Vimeo OTT API
Vimeo OTT publishes a REST API at dev.vhx.tv with self-serve API key generation from the OTT admin. Auth is HTTP Basic only, and documented rate limits bite: 100 requests per 15 minutes by default on the broader API, with per-endpoint caps like 5 per second. Docs sit on the legacy VHX domain.
Frequently asked questions
Vimeo OTT scores C on the API Report Card. Vimeo OTT publishes a REST API at dev.vhx.tv with self-serve API key generation from the OTT admin. Auth is HTTP Basic only, and documented rate limits bite: 100 requests per 15 minutes by default on the broader API, with per-endpoint caps like 5 per second. Docs sit on the legacy VHX domain.
Vimeo OTT has an official API, but teams routinely hit its limits: gated access, partial coverage, or paid tiers. Most end up supplementing it with exports or an unofficial API layer like Supergood.
Vimeo OTT (rebranded as Vimeo Streaming in 2024) is a full-stack, white-label over-the-top streaming platform that lets content owners launch their own subscription video service across web and connected-TV devices.
Vertical: 'misc', OTT video / direct-to-consumer streaming infrastructure for content owners. A content owner (e.g., a yoga studio, a documentary filmmaker, a faith-based publisher) signs up for Vimeo OTT, uploads their video library, and organizes it into collections, seasons, and series.
6/10. Vimeo OTT / VHX is one of the two or three most-recognized names in the white-label OTT category alongside Uscreen and Brightcove, and it powers thousands of paid streaming services worldwide. Vimeo Inc.
Yes, for the thousands of D2C streaming businesses running on Vimeo OTT, the platform is the system of record for the entire revenue and audience layer of the business: the video catalog (transcoded masters, captions, thumbnails, trailers), the product / SKU catalog (subscription tiers, TVOD prices, free-trial rules, gift codes, promo codes, regional pricing), the customer database (every paying subscriber with email, billing info, country, payment status, churn date, plan history), the entitlements / authorization ledger (what each customer is allowed to watch), the Stripe-backed payment ledger and revenue reporting, the viewership analytics (per-title plays, watch time, finishes, geographic breakdown, device breakdown), the churn and LTV reporting, and the branded apps (web, iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Samsung, LG) that are submitted under the customer's developer accounts but built and maintained by Vimeo.
Founded as VHX in 2013 by Jamie Wilkinson, Casey Pugh, and Andrei Cristian in Brooklyn, NY, with a pre-acquisition seed/Series A footprint.
Rate limits are aggressive and lightly documented, Vimeo's broader API defaults to 100 requests/15 min without JSON field filters; even at the bumped-up 1000/15 min limit, multi-user apps self-throttle quickly. Developer forums show recurring posts about unexplained low rate-limit ceilings on the broader Vimeo API, which OTT customers also hit when crossing into core video endpoints. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include Uscreen, Brightcove, JW Player, Kaltura, Dacast, Muvi. Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.