How To Create a Vertical Video Format Micro-drama App

Micro-drama OTT apps are booming, they are everywhere. In China, almost half of its internet users rely on micro-drama apps to pass time during their commute or lunch break. 

Well, the popularity of Micro-drama is not just confined to China; it has spread beyond boundaries. Viewers from the West have started embracing the experience of short-form dramas on their vertical screen, and they are loving it.

In this blog, we are going to showcase the micro-drama global market insights and its driving factors. We will also present a step-by-step guide on how to launch your own-branded micro-drama OTT app, that too without writing a single line of code.

This is the right time to tap into the micro-drama niche and position your short-form videos at the forefront of this entertainment revolution.

Why are Micro-dramas so popular?

Micro-dramas are terribly tiny but very addictive. Their engaging storytelling, with dramatic plot twists and cliffhangers, makes viewers curious to know what’s happening next.

Typically, micro drama shows may have 60-100 episodes, with a per-episode running time of 30-120 seconds. And these are specifically designed to be watched on the vertical mobile screen. This makes Micro-dramas the perfect short-form entertainment for viewers who are busy with their fast-paced lifestyles and do not want to give significant time commitments.

Another thing is that Micro-dramas are not user-generated content; these are professionally written and filmed by experts, and this makes a whole lot of difference in the short format storytelling, compelling the viewers to binge-watch as many episodes as possible in one go.

Micro-drama Market Overview 

The micro drama genre has witnessed an unprecedented surge in popularity over the past year. Especially, in China, the micro drama industry surged to a market size of 50.44 billion yuan (6.91 billion US dollars) in 2024 and is expected to surpass the 100 billion yuan mark by 2027. 

Based on research from the China Internet Network Information Center, over 52.4% of China’s internet users, i.e., 662 million users, engaged with micro-dramas or ultra-short fiction content, reflecting the format’s widespread popularity.

As per the survey, Red Fruit (Hongguo) is the most popular micro drama app in China with over 120 million monthly users. The report also stated that the prevalence of short drama addiction is highly noticeable among middle-aged and mature adults in China.

While China continues to be the epicenter of Micro-drama production & consumption, the popularity of short dramas is also increasing in Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe. 

Countries like Indonesia and India are experiencing rapid adoption, driven by mobile-first audiences and a growing appetite for short-form content. The U.S. market is also witnessing significant revenue growth, with platforms like ReelShort gaining popularity among viewers seeking quick, engaging short-form drama narratives.

Which Are The Top Micro-drama Streaming Apps?

The most popular micro-drama apps in the entertainment segment include ReelShort, GoodShort, DramaBox, ShortMax, and FlickReels. All these OTT apps are exclusively designed for mobile audiences and hence feature a vertical video format.

According to a recent Omdia report, Asia’s top micro-drama apps reached a cumulative total of 150 million monthly active users in February 2025, which reflects a significant growth in the genre over the last year. 

A report by AppFigures also states that the top 3 short drama streaming apps – DramaBox, ShortMax, and ReelShort earned over 3 million US dollars in revenue in one single day, which is huge in any genre.

DramaBox leads the app store revenue growth as its revenue increased from $8M in 2023 to $217M in 2024, while ReelShort witnessed a revenue growth from $36M in 2023 to $214M in 2024.

Now, talking about the popular micro-drama titles that have garnered much attention from the global audience includes –

• Spoiled By My Billionaire Husband available on ShotShort
• Cause You Were Never Mine available on DramaBox
• Modern Journey Of an Ancient Queen – FlickReels
• Fated To The Alpha – ReelShort
• The CEO’s Mute Bride – GoodShort

What’s Driving The Micro-drama Trend?

Before you start building your micro-drama OTT streaming platform, it’s essential to understand the factors that are driving the popularity of the Micro-drama industry.

• Mobile-First Consumption: Over the decade, content consumption has shifted to mobile devices, enabling mobile users to consume content on the go. Powered by the vertical video format, micro-drama apps perfectly match the mobile viewer’s demand for instant gratification, just like social media.

