How to create a video streaming platform like Netflix

Netflix is one of the most popular video-streaming platforms with a diverse content library. The platform is available in around 190 countries with 277 million global subscribers as of 2024.

But — even with positive reviews and high ratings on different mobile app stores — it's still not perfect. Netflix faces several challenges that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can use to their advantage when creating a rival video streaming app.

For instance, the platform restricts the number of devices that can stream content simultaneously based on the subscription plan. This can be inconvenient for families or shared accounts when multiple people want to watch different shows at the same time.

Netflix also imposes limits on the number of devices that can store downloaded content simultaneously, depending on the user's subscription plan.

Additionally, there are restrictions on how many times a particular piece of content can be downloaded per year. Once users reach their limit, they can't download the content again until the licence refreshes, which can be frustrating.

Because of these complications, developing your own video streaming app could be highly rewarding.

In this guide, we'll delve into the features ‌ your video streaming app needs and explain how you can create your own streaming platform using Builder.ai.

What is a video streaming platform?

A video streaming platform is an online digital service that allows users to watch content in real-time over the internet. It offers ‌on-demand access to movies, TV shows, live events and documentaries on various devices like smartphones, tablets, computers‌ and smart TVs.

Viewers access these services through subscriptions, pay-per-view‌ or ad-supported models.

Video streaming apps are here to stay

Video streaming applications have revolutionised the way we consume media. The global video streaming market size was estimated to be $555.89 billion in 2023, with Netflix generating $33.7 billion in revenue the same year.

With internet connectivity improving worldwide and an explosion of content production already underway, streaming platforms aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Types of video streaming apps

There are a variety of video streaming apps‌, including…👇

Sports streaming services

These are specialised video streaming platforms for live and on-demand sports content, such as ESPN+ and DAZN. They cater to sports enthusiasts by offering access to live events, and sports-related shows from around the world.

Music video platforms

Music video platforms are dedicated streaming services that focus on music videos, concert footage‌ and related musical content. Examples include VEVO and YouTube Music.

Educational video platforms

These platforms offer a range of video content specifically designed to educate and inform, covering everything from academic subjects to practical skills. Students and teachers use these platforms to access courses, tutorials‌ and lectures. For example, Khan Academy and Coursera.

Kids’ streaming services

Kids’ streaming services are digital platforms that provide video content tailored specifically for children, including cartoons and educational shows. These services often include parental control features to ensure a safe viewing environment. Popular examples include Nickelodeon's Noggin and Disney+.

Live-streaming platforms

A live video streaming app allows users to broadcast video content in real-time over the internet. It captures video from a user's device, compresses it‌ and transmits it to viewers who can watch the broadcast as it happens. For example, Twitch and YouTube provide live-streaming services.

Must-have features of a video streaming platform

To create a video-streaming platform, you need a list of key features. These include …

User-friendly interface

A user-friendly interface in a video streaming app simplifies navigation, allowing users to quickly find what they’re looking for.

High-quality streaming

Offering resolutions of 720p or higher provides sharper images and better sound quality to users. You should also think about allowing resolutions to adjust automatically based on the user's internet speed, so they can have the best possible viewing experience.

Advanced search functionality

Advanced search functionality helps users ‌conduct more refined searches, allowing them to find content related to a particular keyword, genre or actor.

Multi-platform compatibility

Make your platform ‌accessible on various devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs‌ and mobile phones.

User profiles and recommendations

Having multiple profiles lets different people in a family create their own accounts under the same subscription. Each profile has its own history, preferences‌ and suggestions, personalising the user experience.

Parental controls

Parental controls restrict content, ensuring children only access age-appropriate material. Parents can also set viewing limits, monitor watch history‌ and lock certain features.

Offline viewing

Offline viewing enables users to download content and access it without an internet connection.

Who should you choose to build your video streaming platform?

There are many ways you can create a video streaming platform. If you’re a programmer, you could create one yourself. Just remember, this might take a while. A typical video streaming app like Netflix could have hundreds and thousands of lines of code.

Alternatively, you can hire a team of mobile app developers, as they can build robust video sharing apps with a range of custom features. However, the challenge here is to accurately calculate the total cost of app development.

