Pay-per-View Streaming
Pay-Per-View Streaming Platform: What to Compare Before You Sell
Compare fees: Look at the payouts and ticket control. Sell tickets: Use your own site for ticket sales.
When comparing pay-per-view streaming platforms, check fees, payouts, ticket control, crowd size, and replay options. With WpStream, you can sell match and show tickets directly on your website.
Saturday league fixture
Ticketed from your club websiteOne ticket, one stream, one replay
Sell a match pass or show ticket
Each Pay-Per-View channel is a WooCommerce product with its own price. Fans buy it at checkout on your site, and Stripe or PayPal processes the payment.
The player opens for ticket holders
WpStream ensures that fans are logged in and have a completed order before they can access the stream. Buyers can open the stream from their confirmation email or from My Orders.
Ticket holders can rewatch after the final whistle
After the event, switch the product from Live stream to Video on demand, allowing everyone who bought a ticket to watch it again without extra fees.
Fans pay through WooCommerce with Stripe or PayPal and watch on your site. Lock to Website prevents your match or show from being embedded elsewhere.
What to Compare in a Pay-Per-View Streaming Platform
Pay-per-view means fans pay once to watch a match or show, including replays. The platform manages payments, checks tickets, and delivers the stream. There’s no subscription or cancellation needed.
Fees and Revenue Share
There are three money models (rates as of September 2026):
Dacast: Takes 9.9% + $0.40 per purchase.
Uscreen: Adds a fee (10% on Starter, 5% on Growth).
WpStream: Takes 0%, only the processor's fee applies: Stripe US 2.9% + $0.30, PayPal 2.99% + $0.49 for card payments, or 3.49% + $0.49 via PayPal Checkout.
Plan fees are additional.
Payouts and Who Holds the Money
Ask about payout timing and who holds the funds. As of September 2026:
Dacast: First payout after about 35 days, with a $100 minimum.
BoxCast: Pays ticket revenue quarterly after reaching $100.
Vimeo OTT: Pays on the 15th for the previous month's sales.
With WpStream, payments go directly to your Stripe or PayPal account, so you handle refunds and chargebacks.
Ticket and Access Control
Organisers can sell match, season, and day passes. WpStream plays the stream only for logged-in buyers with completed orders, and Lock to Website prevents embedding elsewhere. Encryption is optional but may slow your site. Membership plugins like MemberPress can also work.
Viewer Limits
Some platforms limit concurrent viewers. WpStream allows 200, 1,000, 25,000, or unlimited viewers based on the plan and counts total viewer hours. Dacast offers unlimited viewers on metered plans, while BoxCast includes at least 10,000 viewer hours monthly. "Unlimited" still has a cap, so choose a plan based on your largest expected crowd.
Replay After the Event
Replay terms differ:
Punch: Each ticket had a 24-hour replay window starting at curtain time.
BoxCast: Gives access until the channel is deleted.
WpStream: Switch to video on demand for replay access.
Platforms Compared
Which pay-per-view service takes the least from your ticket sales?
The table below compares four pay-per-view services side by side, using a $15 ticket to illustrate fees.
For promoters selling hundreds of tickets, that row is key. Plan fees apply as of September 2026:
- WpStream Lite: $24/month.
- Dacast: Event plan starts at $63/month billed annually.
- BoxCast: Streaming plans start at $109/month billed annually, with ticketing as an add-on.
- Uscreen Starter: $49/month, billed monthly only.
Vimeo OTT is not in the table; its live pay-per-view is only on the Enterprise plan, which has no public price.
