Head to head
Gumlet vs Adilo
Pick Gumlet if you want the cheapest branded host with ad pixels and strong DRM on transparent pricing; pick Adilo if you want unlimited streaming with more marketing tools built in, bought month to month.
You are down to two branded video hosts, and on the surface they look alike: both host your video, both put marketing pixels on it, both aim at creators and marketers rather than developers. But they price and equip themselves differently. Gumlet is the cheapest branded host on this site, delivery-first, with Meta and Google pixels and real DRM, and it charges per gigabyte. Adilo streams unlimited bandwidth on every plan and packs more marketing tools into the dashboard: in-video CTAs, lead capture, A/B video tests, a screen recorder and AI subtitles. This comparison is about which shape fits your funnel, and what neither of them does.
This site judges video tools through a direct-response lens: does the player move viewers past the pitch, and can you prove which traffic bought. Neither of these two answers the second question, so hold that thought for the end. On the first, Adilo does more out of the box. It ships in-video CTAs and buy buttons, lead capture forms, A/B video tests and Facebook and Google retargeting pixels. Gumlet has the pixels and in-player CTAs and forms too, but no A/B testing and no retention heatmap, so its marketing layer is thinner. Where Gumlet answers back is cost, transparency and protection.
On money, Gumlet is the cheaper and clearer of the two. Its Free Forever tier costs nothing, Creator is $6 a month billed annually with branding removed and pixels on, and every price sits on the pricing page where you can compare it. Adilo prices the opposite way: unlimited streaming, with the paid Unlimited plan set by how much storage you pick, and that figure shown only in-app at checkout, so you cannot compare it cleanly beforehand. On protection, Gumlet ships Widevine and FairPlay DRM (a $99-a-month add-on) plus domain and geo blocking; Adilo offers multi-DRM and watermarking as a paid add-on too.
One more name belongs on this page, because both of these tools share the same blind spot. Adilo runs A/B tests and fires ad pixels, but it scores those tests on views and does not attribute revenue; Gumlet reports per-video play stats and no A/B at all. So a paid-traffic VSL cannot prove with either which traffic actually bought. TrackPlay is a newer specialist built around exactly that gap: it decides split tests on the cart-verified sale and posts that sale back to your ad account server-side. Adilo still wins this two-way head-to-head for its core buyer, but we put TrackPlay beside both below so the reader whose whole business is the sales letter can weigh it.
Quick answer
Pick Gumlet if you want the cheapest branded video host with Meta and Google pixels, Widevine and FairPlay DRM, and predictable, transparent pricing, and your traffic is steady; pick Adilo if you want unlimited streaming and more marketing tools built in, in-video CTAs, lead capture, A/B video tests and retargeting pixels in one dashboard, and you are buying month to month rather than on a lifetime deal.
One more option belongs on this page for a specific reader. Both of these host and market a video, but neither proves which paid traffic actually bought. If your whole business is a paid-traffic sales letter, TrackPlay is the newer specialist built to decide split tests on the cart-verified sale and post that sale back to your ad account, and we line it up beside both below.
- Gumlet. The cheapest branded host here that still ships ad-platform pixels. A Free Forever tier, then $6 a month on Creator (billed annually) removes the branding and turns on Google and Meta pixel tracking, with in-player CTAs and forms, fast adaptive 4K and HDR playback on a global CDN, and 3,000 GB of bandwidth included on paid tiers. Widevine and FairPlay DRM, domain and geo blocking and dynamic watermarks protect paid content, though DRM is a $99-a-month add-on. What it does not do is the direct-response job: no A/B testing, no retention heatmap and no revenue attribution.
- Adilo. A well-liked video host with unlimited streaming and more marketing tools built in. Unmetered bandwidth on every plan, including the free one, plus in-video CTAs and buy buttons, lead capture, Facebook and Google retargeting pixels, A/B video tests, chapters, a screen recorder and AI subtitles in 31 languages. Roughly 4.8 on Capterra and 4.6 across 720 on G2 from day-to-day users. The catch is trust, not playback: it cancelled thousands of AppSumo lifetime deals and carries post-cancellation billing complaints, so buy month to month. Its A/B tests score views, not sales.
