We’re all guilty of being subscribed to more than video subscription services. Streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime Video bring us comfort, entertainment, and even educational content. On-demand content is attractive and available at the tip of your fingers. It’s hard to beat.
And if you’re a professional video content creator, launching a video subscription service can bring you a serious return on your investment — you just need to know which video subscription platform is right for you and your business.
To that end, we’ll be going over the top video subscription platforms for video content creators to help level up their content creation business:
Picking the video subscription platform for your creator business requires a little insight. It helps to know what they are and what makes the best solutions worth using.
So, What Is a Video Subscription Platform?
A video subscription platform is a cloud-based software where you can host your content and allow people to pay a recurring fee to access it.
These platforms are more than just a normal subscription website because they focus on video content, which is a huge part of our lives today.
That’s mainly because videos are easy to consume, come in many different formats, and work for all niches.
So, building your subscription service on a platform that allows you to tap into the market of video creation and monetization is a great way to start building an audience and making money with something you love.
But to do that, you need to find the right content subscription platform for your needs.
And that’s what we’re here for. Let’s jump right in.
How to Pick the Best Video Subscription Platform
There are several factors to consider when picking the best video subscription service for your creator business. Here’s a short but helpful list with key considerations to help you identify the perfect solution:
Cost:
Most video streaming service providers share their pricing plans, however, not all do. Before you commit to one, even if it’s just a trial, get specifics on what it will cost. You could easily become invested in a solution and find that it’s just not affordable.
Features:
Video subscription service platforms pack several features into their product, and depending on where you are on your journey, some might be necessary, while others may be overkill. Start by creating a list of features you’d like from your dream solution.
Your list can include offering a free streaming service or trials to attract an audience, membership tiers with additional services, selling digital and physical products, selling on-time videos, and even hosting live streams.
Other important features include marketing functionality, like emailing subscribers with promotional offers. Next, compare it to our list of video subscription service providers for the best match.
Device compatibility:
Streaming on smartphone apps and so are smart TVs is a big deal. So is watching your favorite creator, series, or movie on a laptop or desktop computer. As a creator, you don’t want to limit access to your content. Choose a subscription service platform that offers apps your audience can use.
Support:
Things won’t always go according to plan, so making access to helpful support is critical. Choose a video subscription service platform with support that meets your requirements. Depending on your budget, this could be email, telephone, or a dedicated account manager.
Top 10 Video Subscription Platforms
| Platform | Best For | Pricing |
| Uscreen | Video Memberships | $$ |
| Brightcove | Small and Medium Sizes Businesses | Quote-based |
| Cleeng | Experienced Creators | Quote-based |
| Muvi | Media Houses | Quote-based |
| Kaltura | Educational Institutions | $$ |
| Vimeo OTT | Beginners & Non-technical Creators | $ |
| Backlight/Zype | Traditional Media Publishers | Quote-based |
| Patreon | Beginners & Non-technical Creators | $ |
| Dacast | Beginners & Non-technical Creators | $ |
| JW Player | Enterprises | Quote-based |
1. Uscreen
We’re starting our list of video subscription platforms with Uscreen.
Uscreen is an all-in-one membership platform that allows creators to monetize their content through video-on-demand, membership sites, and live streaming.
What’s more, with Uscreen you’ll also have a chance to create your own app to share your content with your audience to any of their devices — yes, even their TVs!
Ready to learn more about what Uscreen has to offer?
Features
At Uscreen, we’re always releasing new features and improvements to help you deliver your content in the best way possible. Here’s what you’ll be able to do:
- Host videos with full HD video playback.
- Use industry-leading video marketing tools.
- Choose between flexible monetization and payout options.
- Deliver content through an HTML5 picture-in-picture player.
- Launch OTT streaming apps with your own brand.
- Live stream or choose to deliver content on demand.
- OTT live streaming.
- Create your own membership site and community.
- Customize your checkout workflow to your liking.
Plus, you’ll have full transparency and access to your customers, so you can offer on-brand customer service, just like Abundance+.
Justin Rhodes founded Abundance+, a premium homesteading content business that teaches people how to grow their own food and live off the land. His success is the product of great customer support and accessible content made available to members via smartphone apps for Android and iPhone users.
Justin’s success is also proof that you can succeed as a creator. He has been able to grow his subscription service to $100,000+ per month using Uscreen’s tools and platform. His story is evidence that you can build a video content business that’s real, scalable, and reliable income stream.
Free trial: 14 days
Pricing: $
Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.
2. Brightcove
Brightcove helps businesses deliver content through their own video subscription platform.
