---
title: "Cloudinary Pricing, Features & Alternatives (2026)"
description: "Cloudinary review: Image & Media Optimization tool — Free tier, plans, pros & cons, and the best Cloudinary alternatives compared for startups in 2026."
source: https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/cloudinary
retrieved: 2026-10-07
---

![Cloudinary logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=cloudinary.com&sz=128)

[Image & Media Optimization](https://appstackbuilder.com/categories/image-optimization)Free tier

# Cloudinary: Pricing, Features & Alternatives

Cloudinary is the long-standing media API: upload assets, transform them through URL parameters (resize, crop, format conversion, AI background removal) and serve the result from a CDN with automatic format and quality. Pricing is in credits, each worth 1,000 transformations, 1 GB of storage or 1 GB of bandwidth. Free gives 25 credits a month. Plus is $99/month ($89 annually) for 225 credits, Advanced $249/month ($224 annually) for 600 credits, and Enterprise is custom.

Category

Image & Media Optimization

Pricing

Free tier available

Free tier

Yes

Best for

Image & Media Optimization — image-cdn, transformations

[Visit Cloudinary official site](https://cloudinary.com)

## Cloudinary Pricing Plans (2026)

| Plan        | Price                      | Highlights                                            |
| ----------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Free        | $0                         | 25 credits / month · 3 users · Upload widget and API  |
| PlusPopular | $99 / month ($89 annual)   | 225 credits / month · S3 backup · Auto-tagging        |
| Advanced    | $249 / month ($224 annual) | 600 credits / month · Custom domain (CNAME) · 5 users |
| Enterprise  | Custom                     | Multi-CDN · SSO · Enterprise SLA                      |

Pricing summary: Free · paid from $99/mo. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.

## Key Cloudinary Features

* ✓225 credits / month
* ✓S3 backup
* ✓Auto-tagging

### ✓ Pros

* +The deepest transformation and AI feature set
* +Covers video as well as images
* +Mature SDKs for every major framework

### ✗ Cons

* −Credits make costs hard to predict
* −Big jump from Free to $99/month
* −Overkill if you only need resizing and WebP

## Best Cloudinary Alternatives

[Compare all ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tool-alternatives/cloudinary)

[![Uploadcare logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=uploadcare.com&sz=128)UploadcareFree · paid from $66/mo](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/uploadcare)[![ImageKit logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=imagekit.io&sz=128)ImageKitFree · paid from $9/mo](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/imagekit)[![imgix logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=imgix.com&sz=128)imgixFree · paid from $25/mo](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/imgix)

## Cloudinary Compared

[Cloudinary vs Uploadcare](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/cloudinary-vs-uploadcare)[Cloudinary vs ImageKit](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/cloudinary-vs-imagekit)[Cloudinary vs imgix](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/cloudinary-vs-imgix)

## Cloudinary FAQ

What is Cloudinary used for?⌄

Cloudinary is a image & media optimization tool. Upload, transform and deliver images and video through URL parameters and a global CDN. Free plan with 25 credits a month.

Is Cloudinary free?⌄

Yes — Cloudinary has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.

How much does Cloudinary cost?⌄

Cloudinary offers a free tier, with paid plans starting at $99/month. Some plans are usage-based (pay-as-you-go).

What are the best Cloudinary alternatives?⌄

Popular Cloudinary alternatives include Uploadcare, ImageKit, imgix. Compare pricing and features on our Cloudinary alternatives page.

## Not sure if Cloudinary fits your stack?

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