How Much Does It Cost to Create a Live Streaming App Per Various Types

5 min readNov 2, 2021

Live streaming apps are extremely popular and are attracting the attention of businesses looking to get more. Most of the big tech companies have a streaming solution: YouTube Live, Twitch, Instagram Live, etc.

But how to make a live streaming app that people will want to choose from among the competition? We will tell you about this.

Types of Media Streaming Apps

Most streaming services are subscription based. These can be entertainment shows, sports events, films, and so on. As far as content is concerned, it can be either live or delivered by the platform upon request. It is much cheaper than cable TV, and the format of use is more convenient. Today there are a large number of streaming services, let’s look at the most popular ones.

Top 5 Examples of Live Streaming Apps

Let’s take a look at examples of the most popular live streaming apps in use today.

1. HBO Now

The service works great on different devices and serves as the best alternative to traditional cable TV. HBO Max also has its own app adapted for Apple TV, iPad, iPhone and Mac web browser.

The subscription price is about $14.99 per month.

2. YouTube TV

Youtube TV is a cloud-based platform with DVR support and unlimited storage. Live show apps from more than 50 different providers are available to users. The list of channels is constantly growing. In addition to the content for streaming itself, additional useful information is also loaded here, for example, if this is a sport, then there may be data about the teams and their ratings.

The subscription price is about $ 64.99 per month.

3. Netflix

It houses almost the largest collection of films and shows, which is available even offline. Netflix allows you to download content in standard or high quality for instant viewing. The company also constantly enters into exclusive contracts.

The subscription price is about $7.99 per month for the basic package, and the premium plan for $11.99 per month.

4. Disney +

Original films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios, National Geographic, Star Wars and some classics from the 21st Century Fox giant are available here by subscription. Subscribers can use the subscription on 10 devices at the same time.

Subscription prices range from $6.99 to $12.99 per month.

5. Amazon Prime

It houses a variety of shows from around the world, including Kindle books. All content can also be saved for offline access. The service works in many countries and is supported on most devices.

Subscription prices range from $9 to $13 per month, or $119 per year.

Development Costs of Live Streaming Apps

So, how much does it cost to make a streaming app? Due to the specifics of streaming platforms, it is almost impossible to make an accurate estimate. It is extremely important to immediately understand the projected quality and goals. If you opt for a basic set of features, video streaming app development will be significantly cheaper, but will limit your potential users. So, good quality streaming works at 1080p and higher. The best quality is delivered in 4K HD, which is also very expensive to develop.

If you are targeting at least 100 viewers with an average viewing time of 1 hour for each, your performance should be around 11MB for every hour of high quality streaming. These are baselines for a small streaming platform.

The development cost may vary, in contrast to the price list of the specialists themselves. Depending on the country, developer hours can range from $10 to $150 per hour. It is the same for web as well as streaming apps for Android or iOS streaming app cost.

Key Streaming App Development Requirements

Building a live streaming app starts with choosing the platform on which the streaming service will run. For example, it could be iOS Android or it could only work for the web.

Here is a list of the key features:

User registration
Creating a personal user profile
Online streaming
Broadcast Comments
Search
Server side (ability to convert stream).

Among the advanced features can also be added:

chats between users;
personal account with the ability to broadcast;
connection of the donation system for users.

Stages to Create a Media Streaming App

The development process in the case of a streaming platform is not much different from the development of other products. It includes the following stages:

Search for your niche and target audience.
Determine how accessible your content will be.
Decide how you will monetize your content.
Explore and accept the requirements for all streaming services to operate.
Develop and learn MVP applications.
Collect feedback.

Based on most streaming platforms and our personal experience, we have deduced the basic requirements for the stack and live streaming app development team that will be required for this work:

Technological stack:

Programming languages: Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android, Node.js for the server side.
Database: MySQL, Firebase ++
Content Delivery Network: Cloudflare or Amazon CloudFront
Maps: MapKit, Google Maps Platform
Streaming protocols: WebRTC, RTMP
Cloud storage: Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure

Team of specialists:

Back end developer and / or iOS / Android developer
UI / UX designer
QA
Project Manager

TopDevs Experience in Streaming App Development

The TopDevs portfolio also includes a case study for creating a streaming platform. We are talking about the Beauty Expert Platform application, which is a digital ecosystem that is relevant for beauty masters and their clients and students.

Beauty Streaming Service allows you to make donations, as well as track content and take lessons from a style and beauty guru. Convenient subscription plans and real-time training allow users to master useful new skills.

Technology stack:

JavaScript
Swift
PHP
WebRTC
CommerceGate

Command:

1 iOS developer
1 Android developer
1 JavaScript developer
1 PHP developer
1 designer

We paid great attention to the application interface, and also connected the payment system.

Conclusions

Thus, a competitive streaming application requires niche understanding and preparation. The best solution would be to find a company that has relevant experience in this type of application. Be sure to research the current products on the market, collect feedback from your target audience, and always offer the latest updates.