| What you compare | WpStream | Dacast | BoxCast | Uscreen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you compare: Fee per ticket | WpStream: 0% revenue share; Stripe or PayPal fee only | Dacast: 9.9% + $0.40, processing included | BoxCast: 2.9% + $0.30, then you receive 75% | Uscreen: 10% on Starter, 5% on Growth, plus processing |
| What you compare: Payouts | WpStream: Through your checkout to your Stripe or PayPal account | Dacast: First payout after about 35 days; $100 minimum | BoxCast: End of each fiscal quarter, once over $100 | Uscreen: With Stripe, on your Stripe payout schedule |
| What you compare: Ticket and access control | WpStream: Logged-in buyer with a completed order; Lock to Website; optional encryption | Dacast: Paywall, promo codes, domain and country restriction | BoxCast: Event ticket or channel pass; zipcode geo-blocking | Uscreen: Not listed |
| What you compare: Viewer limits | WpStream: 200 / 1,000 / 25,000 / unlimited at once, by plan | Dacast: Unlimited concurrent viewers; usage metered | BoxCast: No viewer cap; at least 10,000 viewer hours a month | Uscreen: Not listed; 1 free hour of live streaming on Starter and Growth |
| What you compare: Replay after the event | WpStream: Same product switched to video on demand; buyers keep access | Dacast: Live streams auto-archived for on-demand playback | BoxCast: Channel ticket: access until the channel is deleted | Uscreen: Not listed |
| What you compare: Kept from a $15 ticket, before plan fees | WpStream: $14.27 (Stripe US domestic card: 2.9% + $0.30) | Dacast: $13.12 (9.9% + $0.40), before payout fees | BoxCast: About $10.70 (2.9% + $0.30 applied, then 75% of the rest) | Uscreen: $13.52 on Growth (5% + Stripe 2.9% + $0.30) |
Sell the Ticket Your Crowd Already Buys
Clubs sell match passes, theatres sell shows, and fitness competitions offer day passes. Each corresponds to a product on your site. A Pay-Per-View channel purchase also covers later broadcasts, so for each event, create a new channel and product.
Match Pass
One product per fixture. Bury FC offers individual match passes at £9.99 for the 2026/27 season.
Season Pass
A subscription plan for the season’s channels. Fans get access at a recurring price you set. Requires the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, bought separately.
Show or Festival Ticket
One product per performance. After the show, switch to video on demand for replay access.
Competition Day Pass
Olympia Productions lists multiple PPV options for events. Create one product per competition day.
Paid Special
A local TV or radio station can sell a single paid special through its website.
Client Events
If you run PPV for clients, give each client a channel. Lite has 5 channels, Plus has 15, Pro has 50, and Ultra has 150. Broadcast hours count across all channels.
Check the Plan Before You Sell
A League Match
A 2-hour fixture with 300 ticket holders uses 600 viewer hours (2 x 300). Lite allows 200 viewers, so it’s too small. Plus fits with 1,000 viewers and 2,000 viewer hours monthly.
A Theatre Show
A 3-hour performance for 150 ticket holders uses 450 viewer hours (3 x 150). Lite fits (200 viewers, 500 viewer hours), but margin is slim. Recording uses 3 recording hours.
An Agency Month
Four 2-hour client events use 8 broadcast hours, fitting well within Plus's 250. Viewer hours add up quickly: 4 events x 300 fans x 2 hours = 2,400 viewer hours, above Plus's limit.
This suggests Pro, with 10,000 viewer hours monthly, or a one-time plan for extra hours.
Sell Pay-Per-View on Your Own Website
To run your pay-per-view streaming platform, you need three things:
- WooCommerce (free) for products and checkout.
- WpStream for streaming and access checks.
- Stripe or PayPal to process payments.
A season pass also needs the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, bought separately. Follow these steps a week before your event:
Store
Connect WooCommerce to your payment gateway
Install WooCommerce, go to Settings, Payments, and add the free WooCommerce Stripe plugin or connect PayPal. You only need one gateway.
Ticket
Add a Pay-Per-View channel and set a price
Go to All Channels, click Add new Pay-Per-View Channel, set Product data to Live Channel, and add a price. Until someone buys, the page shows Add To Cart.
Go live
Turn recording on, then go live
Enable Record Live Stream in the channel settings before activating the channel. No recording means no replay to sell.
With Auto TURN ON, going live from OBS activates the channel. Ticket holders access the stream via email or My Orders.
Replay
Switch the Product to Video on Demand
After the final whistle or last bow, change the product from Live Stream to Video on Demand and select the recording.
Buyers keep access and can watch the replay without paying again.
Replay after the event
Ticket holders can rewatch without paying again
The recording doesn’t automatically appear on the live product.
Just make one change to that product, and everyone who bought a ticket keeps access, as shown in our video membership guide.