- TrackPlay. Best when you need attribution tied to the actual cart-verified sale. It decides split tests on the verified sale with real statistics and fires the conversion server-side to Meta, TikTok and GA4, from $29 a month with a free tier. It is narrow by design: not a general host or a marketing content library.
Gumlet vs Adilo at a glance
Prices and plan features checked on the vendors' own pages on 27 September 2026. TrackPlay is the direct-response specialist we line these two up against, so it wins the conversion rows and sits out the general-hosting ones.
| Feature | Gumlet | Adilo | TrackPlay |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A cheap, delivery-first branded host with ad pixels | An unlimited-streaming host with marketing tools built in | A paid-traffic VSL player and attribution platform |
| Built for | Cheap branded hosting with fast global delivery | Marketers who want CTAs, pixels and A/B in one dashboard | Tying every play to the cart-verified sale |
| Starting price | Free Forever, then $6/mo (Creator, annual) | Free plan; paid plan priced by storage (shown in-app) | $29/mo, billed by plays |
| Free tier | Yes, Free Forever (60 storage mins) | Yes, with unlimited streaming | Yes, no-card free plan (1,000 plays/mo, watermarked) |
| Bandwidth model | 3,000 GB included per paid tier, then per-GB overage | Unlimited streaming on every plan; you pay for storage | Billed by plays, not bandwidth |
| Player and marketing hooks | In-player CTAs and forms, no smart autoplay | In-video CTAs, buy buttons, lead capture, chapters | Sound-first autoplay, timed CTAs, watch gates |
| A/B testing | No | Video A/B, scored on views | Yes, decided on the cart-verified sale |
| Ad-platform tracking | Meta and Google pixels (browser) | Facebook and Google retargeting pixels | Server-side to Meta, TikTok and GA4 |
| Retention analytics | Per-video play stats | Heatmap analytics | Per-second, split by buyers vs non-buyers |
| Revenue attribution | No | No | Yes, revenue per play plus cart postbacks |
| Content protection | Widevine and FairPlay DRM ($99/mo add-on), domain and geo blocking, dynamic watermarks | Multi-DRM and dynamic watermarking (paid add-on) | Domain-locked hosting, access controls |
| Extra tools | CRM integrations, VAST ad tags, image optimization | Screen and camera recorder, branded channels, AI subtitles in 31 languages | Customer 360 profiles, hot-lead scoring |
| Delivery and quality | Adaptive 4K and HDR, global CDN | CDN-backed, no published edge scale | Adaptive streaming under one embed |
| Independent English reviews | Thin and aging (Trustpilot ~78, few recent) | Strong day-to-day (Capterra 4.8, G2 4.6/720), but an AppSumo lifetime-deal dispute | Very new, thin outside proof, invite-only |
| Best for | Cheapest branded hosting with ad pixels and DRM | Marketers wanting unlimited streaming with marketing tools built in | Paid-traffic VSLs measured on the cart-verified sale |
Strengths and trade-offs
Gumlet is the cheaper, more transparent host with strong DRM and clean per-gigabyte pricing; Adilo hands you more marketing hooks and unlimited streaming in one dashboard, but scores its tests on views and comes with a billing history you have to manage. Those are the two trade-offs.
