Buildable Works Alternative: OTT-Focused, Fixed 30-Day Delivery
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Buildable is a custom software agency based in Oregon, founded in 2008, that builds web applications, mobile apps, integrations and nonprofit software for a wide range of clients. If your project is a streaming platform, the decision is between a capable generalist agency and a team whose whole business is OTT.
Apexnova is the OTT-focused option: streaming platforms delivered on a fixed 30-day scope, from $4,999 one-time, with infrastructure engineered for about 35% lower cloud costs and 20 platforms already shipped.
Streaming apps live in the stores today.
Built end to end by our team and owned by the client. Each case study covers the product decisions and the engineering behind them. All case studies
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The short answer
General custom-software agency vs OTT specialist
General agencies are valuable because they adapt to almost any brief: business workflows, internal tools, customer portals, mobile apps. Their teams are strong at product discovery and application development, typically billing hourly against an evolving scope.
A streaming platform adds a layer most business software never touches: a media pipeline (ingest, encoding, packaging, DRM), a delivery network, players tuned for every device, and connected-TV app stores with their own certification rules. That layer is where timelines and budgets usually break.
Where a generalist agency is strong
- Broad applications where video is a supporting feature, not the core product.
- Discovery-led projects with uncertain requirements and lots of business logic.
- Long-term relationships covering many small systems for one organisation.
- Local, in-time-zone collaboration for teams that value it.
The streaming-specific work a generalist must learn
| Problem | Why it's hard | How Apexnova handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Studio DRM | Widevine, FairPlay and PlayReady each need licences, certificates and device testing | Proven multi-DRM workflow on every target |
| Adaptive bitrate | Quality switching on weak networks and low-end TVs | Per-title ladders, tuned HLS/DASH, native players |
| Connected TV | Roku BrightScript, Tizen, webOS and Fire OS each differ | Platform-specific apps, certification experience |
| Live concurrency | Traffic spikes 10–100× at kickoff | Autoscaling and multi-CDN routing |
| Delivery cost | CDN egress grows with every viewer | Infra engineered for about 35% lower cloud cost |
| Entitlements | Subscriptions, app-store billing, rentals and geo rights | Unified entitlement service and reconciliation |
Buildable Works vs Apexnova: side-by-side
| Apexnova | Buildable (general agency) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | OTT and streaming platforms | Custom web, mobile and business software |
| Pricing model | Fixed one-time fee: $4,999 to $10,499 | Typically hourly / estimate-based |
| Timeline | ~30 days focused launch | Scope-dependent |
| Connected-TV apps | Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Tizen, webOS | Not a stated specialism |
| DRM and monetization | Widevine + FairPlay; SVOD/AVOD/TVOD/FAST/PPV | Built per project |
| Ownership | Full code, accounts and data | Client-owned code under contract |
| Streaming track record | 20 platforms, 15M+ viewers | Streaming among many project types |
Which should you choose?
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Member portal or LMS with some embedded video | General agency |
| Many small internal systems, one ongoing partner | General agency |
| Subscription streaming service with TV apps | Apexnova |
| Licensed premium content that requires studio DRM | Apexnova |
| Live events or sports with unpredictable spikes | Apexnova |
| Fixed budget and launch date | Apexnova |
What a fixed 30-day OTT scope includes
Blueprint (week 1)
Devices, catalogue, rights, monetization model, and who owns which accounts and contracts.
Parallel build (weeks 2–3)
Web and mobile apps, player, DRM, CMS, entitlement and payment flows, encoding and CDN.
Launch (week 4)
Device QA, load test, store submissions and go-live with monitoring.
Expand
Connected-TV apps, live or FAST channels, recommendations and cost optimization, typically across 8–12 weeks for a Scale programme.
Pricing and scope boundaries are published in our OTT platform cost guide.
Questions to ask any agency quoting your streaming app
- Can you show streaming apps you've shipped to Roku, Fire TV or Smart TV stores?
- Which DRM provider will you use, and who holds that contract?
- How will you test playback on low-end devices and poor networks?
- Is the quote fixed, and what's excluded (store fees, DRM licences, CDN)?
- What's the projected monthly infrastructure cost at 10,000 and 100,000 viewers?
What you get
A production platform across web, iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Samsung/LG — native players, full DRM, scalable infrastructure with historic 99.99% uptime, multi-CDN routing, per-title encoding and AI analytics, supporting every revenue model from subscription to ad-supported to live pay-per-view. See video streaming app development for the full technical scope.
