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You can sell your film online in three practical ways. An aggregator can deliver it to big stores like Prime Video. A creator store can host your sales page. Or you can run your own branded storefront, where viewers rent, buy or subscribe on your domain. Each route pays you differently and gives you a different amount of control over price, territory and buyers.
That's the short answer. The longer answer is worth ten minutes if you have finished features or shorts, an audience that already knows your work, and a decision to make soon. Some of you also have a deadline. Filmmakers who sell on Vimeo On Demand have told us they were given November 20, 2026 as its closing date, so check the date in your own Vimeo account. Every title, buyer and link on it will need a new home.
What are the real ways to sell your film online?
An independent filmmaker has three realistic routes. An aggregator delivers your film to large stores. A creator store gives you a hosted sales page on another company's platform. Your own storefront is a branded site, and optionally apps, where you set the prices, territories and windows and keep the relationship with every buyer.
Here is how the three compare on the things that decide your income.
Route | What you keep | Who owns the customer | Your control over price, territory and windows | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aggregator into big stores (for example, Prime Video through an aggregation partner) | Set by the store's terms and your aggregator contract: read both | The store | Low: the store controls the shelf; your deal sets territories | Low to start, but strict deliverables (masters, captions, artwork) |
Creator store (for example, Vimeo On Demand, while it runs) | Vimeo's page states 90% after transaction costs | The host platform holds the accounts | Medium: you set the price, rent or buy, and regions | Low |
Your own branded storefront (for example, Vodlix) | All rental, purchase and subscription revenue; you pay a pl … [cut: 11286 more characters are on the step's task] |
Frequently asked questions
How can I sell my film to Netflix?
Large subscription services license films through their own acquisition process, often with help from sales agents and distributors. It isn't a store you can upload to. For most independent filmmakers, the realistic first step is to sell direct: rentals and purchases on your own storefront or through an aggregator. Real sales, reviews and an audience are what make a film worth a licensing conversation later.
How do I get money for a short film?
Shorts earn the most when they sell to people who already know you. Rent or sell them individually from your own storefront, or group several shorts into one paid collection. An aggregator can put a short in front of a wider audience, but your share depends on the store's terms. Festivals and screenings help you build the audience that later pays.
How do I sell my movie on YouTube or my own website?
Use YouTube for trailers, clips and free reach, then send viewers to your own website to pay. A storefront platform gives your website a checkout, a protected player and buyer accounts on your domain. With Vodlix, rentals and purchases are included from the Launch plan, at $99 a month as of October 2026, and buyers pay through your own gateway.
Can I rent my film online instead of selling it?
Yes. Renting, known as transactional video on demand (TVOD), gives a viewer access to your film for a limited time for a one-off payment. Selling it to own, known as electronic sell-through (EST), lets them keep watching it. Many filmmakers offer both, with a lower rental price and a higher purchase price, so viewers can choose.
What happens to my films and buyers when a platform like Vimeo On Demand shuts down?
If a hosting store closes, expect its sales pages and player to stop working, and buyer accounts stay with that platform. Check the closing date in your own account. Before that date, download your master files, export whatever sales and buyer records the host allows, and save your reports. Then set up a new storefront, decide how you'll treat past buyers, and update every link that points to the old store.
How much does it cost to sell films on your own website?
On Vodlix, a branded web storefront with rentals and purchases starts at $99 a month on Launch, or $990 a year, as of October 2026. It includes 100 GB of storage and 500 GB of bandwidth a month, and Vodlix takes no share of your sales. Your payment provider charges its own processing fees, and phone apps start on Professional at $1,550 a month.
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