Video Hosting for HTML Sites: One Script, Full CDN
The HTML5 <video> tag gives you a player — not a video platform. SmartVideo is a drop-in replacement that adds global CDN delivery, adaptive streaming, and analytics to any HTML page. One async script tag, zero framework dependencies.
14-day free trial · No charge until day 15Why the HTML5 <video> Tag Isn't Enough
No CDN, No Adaptive Streaming
The native <video> tag serves a single file from your server. No edge caching, no bitrate adaptation, no HLS. Visitors on slow connections get buffering; visitors far from your server get latency.
Self-Hosting Burns Bandwidth
A 100 MB video viewed 1,000 times uses 100 GB of transfer. On shared hosting, that triggers overage fees. On a VPS, it saturates your pipe. Either way, your hosting bill pays the price.
Building a Player Is a Rabbit Hole
HLS manifests, DASH segments, DRM, mobile quirks, fullscreen APIs, accessibility — building a production video player from scratch takes months. YouTube/Vimeo embeds solve it but add a heavy bundle of bloat and third-party tracking.
How SmartVideo Solves Video on HTML Sites
Drop-in <video> Replacement
Swap <video> for <smartvideo> — same attributes, same behavior. src, controls, poster, autoplay, muted, loop all work exactly as expected. No wrapper divs, no config objects, no build step. See the integration guide →
Global CDN with 125+ Edge Locations
Every video is served from the nearest edge location to each viewer. Reliable delivery worldwide, zero bandwidth cost on your origin server. Works whether you host on Netlify, Vercel, S3, bare metal, or shared hosting.
Automatic HLS Adaptive Streaming
Upload once — SmartVideo handles encoding into multiple bitrates and serves the right quality for each connection. No ffmpeg, no encoding pipeline, no HLS manifest wrangling. Adaptive streaming just works.
One Async Script — No Dependencies
A single <script async> tag in your <head>. No npm packages, no bundler plugins, no framework integration layer. Works in plain HTML files, static site generators (Hugo, Jekyll, 11ty), and hand-coded sites alike.
JavaScript API for Custom Control
Need programmatic control? The SmartVideo player exposes a clean JS API for play, pause, seek, volume, and event listeners. Build custom UIs, trigger actions on video milestones, or integrate with your analytics stack.
Three Steps to CDN-Accelerated Video
- 1
Add the Script to <head>
Copy the one-line async script from your SmartVideo dashboard and paste it into your HTML <head>.
- 2
Replace <video> with <smartvideo>
Same attributes —
src,controls,poster,autoplay,muted,loop. Just change the tag name. - 3
Deploy
Push to your hosting provider. Videos are CDN-accelerated with adaptive streaming — no server config needed.
How SmartVideo Compares
| Feature | HTML5 <video> | YouTube Embed | SmartVideo |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDN delivery | None (your server) | Google CDN | 125+ edge locations |
| Adaptive streaming | None | Yes (proprietary) | HLS, automatic |
| Embed weight | ~0 KB (native) | Heavy | Lightweight |
| Third-party tracking | None | Extensive | None |
| Bandwidth cost | Your server pays | Free (ad-supported) | Included in plan |
| Ads & branding | None | Ads + YouTube logo | None |
| Analytics | None built-in | YouTube Analytics | Built-in dashboard |
| Integration | Native | iframe | Custom element (same API) |
| Starting price | Free + hosting costs | Free (with ads) | $19/mo |
Works Everywhere HTML Runs
Static HTML Sites
Hand-coded sites, portfolios, landing pages — add one script and swap your video tags.
Static Site Generators
Hugo, Jekyll, 11ty, Astro, Gatsby — works with any SSG that outputs HTML. No plugin needed.
React / Vue / Svelte
Use the <smartvideo> custom element inside any framework component. No wrapper library required.
Netlify / Vercel / S3
Deploy static files anywhere. SmartVideo handles video delivery — your hosting bill stays flat.
VPS / Bare Metal
Running your own server? Offload video bandwidth to SmartVideo's CDN. Keep your pipe for app traffic.
Shared Hosting
Bandwidth-limited hosting? SmartVideo delivers video from its CDN — your host only serves HTML and CSS.
Your Videos Deserve Infrastructure
Stop self-hosting video files or leaking visitors to YouTube. SmartVideo gives any HTML site the same video delivery as Netflix — in three minutes.
Start your free trial“We've had a 10% increase in conversion rate from lead to customer.”
“SmartVideo loaded immediately; YouTube took 5 seconds to start. It became a no-brainer.”
“Our search-engine rankings went up after we switched over to Swarmify.”
