GlowCast — Development Story

CLIENT

About the client

GlowCast Entertainment, Inc. — a talent agency and live streaming operator.

GlowCast Entertainment, Inc. is a talent agency that also runs its own live streaming platform, managing affiliated streamers while broadcasting on its in-house service. Targeting the niche of "a streaming platform where an agency can centrally manage its streamers' revenue," they planned a new venture unifying the streaming platform and agency revenue management on a single foundation. The market had plenty of general-purpose live streaming services, but almost no streaming platform with built-in revenue management for agencies.

Built around the concept of "an experience where fans can support their favorite streamers in many ways + a system where the agency can manage revenue with high transparency," we built the creator-economy live streaming foundation in-house on Next.js 14 + NestJS microservices. Beauty-Effect-enabled streaming on Agora RTC, 3-tier monetization with Stripe, and cross-platform Push notifications with OneSignal.

Monetization model

3 tiers (subscription + tips + paid posts)

Stream latency

200ms (Agora RTC)

Backend

3 NestJS microservices

BUSINESS FLOW

STEP

Stream discovery

Discover your favorite streamers via LIVE NOW + categories

STEP

Beauty stream viewing

Agora RTC 200ms + Beauty Effect live

STEP

3-tier monetization

Support via subscriptions / tips / paid posts

STEP

Agency revenue management

Centralized visibility into affiliated streamers' revenue and payouts

CHALLENGE

Design challenges to solve

Four structural requirements demanded of the platform.

None of these are technology-selection problems; they are business requirements tied directly to fan LTV, streaming quality, agency operational transparency, and return-visit rate.

① A single billing model caps fans' support LTV

With subscriptions alone or tips alone, fans' support patterns are limited. Without diverse ways for fans to show support, a creator-economy platform loses its competitiveness.

② If the agency can't centrally manage streamers' revenue, operations break down

Each streamer's revenue: Manual tallying, per-streamer reports , once there are 10+ affiliated streamers, +40h of monthly work piles up and the risk of payout errors and disputes climbs.

③ If Beauty Effect depends on external tools, the barrier to entry for streamers is high

Requiring third-party OBS plugins or dedicated camera apps,the barrier to starting a stream rises, and new-streamer acquisition slows.

④ If Web Push delivery is low, stream-start notifications don't arrive and return-visit rate falls

Browser Web Push Device/OS fragmentation drops delivery below 60%. If stream-start notices don't arrive, missed streams become frequent and drive drop-off.

ARCHITECTURE

The architecture we built together

Turning the creator experience into an "unstoppable foundation" across four domains.

We built GlowCast's creator-economy live streaming foundation in-house, from scratch. Next.js 14 PWA delivers an iOS/Android-equivalent web experience; NestJS powers a 3-microservice architecture (api / schedule / worker); Agora RTC handles Beauty Effect streaming; Stripe drives 3-tier monetization; and OneSignal delivers cross-device Push notifications.

Domain ①

3-tier monetization

Challenge

A single billing model caps fans' support LTV.

Solution

3-tier monetization with Stripe: subscriptions + tips + paid posts

3 packages (¥980 / ¥2,480 / ¥9,800), 5 tip presets, paid-post billing. Many ways for fans to show support.

Domain ②

Agency revenue management

Challenge

If the agency can't centrally manage streamers' revenue, operations break down.

Solution

Per-agency revenue dashboard + auto-generated monthly reports

Unified visibility into affiliated streamers' 3-tier revenue and viewing data, scheduled-payout display, and CSV export.

Domain ③

Beauty Effect streaming

Challenge

If Beauty Effect depends on external tools, the barrier to entry for streamers is high.

Solution

Built into the streaming browser via Agora RTC + Beauty Effect extension

200ms streaming latency, one-tap Beauty Effect ON/OFF. Start streaming instantly with no external tools.

Domain ④

Cross-device Push

Challenge

If Web Push delivery is low, stream-start notifications don't arrive and return-visit rate falls.

Solution

Cross-device Push + PWA install with OneSignal

Deliver to iOS/Android/Web from one API; PWA home-screen install pushes delivery rate to 90%+.

TECH STACK

Frontend

Next.js 14

React 18

Tailwind + shadcn-uiP next-pwa + next-intl

Backend

NestJSμ api + worker + schedule

PM2 cluster

Realtime / Billing

A Agora RTC + BeautyH HLS.js

Stripe

OneSignal

IMPACT

The value the platform creates

GlowCast's "creator economy" accelerates.

This platform delivers not technical metrics but continuous business outcomes — fan LTV, streamer onboarding, agency operational transparency, and return-visit rate.

① 3-tier monetization that maximizes fan LTV

Combining subscriptions, tips, and paid posts maximizes the range of fan support patterns — monetizing everything from small to large amounts.

② A design that ensures agency operational transparency

Unified visibility into affiliated streamers' revenue and viewing data, with auto-generated monthly reports — cutting +40h of monthly reconciliation to virtually zero.

③ Built-in Beauty Effect that accelerates streamer onboarding

Start streaming instantly with no external tools — lowering the barrier to entry for streamers and continuously growing new-streamer acquisition.

④ Cross-device Push that sustains return-visit rate

OneSignal + PWA achieves 90%+ delivery. Stream-start notifications reliably arrive, preventing fans from missing streams and dropping off.

Fan support, into the streamers' and agency's revenue ecosystem.

GlowCast Entertainment, Inc. — a talent agency and live streaming operator.

Four structural requirements demanded of the platform.

Turning the creator experience into an "unstoppable foundation" across four domains.

GlowCast's "creator economy" accelerates.

Experience GlowCast through a live, working demo.