Pay-To-View Lite vs Steady
Pay-To-View Lite
theappmill.comSteady
steady.pageSide by side
| Figure | Pay-To-View Lite | Steady |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Paywall Software | 8.1 (#10) | 7.7 (#12) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States | Berlin, Germany |
| Security | The listing says Pay-To-View Lite verifies PayPal orders server-side before granting access and uses signed, HTTP-only access cookies. | Steady’s API is accessible only over HTTPS and uses OAuth 2.0 for application authorization. |
| Support | The pricing page lists Lite support for 1 month and priority support for Pro. | The creator success team helps creators price membership tiers, plan launches and maintain momentum after launch. |
Plans
In their own words
Pay-To-View Lite
Pay-To-View Lite is a WordPress plugin for selling rentals of videos and other premium media from a creator’s own site. Customers pay through PayPal or supported card payments to unlock protected content, with access ending when the rental period expires. The plugin creates rental shortcodes and gives each protected item a unique Rental ID. It can protect embedded YouTube and Vimeo videos as well as self-hosted video, and the listing says it works with all video players. Lite applies one rental price and duration to every protected item; individual settings are a Pro feature. Completed rentals are recorded in WordPress admin, including buyer email, transaction reference, payment status, amount, and expiry details. Buyers can receive confirmation emails with configurable sender name, subject, and message. PayPal orders are verified server-side, and access uses signed, HTTP-only cookies. The listing says customer data is not sent to TheAppMill.com. Lite is free; Pro costs $29, paid once. It runs on the web and works without WooCommerce, memberships, subscriptions, or customer registration.
Steady
Steady is a web and API platform for independent media makers, including magazines, newsletters, podcasts and video channels. It helps creators publish newsletters and memberships and earn directly from audiences. Newsletter sending is free without audience limits or escalating costs. Memberships use recurring billing, with monthly or annual charges, and Steady takes a 10% commission on membership revenue once earning begins; payment-provider fees and VAT also apply. The service supports full-site content gating, flexible paywalls, embedded buttons and supporter prompts. Newsletter tools can welcome readers automatically, resurface selected work and re-engage quiet subscribers. Externally hosted podcasts can be gated by membership tier and distributed through Spotify or private RSS. Steady Code adds website layers and embeds regardless of a site’s CMS. Creator income is transferred in lump sums, and failed payments are retried automatically. The Free plan is free. Custom domains are not supported.