SurfLingo VOD · in development

Vimeo On Demand is closing. SurfLingo VOD is rising.

We’re building video on demand for small creators: 5% commission, no subscription, and subtitles that turn every film into a language lesson. It’s in development, and your work can already come in.

Submit a workSee the build

One email, at launch. No newsletter.

Free · No exclusivity · Withdraw at any time

Coming from Vimeo On Demand?See the works already published

Your pricing

Free, pay what you want, or your price.

Your video can be free, paid at a price the viewer sets, or sold at your price, as a rental or for life. You choose the model work by work, and can change it later.

  • Open

    Free

    Open to every viewer. To find an audience again, or to give your former Vimeo buyers their access back without asking them for anything.

  • In progress

    Pay what you want

    Set by the viewer: everyone pays what they like, above the minimum you choose, zero included.

  • Your price

    You set the amount, work by work, and choose the format.

    • Rental · 48 h by default, or the length you chooseOpen
    • For life · the viewer buys it once and for allIn progress

On paid models: 5% commission, plus payment fees. Nothing on free works.

The build

The wave is forming.

SurfLingo VOD is in development. Here’s what already works, and what’s being built right now.

  1. OpenSubmitting workOne form, five minutes. Every submission is read by a person.
  2. OpenFree or for rentYou set the price and the rental length, work by work. Viewers pay with PayPal.
  3. OpenClickable subtitlesYours, or generated free of charge, then checked with you before going live.
  4. In progressYour payoutsPayments to creators are being built. You’ll hear from us before the first payout.
  5. In progressLifetime purchaseSell a work once and for all, alongside rentals.
  6. In progressPay what you wantThe viewer sets the price, above the minimum you choose.

Vimeo’s timeline

The window closes on 20 November.

  1. 22 August 2026No new titles can be uploaded
  2. 21 September 2026No new purchases or subscriptions
  3. 21 October 2026Final payouts to sellers
  4. Today29 October 2026. Submissions are open on SurfLingo VOD.
  5. 20 November 2026Full shutdown, viewers lose access
Which date actually stops your income?21 September, not 20 November. Closing purchases cuts the money off two months before the service itself goes dark; in between, your storefront stays visible but sells nothing. That is the date to plan your move around, and it is the one most articles skip over.
Your buyers lose access to what they paid for. What can you offer them?This is the most painful part, and the least discussed: after 20 November, the people who bought or rented a film from you can no longer watch it, and they take it up with you — even though none of it is your doing. SurfLingo’s free mode exists precisely for this: giving your former buyers access again without asking them for anything, on a link you can send them. It does not replace the sale, but it settles the matter of your word.

Source: Vimeo’s official notice.

For small creators

Your film, your price, an audience that comes for the language.

  • 5%commission, written into the contract. Vimeo On Demand kept 10%. On a €4 rental, you get €3.80, minus payment fees.
  • €0to submit, host or have your subtitles generated. No creator subscription.
  • Your rightsYou keep them all. We only use your work within the agreed terms, and never derive any training data from it.
  • An audiencethat comes for the language: every word of your subtitles becomes clickable, defined and graded by level. Your back catalogue becomes an asset again.
  • No stringsNo exclusivity: show your work elsewhere at the same time, and take it down on request, within 30 days.

What SurfLingo VOD is not.

  • It is not an OTT platform: no TV app, no Roku, no Apple TV.
  • There is no DRM. We prevent viewer downloads, not screen recording.
  • The payment provider’s fees come on top of our 5% commission, and they do not come to us either.
  • The catalogue is being built. First-wave creators shape its scope — that is a real advantage, but it is not an audience you already have.

Your films don’t have to go dark with Vimeo On Demand.

Submissions are open while we build the rest. Every work is read by a person, and we answer every request, including when it’s a no.

One file, one subtitle track.

  • A video, or audioMP4 preferred, MKV and MOV accepted. For a podcast, an MP3 is enough. We work from the link you give us — nothing to upload here.
  • At least one subtitle trackIn .srt, in the spoken language. That is what makes a work usable straight away: with no text, there is no word to click.
  • No subtitles? We generate themFree of charge, with our transcription models, and we send them to you for review before anything goes live. You keep the final say on the text.

Rather see it first?

Twenty minutes over video: we open the app on a clip from your film, you see what your subtitles become, and you decide afterwards.

I would like a demo before deciding

Submit a work

Tell us about your film.

A well-filled submission saves three rounds of email. We answer every request.

YouStep 1 of 4

Confirm your address

We send you six digits. That is what stops anyone from submitting a work while pretending to be you.

Would you rather write to us directly? support@surflingo.app

FAQ

The questions that keep coming up.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Not the submission, not the hosting, not the subtitle generation. Were that ever to change, it would apply to new submissions only, never retroactively.

Can I distribute elsewhere at the same time?

Yes. There is no exclusivity, no territory and no minimum term. You can pull your work from the catalogue on request, within 30 days.

My film has no subtitles. Is that a blocker?

No. Tick the relevant box and we produce them at our expense, then send them to you for review. Nothing goes live before you have approved the text.

What do you do with my file?

It is stored on European servers and played inside the app, never redistributed and never downloadable by the viewer. We derive no training dataset from it.

I do not hold every right on a title.

On that title, it is a blocker: we only list works whose submitter holds the distribution rights. Nothing stops you from starting with the part of your catalogue that is clear.

When do I get paid?

Not yet, and we will not give you a date we could not keep. The payment chain is being built; the model you state on submission is what we size it against. You will be told before the first collection.