The platform targets enterprises looking to engage with their audience or employees by providing reliability and security.
Let’s take a closer look at what they offer.
Features
Brightcove’s OTT solutions will allow you to:
- Live stream to devices around the world.
- Optimize your streams with a multi-bitrate video player.
- Use their manager to update subscription models
- Add your stream to social media channels.
- Securely stream to avoid piracy.
- Customize the platform according to your needs.
Plus, many big brands are using Brightcove, including Ford and Forbes.
Pricing
Brightcove doesn’t disclose their pricing, To find out more about exact costs, contact their sales team.
Okay, what’s the next video subscription platform on the list?
3. Cleeng
Cleeng is a subscriber retention manager that lets creators build and grow their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service. For those eager to create their video subscription platform, you can launch your platform with Cleeng in just 3 weeks.
That’s because they allow you to integrate with other video hosting platforms so you can monetize your content.
But what features will you get?
Features
Cleeng helps your OTT business by allowing you to easily manage your operational and monetization activities. With their platform, you’ll be able to:
- Improve conversion rate with a seamless account creation process.
- Build rich profiles for subscribers.
- Optimize retention by using customer data.
- Connect with service payment providers.
- Try different subscription models.
- Test pricing and track offer performance.
- Tailor your plans to international markets with localization.
You’ll also be able to create coupon campaigns to boost your subscription service performance.
Pricing
With Cleeng, you’ll be able to create your own package according to your needs. You can select which services you’ll need and how many managed users you’ll have, then get a price estimate.
Muving onto the next one.
4. Muvi
If you’re looking for a video subscription platform that will allow you to live stream with low latency, then you might want to look at Muvi.
Their user interface makes it easy for both beginners and experienced creators to launch and monetize their videos online
Ready to take a look at the features?
Features
If you decide to go with Muvi, you’ll be able to:
- Get a white-label website and use your own domain name.
- Launch your own TV and mobile apps.
- Add multiple payment gateways.
- Manage members and free trial users.
- Live stream with low latency.
- Add DVR controls to your live streams.
- Record live streams and share them across platforms.
Now to the money part.
Pricing
Muvi’s pricing is a bit higher than the other ones, but you’ll get plenty of package options to choose from:
- Standard: get a 2,000 concurrent users limit, and 1 TB of storage and bandwidth per month. Plus, you’ll get a white-labeled website with unlimited users and content. Price: $399
- Professional: get everything from the Standard plan, including a 10,000 concurrent users limit and 2 TB of storage and bandwidth per month. Price: $1,499
- Enterprise: get everything from the Professional plan, including a 50,000 concurrent users limit and 5 TB of storage and bandwidth per month. Price: $3,900
- Ultimate: get everything from the Enterprise plan, including unlimited concurrent users and 10 TB of storage and bandwidth per month. Contact sales for pricing.
Onto the next one.
5. Kaltura
If you’re a large enterprise looking to improve communication with members, host events, or launch an online course, Kaltura will score high on the board.
This cloud-based video subscription platform is helping large institutions, like Deloitte and AT&T, to collaborate remotely and share their content.
Let’s take a look at Kaltura‘s OTT solutions.
Features
With their platform, you’ll be able to:
- Brand your events with customizable templates.
- Send personalized video messages to your subscribers.
- Use different monetization options.
- Live stream with their latest technology.
- Feel secure with their enterprise-grade access control and security.
- Edit, add captions, and translate your videos.
Plus, you’ll be able to organize your videos into playlists and categories so your subscribers can easily find what they’re looking for.
Pricing
Kaltura doesn’t disclose their pricing information, however, it’s estimated to start at $99 per month. To find out more, contact their sales team. You can test drive their platform for 30 days.
You might know the next one.
6. Vimeo OTT
Vimeo will likely come to mind when thinking about video hosting, but did you know Vimeo allows you to have your own video subscription platform?
Vimeo OTT is a user-friendly OTT platform that allows you to share exclusive content with your members and monetize your videos online.
Let’s go over what they offer.
Features
If you’re considering Vimeo OTT, here’s what you’ll be able to do with their platform:
- Get real-time analytics on your videos.
- Monetize through ads, subscriptions, or pay-per-view video.
- Use their built-in marketing and promotion tools.
- Auto-archive your live streams.
- Launch branded OTT apps with in-app purchases.
- Get full control of your subscriber data.
You’ll also be able to migrate to their platform for free depending on the plan you pick.
Speaking of plans, let’s go over what they are.
