Vimeo adds in-app video subscriptions for third-party apps on Apple and Roku devices

Video streaming stalwart Vimeo has announced the next phase in its quest to help creators monetize their online videos.

Hot on the heels of its acquisition of white-label video subscription platform VHX three weeks ago, Vimeo has now revealed it’s rolling out in-app subscriptions on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and Roku devices, letting companies and creators who are using the VHX platform better monetize their videos. Today’s news comes two months after Vimeo added transactional support to its own Roku app, which marked the first time users were able to buy Vimeo content away from its website.

For the uninitiated, VHX offers a range of services aimed at helping people launch their own streaming service and sell or rent videos individually, as opposed to simply uploading it to YouTube or Vimeo. The model is similar to Shopify or Squarespace insofar as it’s a white-label service that provides the backend for anyone to set up their own feature-rich website with payment systems and checkouts built in.

The acquisition made sense for Vimeo, as it has been pushing to differentiate from the likes of YouTube by targeting creatives specifically with its own paid on-demand service that lets anyone sell TV shows and movies directly to viewers on Vimeo. With VHX on board, it can now serve companies that would rather use their own apps, websites, and brand. And by including subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) content through Apple and Roku, this is one more carrot to lure prospective customers on board.

Sellers can further entice viewers with free trial subscriptions, which leads into a recurring monthly or annual payment. In terms of prices, the seller is charged $1 per subscriber per month, in addition to the fees charged by the respective platforms, which is 30 percent for Apple and 20 percent for Roku.