Alternatively, sell a replay-only ticket: create a Pay-Per-View VOD from the recording, similar to how Bury FC sells each match on demand for 30 days after the final whistle at £4.99 (as of August 2026).
The recording uses recording hours from your plan.
Video unavailable. Please try again later.
All paid plans include unrestricted PPV streaming. You pay for hours of streaming.
Lite
Lite costs $24 a month or $190 a year. It includes 100 broadcast hours, 500 viewer hours, 200 viewers at once, 5 channels, and 25 recording hours monthly. This suits a 3-hour theatre show for 150 ticket holders, using 450 viewer hours.
Plus
Plus costs $59 a month or $490 a year. It offers 250 broadcast hours, 2,000 viewer hours, 1,000 viewers at once, 15 channels, and 100 recording hours. This fits a league match for 300 ticket holders.
Pro costs $169 a month, allowing 25,000 viewers at once.
Ultra costs $449 a month and provides unlimited viewers.
The trial
Selling one big event? One-time plans start at $36 for Lite. Their hours don’t expire. Monthly and yearly hours reset every month and don’t roll over.
Honest Limits
When is another pay-per-view platform better?
Territorial rights come first. Bury FC streams fixtures "subject to broadcasting regulations." Its Saturday 3pm league fixtures stream live only outside the UK, with some exceptions.
If your club's fixtures have similar rules, you need geo-blocking: BoxCast and Dacast offer this. For that or a per-ticket device cap, check with support before selling.
With your own checkout, refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax are your responsibility, with no platform-level protection.
A platform that manages the money handles these issues: Vimeo OTT collects and remits US sales tax and EU VAT. Its live pay-per-view is on the Enterprise plan, with no public price.
WpStream has no ad-supported model since running ads requires an ad stack it doesn't provide.
And it's built for live events. A promoter with only a pre-recorded film library would be better served by a VOD-only player like Presto Player.
You need a WordPress site with WooCommerce. Pay-per-view on WpStream won’t work without it.
More Pay-Per-View Resources
Pay-Per-View Video Streaming: Complete Setup Guide
Step-by-step setup from WooCommerce and the ticket product to the first paid stream and the replay.
How To Sell Access To Live Streams On Your Website
Pay-per-view or subscription setup with Stripe and the test purchase to run before event day.
The $8 stream nobody but Grandma will buy, and the £120 pass she will
Why clubs price a season pass for families who can’t travel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hosted platforms take a share of each ticket. As of September 2026, Dacast charges 9.9% + $0.40 per purchase, while Uscreen charges 5% to 10% of one-time sales plus processing.
With your own checkout on WpStream, the revenue share is 0%, and you only pay the processor fee (Stripe US: 2.9% + $0.30).
It depends on who holds the money. As of September 2026, Dacast’s first payout is after about 35 days. BoxCast pays at the end of each fiscal quarter, while Vimeo OTT pays on the 15th for the previous month.
With WpStream, payments go through your own checkout to your Stripe or PayPal account.
With your own checkout, you handle refunds and chargebacks via WooCommerce and your Stripe or PayPal account. Set a clear refund policy on the ticket page.
A merchant-of-record service like Cleeng covers tax remittance and chargeback handling in its fee. With WpStream, those issues remain with you.
Yes. After the event, change the WpStream product from Live Stream to Video on Demand and select the recording, allowing everyone who bought a ticket to maintain access.
To sell the replay separately, create a Pay-Per-View VOD from the recording and set its own price.
It depends on the plan: 200 viewers at once on Lite, 1,000 on Plus, 25,000 on Pro, and unlimited on Ultra.
All paid plans include unrestricted PPV streaming, counted in viewer hours on WpStream.
Sharing a link doesn’t share access. WpStream only plays the stream for logged-in buyers with completed orders.
Lock to Website prevents embedding on other sites. Optional encryption adds protection but may not work on some browsers.
Yes. Create a subscription product and attach the season’s channels; this requires the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension.
A single WpStream Pay-Per-View purchase covers that channel’s later broadcasts, so to charge per match, create a product for each match.
No. Pay-per-view streaming sites for fans sell access to other events.
It’s for organizers selling their own matches, shows, or competition days on their own website: WpStream runs the stream and WooCommerce takes payments.
Ready when you are
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