Trusted by Teams Who Take Video Seriously
Goodbye, YouTube embeds. Will not miss you! The thing I hate the most about YouTube embeds, other than the bloated code, is that they can steal my traffic with their branding and suggested videos. Swarmify brings an amazing solution.
Love this app. I have videos on my site and this takes away the annoying suggested videos and makes them look more professional and faster. I installed Swarmify on my WordPress site and the process was very easy via the plugin.
Bye YouTube! SmartVideo is incredibly fast, stable, and bloat-free!
I implemented this on my site and immediately saw an impact. I am very impressed with how simple they have made the entire setup. It works very well and as advertised.
Best video player and video CDN. I highly recommend SmartVideo! I love using SmartVideo because it boosts the load times of my website and video plays, by preventing YouTube from stealing my site visitors.
This tool is easy to setup and as easy to use. Does the job as intended, no-nonsense. Really enhances the experience of having video on your website.
Very Fast and SUPERB support! I was using Wistia and switched to Swarmify. My video now loads really fast!
Bye, Vimeo. I was using Vimeo for my courses, but it can be expensive. The solution was Swarmify. From the moment you press play, it plays. No buffering problems. I've used it for almost 200 videos and it works like a charm.
We attained a 200% conversion rate increase in our lead-gen funnels. Simplicity and great user experience are everything.
My videos load and play instantly. Every second counts when it comes to online sales.
I set up a page with a YouTube video side by side with SmartVideo and pressed play on both. SmartVideo loaded immediately; YouTube took 5 seconds to start. It became a no-brainer, and we've been a customer ever since.
We've had a 10% increase in conversion rate from lead to customer. We believe this is directly related to the addition of video to the website.
Our search-engine rankings went up after we switched over to Swarmify. Making the switch has led to a significant increase in our business.
The attention of buyers is really short, so fast video loading makes an enormous impact.
The videos load fast, there's no lag, and the player is customizable and looks professional.
If you need to market a brand, then you need Swarmify. Always.
I've honestly NEVER seen video play this fast on the web before. I used to think YouTube was reasonably quick — Swarmify makes YouTube look like a Model T racing a Ferrari.
After using Swarmify we are incredibly annoyed. But only because of our mistake of not having used Swarmify before. Super fast video player and CDN!
Swarmify cut down our hosting expenses in half while accelerating load times and protecting our videos from unauthorized access. If you need a neat video player without unwanted branding, Swarmify is the way to go.
Trusted by teams at
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SmartVideo a drop-in replacement for HTML5 <video>?
Yes. Replace your <video> tag with <smartvideo> — all standard attributes (src, controls, poster, autoplay, muted, loop) work identically. The SmartVideo script registers a custom element that behaves like native video but delivers via CDN with adaptive streaming.
Does it work with my existing hosting provider?
Yes. SmartVideo works with any hosting — Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, S3, DigitalOcean, shared hosting, bare metal. Your server only needs to serve the HTML page; SmartVideo's CDN handles all video delivery.
Do I need to re-encode my videos?
No. Upload your existing MP4, WebM, or MOV files to SmartVideo. We handle transcoding into multiple bitrates for adaptive streaming automatically — no ffmpeg, no encoding pipeline on your end.
Can I use it with React, Vue, Svelte, or static site generators?
Yes. The <smartvideo> tag is a web component (custom element). It works in any framework that renders HTML — React, Vue, Svelte, Angular, Astro, Hugo, Jekyll, 11ty, or plain HTML. No framework-specific wrapper library needed.
What about videos I already have as MP4 files?
You can either upload them to the SmartVideo library for full CDN hosting, or point the <smartvideo> tag at your existing MP4 URL — SmartVideo will still provide its optimized player and delivery. For best results (adaptive streaming, multiple bitrates), upload to the library.
How does adaptive streaming work without server-side encoding?
When you upload a video, SmartVideo's cloud infrastructure transcodes it into multiple quality levels (e.g., 360p, 720p, 1080p) and generates HLS manifests. The player then automatically selects the best quality for each viewer's connection speed — no server-side setup required from you.
Is there a JavaScript API for custom player controls?
Yes. The SmartVideo player exposes methods like play(), pause(), seek(), and properties like currentTime, duration, volume. You can also listen for events (play, pause, ended, timeupdate) to build custom UI or trigger actions at video milestones.
Is there a free trial?
Yes — every plan includes a 14-day free trial with no charge until day 15. See pricing for plan details.
Keep your existing markup — one script tag upgrades plain <video> elements to HLS adaptive streaming off a 125+ edge CDN. No build step, no framework lock-in: ships the same on static HTML, Jamstack, React, or any host.
Add Video Infrastructure to Any HTML Site
One script tag. CDN delivery. Adaptive streaming. No server costs, no third-party tracking, no build step.
Start your free trial 14-day free trial · No charge until day 15