced advertising capabilities - VAST, VMAP, Google AdSense, etc.
  • Video protection
  • WooCommerce support
  • 100% responsive and mobile-ready
  • Support for multiple video qualities i.e., 720p, 1080p and more
  • Multiple subtitles selector - viewers can choose from multiple subtitle languages
  • Live auto-generated thumbnails
  • Support for multiple file formats - Self-hosted, MP4, MP3, MEPG, HLS, M3U8, 360-degree videos, YouTube, Vimeo, Icecast, Shoutcast, etc.
  • Embed videos from Google Drive, Amazon S3, Dropbox, etc.
  • Various playlist formats
  • 10 pre-made skins included
  • And we would be here all day if we listed all the features

Ultimate Video Player is probably the last WordPress video plugin you will ever need. I mean, this bad boy packs quite a punch in the features department. That, plus it looks incredibly good, no matter which skin you choose.

Download Ultimate Video Player

Video Gallery WordPress video plugin page

What is there not to love about premium WordPress video plugins? You can tell the developers put in the time, and their creations are proof enough.

Whether it's a boatload of features or exquisite layouts, you know you will have a lot of fun with a premium WordPress video plugin.

There is no shortage of top-range premium plugins, and a prime example is the Video Player WordPress plugin by elite author ZoomIt.

What can't you do with this thing? I mean, it ships with all the bells and whistles you'd expect in a premium video plugin.

Here's what you get for as little as $20:

  • 100% responsive design
  • Fully customizable to match your brand
  • Advanced advertising features
  • Analytics to measure how your videos are performing
  • Support for self-hosted, Facebook, Vimeo, and YouTube videos
  • 10 skins + skin generator
  • Multiple gallery styles
  • Intuitive admin panel
  • Shortcode generator
  • Social media sharing
  • Deep linking
  • And much more

Video Gallery WordPress plugin puts a lot of power in your hands as far as offering professional video experiences go. You have the features, the options, and the perfect skins to drive your video site forward.

Download Video Gallery WordPress Plugin

HTML5 Video Player

HTML 5 WordPress video plugin page

WordPress is the proverbial gift that never stops giving. Just when you think you have seen every nice plugin in the repo, another one pops up just in time.

The best part about the official WordPress plugin repo is you never pay anything. On top of that, you know the plugins have been vetted carefully.

If you didn't like the premium options we recommended above (or simply don't want to spend money on a video plugin), HTML5 Video Player is a sure bet.

HTML5 Video Player is one of the simplest yet most versatile WordPress video plugins out there.

Since it's HTML5 compatible, it works with all major browsers as well as iOS devices.

Other features include:

  • Compact and responsive design
  • Add video players on your website using shortcodes - Add videos on posts, pages, and widget areas
  • User-friendly interface
  • Support for multiple file formats
  • Compatible with Gutenberg editor
  • Add videos from an external source

HTML5 Video Player is a simple yet powerful WordPress video plugin. It will surprise you, especially if you don't expect much from free plugins. Better still, the developer offers a PRO version with extra features.

Download HTML5 Video Player

Elite Video Player

Elite Video Player WordPress video plugin page

Finally, we have the Elite Video Player plugin bringing up the rear. This is a premium plugin that I found last minute.

It boasts an extensive list of powerful features that blew me away. It also sports a colorful buyer rating of 4.71/5.00.

Brought to you by CreativeMedia, an elite author on CodeCanyon, Elite Video Player is a responsive and fully customizable WordPress video plugin with a lot of potential.

Right off the bat, it supports self-hosted videos as well as popular video hosting platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3. It also supports live streaming.

If you make money from your videos, you'll love that Elite Video Player comes with brilliant advertising options.

You also have seamless Google Analytics integration to track how your videos and advertisements are performing.

Other features include:

  • Live video thumbnails
  • Subtitles
  • Sticky mode to keep your best videos visible to viewers
  • Lightbox and fullscreen mode
  • Deep linking
  • Video protection
  • GIF, PNG, and JPG support
  • Unlimited color options
  • Auto generated embed code so your visitors can embed your videos anywhere they desire
  • And much more

If you have the budget, Elite Video Player is a great investment for your video site. It costs $49 but it's well worth it. After all, you're getting a fantastic set of features and lifetime support.

Download Elite Video Player

Final Thoughts

WordPress video plugins can make managing your video hosting site less hectic. And with the right plugin, you can offer a better user experience, and boost your conversion rates.

While we've worked hard to curate the above list, only choose the WordPress video plugin that suits your business needs. If you miss the mark the first time, try another plugin until you find something that fits.

Overall, I hope you enjoyed our collection of the best 10 WordPress video plugins.

Happy 2021 and stay safe :)

Try SmartVideo today!