Pricing
So how much does Vimeo OTT cost? They’ll give you 2 pricing packages to choose from:
- Starter: create one subscription website, allow different payment options with a built-in checkout tool, and stream paid live events. Price: $1 per subscriber per month.
- Enterprise: aside from getting everything from the Starter plan, you’ll be able to create unlimited events, use live DVR and live stream analytics, and you’ll get 200 upload hours. Contact sales for pricing.
Let’s take a look at the next video subscription platform on our list.
7. Backlight (previously known as Zype)
Backlight (previously known as Zype) has rebranded, making Zype the name of its OTT and solution. It is a content management system (CMS) that seeks to connect video streaming and viewers.
Their platform works well for many different industries, including fitness, faith, and enterprise, and allows them to create OTT apps and live stream.
But is Backlight good for you? Let’s look at the features.
Features
With Backlight, you’ll be able to:
- Use drag-and-drop to create a platform that fits your needs.
- Get app-building support.
- Offer live and on-demand content.
- Use a reliable content delivery service with multi-CDN.
- Securely share content through their CMS.
Let’s go over pricing.
Pricing
Backlight doesn’t offer any pricing information, however, you can get started with a free trial.
Hitting play on the next option.
8. Patreon
Patreon makes sharing content with your community easy. Its subscription service is uniquely designed to offer new creators a simple way to get online and earn.
Let’s take a look at the features.
Features
With Patreon, you’ll be able to:
- Create a dedicated page for your content
- Offer free trials, memberships, and digital products
- Host all forms of media
- Promote your work using content posts on your Patreon page
Pricing
Patreon offers 3 pricing plans:
Free: you get to publish different forms of media, share native videos and previews, an exclusive podcast feed, page personalization options, and analytics and insights.
Pro: enjoy everything on the free plan including monthly and annual subscriptions, membership tiers, free trials and special offers, priority customer support, engagement tools (chats, DMs, comments)
Premium: enjoy everything on the Pro plan including support from a dedicated partner manager, team accounts, and the option to sell merchandise.
Moving on to the ninth option on our list.
9. Dacast
Dacast is a video subscription platform for all kinds of creators, big and small, that want to focus on live streaming.
Their platform is known for offering reliable streaming services, but they also allow you to monetize with your own video-on-demand service
But what else can they do for you?
Features
Here’s what you’ll be able to do with Dacast:
- Customize your video player and add branding.
- Live stream content to viewers around the world.
- Bring quality content with a HTML5 player.
- Understand viewer habits with their analytics.
- Use different subscription models.
- Organize and manage videos through their portal.
- Monetize through AVOD, SVOD, or TVOD.
Onto the money stuff.
Pricing
Planning on going with Dacast? You’ll get 4 pricing options:
- Starter: you’ll be able to live stream and host videos with unlimited concurrent viewers. Plus, you’ll get 2.4 TB of bandwidth per year and 50 GB of storage. Price: $39 per month.
- Event: you’ll get everything from the Starter plan, and you’ll get real-time analytics and a paywall. Plus, you’ll get 6 TB of bandwidth per year and 50 GB of storage. Price: $63 per month.
- Scale: you’ll get everything from the Event plan, and you’ll be able to use VOD chapter markers and have unlimited channels. Plus, you’ll get 24 TB of bandwidth per year and 1 TB of storage. Price: $165 per month.
- Custom: you’ll get everything from the Scale plan, as well as special features, migrations, and integrations. Plus, you’ll get to host large-scale events and use custom SLAs. Price: contact Dacast for more details.
And now onto our last video subscription platform.
10. JW Player
JW Player moved from being merely a video hosting platform to becoming a platform that allows you to live stream and monetize your content.
If you want to monetize your content through advertisements, then JW Player could be just right for you.
Let’s go over what else they offer.
Features
With JW Player, you’ll be able to:
- Use a platform with multi-bitrate and adaptive streaming.
- View video and live stream analytics.
- Create personalized video galleries.
- Monetize your content through ads.
- Securely deliver content with DRM support and geo-blocking.
- Customize your platform according to your needs.
What about pricing?
Pricing
To access JW Player doesn’t provide pricing on their website but you can contact sales to discuss your needs.
And that’s a wrap on our list of video subscription services.
Wrapping It Up
There you have it: our list of the best video subscription platforms to pick from.
Whether you’re excited to launch your subscription platform or you’re still considering your options, choosing the right platform that will give you the tools you’ll need is key.
If you want a platform that allows you to create a membership site to host your videos while being able to live stream and launch your own app, then — shameless plug — Uscreen is the place to be.
Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.
