Projector deploys to Vimeo, JW Player or Frame.io, and the right one depends on who has to touch the video after it lands. Vimeo is the easy start. JW Player is the pick when video is the business. Frame.io is the pick when a team needs to review and approve what the batch produced.
That is the short version. The longer version matters because the service you choose shapes how much setup you do on day one, what kind of account you have to pay for, and where the finished videos live once your data source says they are done. Dataclay’s own help pages describe the three services in a short comparison, and then give separate setup steps for each. This article lays them side by side and looks at the practical consequences.
If you are new to the tool, read what Projector is first. In one paragraph: Projector takes the videos that Templater and After Effects produce, transcodes them if you ask it to, sends them to a streaming service, and writes information about the result back to your data source. The streaming service is the last stop. This article is about picking that stop.
What the choice actually changes
Before comparing services, it helps to know what is fixed and what is not. A few things stay the same no matter which service you choose, and a few things change.
What stays the same is the front half of the pipeline. Your data source is either QUE or Google Sheets. Your videos come from After Effects and Templater. Projector runs on the same computer where Templater is installed and where its output files are stored. Each batch of work is called a payload, and each video inside it is a mission. Projection, the automation switch, checks your data source on a timer you set in seconds, picks up new jobs, and carries each mission through its steps.
The data source tracks every mission with two status columns, and both are required in a Google Sheet. The render-status column says where the video stands in rendering. The stream-status column says where it stands in deployment. Per Arie Stavchansky, our founder, stream-status moves through pending, staged, transcoding, deploying, onstream and error, and it works the same way whichever service you send to. The stream-status walkthrough covers each state. A video that reaches onstream is deployed and live to the provider. That is true on all three services.
What changes is everything on the other side of the upload. Each service has its own account type, its own credentials, its own way of presenting the video to a viewer, and its own idea of who the customer is. Those differences are the whole decision.
Two limits apply across the board, and you should know them before you plan. First, a single payload can send to only one streaming service. You can authorize more than one service in Projector and pick which to use for each payload, but you cannot split one payload across two. If you want the same batch on two services, that is two payloads. Second, the streaming service is separate from archiving. If you want a copy of every finished video, plus its poster image and GIF clip, kept in storage you control, that goes to an S3 bucket in an AWS account you provide. It is a different setting and a different decision, covered in the streaming and archiving settings guide.
One more thing sits in the global settings. When Projector deploys to a streaming service, you can configure streaming globals, which are defaults for privacy, posters, GIF clips and grouping, such as a playlist. You can apply them to each payload or leave them off. If you would rather let the streaming service create posters and groupings for you, Projector allows that, sometimes or always. So the control you want over presentation is part of the choice too.
The three services, one at a time
Here is how each service works with Projector, in the order Dataclay’s help pages list them.
Vimeo
Dataclay’s help describes Vimeo as very user-friendly and consumer-focused. It is aimed at businesses and individuals who want to make video easy to watch but do not have much web development experience. The docs say that can make it easier for people who are new to customized video, who produce fewer than 1,000 videos at a time, or who produce video only occasionally.
The setup has two halves. First you need a Vimeo account, and it has to be a paid one. Projector only supports paid Vimeo accounts, because of the limits Vimeo puts on API access, storage and transfers for free accounts. Second, you create a Vimeo app that Projector uses to talk to your account. You do that in Vimeo’s developer space. The setup page gives recommended values for the fields, including a name that carries your company name and the word Projector, and it says to answer No to whether other people will be able to access the app, since Projector only uses the app through its connection to your own Vimeo account. Three values on that page are marked required, a callback address, an app logo address and an app URL, and the page lists exactly what to enter. When you finish, you note the client ID and client secret. Those are what Projector asks for when you configure streaming.
All Three Services
What each streaming service is built for
| Service | Best suited for | Key credential needed |
|---|---|---|
| Vimeo | New to customized video, fewer than 1,000 videos at a time, or occasional production | Client ID and client secret from Vimeo developer space |
| JW Player | Video production houses, large corporate users, regular high-volume customized video | API key and secret (Admin permissions required) plus a web player ID |
| Frame.io | Teams that collaborate in the approval process; free with Adobe subscription | Access token from Frame.io developer site and a folder ID |
If you do not have developer access, someone who manages your company’s Vimeo account has to hand you the client ID and secret. That is a real dependency. In a company where video and IT are separate teams, the setup can sit waiting on a person.
Vimeo also has embed presets, which are web players with your own branding and preferences. Here the docs are specific about a limit that affects how much control you really get. Your presets are used when viewers stream from a player embedded in your own website, and they only apply to Unlisted videos. Public and password-protected videos streamed on Vimeo always use the default appearance settings. So if branded players matter to you, your videos need to be Unlisted for the preset to apply. To find an existing preset, you log in to Vimeo, open Settings, then Video, then Embed presets, and copy the preset name.
