A Kyiv Studio Bets on the Vertical Drama
Television wasn’t where Holywater got its start. It was in 2020 that Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov founded the company in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its range of products to this day looks more like a lab for mobile entertainment than a streaming network. My Drama sits beside My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. This breadth is telling, since video is one of several consumer products for Holywater, not its entire identity. The vertical drama, a format born in China as duanju and framed 9:16 for a phone held upright, became its eventual wager. The sector’s biggest names were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups, so True Luna drama breaking into this market was a daring move for a small Ukrainian firm.
Spring 2024 and the Debut of the My Drama App
The exact date of the My Drama app depends on which source you believe, but it launched in spring 2024. Google Play shows March 13, 2024, the App Store lists May 9, 2024, and TechCrunch placed the launch in April. The difference between those store dates suggests that Android came first and the iPhone version arrived about two months later. From the start, the slate leaned hard on the genre’s go-to tropes. The first titles featured The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss, names that reveal most of what you need to know about the style. The partner it would soon be making them with, not the stories themselves, is what ultimately set the company apart.
A Fox Deal, a $22M Round and a Webby
In October 2025, My Drama ceased to be a mere startup curiosity. An equity stake in Holywater was taken by Fox Entertainment, and the agreement included a commitment to produce more than 200 vertical titles over two years. Included in the Fox-produced titles on the platform are Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. Three months later, in January 2026, Holywater raised $22M in a funding round led by Horizon Capital. In its App Store listing, the company shows off another credential: a Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025. Few rivals can boast what these milestones give My Drama, namely a big American studio serving as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama at a Glance
The condensed version of the story is in the table below, for readers who only have a minute. It collects in one place the details on ownership, legal matters, platforms and pricing that matter most to newcomers. The prices are the ones shown in the US App Store as of September 2026. Country, platform and promotion all affect them, so read them as a rough guide rather than a firm quote. The app shows 5M+ downloads on Google Play, which is the store the install figure refers to. The legal entity you sign up with depends on where you live, which becomes relevant if you ever need to challenge a charge.
| Topic | Information |
|---|---|
| Owned by | Holywater, founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 |
| Founded by | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Companion apps | My Passion (books), My Muse (AI), FreeBits |
| Contract party, US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Contracting entity, other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Release | Spring 2024 (Google Play on March 13; App Store on May 9) |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro and web |
| Android installs | 5M+ on Google Play |
| Full-access plan | Roughly $19.99 per week, with automatic renewal |
| Coin bundles | About $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium tier | Roughly $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Studio partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake held since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Funding | $22M in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Awards | Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
What Watching on My Drama Feels Like
The basic experience mirrors the one the whole category is built on. Episodes are vertical, sized for a phone held upright, and in this genre they usually run a minute or two before a cliffhanger nudges you toward the next one. A single story can silently swallow an evening in small bites, because series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes. What really sets this drama app apart is the range of screens it supports. Apart from iPhone, iPad and Android, the app is listed for Vision Pro and for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later. That big-screen option is less common than you might think: by comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all. A 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV, but the option turns a solo phone habit into something a couple can enjoy together.
Holywater’s own early productions and the growing Fox slate share the library, which blends the two. The genre’s well-worn formula is still the template for the Fox releases, as titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make clear. The fair caveat here is scale. At 5M+ installs on Google Play, the app has a fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each show. That gap reveals where My Drama stands in 2026, as a well-financed challenger rather than the category leader.
What My Drama Costs in 2026: Plans and Prices
Of the three ways Holywater sells access, the weekly pass carries the headline figure. About $19.99 per week is what “My Drama: Full Access” costs in the US App Store as of September 2026. The weekly passes from ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort are listed at about the same price in the same store, which places My Drama on par with them. Coin packs, used to unlock individual episodes, range from about $4.99 to $24.99. The store also lists a separate Premium tier at roughly $4.99 to $9.99, giving lighter viewers less expensive entry points than the full pass. The figure on your own device may differ, because prices vary by country, platform and promotion. As with its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription keeps renewing automatically until you cancel it. Before you commit, do the math: four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass add up to around $80 a month.
Terms Worth Knowing Before You Pay
The fine print in My Drama’s terms of use merits more attention than most viewers give it. Since coin purchases are final, there is no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it. After 12 months of inactivity, coins are also forfeited, so a balance left untouched for a year can simply disappear. In the EU and UK, there is a 14-day right of withdrawal, mirroring the consumer rules in those markets. Purchases made on the web are labeled non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Crucially, the terms state plainly that deleting the app does not cancel your subscription. Android users go through the Subscriptions menu in Google Play, while on an iPhone you cancel under Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions. For store purchases, refunds are handled by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
It is also worth knowing exactly who stands on the other side of the contract. US users sign with XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. One more warning applies here as much as to any vertical drama app. Sites promising modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators are unofficial, and they are not a safe way to watch anything. Canceling the pass, not hunting for a hack, is the legitimate move if the price feels steep.
Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
On install counts, My Drama is not the biggest vertical drama app, and it is not close. A Kyiv founding story, a Fox equity partner committed to more than 200 titles, fresh funding from January 2026 and a Webby on the shelf add up to the uncommon combination it offers instead. ReelShort, for one, does not list Apple TV support, which makes it the practical advantage for My Drama viewers. The downside remains the same one that plagues every rival: a weekly pass of roughly $19.99 that renews quietly in the background. If you simply want the largest claimed library, ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious pick. For Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a TV, the My Drama app deserves a place on your home screen. In both cases, create a reminder on the day you subscribe and cancel through your store account rather than trusting the delete button.