Gumlet: what works, what to watch
What works
- Cheapest branded entry point here: a Free Forever tier, then $6/mo (Creator, billed annually) that removes branding and switches on Google and Meta pixel tracking
- Marketing hooks most cheap hosts skip: Meta and Google pixels, CRM integrations, VAST ad tags, and in-player CTAs and forms
- Strong protection for paid content: Widevine and FairPlay DRM, domain and geo blocking, dynamic watermarks and expiring access tokens
- Fast adaptive 4K and HDR playback on a global CDN, with 3,000 GB of bandwidth included on every paid tier
What to watch
- No direct-response conversion measurement: no sales-scored A/B tests, no watch-depth pixel to prove retention, and no revenue attribution, so a paid-traffic VSL cannot prove which traffic buys
- A January 2025 platform update knocked embedded videos offline for many accounts for 12 hours or more, and support reviews are inconsistent, some calling it days-slow
- DRM is a $99/mo add-on on top of the plan, and bandwidth and storage overages bill per GB, so a high-traffic offer outruns the cheap sticker price
- The dashboard has a learning curve and the WordPress and Elementor integrations are less polished than users want
- The third-party review base is thin and aging (Trustpilot sits at 78 reviews, only a handful in the last year)
Adilo: what works, what to watch
What works
- Unlimited streaming and bandwidth on every plan, including the free one, so a video that suddenly gets traffic does not trigger the per-GB overage bill that meters a Bunny, Vimeo or SproutVideo. You pay for storage, not views
- Genuinely well-liked by day-to-day users: roughly 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra across hundreds of reviews and 4.6 across 720 on G2, with an easy on-brand player, simple course embedding and fast live-chat support the repeated praise
- Marketing hooks most cheap hosts skip, in one dashboard: in-video CTAs and buy buttons, lead capture, Facebook and Google retargeting pixels, A/B video split testing, chapters, and AI subtitles with translation into 31 languages
- It can replace several tools at once: a built-in screen and camera recorder, branded video channels for your library, heatmap analytics, and one-click import from Vimeo, Wistia and Dropbox
- Real content protection is available for course sellers worried about piracy: multi-DRM encryption and dynamic per-viewer watermarking, plus password, domain and region locking (sold as a paid add-on)
What to watch
- The dominant complaint is trust, not playback: Adilo sold thousands of AppSumo lifetime deals it later said it could not honour, restricting those accounts and pushing them onto paid subscriptions, and Trustpilot carries reports of charges after cancellation. Buy month to month, cancel in writing, and keep the confirmation
- It does not score a split test on the sale or attribute revenue: its A/B testing and heatmaps measure views and engagement, not which traffic actually bought, so a paid-traffic VSL still cannot prove ROI from inside Adilo
- The paid Unlimited plan's price is not published: the pricing page shows a free plan and one paid plan priced by how much storage you pick, with the figure only shown in-app at checkout, so you cannot compare it cleanly before you sign up
- DRM and simulated livestreaming are optional paid add-ons on top of the plan, not included, so the real cost for a course seller who needs encryption is higher than the base sticker
- It is a marketing-shaped host, not a dedicated VSL player: there is no sound-first smart autoplay or sales-scored optimisation built for direct response, so a serious paid-traffic funnel will still reach for a purpose-built player
TrackPlay: the paid-traffic VSL pick
Gumlet and Adilo share one blind spot, and it is this site's first criterion: neither scores a split test on the sale or attributes revenue, so on a paid-traffic VSL you cannot prove with either which traffic actually bought. Adilo runs A/B video tests and fires ad pixels, but it decides those tests on views and stops at engagement heatmaps; Gumlet has the pixels but no A/B testing at all. If proving the sale is the whole reason you are choosing a player, there is a third tool worth putting on the table. TrackPlay is a VSL player and analytics platform built for paid-traffic funnels. On the front end it holds attention with sound-first autoplay, timed CTAs and watch gates. On the back end it draws per-second retention split into buyers and non-buyers, with hook rate, hold rate and revenue per play, so you can see the exact seconds to cut or protect.
Where it goes further than either of these is attribution. Gumlet fires a browser pixel and Adilo reports engagement; TrackPlay is built around the cart. The cart posts the verified sale back onto the play that earned it from seven direct-response processors, including ClickBank, ClickFunnels and Digistore24, server to server, and TrackPlay fires that conversion server-side to Meta, TikTok and GA4 so the ad platform learns from the actual sale rather than a page-load pixel. Its split tests are decided on that cart-verified sale with real statistics, a z-test with a p-value and a confidence interval, and every variant runs under one embed so your ad links and campaign learning never reset. It bills by plays rather than bandwidth, every feature ships on every paid plan, and there is a no-card free plan of 1,000 plays a month plus a 14-day trial, with paid plans from $29 a month.