• Viewer’s Shrinking Attention Span: The growth of DramaBox and ReelShort-like short video apps is a testament to modern audiences’ hunger for snackable content, which can be consumed quickly during commute, lunch breaks, or leisure time.

• Low Production Cost – High Returns:  Microdramas are characterized by their short-form content, typically under two minutes per episode, which significantly reduces production costs. Budgets for short drama series can be as low as $ 50,000, but the returns could be $2 million almost overnight.

• Big Monetization Scopes: Advertising during episodes or integrating brands into the storyline organically, or coin-based episode streaming, different monetization methods can be applied to Micro-dramas. Even viewers can be charged per episode or offered a subscription fee.

• Use of AI in Micro-drama content creation: From scriptwriting to editing, AI tools facilitate rapid development of story ideas and automate repetitive tasks, enabling creators to produce high-quality micro-drama content efficiently and at scale. FYI, platforms like ReelShort use AI to modify plotlines based on viewer feedback instantly.

• Entry of major streaming platforms: Tencent, IQIYI, Youku from China, Viddsee from Singapore, Tving and Watcha from South Korea, ReelSaga from India. Many major streaming services have started to embrace the vertical video format micro-drama streaming on their mobile platforms.

Microdramas are already dominating the short-form entertainment space. They serve as a quick mental escape for Adults who are otherwise stuck with fast-paced, busy schedules. And for advertisers, OTT entrepreneurs, and investors, Micro-dramas have become the ultimate money-making machine on automation.

It’s a great time to build a microdrama app and cater to the shifting mobile-viewing needs of global audiences. Muvi Shorts allows you to launch your own-branded micro-drama OTT app instantly, both on iOS and Android mobile ecosystems, without writing a single line of code.

How To Create a Micro-drama OTT App like ReelShort – Step-by-Step Guide

Building a microdrama OTT app like ReelShort or DramaBox involves a strategic blend of market research and technical platform setup. It’s okay if you don’t know any coding language; our step-by-step guide will help you launch your own microdrama streaming platform without any technical expertise or coding knowledge.

Step 1: Define Your Micro-drama Niche:

Every Micro-drama streaming platform has its own niche. FlickReels is known for viral short dramas with cinematic flair, ReelShort is popular for its cross-cultural international dramas, while GoodShort is best known for its romantic and light comedy short drama series.

You also need to identify a specific niche, be it horror, thriller, action, comedy, or revenge. Conduct a thorough online research and identify the audience interested in your niche. 

For example, ReelShort caters to middle-aged women globally, and hence its micro-dramas are mostly romantic and dramatic marital stories involving women.

Step 2: Find The Right Platform For Micro-drama OTT App Development

After defining your niche and audience, the next important thing is to find an OTT app builder that would help you launch your micro-drama app like ReelShort. Make a list of popular OTT app builders such as Muvi, UScreen, Builder AI, and analyze which platform suits your micro-drama app development needs.

We suggest choosing an OTT app builder that provides a secure streaming infrastructure with an integrated content management system and monetization modules. Check for the storage and bandwidth offered by the streaming platform.

Most importantly, compare the pricing of the OTT platforms and the charges for short video app development, and see if it fits within your budget or not. It’s recommended to avail a monthly subscription plan and not to opt for a platform that requires huge upfront investment.

Step 3: Upload and Create Micro-drama episodes

Once the OTT setup is done. It’s time to upload your micro-drama content to the video streaming platform. You can bulk upload all your short videos in one go, edit & trim them into bite-sized serial episodes, and categorize them into sections with appropriate titles & metadata. 

Make sure the videos are bite-sized, like 60 seconds to 120 seconds, and the ideal episode count for a single series should be around 60-65. You can also create playlists and organize all your micro-drama episodes into a structured library.

