Cloudinary

Upload, transform, optimize and deliver images and video through a CDN.

imagesvideo
Websitecloudinary.com
CategoryStorage & media
PricingFreemium
Card requiredNo
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ABOUT

What is Cloudinary?

Cloudinary is a cloud-based media management platform that handles image and video upload, transformation, optimization and delivery through a global CDN. Its transformation engine supports hundreds of parameters for resizing, cropping, filtering and format conversion. The freemium model gives developers a generous allocation to build and test media pipelines before committing to a paid plan.

BEFORE YOU SIGN UP

What you should know

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Powerful transformation engineHundreds of image and video transformations available via URL parameters, including resizing, face detection, background removal, format conversion and AI-powered enhancements.
✓
Excellent SDK and framework supportOfficial SDKs for JavaScript, React, Vue, Angular, Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, .NET and more, plus plugins for popular frameworks and CMS platforms.
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Complex pricing modelThe credit-based pricing can be difficult to estimate. Different transformations consume different numbers of credits, making cost prediction challenging for new projects.
✕
Costs scale quickly with trafficAt high volumes, Cloudinary costs can become significant. Competitors like ImageKit and Uploadcare offer simpler pricing that may be more predictable for high-traffic applications.

COMMUNITY

From the forums

Cloudinary is widely used across the web development community, with consistent mentions on r/webdev and r/reactjs as the de facto standard for image optimization in production apps. The transformation syntax and SDK coverage are frequently praised. Common complaints include the complexity of the pricing model (credit-based), the steep learning curve for advanced transformations and the fact that costs can grow quickly with high traffic volumes.

— Community sentiment

💬Discuss on Reddit ↗

SEE ALSO · Storage & media

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ABOUT US

Honest, independent, no fluff.

No paid placements. Just a clear look at what this does, what it costs, and what to know before you commit.

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FAQ

Questions, answered.

Is Cloudinary free for personal projects?＋

Yes, Cloudinary offers a free tier with 25 monthly credits covering transformations, storage and bandwidth for up to 3 users. It is suitable for personal projects and prototyping.

Does Cloudinary support video transformations?＋

Yes, Cloudinary supports video transcoding, trimming, concatenation, overlay, resizing and adaptive bitrate streaming, with similar URL-based transformation syntax as images.

How does Cloudinary compare to ImageKit?＋

Cloudinary offers more transformation options and AI features, but ImageKit has simpler pricing and a more generous free tier for bandwidth and storage.