# The part YouTube can't carry: a 3-person Korean company uses AI BL short dramas to pull viewers into its own App

> Source: https://stringers.io/en/apps/play_com.netty.cliff.html (Stringers / 什么值得做, generated 2026-11-08)
> Stringers answers one question every day: what small product can one or two people build in a few months and actually make money from. Numbers come from 15 databases we collect daily, each with source and date.
> For agents: these verdicts and the underlying databases (verified revenue, App Store / Google Play charts, ad libraries, GitHub, Product Hunt…) are queryable live over MCP — tools today / hot / products / directions / direction / data. Setup: https://github.com/komako-workshop/stringers (the user logs in at stringers.io → "配置 agent" to get a personal URL). Site index: https://stringers.io/llms.txt

> Its own YouTube channel's two AI BL series took off (《OUT OF LINE》episode 1 hit 550k views in 4 days). Every video carries a short link, funneling viewers who want the adult extended cut to CLIFF.

[Mobile App](https://stringers.io/en/apps/index.md) · Android · written 11-6

CLIFF: AI Short Drama · NettY

# The part YouTube can't carry: a 3-person Korean company uses AI BL short dramas to pull viewers into its own App

**What it is** A small Korean company, NettY, makes women-targeted AI BL (boys' love) short dramas. The app runs its own series plus external creators, with in-app purchases to unlock episodes.

**Why it's catching on** Two of its AI BL series on its own YouTube channel have taken off (OUT OF LINE episode 1 got 550k views in 4 days). Every video carries a short link that sends viewers wanting the adult extended cut to CLIFF.

**B** **How you could follow it** Pick a language with less local original content (Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Spanish/Portuguese). Build a YouTube channel that produces hit series first, then close the loop with "full episodes free, extended cuts and extras paid on your own website". Build the app only after the website works.

Grade B: the funnel is worth learning from, it doesn't depend on paid acquisition, and few people know about it. But CLIFF itself has 3k installs and no proven payments. The core thing to follow is the craft of making hit series, and Anamana and NovelaPlay are already bigger in this space. Few people know about it yet

Data (updated daily) · first launch 2026-09-23 · 11-07 installs 3,100

Android · Total installs worldwide

Data 2026-10-29 → 2026-11-07 (10 days, 10 observations). Google's detail page only refreshes install counts every other day, so a flat day doesn't mean nobody installed.

CLIFF is an AI short-drama app from the small Korean company NettY. The store page says "AI short drama streaming," but it really does one thing: women-targeted AI BL dramas. Almost all its viewers come from the company's own YouTube channel. Full episodes play free on YouTube, and the "bolder versions YouTube won't allow" are only in CLIFF. By Nov 6, it had only 3,100 installs on Google Play, far from breaking out. But the model of free full episodes as bait and adult extended cuts as the paywall is clear, needs no paid acquisition, and is worth breaking down. Below: what it is, where people come from, where the money comes from, who's competing, and whether you can copy it.

### A seven-minute zombie campus drama episode

On Nov 2 2026, at 8:20 p.m. Korea time, the YouTube channel "CLIFF STUIO" (spelled that way, missing a D) posted OUT OF LINE episode 1, running 7 min 05 sec. The story: American-football quarterback Damian spends a night with someone at a party and can't remember who it was the next morning. It turns out to be bookish Yoon Si-on, who avoids him on sight. Then zombies break out at the school.

The first paragraph of the video description reads:

> Things you can't see in full on YouTube: OUT OF LINE. The bolder story of the two of them is on CLIFF. (Korean original: 유튜브에서는 전부 보여드리기 어려운 〈아웃 오브 라인〉. 더 과감한 두 사람의 이야기는 클리프에서 만나보세요.)

Right below is a short link: "1화 확장판 무료 공개" (Extended cut of episode 1 free). It leads to a player page on watchcliff.com. The first line says "This story is for adults only," and you have to verify your age first. The extended cut runs 7 min 40 sec, a bit over half a minute longer than the YouTube version.

4 days later, this episode had 552k views, 11.5k likes, and 524 comments on YouTube (YouTube, 11-06). The most-liked comment (679 likes) reads: "From today on, this is my The Walking Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Kingdom." At the same time, CLIFF's cumulative Google Play installs doubled from 11-02 to 1,538 to 11-06 to 3,100. The extended-cut counter on the website showed 12.8k views (watchcliff.com, 11-06).