They often charge on an hourly or daily basis, and once you factor in the costs of app development, design, app testing and listing, your expenses can quickly spiral out of control.

No-code app builders are a simpler, more budget-friendly solution. You don’t need coding skills to use them and you can build apps quickly by dragging and dropping pre-made components.

However, no-code platforms may lack the flexibility to add complex features or unique customisations. Scaling your app as your user base grows may also be problematic due to performance limitations.

This is where Builder.ai comes in. 👇

Want to start your app project with us?

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Speak with one of our product experts today.

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Why Builder.ai is different?

Builder.ai offers the best of both worlds. Our platform provides the customisation and scalability of professional developers along with the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of no-code builders, making it an ideal choice for developing your video sharing app.

Around 80% of all software is made up of around 650+ features. We package each basic feature as a reusable Lego-like block. Explain your idea to our AI companion, Natasha, and she uses these blocks to rapidly create an outline of your app.

The work is completed faster and cheaper because Natasha handles all the repetitive coding. Then it’s off to our app design team and mobile app developers. They personalise it and create any bespoke elements you need.

To build your video streaming platform, simply head over to Builder Studio. The Builder Studio platform has been built with user convenience in mind and intuitively guides you through the app creation process.

Let’s dive in with the step-by-step process 👇

1 - Discuss your ideas with Natasha

On Builder Studio, you’re welcomed by Natasha. You can express your video streaming app idea to Natasha via voice, text or uploading a PDF or doc file.

Before you chat with her, have a checklist of app features you want to create and be as descriptive as possible about your app idea. The more detailed information you give to Natasha, the better her suggestions will be.

For example, a prompt could look like this:

“I want to make a video streaming app like Netflix. The platform should support user account creation and management, allowing for personalised profiles within each account. It should feature an advanced recommendation engine that uses AI to suggest content based on viewing habits and preferences.

“The app needs to provide high-quality streaming capabilities that automatically adjust based on the user's internet speed. Additionally, it should include social sharing options, enabling users to share their favourite content with friends and family.

“The platform must also support many ways to pay for subscriptions. Finally, the app should work on many devices. This will make it easy to watch movies on a phone, tablet‌ or smart TV.”

2- Choose a base

Once you’ve described your requirements to Natasha, she’ll create a custom framework for your app based on everything you tell her. She'll also suggest some pre-built bases she thinks are best suited for your app.

For example, in the above image, once you tell her to create an app like Netflix, she’ll suggest a custom base similar to Netflix and share any matching core bases as well.

You can choose up to 3 you feel are related to your big idea by simply clicking the ‘+’ icon. These selections make it easier for us to understand the features your app needs. When you’re ready, click 'Next'.

3 - Make it mine

The ‘Make it Mine’ step allows you to pick colours and themes according to your application. The colour wheel helps you to customise colours according to your preferences.

Once you’ve personalised your app’s name, colour and logo, you can click ‘Next’.

4 - Refine your app idea

Now comes the fun bit.

In the 'Refine idea' stage, you can review and customise your app journeys and features and also create an instant prototype of your app.

Journeys

In only a matter of seconds, Natasha creates app user journeys with corresponding features.

Go through these journeys carefully and see if your app needs additional journeys. For instance, check if you want to add journeys for monetization, sending notifications or any other relevant journey.

To add journeys, click on 'See more suggestions'. Doing so will open the list of pre-built journeys. You can browse the list and select the journeys you’re missing. You can also add custom journeys by clicking on 'Add custom journey'.

Features

By clicking on individual journeys, you can see the feature list each journey contains. Doing so will open the features list each journey contains. You can scroll through the features list and check if a journey contains non-essential features or if you want to add extra features.

To remove a non-essential feature, you can hover over the feature and click ‘Remove’. This way you can manage project costs. If you’re not sure what features to remove, you can click on an individual feature and check the label at the top. We highly recommend keeping the ‘Essential Features’.

In case you want to add more features, you can simply click the ‘+’ button. Clicking the ‘+’ button will take you to the list of pre-built features. Here, you can go through different categories or use the search bar to look for missing functionality. In case you don’t find the feature you’re looking for, you can also add a custom feature by clicking on 'Add custom feature'.

