Vessel, The Early-Access App For YouTube Videos, Arrives On Android

Vessel, the online streaming service that gives subscribers early access to videos from famous YouTube stars, has finally arrived for Android in beta form, the service announced Tuesday.

Users who sign up and pay the $2.99 monthly subscription fee get to see videos from Internet celebrities at least three days before content creators are allowed to post the videos elsewhere, including YouTube. Vessel launched in January, initially rolling out apps for Apple devices.

"The number one request, hands down, has been for a Vessel app for Android," the company said Tuesday. "We appreciate your patience -- today, we are excited to bring Vessel to Android users."

Android users who download the app and sign up will receive a one-month free trial to check out the service, but unfortunately for some, Vessel will be available only to devices running Android Jelly Bean 4.1 or higher, the service said in a blog post.

Vessel was founded by CEO Jason Kilar, who formerly headed Hulu and has expertise in the online video market. Since forming in 2014, Vessel has raised more than $132 million in funding.

Kilar has said that Vessel benefits content creators by paying up to 20 times more than what they earn from YouTube due to a combination of revenue from both ads and subscriptions. The company claims its content creators can earn about $50 per thousand views, compared with about $3 per thousand views on other services.