### What it is

The store description is generic: watch episode by episode, watch trailers and Shorts, browse dramas by genre, follow the channel, comment. It's available in 7 languages (English, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish). In-app purchases are $4.99–$49.99 each (Google Play, 11-06).

Its real positioning shows up elsewhere. The official site's About page says "Watch BL drama series made by creators." The Instagram account is "Cliff | BL Drama" and calls itself a "여성향 AI 드라마 플랫폼" (women-targeted AI drama platform). The TikTok bio says "K-AI BL Drama." The parent company's site presents it as a platform: turning one follow into a lasting relationship for AI drama creators, and hosting external creators' work. Recent additions in late October included, besides its own series, works from several outside AI BL creators such as 뭇웃, RIMOmov, and Blip Studio.

Every episode's end card reads "사람의 집필·연출과 생성형 인공지능을 활용해 제작" (made by human writing and direction, using generative AI). OUT OF LINE is credited to its two lead creators, KIM HARANG and KIM KYURI. Some commenters guess "two people made it with CLIFF's backing" (my inference).

NettY, which makes it, is in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do. Founded in 2023, it shows 3 employees on LinkedIn. Its main business is another app: AI character chat "Plaitoon," with 15k installs on Google Play, 763 ratings on the Korean App Store, and ranked #20 on the Korean iOS Top Grossing chart (11-06). CLIFF is the company's second line. Google Play shows it launched in Sep 23, but the official Instagram "GRAND OPEN" post went up on Oct 20, and real outward promotion started in late October.

### Where people come from: its own YouTube channel

Almost all of it comes from one channel. CLIFF STUIO has 33k subscribers and 32 videos (YouTube, 11-06). It currently has two original series:

| Video | Launched | Views (11-06) |
|---|---|---|
| CALL MY BLUFF EP.01 Casino | 9-27 | 312k |
| CALL MY BLUFF EP.02 | 10-07 | 113k |
| CALL MY BLUFF EP.03 | Late October | 87k |
| CALL MY BLUFF highlight clips | October | 161k |
| CALL MY BLUFF OST playlist, two installments | October | 83k, 54k |
| OUT OF LINE EP.01 | 11-02 | 552k |

A few details:

- **Fixed update schedule.** CALL MY BLUFF updates on the 7, 17, and 27 of each month at 9 p.m. OUT OF LINE episode 2 was set for Nov 12 at 9 p.m. Viewers who follow along know when to come back.

- **One series, several kinds of content.** Besides the full episodes, there are 2-minute highlight reels and a dozen-minute "OST playlist" (the songs made for the show, gathered together), so there's no gap between episodes.

- **Short links at every exit.** The channel header, each video description, and the pinned comments all carry watchcliff.com/go/ short links with utm parameters, tracking how many people came from YouTube per series and per episode.

- **TikTok and Instagram exist, but are small.** TikTok @watchcliff.official has 577 followers, its top video got 11k views, and from November every post says "OUT OF LINE EP.01 extended cut, free on CLIFF" (TikTok, 11-06).

No sign of paid acquisition: Meta's ad library turns up nothing for CLIFF or watchcliff. Google/YouTube ads aren't visible from outside, so that can't be ruled out. No one has mentioned it on X in nearly 30 days.

Conversion is low. A rough estimate from 11-06's numbers: of OUT OF LINE EP.01's 550k views, about 2.3% clicked through to the website's extended cut (12.8k). The two series together have over a million views and brought in about 3 thousand installs, under 0.3% (estimate). One reason may be age verification: Korea's adult verification usually requires real-name identification, which is a high bar (my inference).

### Who the viewers are and what they want

The comment sections are almost all Korean women BL fans, with some English-speaking viewers too. Across the top few dozen comments on episode 1 of both shows, what they care about is very concentrated:

- **Couple pairing and looks.** The most common comments are about the seme-uke looks: "공수 얼굴합 미쳤구나" (the seme and uke faces are insane together) and "금발외국인공 캐디 진짜 압도적으로 잘 뽑으신듯" (the blond foreign seme's character design is really outstanding). AI makes "Western × Eastern" looks almost free to produce, and someone wrote "요즘 서양x동양 넘쳐나서 너무 행복함" (there are so many Western × Eastern pairings lately, so happy).

