I create a lot of videos for the SQL Server community. These come in three categories.

1. Recordings of conference sessions. Sometimes made by myself, sometimes by the conference organization. Typically uploaded to YouTube by the one who made the recording. I have links to all recordings that I know of in my session list.
   These are free to watch, and they come as is. They were recorded during a live delivery, you simply see what is recorded. No editing. I do usually add captions when I record them myself, but when others recorded and uploaded them, they usually only come with AI-generated captions.
2. Vlog posts. I only recently started doing this. For these, I prepare and record a (usually) shortish video. These are all available on my YouTube channel, but they are also embedded in a blog post, to improve visibility.
   Also included in this category are the 11 videos of the Database design made easy series, although I did not embed them on my blog.
   These are also free, and what I call “quick and dirty”. After preparing slides and demo code, I record the video in one sitting, do only minimal editing (removing coughs and adding a text balloon if I notice a mistake), add captions, and that’s all.
3. The SQLServerFast Execution Plan Video Training. This collection of videos is one of my two flagship products (the other being the Execution Plan Reference). An extensive set of videos, designed to teach the viewer everything about execution plans, from beginner level to the most advanced knowledge that I have.
   These very high quality videos are not free (except the basic level of block 1). I spend hours writing the script, creating slides, designing demos, recording the video, editing it to perfection, re-recording bits where I made an error, or that just do not sound good (e.g. due to background noise), and of course adding captions. And I regularly update them with new information if and as needed. A time investment of almost an hour per minute of completed video.
   This post is about that third category.

Selecting a video host

When I started this project, back in 2020, I had to choose a company for hosting the videos. YouTube was not an option. It is and was the best known video hosting company, but their only monetization option was through ad revenue. I wanted to sell access to the videos, and then the buyer should have an ad-free experience watching them.

There were other companies that offered video hosting. One that quickly caught my eye was Vimeo, because it ticked all the boxes on my requirements list. The ability to sell access to my videos all over the world. They handle all applicable taxes and currency conversion. And they track who bought access to my videos, so that buyers can keep returning to my videos to rewatch them, or to check out changes if I changed anything. Granted, it is not cheap: € 288 per year, plus a 10–15 % deduction for each sale. But in return, they take care of everything that is needed once I have completed the video. And at that time, they also offered excellent customer service. When I had a problem, I could open a ticket, and I would receive help, or a fix if it was on their end, within one to two business days.

Not happy

But things have changed. And I have recently become increasingly unhappy with Vimeo’s services.

In November 2025, I got an email from a customer. He wanted to buy access to some videos, but Vimeo did not allow him to. Because sales to India are not supported anymore. So I raised a ticket with Vimeo, expecting the usual fast response.

Well, the response was fast. But not satisfactory. I will spare you all the mails we have exchanged since then. Bottom line, the ticket is still open. And Vimeo has made it clear that this issue is not high on their priority list.

Remember, this is India. With 1.47 billion people, this represents almost 18% of the world’s population. This is not a small back alley country with just a few potential customers. This represents almost 20% of the potential customers for any Vimeo customer. And in my case, because of the high investments India makes in IT, a probably even larger share of my customer base.

And yet, despite cutting off access to such a large share of my potential market, Vimeo still took the full € 288 on my last renewal. No compensation offered. No apologies. And no priority to fix such a huge issue.

And then, at the start of this month, I ran into another new issue.

For my bookkeeper, I always downloaded overviews of sales. Vimeo offers all kinds of statistics, and this is one of them: an overview of sales by month, with price and currency of the sale, gross revenue in USD, transaction fee, taxes, and Vimeo fee all listed separate, plus the remaining creator revenue in USD. A very handy overview to fulfill my legal bookkeeping obligations.

But something broke. The overview is still there. I can still request it for several standard periods: last week, last month, last year, or all time. But the Custom button, that allows me to get the overview for a specific period, does not work anymore. So I, of course, created a ticket.

The response? “Our developers have had to make the difficult call to de-prioritize a fix for this specific issue”. Another issue that will not be fixed for the foreseeable future. Which means that I can now no longer collect the information I need in case I get an audit. Which puts me at legal risk.

I short: I am no longer happy with Vimeo as my hosting service. And although it will be very inconvenient and time consuming to change hosts, I am now seriously considering doing exactly that.

Help needed

And that is where you all come in. Collectively, all of you know more than I know on my own. Some of you might have experience with video hosting companies. Some of you might have good tips for me. If any of you can give me any good tips, or warning for companies to avoid, please leave a comment below, or through the contact form, to help me search for a better video hosting company.

Below is a list of all the requirements that any hosting company must offer:

• Access to videos can be for sale or for free, depending on what I choose. If for sale, the sale price is set by me.
• Support for discount codes, with or without expiration date.
• Must support at least my current pricing model, where buyers can choose to buy access to individual videos, or to a whole level at a time.
• Buyers must have lifelong access to the videos. If they need an account for this, the account must be free. They must be able to watch the videos without ads.
• Must support sales everywhere on the world.
• Must handle currency conversions, taxes, and all other obligations.
• Pricing and payment to me in Euros (preferred) or Dollars.
• Downloadable overview of sales and costs for my bookkeeping.

And these are the nice to haves:

• Ability to sell access to videos in larger bundles (e.g. both levels of a block, or all blocks)
• Support for preorder sales when I am about to release a new level.
• Good customer support.
• Low costs for me.

Granted, this is a long list. But I think these are important things to have, so that I can offer everyone who wants to access the execution plan video training a good experience.

So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions? Or warnings? Please let me know!