Where to put your web series or short film online
It depends on what you want back from it. YouTube gives you search reach, but your film competes with every video on earth and the algorithm rewards volume. Vimeo is a clean, ad-free portfolio for people you send it to, but it brings you almost no new viewers. Festivals (usually entered through FilmFreeway) give you laurels and a room, but often for one night and only for the people who could travel. Plink is built for independent shows and films that want an audience that actually watches: you run your own network, with as many channels as you want and shows on each, and you can enter free competitions where nobody can vote until they have watched both films.
The short version
| Option | Best for | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Reach through search, frequent uploads, building a personality-led channel | Long-form narrative work gets buried; success is measured in volume and watch-time, not whether the film was good |
| Vimeo | A professional portfolio to send to producers, clients and festivals | Very little discovery: viewers mostly arrive because you sent them |
| Film festivals | Laurels, industry contacts, a screening with a real audience | Entry fees, months of waiting, and the audience is whoever could be in the room that night |
| Plink | Web series, pilots and short films that want to be watched as shows, by people who chose to watch them | A younger, smaller platform than YouTube; it is built around competitions and series rather than daily vlogs |
What makes Plink different
Every creator on Plink runs a network, not a feed. You can have as many channels as you want, each with its own shows: a rom-com channel with three series on it and a horror channel with five. Each show has seasons, episodes and a poster. A viewer browsing creators is closer to flipping channels than scrolling clips.
Plink runs head-to-head competitions. Two films are drawn against each other and the audience votes, but a vote only counts from someone who has actually watched both films (a share of each film's running time, never more than three minutes). That one rule means the winner is the film people preferred, not the creator who shared the most links.
Entering a competition that the audience decides is always free. You keep every right to your work: entering lets Plink stream it there and nothing more. Everyone you credit (cast, crew, composer) gets their own credits page with the film on it.
Can I use more than one?
Yes, and most independent creators should. A common pattern: a trailer and behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for reach; a private Vimeo link for festival screeners; and the full series on Plink, where the people who come looking can watch it as a show and vote for it. Check each festival's premiere rules before putting a film anywhere public.
Questions people ask
Is it free to put my web series on Plink?
Yes. Making a channel, uploading shows and entering competitions decided by the audience are all free.
Do I keep the rights to my film on Plink?
Yes. Entering grants Plink the right to stream the film on Plink and nothing more. You can take it down or put it anywhere else.
What kind of work fits Plink?
Web series, pilots, short films, comedy, drama, documentary and sci-fi made independently: work meant to be watched start to finish rather than scrolled past.
Will a film on Plink stop me entering festivals?
Some festivals require a premiere, meaning the film has not been public anywhere. Read each festival’s rules first; this applies to YouTube and Vimeo too.