Hourly estimates vs a fixed OTT price
Custom-software agencies usually estimate in hours. That's fair for open-ended business software, but streaming estimates are notoriously hard for teams that haven't built one: DRM, TV certification and live load are where hours multiply.
| Fixed OTT package (Apexnova) | Hourly agency estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| What you're quoted | A price: $4,999 Launch, up to $10,499 Scale | A range of hours × rate |
| When you know the final cost | Before kickoff | After delivery |
| If DRM or TV store work runs long | Vendor absorbs it | More hours billed |
| Change requests | Priced explicitly | Added to the running total |
| Incentive | Ship efficiently | Neutral to time spent |
Get ready before you collect quotes
Whichever partner you choose, quotes are only comparable when they answer the same brief. Have these decisions ready:
- Content and rights — how many hours, which formats, and whether licensors require DRM or geo-restrictions.
- Devices at launch — web and mobile only, or Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Smart TVs too.
- Revenue model — subscriptions, ads, rentals, pay-per-view, or a mix; web billing, app-store billing or both.
- Live or on-demand — and, for live, expected peak concurrent viewers.
- Integrations — CRM, email, analytics, existing member databases or LMS.
- Accounts — your Apple, Google, Roku and Amazon developer accounts, domains and payment provider.
- Launch date — and what's driving it (a season, a premiere, a funding milestone).
A hybrid approach: keep your agency, add a streaming specialist
If you already work with a general agency you trust for your website, member portal or internal tools, you don't have to replace them. A common setup is for the agency to keep the marketing site and business systems while Apexnova builds the streaming platform and exposes clean APIs for sign-up, entitlements and viewing data.
| Workstream | Your current agency | Apexnova |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing website and CMS | ✓ | |
| Member portal, donations, events | ✓ | |
| Streaming apps on mobile and TV | ✓ | |
| Media pipeline, DRM, CDN | ✓ | |
| Subscriptions and entitlements API | Consumes | Provides |
What 20 shipped platforms changes
Repetition is what turns streaming from a research project into a delivery plan. Because the core components are proven, a new build spends its time on what's specific to you:
- Reused and hardened: multi-DRM workflow, native players, entitlement service, encoding and CDN setup, device QA matrix.
- Built for you: brand and design system, navigation and discovery, offers and bundles, integrations, analytics KPIs.
- Known in advance: store review timelines, device quirks, typical infrastructure cost per viewer hour.
That's what makes a fixed 30-day launch scope responsible rather than optimistic. Read more about OTT app development.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Buildable Works alternative for streaming?
For OTT-specific projects, Apexnova is a strong alternative: a streaming specialist with 20 platforms shipped, a fixed one-time fee from $4,999, about 30-day delivery for a focused launch, full ownership and about 35% lower cloud costs. A general agency may fit broader custom-software needs better.
Should I use an OTT specialist or a general software agency?
Use a specialist when streaming is the product — DRM, TV apps, subscriptions and delivery costs are where generalist projects slip. A general agency is reasonable when video is a minor feature inside a wider application.
How much does it cost to build a streaming app?
Apexnova's Launch package is $4,999 (₹4,50,000) and Scale is up to $10,499 (₹10,00,000), one-time. Cloud, CDN, DRM, payment and store costs are paid directly to those providers.
Do I keep ownership of the code?
Yes — full ownership of code, infrastructure and data, with no recurring per-subscriber fees.
Can you take over a streaming app another agency started?
Often, yes. We audit the existing code, media pipeline and infrastructure, then recommend whether to extend it or rebuild specific layers.
What should I prepare before asking for a streaming app quote?
Content volume and rights requirements, launch devices, revenue model, live vs on-demand and expected peak viewers, integrations, developer and payment accounts, and the launch date with what's driving it.
Can my current agency and Apexnova work together?
Yes. A common split is your agency keeping the website and business systems while Apexnova builds the streaming apps, media pipeline and entitlement APIs those systems connect to.
Why is a fixed price possible for OTT development?
Because the hard components — DRM, players, entitlements, encoding and CDN — are proven across 20 platforms. The remaining custom work is well understood, so it can be estimated accurately and the vendor can carry schedule risk.
Compare for your project
Tell us your requirements and we'll return a fixed-scope plan, launch date and projected infrastructure cost so you can compare on total cost of ownership, not just the build quote.