Answers
How much does it cost to start a streaming service?
The cost lines, with real numbers.
For an independent creator on a hosted platform, the first year usually costs a few hundred dollars plus card processing. What changes the answer is not the plan price but the fees that grow with each subscriber and each sale. Here is every cost line, priced from each provider's own page.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
By uncompressed.io · Updated October 2026
Short answer
How much does it cost to start a streaming service?
For an independent creator on a hosted platform, the first year typically costs a few hundred dollars plus card processing: on uncompressed.io, USD 198 for Lite yearly and Apple's developer membership, with no commission. Platforms that charge per subscriber or per sale cost more as the service grows, by about USD 12 to 24 a year per subscriber at the fees listed below.
- uncompressed.io: Lite USD 99 a year, 0% commission
- Apple developer membership: USD 99 a year
- Vimeo OTT: USD 1 per subscriber a month
- Uscreen: USD 49 a month on Starter, per-subscriber fees above
- Card processing applies on every platform
Every cost line
What you pay for
hosting, player, apps, payments, fees
Vimeo OTT from its help center pricing breakdown; Uscreen from uscreen.tv/pricing; both read 12 October 2026. The streaming platform is included with every paid plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and stays included for them afterwards; after that date new activations add USD 39 a month.
Worked totals
At 100 and 1,000 subscribers
per-subscriber fees alone, for a year
Plans and card processing aside, this is what per-subscriber fees add over twelve months. On uncompressed.io the line is zero at any size.
USD 1,200
Vimeo OTT, 100 subs
USD 1 x 100 x 12 months
USD 12,000
Vimeo OTT, 1,000 subs
USD 1 x 1,000 x 12 months
USD 2,388
Uscreen Growth, 100 subs
USD 1.99 x 100 x 12, plus the plan
USD 23,880
Uscreen Growth, 1,000 subs
USD 1.99 x 1,000 x 12, plus the plan
Optional lines
Costs you may choose
that some services add
Protection: Leak Shield (USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year) gives every buyer an invisibly marked copy and searches the open web and torrent indexes. It reduces risk and makes leaks traceable; no protection can guarantee a film never leaks.
A domain name, if you do not already own one, is a small yearly registrar fee. Extra viewing above your plan is billed in blocks, never by pausing playback.
When the cheapest option is not the right one
What the flat price includes
Read from the live price list. Verified 2026-10.
| Commission on sales | 0 percent, at any volume. Buyers pay into your own payment account; your card processor's fee applies. |
|---|---|
| What you can sell | Purchases (stream forever), downloads, rentals with a viewing window, memberships with monthly or yearly tiers, bundles and series. |
| Member tools | Free trials per tier, coupon codes, gift memberships, refunds and free access from your earnings page. |
| Your storefront | A shop under your name at yourname.uncompressed.io/on-demand, or on your own domain. Buyers need no account. |
| Picture quality | Films stream as you exported them: no re-encode of video or audio, with an optional lighter copy for slow connections. |
| Viewing hours included | Lite 1,000, Pro 5,000, Max 15,000, Studio 25,000 hours a month, then USD 29 per extra 20,000-hour block. Playback never pauses. |
| Plans | Starter free (5 GB, one film at a time); Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month; yearly is one month free. |
| Leak Shield (optional) | Every buyer gets their own invisibly marked copy; the open web and torrent indexes are searched; a confirmed leak names and blocks the buyer and sends the takedown. USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year, any paid plan. |
| Inclusion window | The streaming platform is included with every paid plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and stays included for them afterwards; after that date new activations add USD 39 a month. |
Plans and add-ons: pricing. The whole cluster starts at the creator platform guide.
Questions
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to start a streaming service?
On a hosted platform, from a few hundred dollars a year. On uncompressed.io, Lite yearly (USD 99) plus Apple's USD 99 developer membership for the Apple TV and iPhone apps comes to USD 198 for the first year, plus card processing. There is no commission and no per-subscriber fee.
What is the biggest hidden cost of a streaming service?
Per-subscriber and per-sale fees. Vimeo OTT lists USD 1 per subscriber a month and 10% plus USD 0.50 per purchase or rental; Uscreen lists USD 1.99 per subscriber on Growth. These grow with your audience, while a flat plan does not.
How much does a streaming app cost?
On uncompressed.io branded apps for Apple TV, iPhone, Fire TV, Samsung and LG are built for you and submitted under your own developer accounts. You pay the stores' own developer fees; Apple's is USD 99 a year. Building apps yourself means developer time for each platform.
How much does it cost to build a streaming service from scratch?
Far more than a hosted plan: several months of developer time for the first version, then permanent maintenance, plus storage and delivery bills. It is worth it only when the platform itself is the business.
Do I pay for bandwidth?
On uncompressed.io each paid plan includes viewing hours a month (Lite 1,000, Pro 5,000, Max 15,000, Studio 25,000). Above that, an extra block of 20,000 hours is billed at USD 29, and playback never pauses.
Can I start a streaming service for free?
You can set up and test on Starter, free with 5 GB and one film at a time. Selling and memberships need a paid plan.
A flat price, no matter how many subscribe.
The streaming platform comes with every paid plan (Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month). No commission, no per-subscriber fee.
Sources
- 1.Apple Developer Program (read 12 October 2026)
- 2.Vimeo OTT pricing breakdown, Vimeo help center (read 12 October 2026)
- 3.Uscreen pricing (read 12 October 2026)
- 4.Kajabi pricing (read 12 October 2026)