A worked example

Vimeo OTT vs Uncompressed On Demand.
One seller, one month, every line shown.

Take a seller with 100 buyers a month at USD 12 a film and 20 hours of film uploaded. On Vimeo OTT Starter the fees on those sales come to USD 170 a month, before a one-time USD 149 upload block. Here, a Pro plan with the shop included comes to USD 39 a month with nothing charged per sale. Every assumption is stated below so you can change it.

See the plans

Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month

By uncompressed.io · Updated September 2026

Uncompressed On Demand

Sell your films with 0% commission, included with every paid plan.

  • The shop is included with every paid plan (Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month; yearly is one month free), no commission.
  • Sell streaming, downloads, or both, at your own price per film.
  • Buyers pay into your own payment account. We never touch the money and take nothing from any sale.
  • Your own shop page at yourname.uncompressed.io/on-demand, with a free preview whose length you choose.
  • Buyers need no account: they pay and the film opens from their receipt, on any device.
  • Films play as you exported them. Viewing hours a month: Lite 1,000, Pro 5,000, Max 15,000, Studio 25,000; then USD 29 per extra 20,000-hour block.
  • Included for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and kept for them afterwards; after that window the shop is USD 39 a month or USD 429 a year.
Start sellingHow it worksCard processing fees of your payment provider apply.

The assumptions

Four numbers,
change any of them and the table changes.

100 buyers a month

Each buys one film once, as a one-time purchase to stream. No subscriptions, so Vimeo OTT's USD 1 per subscriber a month does not apply.

USD 12 a film

One price. On Vimeo OTT Starter each buy costs 10 percent + 0.50, merchant fee included. Here the sale is charged on your own payment account and we take nothing.

20 hours uploaded

A catalogue of about ten feature-length films. On Vimeo OTT that needs the 25-hour block; here it needs room in your plan's ready-to-play storage.

2 hours watched per buyer

Each buyer watches the film once, 200 viewing hours in all. Viewing hours only count here, against the 5,000 a month included with Pro.

The fifth assumption: the shop at USD 0

The uncompressed.io column is the Pro plan alone. The shop is included with every paid plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and they keep it afterwards, so it adds USD 0 to the month. A seller who switches it on after that window pays USD 39 a month or USD 429 a year on top; add that line yourself if it applies to you.

USD 170

a month to Vimeo OTT

fees on 100 sales at USD 12, before the upload block

USD 39

a month here

Pro USD 39 with the shop included, nothing per sale

23

sales a month

where Pro with the shop included starts costing less than OTT's per-sale fee at USD 12

Line by line

Vimeo OTT Starter and uncompressed.io,
on the same month of sales.

Vimeo OTT Starter
uncompressed.io
Fixedmonthly cost
No platform fee for one-time salesUSD 1 per subscriber a month applies to subscriptions only
Pro USD 39 a month, shop included (USD 0)or USD 429 a year on yearly billing
Fee on oneUSD 12 sale
10 percent + 0.50 = USD 1.70merchant fee included, per Vimeo's page
USD 0 to uncompressed.ioyour own provider's card fee applies
100 sales(USD 1,200 gross)
USD 170 in fees
USD 0 in fees
20 hoursuploaded
25-hour block, USD 149purchased as needed
About 180 GB at 1080p, inside Pro's 250 GB ready-to-play poolAbout 360 GB at 4K needs Max (500 GB, USD 99 a month)
Viewing
Bandwidth included, per vimeo.com/ott/pricing
5,000 viewing hours a month included with Pro (15,000 with Max)this example uses about 200; USD 29 per extra 20,000-hour block
First12 months
USD 2,189fees on 1200 sales plus one upload block
USD 468 billed monthlyUSD 429 billed yearly
Where themoney settles
Vimeo collects and pays out
Your own payment account

Vimeo OTT figures from help.vimeo.com and vimeo.com/ott/pricing, read 28 September 2026. uncompressed.io prices from the pricing page, USD before tax; the shop is counted at USD 0 because it is included with the plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026. The uncompressed.io column excludes your own provider's card processing fee, which applies to every sale; Vimeo's per-sale fee includes its merchant fee. Storage arithmetic: Mbps × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000 = GB an hour, at 20 Mbps for 1080p and 40 Mbps for 4K.

Why the 1080p and 4K rows differ

An hour of film at 20 Mbps is about 9 GB, so 20 hours is about 180 GB and fits Pro’s 250 GB ready-to-play pool. At 40 Mbps for 4K it is about 18 GB an hour, 360 GB in all, which needs Max (500 GB ready to play) and lifts the monthly total to USD 99. Both bitrates sit inside the export ranges on the export settings page. Films play as you exported them, so the bitrate you choose is the bitrate buyers get.

Change the volume

The percentage moves,
the flat fee does not.

25 sales a month
100 sales a month
400 sales a month
Vimeo OTT Starterfees
USD 42.50
USD 170
USD 680
uncompressed.ioPro, shop included
USD 39
USD 39
USD 39
Difference
USD 3.50 less here
USD 131 less here
USD 641 less here

Platform fees only, at USD 12 a film. Vimeo OTT's upload block and your own provider's card fee sit outside this table.

The break-even is arithmetic, not opinion. At USD 12 a film, OTT Starter’s fee is USD 1.70 a sale. A Lite plan at USD 9 a month with the shop included costs less than that fee from 6 sales a month; Pro with the shop included, which is what this example’s catalogue needs, costs less from 23. Below those volumes a percentage store is the cheaper choice, and the honest advice is to use one until your sales pass them.

Raise the price and the crossover comes sooner, because 10 percent of a bigger number is a bigger fee. Lower it and the crossover moves out. Nothing on the uncompressed.io side moves with the price or the count.

Conclusion

One sentence.

At 100 sales a month of a USD 12 film, Vimeo OTT Starter costs USD 170 a month in fees before its upload block and a Pro plan with the shop included costs USD 39 a month with nothing per sale, so the flat fee costs less from about 23 sales a month and the gap widens with every sale after that.

What this example does not decide

Vimeo OTT sells subscriptions, free trials, live pay-per-view and, on Enterprise, apps for TVs and phones. We sell single films to stream or download, in a browser, with buyers who need no account. If your model is a subscription channel, the cost table above is not the deciding factor; read what OTT does that we do not first, then how Uncompressed On Demand works.

Questions

Frequently asked

Does Vimeo OTT's 2.5 percent + 0.30 merchant fee also apply to one-time purchases?

Not as a separate line. Vimeo's pricing breakdown, read 28 September 2026, lists the 2.5 percent + 0.30 merchant fee beside the subscription fee and states that for buy and rent products the merchant fee is included in the revenue share and fixed fee. So the OTT column here counts 10 percent + 0.50 per buy and nothing more per sale.

Are Vimeo OTT's upload hours a monthly charge?

Vimeo's page describes the blocks as purchased as needed, so this example counts the 25-hour block once, at USD 149. If you keep adding films you buy more blocks; the example does not.

What is left out of the uncompressed.io column?

Your own payment provider's card processing fee on each sale, which Vimeo bundles into its 10 percent + 0.50 and which we cannot quote because the account is yours. Sales tax or VAT, which is the seller's responsibility on either platform. Storage beyond the plan: the example fits Pro at 1080p; a 4K catalogue of the same length needs Max. And the shop's own price after the inclusion window: the column assumes the shop was switched on before 31 December 2026, when it is included with the plan; after that window it is USD 39 a month or USD 429 a year on top.

What if I sell fewer copies than this?

Then a percentage store is cheaper, and you should use one. At USD 12 a film, Vimeo OTT Starter's per-sale fee costs less than a Lite plan with the shop included below 6 sales a month, and less than Pro with the shop included below 23. Someone selling a few copies a year should not pay a monthly fee anywhere.

Nothing per sale, at any volume.

Uncompressed On Demand is included with every paid plan (Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month; yearly is one month free), no commission. Viewing hours a month: Lite 1,000, Pro 5,000, Max 15,000, Studio 25,000; then USD 29 per extra 20,000-hour block. Each sale is charged on your own payment account; your provider's card fees still apply. Included for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and kept for them afterwards; after that window the shop is USD 39 a month or USD 429 a year.