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File upload, processing and CDN

Uploadcare

Hosted file uploading, storage, image and video processing and CDN delivery, billed by operations, with a personal-use free plan and paid plans from $66 a month.

Visit uploadcare.com ↗ Alternatives Free tier
Uploadcare homepage
§1

Overview

Uploadcare is a hosted media pipeline rather than a bare bucket. It provides a customisable File Uploader widget and Upload API, stores the files, and delivers them through a CDN with URL-based transformations: resize, crop, format conversion to WebP or AVIF, face-aware cropping, compression and more. It also transcodes video with adaptive bitrate streaming, converts documents, scans uploads for malware and can auto-moderate content.

Billing is built on operations, a count of actions performed on files through its APIs, plus monthly allowances of traffic and storage. The free plan includes 1,000 operations, 5 GB of traffic and 1 GB of storage but is for personal use only. Pro at $66 a month (monthly billing) raises this to 5,000 operations, 25 GB traffic and 10 GB storage, with overage at $1.60 per 1,000 operations and $0.35 per GB. Business at $166 adds whitelabelling, custom CNAME and larger limits.

Enterprise plans can store files in your own AWS S3 bucket, add SSO and are listed as HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant.

Compared with raw object storage, Uploadcare is expensive per gigabyte, but it replaces an upload UI, image service, video pipeline and CDN. It makes most sense when those features would otherwise be built in-house.

§2

Pricing and plans

Free tier

1,000 operations, 5 GB traffic and 1 GB storage per month, 500 MB max file size; personal use only

At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.

Non-commercial only
Plan Price What you get
Free $0 1,000 operations, 5 GB traffic, 1 GB storage per month; personal use only
Pro $66/mo 5,000 operations (then $1.60 per 1,000), 25 GB traffic, 10 GB storage; 3 seats
Business $166/mo 50,000 operations (then $0.80 per 1,000), 125 GB traffic, 50 GB storage; 4 seats
Enterprise Custom Custom limits, bring your own S3, SSO, HIPAA and SOC 2

Prices shown are monthly billing; yearly billing saves 16%. An operation is any action through Uploadcare's APIs, including uploads, image optimisations and transformations, video processing and document conversion. Overage above plan allowances: Pro traffic and storage $0.35/GB, Business $0.25/GB; Enterprise prices can go as low as $0.04/GB traffic and $0.03/GB storage. HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance are listed under the Enterprise plan. Data location options were not stated on the pricing page.

Source: uploadcare.com/pricing/ · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

File Uploader widget
A customisable upload UI with sources such as Google Drive and Dropbox, plus an in-browser image editor.
URL image transformations
Resize, crop, format conversion and smart compression applied through the file URL on the CDN.
Video and documents
Adaptive bitrate streaming, asynchronous video processing and document conversion.
Security
Signed uploads and URLs, ClamAV malware scanning and EXIF stripping.
S3 backup and BYO storage
Back up to your own S3 bucket; Enterprise can use S3 as the primary store.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Upload UI, processing, storage and CDN in one service
  • Malware scanning and moderation on upload
  • Automatic responsive images and modern formats
  • Free plan for personal projects

Limitations

  • Free plan is for personal use only
  • Storage and traffic overage at $0.25 to $0.35/GB is far above raw object storage
  • Operation-based pricing can be hard to predict
  • Not an S3-compatible bucket
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • Products with user-generated images, video and documents
  • Teams that want uploads, optimisation and CDN handled together
  • Enterprises needing HIPAA or SOC 2 file handling

Look elsewhere if

  • Cheap bulk storage or backups
  • Commercial hobby projects expecting a free plan
§6

Alternatives to Uploadcare

Tool From Free option Stages
Cloudinary Image and video media platform
$89/mo Free tier
Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform
$25/mo Free tier
ImageKit Image and video CDN with media library
$89/mo Free tier
Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage Flat-rate object storage
$7.99/mo Paid
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Low-cost object storage
Usage-based Free tier
Azure Blob Storage Object storage (hyperscaler)
Usage-based Paid

All file and object storage →

§7

Questions

Is Uploadcare free?

There is a free plan with 1,000 operations, 5 GB traffic and 1 GB storage per month, but it is for personal use only.

How much does Uploadcare cost?

Pro is $66 a month and Business $166 a month on monthly billing, with yearly billing about 16% cheaper.

What is an operation in Uploadcare?

Any action on files through Uploadcare's APIs, such as an upload, an image transformation, video processing or a document conversion.

Can Uploadcare use my own S3 bucket?

All paid features can back files up to your S3 bucket, and Enterprise plans can use your AWS S3 storage directly.

Sources read for this page