# ImageKit vs Uploadcare

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

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | ImageKit | Uploadcare |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | 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. | 1,000 operations, 5 GB of traffic and 1 GB of storage a month, with a 500 MB file ceiling — and marked personal use only, which is a licence restriction the other three do not place on their free plans. |
| Entry paid plan | $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance. | $66 a month for Pro, which includes 5,000 operations, 25 GB of traffic and 10 GB of storage. |
| Pricing model | 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. | Operations, plus traffic and storage on their own meters. An operation is any action taken on a file — uploading, an API request, an image transformation, video processing, document conversion — so the count tracks how much you do to the media rather than how much of it you serve. |
| Egress over allowance | $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. | $0.35 per GB of traffic above the 25 GB on Pro, and $0.25 above the 125 GB on Business. |
| When you exceed a cap | 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. | Every meter continues past its allowance at a published per-unit rate rather than stopping — operations, traffic and storage alike. |
| Included bandwidth | 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. | 25 GB of traffic a month on Pro, and 125 GB on Business. |
| Storage price | $0.10 per GB above the 10 GB of DAM storage included with Lite. | $0.35 per GB above the 10 GB included on Pro, and $0.25 above the 50 GB on Business. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- 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))
- Uploadcare: 1,000 operations, 5 GB of traffic and 1 GB of storage a month, with a 500 MB file ceiling — and marked personal use only, which is a licence restriction the other three do not place on their free plans. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### Entry paid plan

- ImageKit: $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))
- Uploadcare: $66 a month for Pro, which includes 5,000 operations, 25 GB of traffic and 10 GB of storage. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### Pricing model

- 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))
- Uploadcare: Operations, plus traffic and storage on their own meters. An operation is any action taken on a file — uploading, an API request, an image transformation, video processing, document conversion — so the count tracks how much you do to the media rather than how much of it you serve. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### 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. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))
- Uploadcare: $0.35 per GB of traffic above the 25 GB on Pro, and $0.25 above the 125 GB on Business. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### 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. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))
- Uploadcare: Every meter continues past its allowance at a published per-unit rate rather than stopping — operations, traffic and storage alike. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### Included bandwidth

- 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))
- Uploadcare: 25 GB of traffic a month on Pro, and 125 GB on Business. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

### Storage price

- ImageKit: $0.10 per GB above the 10 GB of DAM storage included with Lite. ([source](https://imagekit.io/plans))
- Uploadcare: $0.35 per GB above the 10 GB included on Pro, and $0.25 above the 50 GB on Business. ([source](https://uploadcare.com/pricing/))

## Which should you choose?

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.

Pick Uploadcare if Upload-heavy products where the work is done TO files rather than served from them. An operation is every upload, API request, transformation, video job and document conversion, so the meter follows the pipeline — and traffic and storage are billed on their own meters rather than drawn from it.

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.

Consider something else: Uploadcare — You serve a lot and process little. Three meters run at once and Pro is $66 a month for 5,000 operations, 25 GB of traffic and 10 GB of storage, with $1.60 per further thousand operations. The free plan is personal use only, and SOC 2 and HIPAA appear only on Enterprise.

## Documented by only one

- Storage (entry plan): Uploadcare: 10 GB included with Pro, then billed per GB. Storage is its own meter here rather than a draw on a shared pool.
- Operations price: Uploadcare: $1.60 per 1,000 operations above the 5,000 included on Pro, falling to $0.80 per 1,000 on Business and as low as $0.10 on Enterprise.
- Support on entry paid plan: ImageKit: Email support on Lite, the entry paid plan. The free plan gets community support only.
- SOC 2: Uploadcare: SOC 2 is listed among the Enterprise plan's options, alongside HIPAA. Nothing is claimed for Free, Pro or Business.
- HIPAA: Uploadcare: HIPAA is listed among the Enterprise plan's options. Nothing is claimed for the plans below it.

## Questions this comparison answers

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

ImageKit: $9 a month for Lite, plus pay-as-you-go on every meter above its allowance.
Uploadcare: $66 a month for Pro, which includes 5,000 operations, 25 GB of traffic and 10 GB of storage.

**Egress over allowance: ImageKit or Uploadcare?**

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.
Uploadcare: $0.35 per GB of traffic above the 25 GB on Pro, and $0.25 above the 125 GB on Business.

**When you exceed a cap: ImageKit or Uploadcare?**

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.
Uploadcare: Every meter continues past its allowance at a published per-unit rate rather than stopping — operations, traffic and storage alike.

**Should I choose ImageKit or Uploadcare?**

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.
Pick Uploadcare if Upload-heavy products where the work is done TO files rather than served from them. An operation is every upload, API request, transformation, video job and document conversion, so the meter follows the pipeline — and traffic and storage are billed on their own meters rather than drawn from it.