- **Genre mashups.** BL plus zombies, plus casino gangsters, plus action scenes: "드디어 비엘에도 액션이" (BL finally has action too).

- **This one's heating up.** "Heaven's been raining blessings nonstop lately" (「요즘 하늘에서 은혜가 끝도 없이 내리네」), "I got hooked on AI BL shows and stopped eating, I'm losing weight" (「ai 벨드 빠지고 부터 보느라 곡기를 끊어서 살이 빠진다」), and one comment says it outright: "Korean creators are better at AI shows. China has way too many AI short-video accounts. Same money, I'd rather spend it on Korean ones."

The last point is worth remembering: viewers know it's AI-made and don't care. They choose on aesthetics and character design, and they prefer "domestic" content.

### Where the money comes from: not clear yet

CLIFF has stayed at #77–90 on Google Play's Korea Entertainment Top Grossing chart (since 10-29). That sounds good, but the bar for that spot is very low: the app ranked #76 at 11-06 has only 1,110 total installs, and #81 has 5,008 (Google Play charts, 11-06). All it really shows is that some people are paying, probably only a few transactions a day (my inference). The store page has no ratings or reviews yet.

What people pay for is only half visible from outside. The extended cut is currently free (age verification required), and in-app purchases are $4.99–$49.99 each, likely per-episode unlocks or coin packs (my inference). What it sells differs from YouTube: **the level of content YouTube's community guidelines don't allow.** That's the key link in this funnel. Free gives you plot and characters, and the app gives you what YouTube won't allow.

### Who it's competing with

The AI BL short-drama space is already being run by others, and some are bigger than CLIFF:

| Product | Scale | How CLIFF differs |
|---|---|---|
| Anamana: Short-Form Series | Google Play 186k installs, +24k in 7 days; #30 on Korea Entertainment Top Grossing; 463 ratings on the US iOS store (11-06) | Singapore company, AI animated short dramas, known for BL, heavy Facebook ad spend, targeting English-speaking users worldwide. Most of the top recommended #aibl videos on TikTok lead to it. |
| NovelaPlay | 110 ratings on the Japan iOS store and 64 on the Taiwan iOS store; launched on 2026-07 | Korean women-targeted AI drama platform (romance, romantic fantasy, BL), cinematic widescreen look. The season 2 of Korean AI BL channel ODD:ONE STUDIO premiered on it. Closest to CLIFF, and launched 3 months earlier. |
| Heavenly 헤븐리 | 620k installs on Google Play, #79 on Korea Entertainment Top Grossing | Korean BL/GL platform, licenses live-action BL dramas from Korea, Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan |
| GagaOOLala | Google Play 3.88M installs | Asia's largest LGBTQ live-action streaming service |
| VibeShort, My Muse, and other general AI short-drama apps | 1.38M to 19.5M installs | Broad genres, relies on paid acquisition, not BL-focused |
| Late Blue Night, ODD:ONE STUDIO, and other AI BL channels | 16k–62k subscribers | Creators who make content but don't build a platform are the people CLIFF wants to recruit, and the people NovelaPlay is also competing for. |

So CLIFF's position is: much smaller than Anamana, but without paying for acquisition; one step ahead of other YouTube channels by having its own platform; and in direct head-to-head competition with NovelaPlay. Two other store apps also called "Cliff" are short-drama apps, just with the same name.

### If it were you

**B.** The model is worth learning and can be moved to other markets, but CLIFF hasn't yet proven it makes money. The half you'd need to copy, making series that pull hundreds of thousands of views, depends on creative craft, not engineering.

**Who it's for** : 1–3 people who can write character bibles, consistently produce AI video (same face, same voice across episodes without breaking), and are heavy fans of some women-targeted genre themselves. Ideally in a language market where local AI BL isn't being seriously made yet: Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Spanish, Portuguese. CLIFF already has UI in these languages, but its content is all Korean originals, which suggests local originals are still thin in these markets.

