Our story
Vimeo went from about $25 a month to $8,600 a year. So I built my own video platform.
By Craig Crawford, founder of Blue Flame Media · 20 October 2026
I'm Craig Crawford, and I built Blue Flame Media. I didn't plan to. I was a paying Vimeo customer for about $25 a month. Then Vimeo told me my price would be $8,600 a year.
What happened
I hadn't changed anything. I used the same videos and the same business. Vimeo's new number was $8,600 a year. That's close to thirty times what I had been paying.
I asked Vimeo for help. They refused. There was no middle option and no time to work something out. I could pay or I could leave.
I am not the only one
When I went looking, I found the same story again and again in Vimeo's 1-star reviews on Trustpilot. Small businesses, schools, churches and creators all described a sudden demand for thousands of dollars, usually with a short deadline.
“Last year, our annual Vimeo Plus subscription cost us $108. This year, without any meaningful change in how we use the service, Vimeo automatically classified our account as a corporate account and moved us to its Studio plan for $4,800 per year.”
“We pay $780/year for the Advanced plan, paid through Nov 28, 2026. On Oct 9, 2026, Vimeo's sales team told us our account would be paused in 7 days over bandwidth usage. Then came the price: a Custom plan at $5,900/year.”
“After years as a Vimeo customer, we were suddenly given seven days to accept a $7,500 annual contract or face suspension of our videos.”
Why I built Blue Flame Media
Hosting a library of business videos is not rare or exotic work. It should not cost a small business thousands a year just because a sales team decides it should.
So I built a platform that is easier to use and more reliable, with published prices. I made it for people like me, who just want their videos to play.
Where Blue Flame Media fits
I built Blue Flame Media after Vimeo did this to me. It is a simpler video platform with managed hosting, folders, a branded player, subtitles and analytics. You don't need any technical setup.
You can bring your Vimeo library across with the built-in Vimeo import, folders included, so you are not re-uploading hundreds of files by hand. Our prices are on the pricing page for anyone to read.
Questions people ask
- Is this a real story?
- Yes. It is the founder's own experience. The quotes from other customers are word-for-word excerpts from public Trustpilot reviews, linked to the source.
- Can I move my Vimeo videos to Blue Flame Media?
- Yes. Blue Flame Media has a built-in Vimeo import that brings videos across, including those inside folders.
Quotes are short, word-for-word excerpts from public reviews. They are those reviewers' own experiences, which we can't check. Vimeo is a trademark of its owner. Blue Flame Media is not connected with Vimeo.