Brett Lindenberg
A video paywall is a payment step in front of a video. Viewers pay before the first frame, or they watch a free preview and pay to keep watching at a point you choose. To sell a recorded video, connect a payment account such as Stripe to a player or platform that has a paywall, set the price and the payment point, and test the purchase as a buyer before you share the link. A live stream needs a streaming platform that sells tickets or pay-per-view access. Mindstamp does not stream live, but our video paywall can sell the recording afterward, with or without a free preview.
Decide what one payment buys
Pick the pricing model before you pick a tool, because each platform supports a different mix.
| Model | One payment buys | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Pay per view | Access to one video | A workshop recording, a masterclass, a paid research briefing |
| Rental | Access to one video for a set period | A film screening, an event replay sold for a limited time |
| Subscription or membership | Access to a library, or to new videos each month | A weekly fitness class, a creator who publishes often |
Our paywall sells one video for one payment, and you choose how long the buyer's access lasts, so it covers pay per view and rentals. For a subscription library, use one of the membership platforms below.
Video paywall services compared
The platform you choose decides who collects sales tax and whether you can charge for a live stream. We checked each vendor's own pricing and help pages in October 2026.
| Option | How viewers pay | Live streams | What you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube channel memberships | A monthly membership; perks can include members-only videos | Members-only live streams | A share of membership revenue goes to YouTube; your channel must be in the YouTube Partner Program |
| Patreon | Monthly or annual memberships and one-time payments | Native livestreaming | 10% of the income you earn, plus payment processing, currency conversion, and payout fees |
| Uscreen | Subscriptions, one-time purchases, pay per view, and rentals | Native livestreaming | Starter is $49 a month for up to 100 subscribers, with a 10% fee on one-time sales; Growth and App Essentials charge 5% on one-time sales plus a per-subscriber fee |
| Vimeo OTT | Subscriptions and one-time purchases | Live pay-per-view on the Enterprise plan | Starter is $1 per subscriber per month and 10% of one-time purchases; Enterprise needs an annual agreement |
| Dacast | Pay per view or subscription, with promo codes and viewing windows | Live and on-demand pay per view | The paywall starts on the Event plan, $63 a month billed annually |
| Mindstamp | One payment for one video, before playback or after a free preview | No live streaming; sells the recording | A Mindstamp plan, Stripe's fee, and a Mindstamp processing fee of 5% of each sale, with a minimum of $1 |
Sources: YouTube membership perks, Patreon pricing, Uscreen pricing, Vimeo OTT pricing, Dacast plans, and our pricing page.
Ad revenue and memberships on YouTube need an audience first. To join the YouTube Partner Program, a channel needs 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days (YouTube Help, checked October 2026). YouTube also reviews each channel against its monetization policies before it admits the channel. Patreon and Uscreen suit creators who publish new work for the same fans every month.
A one-video paywall fits when the video is the product and the buyer may never subscribe to anything, such as a workshop recording or the replay of a ticketed event.
Check who handles tax. Patreon says it takes care of most applicable tax collection and remittance, and Vimeo says it collects and remits tax on OTT transactions based on where the buyer is. Our paywall charges through your own Stripe account, so you are the seller, and sales tax or VAT on those sales is yours to handle. This is general information, not legal advice.
How to offer a free preview before checkout
You can let people sample a paid video in two ways. One is a separate free trailer or sample lesson next to the paid video. The other puts the payment step partway through the same video: the viewer starts watching, and at the time you set, the video pauses and asks for payment to continue. The second keeps the buyer in one player at the moment they want the next part.
In Mindstamp, choose At specific time in the paywall settings and enter the time. Viewers watch up to that point for free. If someone drags the playhead past it, the payment step still appears. After payment, the video continues from the same point.
Where to put the payment point
Put it after the preview has given the viewer something useful and before the part they came for. In a course, that might be the end of the first lesson. In an event replay, it might be the end of the opening session.
Viewers who leave before the payment point never see the offer. Across 8.07 million views of 18,315 Mindstamp videos (2018 to October 2026), the average view played 46.5% of the video. Those videos are mostly training, marketing, and sales content made by Mindstamp customers, so paid video can behave differently. Even so, a payment step near the end of a long video is one that many viewers will not reach. After launch, open your video reports to see where viewers stop (drop-off by section is on Core and higher plans), and move the payment point earlier if many leave before it.
Let the preview sell the rest
The paywall sits on an interactive video, so the free section can do more than play.
- Add chapters so viewers see the full outline, including the sections behind the paywall, before they decide.