**Who it's not for** : anyone who wants to build a platform without making content (a platform without hit series has no users; Anamana relies on heavy paid acquisition, NovelaPlay on signing existing channels); anyone wanting the broad English market (Anamana is already spending to hold it); anyone unsure about YouTube and TikTok rules on adult content.

**How to do it** : build the channel first, the app later. One series runs 8–12 episodes, each 5–7 minutes, released on a fixed schedule at a fixed time. Cut a 1–2 minute highlight reel per episode, and an OST playlist every few episodes. On YouTube, post the "safe-to-air" main cut; put the extended cut, bonus content and more explicit versions on your own website (web before app: no app review, no store cut), verify age, and collect your first payments. Only package an app once web paying users are stable. Humans write scripts and direct; AI handles visuals and voice. CLIFF's end-card disclaimer says exactly this, and viewers accept it.

**How to get users** : YouTube main episodes and Shorts are the main channel. Every description, pinned comment and channel banner carries a utm-tagged short link, with conversion tracked per episode. On TikTok the #aibl scene is active, and single recommended videos commonly get 10–500k views; partner with fan accounts. CLIFF's YouTube-to-app conversion is under 0.3%. The first number to watch is that one: at 1%+, the same views would yield roughly three times as many paying users (estimate).

**When the window closes** : AI BL took off in Korea starting early 2026, and comments already say "blessings raining down nonstop." The Korean-language market will be crowded within six months. For anyone building in another language, aim to finish the first series and get the channel to 10k subscribers before the first half of 2027.

**Signs you've misread it** : (1) CLIFF's Google Play installs are still under 10k by late December and it drops out of the top 100 grossing chart, meaning even someone with a hit series isn't getting paid; (2) YouTube starts mass-restricting or removing AI-generated BL series, or tightens rules on linking out to external adult content, which cuts off this funnel's entry point; (3) Anamana or NovelaPlay launches local originals in the language you're targeting and advertises locally; (4) the reverse: CLIFF re-enters the top 50 of the Korean grossing chart after Plaitoon, or NovelaPlay publishes paid-user numbers. That would mean the business is real, and you should move fast.

### Data and sources

- Google Play store page, install counts and Korean entertainment charts (10-29 to 11-06); App Store Korean storefront data (iTunes, 11-06).

- Videos, descriptions, view counts and comments on YouTube "CLIFF STUIO" @watchcliff.official (11-06).

- watchcliff.com extended-cut playback page and About page, and the CLIFF intro page on netty.fun (11-06).

- TikTok @watchcliff.official and Instagram @watchcliff_official launch posts (10-20).

- carat.im, "AI BL Drama Explained" (2026-09-17), on the AI BL genre and Korean channels.

- NettY's headcount is from LinkedIn. Conversion rates, payment methods and the impact of real-name verification are estimates and inferences.

[Android store page ↗](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netty.cliff)

**Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report**

Competitors

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anamana: Short-Form Series | iOS | iOS 2026-04-13 / Play 2026-06-29 | Play 186k installs, +7k in 24 days, #30 on the Korean entertainment grossing chart, 463 ratings on the US App Store | Singapore company, global paid acquisition, AI animation across genres but best known for BL. CLIFF only does Korean-creator BL and drives traffic through its own channel. |
| NovelaPlay | iOS | 2026-07-23 | 110 ratings on the Japan App Store, 64 on the Taiwan App Store | Also a Korean women-targeted AI series platform (including BL), with a cinematic widescreen look. CLIFF is vertical short drama plus in-house YouTube hits. |
| Heavenly 헤븐리 | Android | 2021 | Play 620k installs, #79 on the Korean entertainment grossing chart | Licenses rights to live-action BL series, not AI originals |
| GagaOOLala | Android | 2020 | Play 3.88M installs | LGBTQ live-action streaming |
| My Muse: Stream AI Short Drama | Android | 2024-10 | Play 1.38M installs | General AI short drama, not BL-focused |
| VibeShort: AI Dramas & Reels | Android | 2026-02 | Play 19.5M installs | Broad AI short drama, growing through paid acquisition |
| AI BL channels such as Late Blue Night and ODD:ONE STUDIO | Other | From ¥2026-02 | 16k–62k subscribers | Content only, no platform (ODD:ONE season 2 premiered on NovelaPlay) |

