Uploadcare

uploadcare.com
Cloud Infrastructure
1-2 Weeks

File uploading, processing & delivery for web and mobile apps

How to Replace Uploadcare

Overview

Uploadcare is a complete file handling platform that manages everything from uploads and storage to processing and delivery for websites and mobile applications. It handles high volumes of user-generated content such as images, videos, and documents, with built-in CDN delivery, image optimization, and API-first architecture. The platform serves 10,000+ developer teams and processes 25B+ requests per week.

Features

61 features across 7 categories

Analytics(1)

Usage Analytics

Track uploads, CDN traffic, locations, bandwidth savings, file types, and API usage

Also in: Hugging Face, Notion, Smartsheet

Delivery(6)

Auto Responsive Images

Automatically load optimal images for each breakpoint and screen size with universal web component

Custom CDN CNAMEPremium

Use your own domain for CDN links to replace default ucarecdn.com domain

Custom CDN Provider SupportPremium

Use your current CDN provider instead of Uploadcare's with custom infrastructure

Proxy CDN Delivery

Use Uploadcare CDN with existing assets by adding prefix to URLs for remote file delivery

Search Engine Indexing Control

Restrict search engine indexing of images and text to prevent SEO impact

Worldwide CDN

Access content from 325,000+ nodes in 135 countries with 99.99% guaranteed uptime using multiple CDN providers (Cloudfront, Akamai, Fastly)

Also in: Litmos, Mux, AWeber

Management(8)

Access Logs

Review all API requests (POST, GET, PUT, DELETE), errors, and infected files

Content Info

Fetch detailed insights on uploaded files including MIME types, size, resolution, format and metadata

Custom Metadata

Add custom metadata to files to store order numbers, item IDs, author names etc

Migration Tools

Free Migro Tool for automated migration from other file management providers

Multiuser Projects

Add multiple collaborators to projects with access to project files and settings

Project Management APIPremium

Create and control projects programmatically

REST API

Powerful API to handle all file operations, platform add-ons, storage, webhooks, and custom metadata

Webhooks

Subscribe to file events and trigger corresponding actions within your app

Processing(29)

Adaptive Bitrate StreamingPremium

Reduce data transfer costs for high-traffic videos with on-the-fly conversion to H.264 and AV1 formats

Auto Format Selection

Automatically select optimal image format (WebP, AVIF, PNG, JPEG) based on browser support

Auto-enhanceAIPremium

Automatically apply levels, contrast, and saturation sharpening to enhance photos

Automatic Image Optimization

CDN automatically chooses format and quality based on image properties and client's browser capabilities

AVIF Format SupportPremium

Automated conversion to AVIF format, a next-gen format that beats JPEG at 30% smaller file size

AWS Rekognition IntegrationAIPremium

Use AWS Rekognition DetectLabels to tag people, objects and content classes in images

Background RemovalAIPremium

Automatically and accurately isolate key content in images using remove.bg AI technology

Blur & Sharpen

Apply Gaussian Blur or sharpen effects with optional face detection

Border Radius & Circle Crop

Create images with rounded corners or as circles

Color Adjustments

Adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, saturation and deliver grayscale or inverted colors

Color Profile Management

Accurately convert CMYK to RGB using ICC profile data

Color RecognitionAIPremium

Get prevailing colors in an image as JSON with RGB values for color-based search filters

Content-aware CroppingAIPremium

AI-powered smart cropping that detects faces, objects, and corners to determine perfect cropping frame

Document ConversionPremium

Convert documents from all popular formats (Microsoft, Apple, OpenDocument, Adobe) and most docs to images

Effects & Enhancements

Automatically enhance photos or create distinct look and feel with filters and effects

Face DetectionAIPremium

AI algorithm that returns accurate face coordinates for automatic cropping, blurring, or tagging

GIF to Video ConversionPremium

Convert animated GIF, WebP or HEIC to modern and efficient MP4 and WebM on the fly

Image Editor

GUI-based image editor with 9 built-in operations including cropping, rotating, color tweaking and photo filtering

Image Overlays & Watermarks

Layer images one over another with intuitive URL operations for transparency and positioning

Object RecognitionAIPremium

AI-based image analysis that tags people, objects and other content classes in images

On-the-fly Image Processing

Automate image optimization and transformations via URL API with real-time operations

Photo Filters

Library of photo filters to add distinct look and feel across website

Resize & Crop

Request correctly sized images on the fly via URL API with preserved original images

Rotation & Flip

Rotate, flip, mirror images with automatic EXIF-based rotation

Smart Image Compression

Reduce image size by up to 70% with fast compression algorithm that stops before visible artifacts

Smart ResizeAIPremium

Content-aware resize that retains original proportions of faces and objects while resizing background

Video ProcessingPremium

Encode video files to MP4, WEBM, OGG formats with quality adjustment, dimension control, and thumbnail generation

