--- title: "What Is Freemium Streaming? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "Freemium streaming gives away part of a service for free and charges for the rest. See what to keep free, what to charge for and how to measure it." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/freemium" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/freemium.md" category: "Monetization" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is freemium streaming? Freemium streaming is a model in which a service offers part of its catalog or features for free, with or without ads, and charges a subscription for the full experience. The free tier exists to bring viewers in; the paid tier is where most revenue comes from. ## How freemium works Anyone can sign up and watch the free part. Locked titles and features show an upgrade prompt. Viewers convert to paid when the free tier has shown them enough to want what is behind the lock. ## What to keep free and what to charge for - Free: first episodes, older seasons, a rotating selection, short clips - Paid: new releases, full seasons, live events, exclusives - Free with limits: lower video quality, ads, one device - Paid features: ad-free viewing, downloads, more simultaneous streams, 4K ## Measuring a freemium model The key figure is the share of free users who become paying subscribers. It is often a few percent, so the free tier has to be cheap to serve or earn advertising of its own. Watch how long conversion takes as well. If most upgrades happen in the first week, later free usage is a cost that only advertising can cover. ## Freemium streaming on RentAnOTT Every RentAnOTT plan includes AVOD, SVOD and TVOD on one catalog, so a free tier, with or without ads, can sit beside paid plans. Tiers are priced by active users, not per subscriber, so free viewers do not add a per-head fee. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [Ad-supported tier](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ad-supported-tier) — An ad-supported tier is a plan on a streaming service that is free or priced below the standard plan because the viewer watches advertising. The service earns from the advertiser as well as, or instead of, the viewer. - [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. - [Free trial](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/free-trial) — A free trial is a limited period, commonly 7, 14 or 30 days, during which a new subscriber has full access to a streaming service before being charged. When it ends, the subscription starts automatically unless the viewer cancels. - [Subscription tier](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/subscription-tier) — A subscription tier is one of the plans a streaming service offers at a given price. Tiers differ in what the subscriber gets, such as video quality, simultaneous streams, downloads, the catalog included or whether ads are shown. - [Video paywall](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/video-paywall) — A video paywall is the point in a streaming service where playback is blocked until the viewer pays, by subscribing, renting, buying or spending in-app currency. - [Trial conversion rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/trial-conversion-rate) — Trial conversion rate is the percentage of people who start a free trial and go on to make their first payment. It measures how well a trial turns interest into paying subscribers. - [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. - [AVOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/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. ## Further reading - [OTT subscription plans and tiers](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/ott-subscription-plans) - [OTT revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator) - [Content monetization platforms compared](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/content-monetization-platforms) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between freemium and a free trial? A free trial gives full access for a limited time. Freemium gives limited access for as long as the viewer likes. ### Does a free tier need ads? Not necessarily, but advertising lets the free tier pay for its own delivery instead of relying entirely on the viewers who upgrade. ### How much content should be free? Enough to show what the service is like and no more. Start small; it is easier to make more free later than to lock something viewers are used to having. 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