There are three ways to sell videos online: through a marketplace or creator platform, from your own website, or inside your own branded app. Each gives you a different balance of reach, control and income. This guide compares the three, explains the pricing models that work, and shows how to launch your own video app without writing code.
1. Marketplaces and creator platforms. Platforms such as YouTube memberships, Patreon and Vimeo let you put videos behind a paywall inside their ecosystem. They are quick to start, and some bring their own audience. In return, the platform sets the rules, takes a share of revenue and owns the customer relationship.
2. Your own website. Course and membership tools such as Kajabi, Teachable or a website plugin let you sell video from a site you control. You choose your prices and keep your customer list. But watching on a phone usually means a mobile browser, which is a weaker experience than an app. Audiorista allows you to connect your website to an app experience through the Membership API that is available, combining the best of both worlds.
3. Your own branded app. A video app in the App Store and Google Play, under your own name. Viewers download your app, subscribe or buy inside it, and come back when you notify them of new videos. You own the brand, the audience and the pricing. Until recently this meant hiring developers. No-code platforms like Audiorista now make it possible without them.
Many creators combine them: free videos on YouTube to build an audience, and paid content in their own app where they keep control.
Once you've decided to sell videos inside your own app, the next step is choosing the right monetization model. A flexible platform should give you multiple ways to sell, so your business model fits your audience. In an app, the two models that work best are subscriptions, which give ongoing access to your whole catalog, and bundles of videos or courses, both sold as in-app purchases. If you also want to sell single videos, you can sell them on your own website and sync the purchases into the app. The right mix depends on how often you publish and how your viewers watch:
With Audiorista you can create your own video app and run all five steps from one dashboard, with no coding and no developers.
Launch is the start. The creators who grow fastest publish on a steady schedule, notify subscribers about every release, and use their free videos on social media and YouTube to bring new viewers into their app. For more on this, read our guide to SEO and marketing tactics for growing your content subscription business.
It depends on your goal. Marketplaces are fastest to start but keep control of your customers. Your own website gives you control but a weaker mobile experience. Your own branded app gives you both control and the best mobile experience, and suits a long-term video business.
Yes. You can sell through a marketplace, or launch your own video app for iOS and Android.
Package your videos into a course, choose a price model (a subscription or a bundle), and publish it on a platform that handles payments and delivery, such as your own course app.
No. With a no-code platform like Audiorista you upload your videos, design the app and publish it to iOS and Android without writing code.
Ready to sell your videos in your own app? Start building your branded video app with Audiorista.
