Vimeo finally adds livestreaming to its set of video tools

It launched Vimeo Live and acquired the company Livestream today.

Today, Vimeo announced that there is an agreement in place for its acquisition of the streaming company Livestream. It also launched Vimeo Live, which offers livestreaming solutions directly through the Vimeo platform. When the acquisition is complete, Livestream's tools will be available in Vimeo Live.

Vimeo's CEO Anjali Sud has made clear that livestreaming is an important feature for the company. "Livestreaming is the #1 request from our creator community this year, and we're focused on bringing a new level of quality, convenience and craft to this evolving medium," she said. Livestream is one of the top independent live streaming platforms; it's behind over 10 million events per year, with partners such as Spotify, the Philadelphia Eagles and Tough Mudder.

The Vimeo Live platform will offer 1080p streaming; these can be replaced with 4K files after the fact for post-event viewing. Creators can take advantage of the robust hardware and software tools that Vimeo offers. According to TechCrunch, Vimeo Live will have a similar pricing structure to the company's other paid plans. There will be monthly and annual offerings, as well as tiered prices.

After the cancellation of its planned Netflix-like streaming service, Vimeo was reportedly focusing instead on its creator community. This move into livestreaming (behind its competitors, such as YouTube), and the acquisition of Livestream, certainly supports that stated goal, and it makes a lot more sense for a company that offers video tools for creators.