- Add lead capture before the payment point to keep the email address of viewers who watch the preview and do not buy.
How to set up a video paywall in Mindstamp
You need a Stripe account and one video. The paywall tutorial shows the same steps on video.
- In Mindstamp, open Integrations, select Stripe, and connect your Stripe account. If you do not have one, you can create it during this step. Payments go to your Stripe account.
- Open the video you want to sell, select Paywall in the video menu, and turn the paywall on.
- Under "When should payment be captured?", choose Before the video plays, or choose At specific time and enter the time.
- Set the amount and the currency. The panel shows Stripe's fee, Mindstamp's processing fee, and an estimate of what you earn from each sale.
- Choose how long the buyer's access link stays available: 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, or forever.
- Enter a contact email. Sale notifications and refund requests go to this address.
- Save, then test the purchase as a buyer.
- Share the link, or embed the video on your site.
Test the purchase before you share the video
The paywall does not appear while you edit the video, so test it from the share link in a private browser window. Play to the payment point, check the price and currency, and complete a purchase. Then open the link again in a new private window and check how a returning buyer gets back in. A test with a real card costs you Stripe's fee even if you refund it, because Stripe does not return processing fees on refunds (Stripe pricing, checked October 2026).
What the buyer sees
At the payment point, the video pauses and a Payment Required panel shows the price. The buyer enters an email address, pays by card in a Stripe payment form inside the player, and selects Continue to keep watching. Stripe emails the receipt, and Mindstamp emails a link back to the video that works for the access period you chose. If a buyer who already paid enters the same email at the paywall again, Mindstamp emails a new access link and does not charge them twice. Buyers do not need a Mindstamp account.
In your reports, you see who paid, who watched, and how far each person got.
Protect the video you sell
- Use a source that is not public anywhere else. Upload the file to Mindstamp or link it from a host you control (see supported video sources). YouTube links are for testing only, and a video that is public on YouTube is free to anyone who finds it there.
- If you embed the video on your own site, add that site under allowed embed domains (Core and higher plans) so other sites cannot embed it. Keep the share link working, because the access links that buyers receive use it.
- Choose the access period with sharing in mind. An access link opens the video for anyone who has it until it expires, so a shorter period limits how long a forwarded link works.
- For a group that should not pay per person, such as your own staff, use a password or access list instead of a paywall.
Paywalls for live streams
Mindstamp does not provide live streaming, so our paywall works on recorded video. To charge for a live event, use a streaming platform that sells access to the stream. From the vendor pages above, checked October 2026:
- Dacast lists pay-per-view and subscription paywalls for live and on-demand video, with promo codes and viewing windows.
- Vimeo OTT lists live pay-per-view on its Enterprise plan.
- YouTube lets channels in the Partner Program stream live to members only.
- Uscreen and Patreon both list native livestreaming.
After the event, sell the recording with a paywall and give late viewers what the live session could not: chapters that jump to each session, and questions that check what they took in. The live-to-on-demand example shows a replay that carries a choice from the live session into the recording. For encoder settings and stream keys, see our guide to RTMP live streams.
Common questions
How much does it cost to sell a video behind a paywall?
Each sale pays Stripe's fee. In the US, that is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card payment, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% when the payment needs currency conversion (Stripe pricing, checked October 2026). The fixed 30¢ weighs more on cheap videos: on a $5 video, Stripe's fee is about 45¢, or 9% of the price, and on a $50 video it is $1.75, or 3.5%. Mindstamp adds a processing fee of 5% of each sale, with a minimum of $1, and the paywall settings show both fees and your estimated earnings before you save. You can also charge in currencies other than USD; the settings note that extra fees may apply. The video paywall is a shared feature on every plan on our pricing page.
Can I sell a course or a bundle of videos?
In Mindstamp, you set the paywall on each video, and each purchase unlocks that one video. To sell several lessons as one course, sell the course on a course platform and embed the interactive videos in its lessons. Our help center shows how to embed a Mindstamp video in Thinkific. If you sell training to companies, see our guide to selling video training online.
How do refunds work?
Refund requests go to the contact email in your paywall settings. The payment sits in your Stripe account, so you issue the refund there, and Stripe keeps its original processing fee.
Should I use a paywall or shoppable video?
Use a paywall when the video is the product. When the video sells a physical product, let viewers shop from inside it instead. Our guide to interactive shoppable video covers clickable products and in-video carts.
How do I test a paid video before I commit?
Pick one recording that people already ask to buy, set the payment point after its first useful section, and run a test purchase from the share link. The Mindstamp free trial lasts 14 days and needs no payment card.