JW Player
JW Player is described as designed for enterprise-level video producers, such as broadcasters, publishers and others for whom video is their main business. It offers a high level of personalization and white label options. The docs call it a great choice for video production houses, large corporate users, and others who regularly produce a high volume of customized video on a consistent basis.
Setup is lighter on the Dataclay side than on the Vimeo side, because there is no app to create. The platform does not offer free accounts, so you buy and set one up through JW Player first. After that, Projector needs two things from you. One is an API key and secret. If you have Admin permissions on your JW Player account, you can create one yourself under Settings, then API Credentials, in the v2 section. You click Add, give it a name that makes clear what it is for, such as Projector, choose a user role, and click Add New API Key. If you do not have Admin permissions, you ask your account administrator. The other thing is a web player ID. JW Player lets you create one or more web players with your own branding and preferences, and viewers use them when they stream from the platform or from a page where you embed one. To use an existing player, you go to the Players page in your JW Player account, find the player, and copy its ID. If you do not have a player yet, you create one in JW Player first.
The Vimeo page also notes, in passing, that JW Player may offer a quicker, less expensive option than Vimeo. Read that as Dataclay’s pointer, not a promise. Check their pricing page against your own volume. We have no pricing figures for either service in our docs, and we will not guess.
There is a longer walkthrough in how to connect Projector to JW Player.
Frame.io
Frame.io also caters to large-scale, enterprise video producers. The docs call it especially useful for people who need an online hosting service so that teams can collaborate in the approval process. It is owned by Adobe, and Adobe subscription holders are given a free account. If your team already pays for an Adobe subscription, that detail matters, because the account question that blocks Vimeo and JW Player may already be answered.
Setup asks for two things. You create an access token at the Frame.io developer site, following the on-screen instructions. And you note a folder ID, which is the 32-character string at the end of the Frame.io address when you browse to a folder or project. If you are at the root of a project, click Media first, or the address will not show you the folder you want. Those two values authorize Frame.io for Projector.
Now the limit you have to plan around. Jon Christoffersen, our technical and support lead, confirmed that Frame.io does not write approval status back to the data source. Projector does write information from the streaming service back to your data source when a mission finishes deploying. But the approval step, the thing that makes Frame.io attractive for review teams, does not flow back into your sheet or your QUE campaign. Jon says writing it back is planned, with no specifics. So today, a reviewer can approve a video in Frame.io, and your data source will not know. If your process depends on a row changing when someone signs off, you need to handle that step yourself, outside Projector.
Picking one for your situation
There is no ranking here. The three services are built for different people, and the right answer depends on your own team. Work through the questions below in order, because each one can settle the matter on its own.
Who has to review the video before a customer sees it? If the answer is a team of people with opinions, Frame.io was built for that. Dataclay’s docs call it especially useful for teams that collaborate in the approval process. Keep the approval limit in mind, though. The approval happens in Frame.io and stays there.
Is video your business, or a tool for your business? If you run a production house, a publishing operation or a broadcast team, and you generate customized video on a steady schedule, JW Player is the service the docs point you to. Its white label options and personalization are the draw. If video is something your marketing team makes a few times a quarter, Vimeo’s simpler setup probably fits better. We say probably because that judgment rests on the docs’ own language about who each service suits, not on a test of our own.
How big is a batch? The docs mention fewer than 1,000 videos at a time as a fit for Vimeo. That is a description of who it suits, not a hard cap. We do not have a documented limit from Vimeo to quote, and we would not tell you it breaks at 1,001. If your batches are far larger than that, the docs describe JW Player as built for regular high-volume customized video, so it is worth a look.
What accounts do you already hold? A paid Vimeo plan, a JW Player account, or an Adobe subscription. Each one removes a purchase and a setup step. Remember that Vimeo requires a paid account, JW Player has no free tier, and Frame.io comes free with an Adobe subscription.
Who controls the credentials? Every service needs credentials that someone with the right permissions has to create. For Vimeo, that is the client ID and secret from the developer space. For JW Player, an API key and secret that needs Admin permissions. For Frame.io, an access token. If one person owns all of those logins, setup takes an afternoon. If three departments own them, it takes as long as the slowest reply.
Pick Your Service
Five questions to settle the choice
- Ask who has to review the video before a customer sees it
- Ask whether video is your business or a tool for your business
- Check how big a batch is, the docs mention fewer than 1,000 videos at a time as a fit for Vimeo
- Check what accounts you already hold, a paid Vimeo plan, a JW Player account, or an Adobe subscription
- Find out who controls the credentials for each service
A hypothetical example
Here is a made-up case, to show how the questions play out. It is not a customer story.