What works
- Split tests are decided on the cart-verified sale, with a real z-test, p-value and confidence interval, and every variant runs under one embed so ad links and campaign learning never reset
- Server-side conversion tracking to Meta, TikTok and GA4 fires on the watch-time milestone you choose and dedupes browser and server events, so the ad platform optimizes on the actual sale rather than a page-load pixel
- Cart postbacks tie each sale to the play that earned it from seven direct-response carts, including ClickBank, ClickFunnels and Digistore24, server to server
- Per-second retention split into buyers and non-buyers, with hook rate, hold rate and revenue per play
- Every feature ships on every paid plan and billing is by plays, with a no-card free plan of 1,000 plays a month and a 14-day trial; paid plans start at $29 a month
What to watch
- Narrow by design: built for paid-traffic VSL conversion, it is not a general video host or a B2B content library, so it has none of the channels, SEO pages or webinar tooling of a Wistia and is a poor fit if the video's job is content marketing rather than a direct-response sale
- Very new, with thin outside proof: the testimonials are on its own site, there is little third-party review or Reddit footprint yet, and signup is currently invite-only, so you cannot lean on independent validation before you commit paid traffic. That is what you would expect of a platform this recent
Where TrackPlay is not the answer
It is narrow by design. TrackPlay is built for paid-traffic VSL conversion, not general hosting or content marketing, so it is not a general video host or a B2B content library and it has none of the channels, SEO pages or webinar tooling of a Wistia. If the video's job is content marketing and feeding leads into a CRM rather than a direct-response sale, it is the wrong tool. It also does not aim to be an unlimited-streaming library with a screen recorder and branded channels the way Adilo is, so if that is your job Adilo is the finished marketing host; and it is not the cheapest branded host with DRM baked in either, so if that is what you need, Gumlet is cheaper. And it is very new, with thin outside proof: the testimonials are on its own site, there is little third-party review footprint yet, and signup is currently invite-only, which is what you would expect of a platform this recent. Pilot TrackPlay on one funnel and reconcile the numbers against your own cart before you trust it with a launch.
Visit TrackPlay for the current plans and the free tier.
Pricing, tier by tier
Gumlet is the cheaper and more transparent of the two, and every figure is on the pricing page. There is a Free Forever tier for testing, then Creator at $6 a month billed annually removes the Gumlet branding and switches on Google and Meta pixel tracking, with 3,000 GB of bandwidth included. Higher tiers add CRM integrations, VAST ad tags and dynamic watermarks. Two things move the real cost above the sticker: Widevine and FairPlay DRM is a $99-a-month add-on, and bandwidth and storage overages bill per gigabyte once you pass the included allowance, so a high-traffic offer costs more than the entry price suggests.
Adilo prices on the opposite model, and the headline is unlimited streaming. Bandwidth is unmetered on every plan, including the free one, so a video that suddenly gets traffic does not trigger a per-gigabyte overage bill. You pay for storage, not views. The catch is that the paid Unlimited plan's price is not published: the pricing page shows a free plan and one paid plan whose figure depends on how much storage you pick and is only shown in-app at checkout, so you cannot compare it cleanly before you sign up.
Both charge extra for real content protection. Gumlet's DRM is the $99-a-month add-on noted above; Adilo's multi-DRM encryption and dynamic watermarking, and its simulated livestreaming, sit outside the base plan as paid add-ons. So a course seller who needs encryption pays more than the base sticker on either, and it is worth pricing the add-ons in before you decide.
Which is cheaper depends on your traffic. At low, steady volume Gumlet is hard to beat: $6 a month with pixels on and 3,000 GB included is cheaper than most, and the pricing is legible. At spiky, high bandwidth Adilo's unmetered model is the safer bet, because there is no delivery bill to blow up on a launch, though you cannot see the plan price until you are in the checkout. Budget the model that matches your real traffic, not the sticker.
TrackPlay prices differently again, and it is worth a line because it changes the model. It bills by plays rather than storage or bandwidth, so a high-traffic sales letter is metered on views watched, not gigabytes served, and there is no overage to watch. Paid plans start at $29 a month with every feature on every plan, and there is a no-card free plan of 1,000 plays a month, watermarked, plus a 14-day trial of the paid features. It is not the cheapest of the three at low volume, but the plays model removes the surprise while it does the attribution work neither of the other two attempts.
