# Cloudinary vs ImageKit

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/cloudinary-vs-imagekit/

Every value below is read from Cloudinary's and ImageKit's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Cloudinary | ImageKit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | 25 credits a month, across 3 users and 1 account. At the published rate that is 25,000 transformations, or 25 GB of storage, or 25 GB of delivery — whichever mix you spend it on. | 20 GB bandwidth, 3 GB of DAM storage, 500 video units and 650 extension units a month. Both of the first two are hard stops, not overages. |
| Entry paid plan | $99 a month for Plus, or $89 a month billed yearly. That buys 225 monthly credits across 3 users and 2 accounts. | $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance. |
| Pricing model | One meter for four resources. A credit buys 1,000 transformations, or 1 GB of managed storage, or 1 GB of image bandwidth, or 2 GB of video bandwidth — mixed and matched against a single monthly limit. Spending credits on one resource leaves fewer for the rest, so a plan's real capacity depends entirely on which of the four you consume. | Four separate meters rather than one. Bandwidth, DAM storage, video units and extension units each carry their own monthly allowance and their own overage rate, so a workload heavy on one is unaffected by the others. The video unit is itself two rates: one unit is a second of SD or half a second of HD. |
| Included bandwidth | No separate bandwidth allowance. Delivery is drawn from the credit pool at 1 GB of image bandwidth per credit, or 2 GB of video, so the 225-credit Plus plan carries up to 225 GB of image delivery and nothing else. | 40 GB a month on Lite, rising to 225 GB on Pro. ImageKit puts a figure on what that buys: roughly 2 million images, or 2,000 minutes of HD video. |
| Support on entry paid plan | Expedited support on Plus, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets forums, tickets and email. | Email support on Lite, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets community support only. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Cloudinary: 25 credits a month, across 3 users and 1 account. At the published rate that is 25,000 transformations, or 25 GB of storage, or 25 GB of delivery — whichever mix you spend it on. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- ImageKit: 20 GB bandwidth, 3 GB of DAM storage, 500 video units and 650 extension units a month. Both of the first two are hard stops, not overages. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))

### Entry paid plan

- Cloudinary: $99 a month for Plus, or $89 a month billed yearly. That buys 225 monthly credits across 3 users and 2 accounts. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- ImageKit: $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))

### Pricing model

- Cloudinary: One meter for four resources. A credit buys 1,000 transformations, or 1 GB of managed storage, or 1 GB of image bandwidth, or 2 GB of video bandwidth — mixed and matched against a single monthly limit. Spending credits on one resource leaves fewer for the rest, so a plan's real capacity depends entirely on which of the four you consume. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- ImageKit: Four separate meters rather than one. Bandwidth, DAM storage, video units and extension units each carry their own monthly allowance and their own overage rate, so a workload heavy on one is unaffected by the others. The video unit is itself two rates: one unit is a second of SD or half a second of HD. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))

### Included bandwidth

- Cloudinary: No separate bandwidth allowance. Delivery is drawn from the credit pool at 1 GB of image bandwidth per credit, or 2 GB of video, so the 225-credit Plus plan carries up to 225 GB of image delivery and nothing else. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- ImageKit: 40 GB a month on Lite, rising to 225 GB on Pro. ImageKit puts a figure on what that buys: roughly 2 million images, or 2,000 minutes of HD video. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))

### Support on entry paid plan

- Cloudinary: Expedited support on Plus, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets forums, tickets and email. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- ImageKit: Email support on Lite, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets community support only. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Cloudinary if One bill and one currency for images, video and asset management. A credit spends the same on transformations, storage or delivery, so a month heavy on one is absorbed by spending less on another — the only member here where a shifting workload mix does not need a plan change to match it.

Pick ImageKit if Costs you can predict per resource, at the cheapest paid entry here. Bandwidth, storage, video units and extension units are four separate meters with published rates, so a workload heavy on one is not charged against the others — and the bandwidth overage falls from $0.50 to $0.45 a GB as the plan grows.

Consider something else: Cloudinary — You need to forecast. A plan has no fixed capacity in anything: 225 credits is 225 GB delivered or 225,000 transformations and never both, and the pricing page does not say what happens when they run out. It is also the most expensive entry here at $99 a month.

Consider something else: ImageKit — You are running the free plan in production. Its limits are hard stops in ImageKit's own words: media delivery stops at 20 GB and new uploads stop at 3 GB. The failure is images not loading rather than a larger bill, and overage only becomes possible from Lite at $9 a month.

## Documented by only one

- Credit card to start: Cloudinary: No
- Egress over allowance: ImageKit: $0.50 per GB above the 40 GB on Lite, and $0.45 per GB above the 225 GB on Pro — the rate falls as the plan rises.
- When you exceed a cap: ImageKit: On the free plan there is no overage — media delivery stops when the bandwidth limit is hit and uploads stop at the storage limit. From Lite upward, overage is allowed on bandwidth and storage and billed per GB.
- Storage (entry plan): Cloudinary: No separate storage allowance. Storage is drawn from the same credit pool at 1 GB per credit, so 225 credits is up to 225 GB stored or 225,000 transformations, and never both.
- Storage price: ImageKit: $0.10 per GB above the 10 GB of DAM storage included with Lite.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Cloudinary or ImageKit?**

Cloudinary: $99 a month for Plus, or $89 a month billed yearly. That buys 225 monthly credits across 3 users and 2 accounts.
ImageKit: $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance.

**Included bandwidth: Cloudinary or ImageKit?**

Cloudinary: No separate bandwidth allowance. Delivery is drawn from the credit pool at 1 GB of image bandwidth per credit, or 2 GB of video, so the 225-credit Plus plan carries up to 225 GB of image delivery and nothing else.
ImageKit: 40 GB a month on Lite, rising to 225 GB on Pro. ImageKit puts a figure on what that buys: roughly 2 million images, or 2,000 minutes of HD video.

**Should I choose Cloudinary or ImageKit?**

Pick Cloudinary if One bill and one currency for images, video and asset management. A credit spends the same on transformations, storage or delivery, so a month heavy on one is absorbed by spending less on another — the only member here where a shifting workload mix does not need a plan change to match it.
Pick ImageKit if Costs you can predict per resource, at the cheapest paid entry here. Bandwidth, storage, video units and extension units are four separate meters with published rates, so a workload heavy on one is not charged against the others — and the bandwidth overage falls from $0.50 to $0.45 a GB as the plan grows.