Ensemble Video vs. JW Player

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ensemble Video
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Ensemble Video is an online video platform that simplifies video management and delivers content any time, over a variety of networks.N/A
JW Player
Score 9.8 out of 10
N/A
JW Player (or JWP) is a video platform boasting 40,000 broadcasters, publishers, and other video-driven brands whose business relies on video as users. It provides these companies with a way to accelerate and scale their video strategy and is a video platform that can be used to stream video, engage audiences on any screen, and monetize content.N/A
Pricing
Ensemble VideoJW Player
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ensemble VideoJW Player
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Ensemble VideoJW Player
Video Marketing
Comparison of Video Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
9.5
1 Ratings
28% above category average
JW Player
8.6
2 Ratings
18% above category average
Video personalization10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for advertisements9.01 Ratings9.12 Ratings
Video SEO00 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Video Platform Integrations
Comparison of Video Platform Integrations features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
10.0
1 Ratings
45% above category average
JW Player
-
Ratings
Integration to LMS10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Video Security
Comparison of Video Security features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
10.0
1 Ratings
14% above category average
JW Player
7.8
3 Ratings
11% below category average
Video access controls10.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
User management10.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Video link sharing10.01 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Internal video10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
External video10.01 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Video Player
Comparison of Video Player features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
10.0
1 Ratings
18% above category average
JW Player
7.0
3 Ratings
18% below category average
Player customization10.01 Ratings2.03 Ratings
Embedded videos10.01 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Video quality / Bandwidth controls10.01 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Mobile compatibility10.01 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Video Analytics
Comparison of Video Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
10.0
1 Ratings
29% above category average
JW Player
1.0
3 Ratings
153% below category average
Streaming quality reports10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Per viewer tracking10.01 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Per video tracking10.01 Ratings1.02 Ratings
Video analytics dashboard10.01 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Video Hosting, Management & Storage
Comparison of Video Hosting, Management & Storage features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
10.0
1 Ratings
17% above category average
JW Player
8.6
3 Ratings
2% above category average
On-Demand video10.01 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Live streaming10.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Impact of streaming on network10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Video upload & format support10.01 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Video library / File management10.01 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Video portal10.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Video Engagement
Comparison of Video Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Ensemble Video
9.0
1 Ratings
11% above category average
JW Player
-
Ratings
Audience polling9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Video comments9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
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Ensemble VideoJW Player
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Score 1.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
Ensemble VideoJW Player
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(11 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ensemble VideoJW Player
Likelihood to Recommend
Ensemble Video
I'm not sure where Ensemble Video would be less appropriate. We've found it to be very effective for our campus-specific use cases. However, the product is very customizable in how a campus could structure their Ensemble instance to match their organization, and how users may be managed.
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JW Player
JW Player has flexible plans that won't cost you a lot of money. If you are a startup, JW offers a variety of plans that will suit your specific needs and grow with you as your company grows. You do not need to be a video expert to understand how to upload a video, which allows nearly anyone in the office to do it.
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Pros
Ensemble Video
  • Adapting to user needs. Ensemble Video seems to always be listening to their clients needs and suggestions by implementing effective features in every system update. Communication seems to always indicate that these features are driven by requests that their customers have made to improve the service.
  • Client Support - I have an IT/support background and have had to deal with many vendors and external support. Ensemble is easily the most responsive and effective vendor when it comes to support. When needing certain solutions, they have sent code that was in development and not officially released so I could achieve my goals with project videos. Support is always personal, prompt and effective.
  • Customization. New templates, video players, account management, and embed options have allowed us to use Ensemble Video in a much more personalized way. Early versions of the service had an "Ensemble feel" but color schemes and logos are now able to be changed for a better organization feel.
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JW Player
  • Responsive HTML5
  • Provides share functionality built into the player
  • Platform use enables playlist functionality and playlist players which can be customized or versioned for specific uses
  • Videos uploaded to the JW Platform automatically provide multiple image frame options for selecting video thumbnail
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Cons
Ensemble Video
  • User management. Some features are unique to the entire deployment (like authentication sources). It would be great if multiple authentication options could be used across different Ensemble institutions.
