--- title: "What Are Coins and Virtual Currency in Streaming Apps?" description: "Coins are in-app currency that viewers buy in packs and spend to unlock episodes. See how a coin economy works and when it beats a subscription." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/virtual-currency" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/virtual-currency.md" category: "Monetization" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What are coins and virtual currency in streaming? Coins, or virtual currency, are units of in-app credit that viewers buy in packs with real money and then spend inside a streaming app, most often to unlock individual episodes of a short-form series. ## How a coin economy works The viewer buys a pack of coins through the app store or a payment gateway. Each locked episode has a price in coins. Spending coins unlocks the episode permanently on that account. Most apps also give coins away: for daily check-ins, for watching a rewarded ad or for inviting a friend. Free coins keep non-paying viewers watching and bring them closer to a first purchase. ## Why apps use coins instead of prices - Small amounts: an episode can cost a few cents without a card payment for each one - One purchase, many unlocks: the viewer pays once and keeps watching without interruption - Bonus coins on larger packs raise the average purchase - Earned coins give free viewers a way to progress ## When a coin model fits Coins suit serialized short-form content, where each episode ends on a hook and the next one is a small decision. Microdramas and vertical series are the main users of the model. They suit long-form catalogs less well. A viewer choosing one film a week is better served by a rental price or a subscription. Many short-form apps offer both coins and a subscription pass that unlocks everything. ## Coins and virtual currency on RentAnOTT Coins and virtual purchases are a $119/month add-on on any RentAnOTT plan, built for episodic unlocks and in-app economies in short-form catalogs. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [Episode unlock](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/episode-unlock) — Episode unlock is a pay-per-episode model in which the first episodes of a series are free and each later episode is unlocked individually, usually with in-app coins, by watching an ad or with a pass. - [Microdrama](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/microdrama) — A microdrama is a serialized fiction story told in very short episodes, typically one to three minutes each, filmed vertically for viewing on a phone. A series often runs to dozens of episodes, each ending on a hook that leads into the next. - [In-app purchase](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-purchase) — An in-app purchase (IAP) is a payment made inside a mobile or TV app using the app store's own billing system, such as Apple's App Store or Google Play. The store collects the money, keeps a commission and pays the rest to the app's publisher. - [Rewarded ad](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/rewarded-ad) — A rewarded ad is a video advertisement that a viewer chooses to watch in exchange for a benefit inside the app, such as coins, an unlocked episode or a period of ad-free viewing. The viewer opts in, watches to the end and receives the reward. - [Vertical series](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/vertical-series) — A vertical series is a series of episodes filmed in portrait orientation for viewing on a phone held upright. Episodes are usually short, from one to ten minutes, and released in a swipeable feed. - [App store commission](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/app-store-commission) — App store commission is the percentage an app store, such as Apple's App Store, Google Play or a TV platform's store, keeps from each payment made through its in-app billing. It typically ranges from 15% to 30%. - [ARPPU](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/arppu) — ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) is the revenue a service earns in a period divided by the number of users who made at least one payment in that period. Unlike ARPU, it leaves out everyone who used the service for free. ## Further reading - [Microdrama and short-form streaming platforms](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/microdrama-short-form-streaming-platforms) - [Short video applications compared](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/best-short-video-application) - [OTT revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator) ## Frequently asked questions ### Are coins the same as in-app purchases? Buying a coin pack inside a mobile app is an in-app purchase. The coins themselves are a balance held by the service, which the viewer spends on content afterward. ### Do app stores take commission on coins? Coin packs sold through Apple's or Google's billing are subject to the store's commission. Packs sold on your own website are not, which is why many apps also sell coins on the web. ### Can coins and subscriptions run together? Yes. A common setup is coins for occasional viewers and a weekly or monthly pass that unlocks every episode for heavy viewers. 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