WebP Format Support

Automated conversion to WebP format with support for transparency and both lossy and lossless compression

Zoom ObjectsAIPremium

Scale objects similarly across multiple images with AI detection and original resolution preservation

Security(3)

EXIF Metadata Removal

Remove EXIF metadata from uploaded images for privacy and compliance

Malware & NSFW FilteringAIPremium

Detect unwanted content and scan files for malware using ClamAV antivirus engine and AI-based NSFW detection

Signed URLsPremium

Authenticate users to access specific files with signed URLs containing authentication tokens

Also in: Hugging Face, Notion, Airtable

Storage(2)

AWS S3 IntegrationPremium

Connect AWS S3 bucket to use all features of Uploadcare with your own storage, including backup and custom storage options

Backup StoragePremium

Protect stored files with automatic backups to custom S3 bucket

Also in: Yandex Disk, Notion, Bitwarden

Uploading(12)

Accelerated Uploading

Global infrastructure with accelerated upload nodes that pick the closest nodes to user for maximum speed and reliability

API Client Libraries

Official API clients for JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rails, Java, Golang, Rust, Swift iOS/macOS, Kotlin Android

Custom OAuth ApplicationsPremium

Directly connect your app to external upload sources via OAuth 2.0 with custom branding

Custom Upload API DomainPremium

Use your own domain for Upload API and source endpoints

File Uploader Widget

Ready-made, lightweight feature-rich UI widget for file uploading that works with every major JavaScript framework (React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Next)

Framework Integrations

Wrappers and libraries for React, Angular, iOS, and Android File Uploaders

Large File Support

Support for files up to 5TB with multipart chunked uploads and concurrent streams

Server-side Validation

Restrict the types and size of files that can be uploaded to your project via MIME type filtering and file size limiting

Signed Uploads

Control who can upload files to your project by authenticating upload requests with HMAC/SHA256 signature tokens

Upload API

Handles direct, multipart and URL uploading, adding custom metadata, and getting malware scanner reports

Upload from Cloud Sources

Allow file uploads from 10+ sources including Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Facebook and other cloud services

Widget WhitelabelingPremium

Remove copyright from uploader and use custom CNAMEs with CDN and API

Pricing

Free

Free
  • 1,000 operations per month
  • 10 MB max file size
  • 5 GB traffic per month
  • 1 GB storage
  • Uploading widget and API
  • Basic image transformations
  • Delivery through CDN
  • Signed uploads
  • Webhooks
  • Personal use only

Pro

Popular
$66/mo
  • 100,000 operations per month
  • 1 GB max file size
  • 75 GB traffic per month included, then $0.5 per GB
  • 50 GB storage included, then $0.5 per GB
  • All Free features
  • Auto-moderation on upload
  • Malicious content filtering
  • Automated image optimization
  • Content-aware crop and resize
  • Automated responsive images
  • Document conversion
  • Asynchronous video processing
  • Adaptive bitrate streaming
  • Signed URLs
  • 3 team members

Business

$166/mo
  • 250,000 operations per month
  • 10 GB max file size
  • 200 GB traffic per month included, then $0.45 per GB
  • 125 GB storage included, then $0.45 per GB
  • All Pro features
  • Automated AVIF compression
  • Uploading widget whitelabeling
  • Custom Upload API domain
  • Custom CDN CNAME
  • Custom OAuth applications
  • Dedicated solution engineer
  • Performance & security review
  • 4 team members

Enterprise

Custom
  • Custom operations limit
  • File size up to 5 TB
  • Traffic and storage price match
  • Connect AWS S3 Storage
  • Use Okta as SSO provider
  • Project management API
  • Free migration
  • Enterprise-grade security
  • Enterprise SLAs and support
  • HIPAA and SOC2 compliant
  • Dedicated solution architect
  • Private Slack channel
  • All Business features

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Uploadcare

Monthly$66/mo
Yearly$792/yr
5-Year Total$4k

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~9 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyModerate

Total Cost Comparison

1 YearSave $552
SaaS
$792
DIY
$240
3 YearsSave $1.7k
SaaS
$2.4k
DIY
$720
5 YearsSave $2.8k
SaaS
$4k
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 61 features at moderate complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Uploadcare alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 61 features.

Buy Uploadcare

Better Value
Monthly cost$660/mo
3-year total$23,760
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$72,000
Maintenance$1,080/mo
3-year total$110,880
Dev time~6 months

Buying Uploadcare saves ~$87,120 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 61 features and a BuildScore of 3/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

21 known integrations

AkamaiAngularAWS RekognitionAWS S3BoxBufferClamAVCloudfrontDropboxFacebookFastlyGoogle DriveMakeNext.jsOktaPandaDocReactRemove.bgSvelteVueZapier