Nostr doesn't have a YouTube-style platform because developers have tried building them in the past, but hardly anyone used them. Most ended up filled with low-effort short clips instead of quality, long-form content.
Many of these platforms also had a 100 MB upload limit, which made them impractical for serious video creators.
The bigger problem is that Nostr simply doesn't have the user base to sustain a YouTube alternative yet. Creators who produce high-quality videos need affordable hosting, and that isn't easy to find. You end up with a platform with two active uploaders, barely any viewers, and not enough zaps to cover the hosting costs.
I don't think Nostr is ready for a YouTube-style platform. The economics just don't work yet.
For example, I have over 1 TB of recorded livestreams. I'd love to make them available, but hosting that much video, especially with bandwidth costs, is simply too expensive.
Until Nostr has more users, affordable video hosting, and a way for creators to cover their costs, these platforms will struggle to survive and worse, we can't compete with YouTube and Rumble who had deep pockets.
mar
npub1c7…8qh4c
2026-10-11 03:01:00 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1c7k2hu076gq62vv9unw9urrt4c4utkce6uatlpq9xhestk8s2xqql8qh4cPublished at
2026-10-11 03:01:00 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Nostr doesn't have a YouTube-style platform because developers have tried building them in the past, but hardly anyone used them. Most ended up filled with low-effort short clips instead of quality, long-form content.\n\nMany of these platforms also had a 100 MB upload limit, which made them impractical for serious video creators.\n\nThe bigger problem is that Nostr simply doesn't have the user base to sustain a YouTube alternative yet. Creators who produce high-quality videos need affordable hosting, and that isn't easy to find. You end up with a platform with two active uploaders, barely any viewers, and not enough zaps to cover the hosting costs.\n\nI don't think Nostr is ready for a YouTube-style platform. The economics just don't work yet.\n\nFor example, I have over 1 TB of recorded livestreams. I'd love to make them available, but hosting that much video, especially with bandwidth costs, is simply too expensive.\n\nUntil Nostr has more users, affordable video hosting, and a way for creators to cover their costs, these platforms will struggle to survive and worse, we can't compete with YouTube and Rumble who had deep pockets.",
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