# Cloudinary vs imgix

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

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | Cloudinary | imgix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free trial |
| Credit card to start | No | No |
| 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. | $25 a month for Starter, or $250 a year. That is 100 credits a month at $0.25 each. |
| 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. | Credits sold as currency, not as a resource equivalence. Starter prices them at $0.25 each falling to $0.21 annually, and each bundle also states a media and a delivery ceiling — 100 credits comes with up to 50 GB of media and up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth. imgix moved to this from a model tied to origin images. |
| Storage (entry plan) | 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. | Up to 50 GB of media on Starter — the volume on your site rather than an entire library, by imgix's own definition. |
| 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. | Up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth on Starter, rising to 375 GB on Basic. |

## Where they differ

### Free tier

- Cloudinary: Yes ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- imgix: No ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

### Kind of free offer

- Cloudinary: Free tier ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- imgix: Free trial ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

### 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))
- imgix: $25 a month for Starter, or $250 a year. That is 100 credits a month at $0.25 each. ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

### 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))
- imgix: Credits sold as currency, not as a resource equivalence. Starter prices them at $0.25 each falling to $0.21 annually, and each bundle also states a media and a delivery ceiling — 100 credits comes with up to 50 GB of media and up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth. imgix moved to this from a model tied to origin images. ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

### 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. ([source](https://cloudinary.com/pricing))
- imgix: Up to 50 GB of media on Starter — the volume on your site rather than an entire library, by imgix's own definition. ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

### 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))
- imgix: Up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth on Starter, rising to 375 GB on Basic. ([source](https://imgix.com/pricing))

## 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 imgix if A media library that is large relative to the traffic it serves. Starter is $25 a month for 100 credits with up to 50 GB of media and 100 GB of delivery, and the per-credit price falls as bundles grow — $0.25 on Starter, $0.20 on Basic, $0.18 on Midrange.

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: imgix — You want to start free, or to know what a credit actually is. There is no free plan, only 30 days and 100 credits, and the page prices credits without ever defining one — it states the media and delivery ceilings attached to each bundle and leaves the unit itself undescribed.

## Documented by only one

- 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.
- When the free offer ends: imgix: 30 days with 100 credits to spend in them. It is the only free access — the plan table starts at Starter.
- Support on entry paid plan: Cloudinary: Expedited support on Plus, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets forums, tickets and email.

## Questions this comparison answers

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

Cloudinary: $99 a month for Plus, or $89 a month billed yearly. That buys 225 monthly credits across 3 users and 2 accounts.
imgix: $25 a month for Starter, or $250 a year. That is 100 credits a month at $0.25 each.

**Free tier: Cloudinary or imgix?**

Cloudinary: Yes
imgix: No

**Included bandwidth: Cloudinary or imgix?**

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.
imgix: Up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth on Starter, rising to 375 GB on Basic.

**Should I choose Cloudinary or imgix?**

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 imgix if A media library that is large relative to the traffic it serves. Starter is $25 a month for 100 credits with up to 50 GB of media and 100 GB of delivery, and the per-credit price falls as bundles grow — $0.25 on Starter, $0.20 on Basic, $0.18 on Midrange.