  • Upgrade processes. Though new versions of Ensemble Video are always better, the installation process is very manual and Ensemble Video must be involved directly. Not a weakness, but it would be nice to be able to perform our own upgrades/patches when needed.
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JW Player
  • Definitely missing the ability (in and easy way) to have clickable links in the video.
  • Analytics is a little cumbersome and not very user-friendly.
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Likelihood to Renew
Ensemble Video
No answers on this topic
JW Player
Just made the decision to renew given demonstrated improvements being made to the platform to expand compatibility for its player use on devices such as Apple TV, as well as improvements made recently to its JW Platform Dashboard
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Usability
Ensemble Video
No answers on this topic
JW Player
Reliability and compatibility on a majority of platforms. Would have received a 10 except recent versions of browsers such as Firefox are now defaulting against Flash components and thus prompting approval from users BEFORE loading which is a HUGE obstacle to an effective user experience thus creating concerns by end-users unnecessarily and risking that they will NOT accept the prompts, thus leaving unable to view video content hosted using the JW Player. Assurances by JW support suggest they will resolve this, so we'll see...
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Support Rating
Ensemble Video
The team at Ensemble Video is dedicated to supporting us and they offer prompt and reliable services.
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JW Player
Support is reasonable. I from time to time have made suggestions on improvements that would be nice to see (like the ability to have a clickable link within the video - that is easy to create, without tons of coding) and it seems as though I never see it happen or get much response to "suggestions" to upgrade the software. The good news, other than a few things as I mentioned above, overall, I don't have many "technical issues" in the platform, which is a good thing. On occasion, I have seen some "issues" with the delivery of the video, but it has been pretty scarce. So it is dependable.
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Implementation Rating
Ensemble Video
No answers on this topic
JW Player
One of the primary features promoted by JW Platform is its SEO definition. However, there did not seem to be a way to integrate that data to our platform if selected thus only leaving the benefits of that data to be established on the individual video page hosted by JW Platform, which isn't useful in the end to the client value we are trying to deliver for our VideoproFile.net solution
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Alternatives Considered
Ensemble Video
Ensemble Video has succeeded for us where other solutions have failed. It came along exactly when we needed it, for our organization. At the time, we were caught between the push and pull of several different solutions, uploading our videos with the expectation that users would take the time to download and play them, using popular public video streaming services with few settings and options, and forgoing videos altogether. Ensemble Video has taken our myriad needs and provided a platform that addresses all of them.
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JW Player
JW had more player options, a better/more intuitive user interface, was altogether faster both in rendering the uploaded videos and in time to load on the web page. The integration with OpenX for pre-roll was faster and easier than with Brightcove, and lastly, they offered a great price for service.
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Return on Investment
Ensemble Video
  • Ease of user contributed content. The videos that users upload to the system can either be automatically published or they can be reviewed by staff before being added to websites and courses. Instead of all these videos living on different sites (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) we now have a centralized location that we have control over.
  • LMS Integration - A year ago YouTube changed their policy to not allow direct recording from webcams. This essentially broke the Blackboard Video Everywhere tool that allowed our instructors to post quick comments in class discussions and content areas. While they need to be pre-recorded, the Ensemble Building Block allows our instructors and students to once again upload and post videos, all from directly within the Blackboard content editor.
  • Flexibility - With the ease of creating user accounts and video libraries, Ensemble Video has become the go to option for Erikson courses, professional development content and project videos. Different departments can have their own account and have control over their libraries without the worry of them viewing or editing other institute content.
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JW Player
  • JW Player has was less expensive (without sacrificing quality) than our previous video platform so the ROI was instant.
  • We were easily able to add a variety of video advertising options including pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll.
  • The quality and consistancy of the look of the video has enabled us to grow our video views by well over 100% since starting with JW.
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ScreenShots

Ensemble Video Screenshots

Screenshot of Ensemble Video works in concert with users and systems across your organization to enable collaborative sharing and management of an ever-increasing flow of video content.Screenshot of The Ensemble Video player is lightweight, customizable and brandable, and video streaming is seamless - no matter which device your viewers are using. Our Adaptive Bit Rate encoding tools ensure viewers will see great looking and consistently reliable video streams.Screenshot of Display and search your captions to your viewers in your learning management systems, HTML pages, blogs, portals and other content management systems.Screenshot of Use our built-in viewing analytics that provide you with the information and insight you need to successfully manage your content.Screenshot of Ensemble Studio, our room capture solution, provides easy, automated recording in classrooms, meeting rooms, labs, courtrooms, and medical training rooms.Screenshot of Ensemble Anthem, our screen capture solution, allows you to create screen, webcam and audio recordings wherever and whenever you want.