Where users come from

- **Confirmed** **Own YouTube channel, CLIFF STUIO** : 32.9k subscribers; CALL MY BLUFF EP.01 at 311k views, OUT OF LINE EP.01 at 549k views within 4 days; video descriptions and channel banner both carry a watchcliff.com short link with "bonus scenes free on CLIFF"; install spikes line up with new series launches

- **Confirmed** **Own TikTok / Instagram accounts** : TikTok @watchcliff.official has 577 followers, and every post carries an "extended cut free on CLIFF" short link; IG published a site-launch post 10-20

- Inferred **Organic TikTok reach for AI BL and fan recommendations** : #aibl recommendation videos commonly get 10–500k views, but most lead to Anamana; only 1 recommending CLIFF series found (8,125 views)

- Inferred **Paid acquisition** : no CLIFF / watchcliff ads found in the Meta ad library (which only tracks a list of products); no Google Ads data

## CLIFF: AI Short Drama (com.netty.cliff), research report

Research date 2026-11-06. Data comes from our googleplay / appstore / metaads databases (dated) and websites (linked).

### Bottom line

CLIFF is a "**AI-generated BL (boys' love) short drama** " platform from NettY, a small Korean company of 3 people. It is not a general AI short drama app. Nearly all its users come from its own YouTube channel, **CLIFF STUIO** : episodes are released free on YouTube ("CALL MY BLUFF" EP.01 at 310k views, "OUT OF LINE" EP.01 at 550k views in 4 days), and descriptions and TikTok posts carry a watchcliff.com short link saying "extended cuts and bonus scenes free on CLIFF" to send people into the app. Scale is small: 3,100 total Play installs. Holding a #77–90 spot on the Korean entertainment grossing chart is a low bar, and it doesn't show how much money is being made. For now this is an early test of "own IP plus own-channel traffic", not a proven hit.

### 1. Data (from our database)

- Cumulative Play installs: 10-29 716 → 10-31 1,538 → 11-03 2,191 → 11-05 2,329 → 11-06 3,100; +2,384 in 7 days (googleplay.app_day). AppstoreSpy estimates from 10-24 roughly 163,11-01–02 per day, ~326/day, dropping to ~46/day from 11-03–05, and +771 on 11-06 (googleplay.app_day_ext).

- Charts: only the Korean entertainment category. Top Free 98→120→152→178→198→162→**69** (11-04)→69→84; Top Grossing has stayed between **77–90** (from 10-29, googleplay.chart_rank).

- How low the Top Grossing bar is: 11-06 Korea's Entertainment Top Grossing #76 "펀네이션" has only 1,110 installs total, and #81 "씨리얼" has 5,008 installs (googleplay.v_chart). So #86 only tells you that people are paying, and the amounts are probably small.

- In-app purchases $4.99–$49.99 each (Play data card). Store page shows 1K+ downloads and no ratings yet (Play page, 2026-11-06).

- iOS: "CLIFF: AI 숏드라마" (id6810959713) listed 2026-10-20, 3 ratings on the Korean store averaging 3.67, best rank #63 free in a Korean category (appstore database, iTunes lookup).

- The same developer has another app in our database, "Plaitoon: AI Character Chat": 15,405 Play installs, #16 Top Grossing in the Korean Books category; 763 ratings on the Korean iOS store, #20 Top Grossing on the Korean store (category not recorded). This is NettY's core product; CLIFF is its second line.

- Launch date: Play lists 2026-09-23, but the official Instagram "GRAND OPEN" post went up on 2026-10-20 ("Android app launch"). Public promotion really started in late October.

### 2. What it actually is

- The Play store description is generic ("AI short drama streaming"), but watchcliff.com/about says "Watch **BL drama series** made by creators". The Instagram account is "Cliff | BL Drama" and calls itself "**여성향 AI 드라마 플랫폼** " (AI drama platform for women). The TikTok bio reads "K-AI BL Drama".

