How Much Does Video Streaming App Like Disney+ Development Cost?

If you give this thought a minute, video streaming app development is a profitable business. Since video streaming platforms are closely connected with the gaming and entertainment sector, businesses will always have a monumental user base and a potential market to target and earn revenue.

Speaking of successful video streaming apps, Disney+ has always drawn viewers from across the world, dashing the market with its premium video streaming service. 

Disney+ (or Disney+ as it’s also called) is a Disney owned streaming video service. It is fairly similar to the services like that of Apple TV, Netflix, HBO Now, streameast and Amazon Prime Video. For Disney+ too offers a library of TV shows and movies which can be viewed any time across a wide device range. 

In today’s era, Disney+ is a testament to how big the  OTT app development market is and what digital trends are underpinning the media and entertainment industry.

How is Disney+ different from other video streaming services?, you might want to know: 

How is Disney+ Different From Other Video Streaming Services?

The Disney streaming app gained wildfire popularity in no time and stood as one of the most downloaded apps at a stipulated time. The number of Disney+ subscribers recently reached a new height of 152.1 million in the third quarter of 2022, surpassing its biggest competitor Netflix in terms of subscriptions. 

This swift success of Disney+ served as a classic example of high returns on investment in OTT platforms . So, if you are wondering how to create a video streaming app like Disney+, now is the time to get started. 

Now, there are four significant factors such as the stunning features, user intuitive designs, tech stack and original content, responsible for the huge success of the Disney+ app, therefore, ensure that you closely consider all these factors.

While you are getting started with your video streaming app development like Disney+, your initial concern must revolve around Disney+ mobile app development cost. To give you an estimated range, the cost to develop an app like Disney+ varies from $50,000- 1,50,000 depending on multiple factors and requirements. 

Therefore, in this article, we are going to give you a rough estimate for app like Disney+ development cost. We will also look into a range of different cost facets: the features set, the platform choice, and the difference in cost, etc.

Let’s begin.

Premium Features of Video Streaming App like Disney+ 

Irrespective of which OTT video streaming application you look at, the feature set would be almost similar in all of them. What separates them in essence of how to create a streaming platform is the content. 

Nonetheless, knowing the features are a prominent part of estimating how much does it cost to build an app like Disney+, or any other similar video streaming applications. Here are the primary Disney+ video streaming app features that may directly impact your video streaming app development cost. 

1. User Profile 

The feature is uncontested. Your users MUST be given a platform wherein they are able to manage the entire experience. Some of the things that you should ask your Disney+ app developers to include in the user profile section are:

• Display settings 
• Account settings 
• Watchlist 
• Help 
• Sign in/Sign out

2. Explore & Search

Search functionality is one of the most prominent parts of any video streaming mobile application. Ideally, there should be multiple categorizations for the users to choose from. For example, Netflix has set categories around – Shows, Movies, and Genre. 

But since you are new to the sector and would be finding your grounds, limit the categories. This way, you or your partnered Disney+ app developers will be able to manually handle the distribution of content across categories.

3. Multilingual

Localization is the key to acquiring users. While the statement stands true for all the different mobile app categories, it becomes all the more real when answering how to create a streaming platform. After all, which user won’t enjoy watching content in their regional language. 

The multilingual app challenge you might face in app development will highly depend on the key geographical areas you are serving. However, if you aim to reach a worldwide audience, make sure your video streaming app is multilingual in terms of both app and content language. 

4. Social Sharing

By playing a massive role in the process of making an app famous, social sharing has made itself a must-have feature of a majority of applications. And an answer to how to build a video streaming app like Disney+. 

It is imperative that you have social media icons next to the TV show or movie listing to make it possible for the users to share what they are watching/ willing to watch with their social network. 

You might also want to know, how much does it cost to develop a social media app?

5. Screen Mirroring

Typically, the number of connected devices a person would use is six. In a situation like this, can a brand afford to only be present on smartphones? The answer is no. You cannot.

Screen mirroring is the one factor that all the video streaming platforms have realized and adopted. In fact, the adoption is so much so that making your brand present on multiple devices has become a must-have feature. 

The importance is the reason why Disney+ has expanded its supported streaming platforms. Here are devices you can stream Disney+ on:

• Apple TV, iPhone and iPad
• Roku’s boxes, sticks and TVs
• Xbox One
• Phones and TVs running on Android operating systems, and Chromecast streamers
• Amazon Fire TV devices
• PlayStation 4.
• LG smart TVs
• Samsung smart TVs

While the list is fairly long, it should depend on your target segment how many platforms you are planning to add in the Disney+ app development plan. 

6. In-app Purchase 

The next unquestionable must-have feature that affects the cost of Disney+ app development is in-app purchase. The feature is how users will be able to pay you the monthly/yearly subscription. To implement various app monetization models, you must know how apps make money.

7. Push Notifications

With an average American subscriber using 3.4 video streaming services, the need for the implementation of a well-devised push notification strategy is apparent. It is what would help you keep the users engaged with your application and not pass to other service providers. 

You can also integrate additional advanced features such as Geolocking, content recommendation algorithms, live streaming, etc. to enrich and make your video streaming app interesting. 

While these were the top seven features for a successful video streaming service like Disney+, you might also want to consider the technology stack that makes video streaming apps efficient and sustainable. 