A small online school makes a welcome video for each new student, with the student’s name and course on screen. A few hundred videos go out each term, and then nothing until the next one. One person runs the whole thing. Nobody reviews individual videos, since the template was approved once. Links go into a welcome email.
For that school, the questions answer themselves. Nobody needs a review workflow, so Frame.io’s main advantage does not apply. Video is a side job and the batches are occasional, which is the profile the docs describe for Vimeo. The one person running it can create the Vimeo app and paste in the client ID and secret. The cost to check is the paid Vimeo plan, and the school should look at the Vimeo pricing page before committing.
Now change the facts. Suppose the same school becomes a business that releases personalized lesson recaps every day, for many courses, under its own branding, with a team that checks a sample before each release. The calculation shifts. A steady daily volume points toward JW Player. A team that reviews each release points toward Frame.io. Notice that those two pull in different directions. When that happens, you pick the one whose limit hurts less, or you run two payloads on two services. The approval gap in Frame.io hurts less if the team can live with tracking sign-off by hand. The white label and volume features of JW Player matter less if the team’s real bottleneck is review.
When to look elsewhere
Projector supports three streaming services today, and the docs say support for more is on the road map. If your company has settled on a different hosting platform, Projector does not deploy there yet. Dataclay says custom storage integrations can be discussed, so if your need is storage rather than streaming, ask them.
Also look elsewhere if your whole workflow depends on a service-side approval status landing in your data source. Today that does not work with Frame.io, and it is not documented for the others either. We do not claim the other two cannot do it. Our docs simply do not say, and we will not guess.
Bottom line
Pick Vimeo when you want the simplest start and your volume is occasional, and budget for a paid account. Pick JW Player when video is your business and you want white label control, and plan on an API key from someone with Admin permissions. Pick Frame.io when a team has to review the work, and plan on tracking approval outside your data source for now.
If you are still unsure, start with the one your team already has an account for, because that removes a purchase and a setup step. A payload is tied to one service, but nothing stops you from running a later payload on another. Our docs describe Projector as installed software whose video assets are never visible to another party, in transit or at rest. For the full set of options, the Learn section has every Projector and Templater guide in one place.
Before you go, here are a few questions a first read of a comparison like this one can leave open. We kept each answer to what the docs support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send one Projector payload to Vimeo and Frame.io at the same time?
No. A single payload goes to one streaming service. You can authorize more than one service in Projector and choose which to use for each payload, so the way to reach two services is to make two payloads. In the data source, you pick which jobs go into each payload. Our docs give a similar example for splitting a campaign, where one payload is personalized and sent by email and another is non-personalized and streamed.
Do I need a paid Vimeo account to use Projector?
Yes. Projector only supports paid Vimeo accounts. The reason given in the setup docs is the limits Vimeo puts on API access, storage and transfers for free accounts. JW Player does not offer free accounts at all, and Frame.io is free for Adobe subscription holders. Check each service’s own pricing page for the plan that fits your volume, since we do not list prices here.
Does Projector write Frame.io approval status back to my sheet or QUE campaign?
No, not today. Our technical lead confirmed that Frame.io does not write approval status back to the data source, and that it is planned, with no specifics. Projector does write information from the streaming service back to its data source when a mission finishes deploying, so you still get deployment information. Approval is the piece that stays inside Frame.io for now.
What do I need to have ready before I configure JW Player?
You need a JW Player account, since there is no free tier, plus an API key and secret and a web player ID. If you have Admin permissions, create the key under Settings, API Credentials, in the v2 section. Otherwise your account administrator has to create it. For the player, open the Players page, copy the ID of an existing player, or create a new player first if you do not have one.
Which streaming service gives you control over how the video looks to viewers?
Dataclay’s docs describe JW Player as offering a high level of personalization and white label options, so that is the one the docs point to for presentation control. Vimeo offers embed presets for branded players, but they apply only to Unlisted videos, and Public and password-protected videos use default appearance settings. Our docs say less about Frame.io presentation, so we will not compare it on this point.
Is the stream-status column the same on every service?
Yes, per our founder. Stream-status describes the deployment lifecycle to a streaming or hosting platform, and its values are pending, staged, transcoding, deploying, onstream and error. The column is required in a Google Sheet, along with render-status. Onstream means the video is deployed and live to the provider, whichever of the three you use.
Can I switch services later?
You can authorize several services and choose one for each payload, so a later payload can use a different one. Our docs do not describe moving videos that are already deployed from one service to another, so we will not promise that. Plan on new payloads going to the new service, and keep your S3 archive if you want your own copy of the finished files.