- It's positioned as a platform that hosts works from outside AI BL creators. New releases in week #4 of October include 뭇웃, RIMOmov, 은밀하게고요하게, and Blip Studio, plus CLIFF STUDIO's own "OUT OF LINE." The parent company's website describes it as "connecting Korean AI short drama creators with global audiences" (netty.fun/ko/business/cliff). The app supports 7 languages: English, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

- Company: NettY (주식회사 네티), CEO 이새로찬, based in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do. LinkedIn lists 2–10 people (showing 3 employees), founded in 2023. Product line: Plaitoon, Mons, OpenToken, CLIFF (LinkedIn, netty.fun). Their recruiting page headline reads "인당 매출 10억" (revenue per employee ₩1 billion) (groupby.kr/startups/1328, unverified).

### 3. Growth tactics (evidence)

1. **Own YouTube channel as main traffic source (confirmed)** : YouTube "CLIFF STUIO" @watchcliff.official, 32.9k subscribers, 32 videos (2026-11-06 page). "CALL MY BLUFF" EP.01 311k, EP.02 112k, EP.03 87k, highlight clips 161k views, OST playlists 82k and 54k; "OUT OF LINE" EP.01 hit **549k** views within 4 days. Video descriptions read "Discover more of their story beyond YouTube on CLIFF! Watch the bonus scenes for free, no login needed", and the channel banner links to a watchcliff.com/go/ short link. "OUT OF LINE" EP.01 went live around 11-02, and installs accelerated over 11-03–06 (11-06 single-day +771), which lines up in time.

2. **TikTok / Instagram (confirmed, small volume)** : TikTok @watchcliff.official has only 577 followers, with a top single video at 11k views. From November every post carried an "OUT OF LINE EP.01 extended cut, free on CLIFF" caption with a watchcliff.com/go short link (TikHub, 2026-11-06). Instagram @watchcliff_official published a site-launch post 10-20. A TikTok user, nnnnp85, also organically recommended "OUT OF LINE" (8,125 views).

3. **AI BL topic traffic (background)** : #aibl is an active English-language TikTok topic, with single recommended videos often getting 10–500k views, but most of the top-performing series lead to rivals like Anamana (e.g. 《The Duke's Substitute Groom》). An carat.im 2026-09-17 article says AI BL was the first AI short-drama genre to take off; Korean flagship channels include Late Blue Night (4 months, 62k subscribers, 7.5M views) and ODD:ONE STUDIO.

4. **No paid-acquisition evidence found** : the Meta Ad Library (metaads, which only tracks a fixed list of products) shows nothing for CLIFF / watchcliff. Not finding it there doesn't mean they aren't spending. On X (x-radar, last 30 days): 0 mentions.

### 4. Competitors

| Product | Where | Launched | Scale | How CLIFF differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anamana: Short-Form Series | iOS / Android | iOS 2026-04-13,Play 2026-06-29 | Play 186k installs, +24k in 7 days; #30 on the Korea Entertainment grossing chart; 463 ratings on the US iOS store | Singapore company, AI animated short dramas. Broad genre but known for BL, with heavy paid acquisition (FB ads), targeting English-speaking users worldwide. CLIFF is BL-only and focuses on Korean creators. |
| NovelaPlay | iOS / Android | iOS 2026-07-23 | 110 ratings on the Japan App Store, 64 on the Taiwan App Store | Korean women-focused AI drama platform (romance, romantasy, BL), horizontal and film-like. ODD:ONE STUDIO season 2 premiered there. Closest to CLIFF's positioning, launched 3 months earlier. |
| Heavenly 헤븐리 | Android / web | 2021 | Play 620k installs, #79 on the Korean entertainment grossing chart | Korean BL / GL platform, but it licenses live-action BL dramas from Korea, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan rather than making AI content. |
| GagaOOLala | Android / iOS / web | 2020 | Play 3.88M installs | Asia's largest LGBTQ streaming service, live-action dramas. |
| My Muse: Stream AI Short Drama | Android | 2024-10 | Play 1.38M installs | General AI short drama, not BL-focused |
| VibeShort: AI Dramas & Reels | Android | 2026-02 | Play 19.5M installs | Broad AI short-drama app, paid acquisition playbook. |
| MoboReels / MoboDrama(AI 애니 숏드라마) | Android / iOS | 2023 / — | 32.5M / 790k installs | General short drama with a BL tag. |
| AI BL YouTube channels (Late Blue Night, ODD:ONE STUDIO, etc.) | Others (YouTube) | From ¥2026-02 | 16k–62k subscribers | Just a content producer, not a platform. CLIFF is both a content producer and a platform. |
| Live-action short dramas like ReelShort / DramaBox. | iOS / Android | 2022–2023 | Hundreds of millions of installs | Live-action, mostly heterosexual CEO romance. |