Instant prototype and user flow

Once you’re happy with the journeys and features of your app, you can create a prototype by clicking on 'Preview your app' in the top-right corner.

Sign up and Natasha will create a working prototype of your app. You can click on the screen at different areas to progress through the journey.

You can also see the user flow by clicking on the 'Flow mode' at the top of the screen to see how users will interact and navigate within your app.

If you need extra help, Natasha is on hand to help.and you can interact with her at any time by clicking on 'Speak to Natasha'.

She’ll give you suggestions and help you find features or journeys from the library. Or you can click on 'Book a demo' to talk to our product managers who’ll guide you through your app development journey.

Click on 'Save & Continue' to go to next step and also to save your progress or it might get lost.

5 - Plan Delivery

It’s time to choose the platforms you want your video app to be available on. Want a video-streaming iOS app? Click iOS. Fancy a video-streaming Android app? Hit Android. Not sure whether Android or iOS is better? Choose both to develop simultaneously and see how it changes the price and timelines.

Next, you can choose to add Natasha to your platform to supercharge the customer experience of your video app. Natasha uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to engage your customers in fluid, human-like conversations.

Need more control? In the development speed, you can change the speed of each phase. Need it super fast? Pay extra and we’ll make it happen. No rush? Great, you can make big savings with relaxed timelines.

Next up is Design. If you have your app designs ready, you can save your costs by clicking 'You have design' and we’ll reduce your costs accordingly. You can share your design files (preferably in Figma) and our designers will upload them, so you can kick off straight away.

If not, you can choose the 'We do your designs'. Here, you simply need to add your brand assets and we'll do everything from storyboarding to fully designed screens.

Now it’s time to plan the phases of your project. Here you get three options:

• Clickable prototype: you’ll get a visual representation of your app to test with users

• Basic build: you’ll get an MVP (Minimum viable product) – a hard-coded but simplified version of your idea; this allows you to collect feedback and iterate before you do a full build

• Full Build: you’ll get market-ready software, including a kick-off with our product team and review sessions

After that, you need to select your support plans. With 'Full Build' you get one year of Studio One support included free of charge.

Once you’ve planned your delivery, click on 'View Buildcard'.

6 - Review Buildcard

Buildcard provides you with a bird's eye view of all the selections you made in the previous steps. Here, you can review all the features, cost per feature and delivery details.

You can also download the PDF of Buildcard or invite others to show your team members what you’re building.

If you want to make any changes, simply click on 'Edit Buildcard' under three dots in the top-right corner.

If you’re happy with everything, click on 'Add billing details' to go to the next section. Alternatively, if you want to review it with experts, click on 'Review with an expert'.

7 - Select your payment plan

We offer weekly or monthly payment instalments, with visible payment dates and amounts for each option. You can also choose to pay upfront to reduce the cost of your build.

Simply select your preferred billing cycle, then click 'Continue' to proceed.

You’ll be asked to input your payment details and agree to the terms and conditions. Once that’s done, click 'Continue to Payment'.

Once your payment is done, you can set up a meeting with our product managers to begin your app development.

8 - Monitor your app build in real-time

With Builder Home, your real-time project dashboard, you can monitor development progress and make sure your app is exactly the way you want it.

This includes ‌access to a suite of collaboration tools to help improve your app design. You can chat with your team of experts in Builder Meet, brainstorm in Builder Whiteboard and visualise your ideas with free Tailor-made prototypes from Builder Now.

Conclusion

While video streaming apps like Netflix have revolutionised how we consume content, they also have their own set of challenges.

Creating your video streaming app isn't just about entering a competitive market; it's about creating a space that better serves the diverse needs and preferences of the audience.

With the right features and a user-centric approach, your video streaming platform can provide a refreshing alternative to the industry giants.

This is where Builder.ai comes into play. We simplify the app development process and make it accessible to even those with limited technical knowledge. With us, you can bring entertainment to millions of people and open new doors for diverse content forms.

If that sounds good, hit the banner below and kick off your video streaming app project with us today 👇

Want to start your app project with us?

Book a demo

Speak with one of our product experts today.

By proceeding you agree to Builder.ai’s privacy policy and terms and conditions