The verdict
Between these two, pick on how much marketing tooling you want built in against how much price transparency and predictable cost matter. Adilo wins for this site's likelier reader, the marketer who wants unlimited streaming and the direct-response hooks in one dashboard without hiring a developer. It ships in-video CTAs and buy buttons, lead capture, A/B video tests, retargeting pixels, a screen recorder and AI subtitles, and it is genuinely well-liked by day-to-day users, 4.8 on Capterra and 4.6 across 720 reviews on G2. Two honest limits stay attached to the pick. Its A/B tests and heatmaps score views and engagement, not the sale, so it cannot prove which traffic bought. And the billing history is the real risk: it cancelled thousands of AppSumo lifetime deals and carries post-cancellation charge reports, so buy month to month, cancel in writing and keep the confirmation.
Gumlet wins the other reader, and it is a real one. If your traffic is steady, your budget is tight, and you want the price on the page rather than in a checkout, Gumlet is the cheaper and clearer choice: a Free Forever tier, $6 a month with branding off and pixels on, and included bandwidth on paid tiers. It also has the stronger content protection on paper, Widevine and FairPlay DRM plus domain and geo blocking, if you can accept DRM as a $99-a-month add-on. The trade is a thinner marketing layer, no A/B testing and no retention heatmap, and a review base that is thin and aging with a widely-read January 2025 outage on record, so keep a backup of your masters and treat support response as variable. The tie-breaker is simple: if you want more marketing tools and unlimited streaming and can manage the billing, buy Adilo; if you want the cheapest, most transparent branded host with real DRM, use Gumlet.
There is a third call for one specific reader. If you came here because your whole business is a paid-traffic sales letter and proving which traffic bought is what you actually need, look at TrackPlay before you commit: it decides split tests on the cart-verified sale with real statistics and fires that sale back to Meta, TikTok and GA4 server-side, so the ad platform optimizes on the purchase rather than a page-load pixel. It is the newer, narrower specialist and its outside proof is still thin, so pilot it on one funnel first. For cheap branded hosting with ad pixels, or unlimited streaming with marketing tools built in, this does not change the answer: that is Gumlet for the budget host, or Adilo for the fuller marketing dashboard.
Our pick
Adilo
Adilo is the pick between these two for the reader most likely to be weighing them: a marketer who wants unlimited streaming and more direct-response hooks, in-video CTAs, lead capture, A/B video and retargeting pixels, in one dashboard without hiring a developer. It ships a fuller marketing layer than Gumlet and takes the bandwidth-overage risk off a spiky launch. Two honest limits stay attached: its A/B tests score views rather than the sale, so it cannot prove which traffic actually bought, and its billing history is the real risk, so buy month to month, cancel in writing and keep the confirmation. If your traffic is steady, your budget is tight and you want the cheapest, most transparent branded host with real DRM, Gumlet is the cleaner, cheaper choice.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gumlet or Adilo better?
Which is cheaper, Gumlet or Adilo?
Can either one run a video sales letter for paid traffic?
What is the deal with Adilo and AppSumo lifetime deals?
Is Gumlet reliable?
What if I need to prove which paid traffic actually bought, not just track engagement?
Sources
Other sources
10 discussions and reviews read for this page. Quotes are excerpts; open a link to read the original in context.
- [] Gumlet video hosting (vendor)
- [] Gumlet pricing (vendor)
- [] Adilo home (vendor)
- [] Adilo pricing (vendor)
- [] "Too unreliable for anything serious" (AppSumo review)
- [] Gumlet on Trustpilot
- [] Adilo reviews on Capterra (4.8/5)
- [] Adilo reviews on G2 (4.6/5, 720 reviews)
- [] Adilo on Trustpilot
- [] TrackPlay (vendor)
Related reading
- Our full Gumlet review
- Our full Adilo review
- Bunny Stream vs Adilo: cheap raw delivery to build on or an unlimited-streaming host with marketing tools built in
- Gumlet vs Spotlightr: the cheapest host with ad pixels or a more encrypted, gated course host
- Adilo alternatives, ranked by the job
- The best VSL players and conversion video software
- All head-to-head comparisons