The same-named apps "Cliff: Drama Shorts You Choose" (iOS, Arif OZELCI, 2026-09-28,0 ratings, interactive branching drama) and "Cliff: Short Dramas" (com.blomega.cliff) are just name collisions, not copies of it.

### 5. Why it's growing (at its current scale)

- **Making its own top-tier content instead of only listing others' work** : CLIFF STUDIO's two series reach hundreds of thousands of views per episode on YouTube, with the channel at 33k subscribers. The app sells extended cuts and behind-the-scenes content from the same IP, and viewers come for the characters.

- **Picked the AI short-drama genre with the most certain demand** : BL fans are used to fan works and originals, Korean web novel and comic IP is plentiful but live-action adaptations are rare, and AI means near-zero casting costs and no need for costly sets like palace or chaebol settings (per carat.im's analysis).

- **Borrowed its parent company's monetization experience** : Plaitoon already holds a spot on the Korea grossing chart (#20 on iOS Korea), and the same company knows how to get Korean women-focused users to pay.

### 6. Differentiation

Compared with general AI short-drama apps (VibeShort, My Muse), it does only BL and only for women. Compared with Anamana, it is Korean-made with a Korean aesthetic, produces its own content, and drives traffic through its own channels rather than paid acquisition. Compared with Heavenly / GagaOOLala, it is original AI-made content rather than licensed live-action. Compared with NovelaPlay, the two are the closest, the difference being that CLIFF is a vertical short drama plus a Shorts feed, with its own top series doing better on YouTube. This differentiation (own BL IP + YouTube traffic) is the only reason for its current growth; but the scale is still too small to show the model works.

### 7. What to borrow

- A funnel of "free full episodes on YouTube / TikTok → extended cuts and behind-the-scenes only in the app," no login needed to watch, lowering the barrier to the first step.

- One series is split into full episodes, highlight Shorts, and OST playlists, keeping interest up between episodes.

- Claim a vertical niche (BL) first, then upgrade from content producer to platform, recruiting outside creators to join.

### 8. Visibility and copycats

- Few people know about it yet: 0 mentions on X, no media coverage, revenue not public. carat.im's September AI BL feature does not mention CLIFF. The buzz exists only within the YouTube AI BL viewer community.

- The category itself (AI BL short dramas) already has players: Anamana and NovelaPlay both started earlier and are bigger.

### 9. Uncertain

- Actual revenue: the grossing-chart bar is very low, so #86 may mean only a handful of purchases a day.

- How much of YouTube playback converts to installs: roughly 100 tens of thousands of views drove about 3 thousand installs, a conversion rate under 0.3%, unverified.

- Whether it runs Google / YouTube ads: no data.

- What happened between the Play listing date of 9-23 and the official site launch on 10-20.

### Sources

- Play page [play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netty.cliff](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netty.cliff)

- [watchcliff.com/en/about](https://watchcliff.com/en/about) ;[www.netty.fun/ko/business/cliff](https://www.netty.fun/ko/business/cliff) ;[kr.linkedin.com/company/netty-ai](https://kr.linkedin.com/company/netty-ai)

- Instagram launch post [www.instagram.com/p/DetSP0Mj-I2/](https://www.instagram.com/p/DetSP0Mj-I2/) (2026-10-20)

- YouTube [www.youtube.com/@watchcliff.official/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@watchcliff.official/videos) (2026-11-06 scrape)

- TikTok @watchcliff.official(TikHub,2026-11-06)

- carat.im "AI BL Drama Explained" [carat.im/curated/ai-bl-drama-guide](https://carat.im/curated/ai-bl-drama-guide) (2026-09-17)

- groupby.kr/startups/1328 (NettY job listing)

- Our database: googleplay (app_day, app_day_ext, chart_rank, v_chart, as of 2026-11-06), appstore, metaads

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.