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Freemium

business

A model offering both free (ad-supported) and premium paid streaming tiers.

Explanation

Freemium is a business model that combines a free (usually ad-supported) tier with paid tiers that offer extras like ad-free viewing, higher quality, and offline downloads. Crunchyroll, YouTube, and Peacock use freemium models. The idea is to get free users to become paying subscribers over time.

Last updated: March 2026