Get a better understanding on costing part to build a video video streaming website like Netflix, Hotstar or Twitch?
I stumble upon market trends, frontrunners and budding service providers in video streaming domain. I happened to stumble upon this question (cost to build a video streaming website) and thought my data and idea on VOD market and players like Netflix, Hotstar or Twitch could help.
I’d like to give you an idea on cost estimation for building a video streaming website like Netflix, Hotstar or Twitch that of the frontrunners.
Generally, the cost to build a VOD platform like Netflix, Hotstar Twitch often exceeds USD $50,000. Note: This budget is from development made from the scratch.
“Let’s begin with customer expectation.”
Flawless and technically sound VOD platform at a nominal development cost is what everyone hunt for irrespective of the country they are looking at to handover the development project.
The truth is the cost to develop a VOD platform varies globally. But we will make an earnest attempt to decode the cost evaluating formula to find the nearest figure to the exact development cost of the Netflix like VOD platform you are dreaming of.
Building blocks of VOD Platform
Though hourly rates of the developers determine the cost, there are several other factors to be taken into consideration while building a website similar to Netflix, Hotstar & Twitch . Let’s have a look at those factors that influence the final price tag.
1. App and Website Development Team
The project requirements matter and based on this, the development team will have to be set. A mobile app development team would comprise of a UI/UX designer, 2 to 3 developers and a testing team.
For the web version of a movie website like Netflix Hotstar & Twitch, you’ll be needing 2 to 3 web developers and UI / UX designer as well.
Additionally, you will also be needing a backend development infrastructure to handle the operations in your app so here comes the need for API developer.
Developing your backend on Laravel would be a good choice. As a video streaming platform, your server is bound to traffic fluctuations. Laravel offers an edge for developers in terms of performance and handling multiple user requests.
On an average Laravel development for an hour in India would cost around $25 USD.
2. Live streaming
Technical complexities include the addition of several third party frameworks to mediate key functionalities.
For instance, you might need a live streaming support. For this, you will be needing third-party service provider support like Wowza media who mediate live streaming for you.
Wowza live streaming set up experts would cost around $ 45 USD per hour. (Source : upwork.com)
And of course the payment integrations. Subscription payments, in-app payments and much more monetization areas.
3. Video Player
The output quality of your video player decides the experience quotient of end users. If you decide to go for cost free video players, Video JS would be a good choice but since it is an open source player, support cannot be expected.
Paid video players like JW PLayer, Flowplayer could cost around $100+ USD which would be a one time investment and you can stay cool about the technical support.
4. Hosting
Hosting requirements for a building a website similar to Netflix, Hotstar & Twitch on a cloud infrastructure like Amazon should include services like:
5. Device fragmentations
Device fragmentation pose hardware challenges which you’ll have to overcome. Screen size, hardware specification, screen resolutions, OS version compatibility and more.
6. Design
Design conceptualization is the part which users make use of to interact with your VOD platform. Customized UI is of high importance to provide convenience and brand experience.
7. Post Release Expenditure
App maintenance or post release expenses also add up to your bill. Hosting solutions to keep your website similar to twitch, netflix & hotstar up and running, support for customers, maintenance team to remove technical glitches on demand etc., are crucial.
8. How much does it cost to develop a VOD platform app like Hotstar, Netflix & Twitch?
The development of a VOD platform on iOS, Android (mobile) and web might cost around $ 10,000 – $500,00 approximately.
If you include back-end management into this, the price will go up. Here are some of companies that are doing a great job in building a website similar to Hotstar, Netflix & Twitch for entrepreneurial brains, SMBEs and enterprises.
At the end of the day, we would suggest a direct talk with a VOD platform solution provider for a better idea.
Alex Sam
Latest posts by Alex Sam (see all)
- How to Manage your Clothing Inventory Without Hurting Your Sales - July 6, 2017
- How to build a live streaming app like periscope? - June 23, 2017
- How to Build Online Grocery Store like BigBasket, Grofers - June 5, 2017