Step 4: Customize Your Video Player Settings

Vertical video format is the latest trend in the micro-drama space. You also need to enable an edge-to-edge portrait video player to ensure the best mobile viewing experience for viewers. 

Add your brand logo and desired colour tone for the video player. For an enhanced micro-drama streaming experience, you can also enable multiple playback control options like Play/Pause, Subtitles & Audio tracks, Resolution Selector, Add to Favorites, etc, in your online video player.

Step 5: Select Monetization Method

Micro-drama OTT apps can be monetized in various ways – Subscriptions, ads, pay-per-view, coupons/vouchers, or Hybrid (Ads + Subscription). When building a short video app like ReelsShort or DramaBox, make sure to enable your preferred monetization engine. 

The OTT streaming platform comes with pre-built monetization modules with integrated payment gateways and billing algorithms. You just need to activate the monetization feature from the CMS, and you’re all set to receive money in your bank account.

Step 6: Deploy Your App on iOS and Android Ecosystems

No-code OTT App builders like Muvi allow you to deploy mobile streaming apps on both iOS and Android platforms without writing a single line of code. The short video app development framework is already built; you just need to customize it as per your brand identity and Micro-drama streaming needs.

Once your short video app development gets completed, publish your apps in the App Store and the Google Play Store. Optimize your app listing with relevant keywords, description, and visuals for better visibility.

Step 7: Preview & Make your Micro-drama App Live

Preview and test the user-login modules, the payment workflow, and the quality of micro-drama streaming. Make sure everything is working properly and up-to-the mark. 

Publish your Micro-drama app live and start promoting it across social media and search engines. Collaborate with influencers and run paid ad campaigns to broaden your audience reach across geographies.

What’s The Best Way To Monetize Micro-dramas?

We would say Ads would be the best way to monetize your micro-dramas. You will find plenty of advertisers through third-party ad servers, who want to advertise their product/brand between video streams. Here’s an expert short video monetization method that has worked for popular micro-drama apps.

• The first few episodes of the micro-drama should be offered for free. Say 5 episodes.
• The remaining episodes will only unlock by paying a fee, either through a monthly subscription or a per-episode fee.
• Enable coin-based offerings – allow viewers to unlock subsequent episodes by using in-app coins, which they have earned by checking in daily, staying on the app for at least five minutes, and following your platform’s social media accounts.

If you’re not sure about adopting this innovative hybrid model for video monetization, you can always opt for the ads-only method.

Launch your Micro-drama OTT App Instantly with Muvi Shorts

The microdrama revolution is here, and there’s no better time to ride the wave. With Muvi Shorts, you can launch your own branded short-video OTT platform—no coding, no hassle, and no delays.

Everything that is essential for a short video streaming platform, i.e., Cloud storage, CDNs, Content Management System, Encoding & Transcoding servers, Vertical Video Player, Monetization, Payment Gateways, DRM, Analytics, is already integrated into the Muvi Shorts platform. You just need to select your Micro-drama template and get started with short drama streaming instantly.

Why Choose Muvi Shorts?

• No-Code, Full Control: Build and manage your app without writing a single line of code.

• Mobile-First Experience: Deliver an immersive, edge-to-edge portrait video player optimized for vertical content.

• Smart Recommendations: Keep viewers engaged with personalized content suggestions powered by the AI-powered recommendation engine.

• No-code OTT App builder: Deploy Micro-drama apps across iOS and Android without coding

• Robust Monetization: Implement various revenue models, including subscriptions, pay-per-view, and ad-supported content.

Don’t miss the opportunity to captivate audiences with your unique microdrama content. Get started with Muvi Shorts today.

Recommended Reads:

How To Create A Short Video App like ReelShort Without Coding?

Best Short Video Platforms in 2024 – Global

How to Create Apps Like TikTok WITHOUT CODING

10 Best Video Streaming App Builders To Create Your Own Streaming App

Top 5 Features You Must Have in your Video Streaming app