--- title: "What Is AVOD? Advertising-Based Video on Demand Explained" description: "AVOD is video on demand that viewers watch for free and advertisers pay for. See how it earns, when it beats subscriptions and what you need to run it." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/avod" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/avod.md" category: "Monetization" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is AVOD? AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) is a streaming model where viewers watch on-demand video for free and the service earns from the ads shown before, during or after it. ## How AVOD works A viewer opens a title without paying. The player requests ads from an ad server and plays them as pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll breaks. The advertiser pays the service for each thousand impressions delivered, a rate known as CPM. Because there is no paywall, AVOD reaches a much larger audience than a subscription can. The trade-off is that each viewer earns far less, so the model depends on volume and watch time. ## How AVOD revenue is calculated Ad revenue is impressions divided by 1,000, multiplied by CPM. Impressions come from viewing hours, the number of ads per hour (ad load) and the share of ad requests that are actually filled (fill rate). For example, 100,000 viewing hours a month at 8 ads per hour and a 70% fill rate is 560,000 impressions. At a $10 CPM that is $5,600 a month. ## When AVOD is the right model - Your audience is large but unwilling to pay, or is in a market with low card penetration - Your catalog is broad and rewatchable rather than a few premium titles - You want a free tier that feeds a paid subscription - You can sell ads directly or connect to programmatic demand ## AVOD vs SVOD vs TVOD AVOD is free to the viewer and paid for by advertisers. SVOD charges a recurring fee for access to a catalog. TVOD charges once for a single title, as a rental or a purchase. Most services now combine them: a free ad-supported tier, a paid ad-free tier, and rentals for new releases. ## AVOD on RentAnOTT AVOD is included on every RentAnOTT plan alongside SVOD and TVOD, so one catalog can carry a free ad-supported tier, a subscription and rentals. An advanced advertising add-on is available for $169/month. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [SVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/svod) — SVOD (subscription video on demand) is a streaming model where viewers pay a recurring fee, usually monthly or yearly, for unlimited access to a catalog of on-demand video. - [TVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/tvod) — TVOD (transactional video on demand) is a streaming model where viewers pay once for a single title or event, either renting it for a limited time or buying it to keep. - [HVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/hvod) — HVOD (hybrid video on demand) is a streaming model that combines two or more ways of earning, most often a subscription and advertising, on the same service and catalog. - [FVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/fvod) — FVOD (free video on demand) is on-demand video that viewers can watch without paying and without advertising. The service earns nothing directly from it and uses it for another purpose, such as promotion or public service. - [SSAI](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ssai) — SSAI (server-side ad insertion) is a way of delivering video advertising in which the ads are stitched into the stream on the server before it reaches the viewer. The player receives one continuous stream containing both program and ads. - [CPM](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/cpm) — CPM (cost per mille) is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions. It is the standard unit for pricing video advertising, and the rate a streaming service earns for each thousand ads it shows. - [Fill rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/fill-rate) — Fill rate is the percentage of ad requests that are answered with an ad. If a service requests 1,000 ads and receives 700, its fill rate is 70%. Unfilled requests earn nothing. - [Ad load](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ad-load) — Ad load is the amount of advertising shown per hour of viewing, expressed either as minutes of ads per hour or as the number of ads per hour. It is the main lever an ad-supported service has over both revenue and viewer tolerance. - [FAST channel](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/fast-channel) — A FAST channel (free ad-supported streaming television) is a linear channel delivered over the internet that viewers watch for free, with advertising in scheduled breaks. It looks and behaves like a television channel but needs no subscription or aerial. ## Further reading - [OTT revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator) - [Content monetization platforms compared](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/content-monetization-platforms) - [OTT subscription plans and tiers](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/ott-subscription-plans) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does AVOD stand for? AVOD stands for advertising-based video on demand. It is also written as ad-supported video on demand. ### Is AVOD the same as FAST? No. Both are free and ad-funded, but AVOD lets the viewer pick a title and start it on demand, while a FAST channel is a scheduled linear stream that plays like a TV channel. ### Can a service run AVOD and subscriptions together? Yes. This is called a hybrid model: a free or cheaper tier with ads, and a paid tier without them. It lets one catalog earn from viewers who will pay and from those who won't. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt