Cloudinary vs imgix
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Cloudinary and imgix built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- 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.
- 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.
6 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Cloudinary 0
imgix 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Cloudinary | imgix |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| 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. |
| Limits | ||
| 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
- imgix
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“free forever no credit card required no cc required 3 users / 1 account 25 monthly credits”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“try imgix for free get 30 days and 100 credits to transform, optimize, and deliver high-performance visuals. no credit card required.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Kind of free offer
- Cloudinary
- Free tier
- imgix
- Free trial
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“free forever no credit card required no cc required 3 users / 1 account 25 monthly credits”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“try imgix for free get 30 days and 100 credits to transform, optimize, and deliver high-performance visuals.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official 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.
- imgix
- $25 a month for Starter, or $250 a year. That is 100 credits a month at $0.25 each.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“$99 per month $89 per month 3 users / 2 accounts 225 monthly credits”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“starter recommended $25/mo $250/yr best for solo developers or makers”
Read 2026-09-15 · official 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.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“one credit can be used interchangeably on all our services. mix and match across these resources up to your plan's monthly credit limit. 1 credit = 1,000 transformations image and video processing or 1GB managed storage for all digital assets or 1GB image bandwidth high-performance CDN or paid plans only 2GB video bandwidth boosted 2:1 for video delivery”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“starter includes: 100 credits 100 credits/mo $0.25 per credit $0.21 per credit up to 50GB of media up to 100GB delivery bandwidth [...] we moved to a credits-based system so every customer can access the full imgix platform. our previous pricing model, which was tied to origin images”
Read 2026-09-15 · official 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.
- imgix
- Up to 50 GB of media on Starter — the volume on your site rather than an entire library, by imgix's own definition.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“1 credit = 1,000 transformations image and video processing or 1GB managed storage for all digital assets”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“up to 50GB of media up to 100GB delivery bandwidth [...] think of this as the volume of media that you have on your website (not your entire media library)”
Read 2026-09-15 · official 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.
- imgix
- Up to 100 GB of delivery bandwidth on Starter, rising to 375 GB on Basic.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Cloudinary Pricing ↗
“or 1GB image bandwidth high-performance CDN or paid plans only 2GB video bandwidth boosted 2:1 for video delivery”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- imgix Pricing ↗
“up to 50GB of media up to 100GB delivery bandwidth [...] up to 187.5GB of media up to 375GB delivery bandwidth”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
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.