The Disney+ App Technology Stack

Developing an OTT video streaming application, whether it’s like Disney+ which only has original content or like Netflix, which has content from multiple flagships, requires a well chosen tech stack. 

The success of any Disney+ clone app development relies heavily on the tech stack used. 

While the technology stack used in Disney+ app development is yet to be revealed, let us look into the one that generally backs OTT platforms. 

Here is the breakdown of tech stack required for developing an app like Disney+ based on various platforms:

How Much Does it Cost to Build an App like Disney+

The estimation of video streaming apps like Disney+ development cost comes down to three main factors. 

• The number of features that you are adding in the application
• The number of platforms you want the application working on
• The geographical location of your partnered entertainment app development company.

Number of features, the first factor, along with the technology stack is what separates a $10,000 application from a $100,000 mobile app. 

The Disney+ app development cost is also based on app complexity, such as

1. Simple complex app-

Apps with features like user registration, payment gateway, video gallery, social media integration, basic video player, search, and settings.

2. Medium complex app

Apps with light version features such as localization, subtitles, advanced video player.

3. Heavily complex app

Apps with advanced features such as the ability to search for friends, push notification, chat, add reviews, comments.

The second factor that affects the video streaming app like Disney+ development cost is the number of platforms the app would function on.

The cost would rise as you move from one platform, say Android or iOS to both Android and iOS. It will keep on rising as you add more platforms in the mix.

The third factor is the geographical location your partnered mobile app development is based in.

The average per hour mobile app development cost varies from East to West. While in the western nations like the USA or Australia, the average hourly rate would vary from $80 to $200, in Eastern nations like India, the cost would be somewhere around $25 to $80.

Besides these three, the video streaming app like Disney+ development cost also depends on how you design a video streaming service. 

The Disney+ Application Design Cost

Creating a video streaming application with the intent to make it popular in the already crowded market is difficult. Ultimately, your success will depend on two things: The feature set and how you design a video streaming service. 

The former is expensive to employ. The latter isn’t. 

The whole idea behind the designing of a video streaming application like Disney+ is increasing engagement and eliminating clutter. When we describe the Disney+ design, the right word choice would be “Simple”. 

The interface focuses on dividing the content in rows which users can scroll through on the basis of personal recommendations, curated selection, and new releases. The topmost row comes with a carousel with some priority titles to scroll through including newer theatrical releases. 

The whole idea behind Disney+ app design is to focus on the content that falls under Walt Disney flagship and not on the product.

The range that we can set, considering the above mentioned MVP like features, elements, and design for Disney+ like app development cost varies from $20,000 – $80,000. However, keep in mind that the range might also vary if you add specific extended functionalities, designs and tech features. 

With the financial and logical parts of the Disney+ like application development cost now attended to, let us head on to the business side of it. 

[Also Read: How much does it cost to build an Arabic content streaming platform like Shahid]

How to Make Money on Your Disney+ Like App Idea?

OTT Video streaming sector operates with three main monetization approaches. Here are the ones that Disney+ mobile app development companies generally vouch for:

1. SVOD- Charge your users a recurrent fee – monthly or yearly – to access your video content. It is the model that 80% of the video streaming platforms use. 
2. TVOD: Charge your users for the content they watch. They will not be paying anything when logging in the application.
3. AVOD: Charge money from the advertisers and not the end users. The money earned through this route is then used for offsetting the production, and hosting.

Now, here’s a bonus section for you. Do you want to explore certain marketing strategies that made Disney+ app popular among its user base? Well, here’s how your video streaming app can get popular too. 

Marketing Strategies That Made Disney+ App Popular

Even amidst a heavy competition coming in from the domain’s giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Disney+ was able to get a million people subscriber right when it opened its launch website. 

The reason behind this mass attention that the application has been able to achieve is the doing of memories. 

Yes! Majority of the people who have downloaded the application or have shown an interest in waiting for the app to get live, are doing it out of the emotions they have towards the brand: the sentiment that Disney brings back their childhood memories. 

Besides the age-old connection sentiment, what sets Disney apart is the app marketing and promotion strategies it follows on other platforms through partnerships. 

• The brand partnered with Verizon to populate their application within the latter’s user base.

• Disney also came up with a Cyber Monday deal. As a part of the deal, new annual subscribers could save $10 on the first year of their Disney+ subscription. This brought down the price from $69.99 to $59.99. 
• An extension of the promotion was where Disney+ partnered with Google. Under this partnership, the new Chromebook owners would get 3 months of Disney+ subscriptions with their device purchase.

Also Read- How much does it cost to build an AI video generator like Synthesia

How Can Appinventiv Help You With Video Streaming App Development Like Disney+?

Appinventiv is a leading OTT app development company that blends mobility with media and distributes it to the world. Appinventiv offers custom media and entertainment mobile app development solutions which are designed to not just make your brand a household name but also to keep your brand above the ever-growing crowd of entertainment mobile apps.

Our range of mobile app development solutions include: 

• Video streaming apps
• Music streaming apps
• Photo editing and sharing apps
• Gaming apps
• Content aggregation apps and more

Our team of industrial experts specializes in introducing the most innovative of Next-Gen industries into media and entertainment industry app development. Talk to our experts to get started now.

THE AUTHOR

Saurabh Singh

CEO & Director