Short answer
Use FilePost if your product only needs to upload files and store permanent public URLs. It is intentionally smaller than Uploadcare, Filestack, and Cloudinary. That is the point: no widget framework, no media transformation pipeline, no DAM, no sales contract just to get started.
Use Uploadcare when the upload widget and media processing experience matter. Use Filestack when you want a broad enterprise content platform with many SDKs, transformations, workflows, and upload sources. Use Cloudinary when image/video optimization and transformations are the center of the product.
Pricing and limits snapshot
Checked against public pricing pages on 2026-06-26. Vendor pricing can change; source links are included below.
| Service | Public entry point | Included usage shape | Strongest paid reason | Not ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FilePost | $9/mo Starter; $29/mo Pro | 1,500 uploads/mo on Starter; 7,500 uploads/mo on Pro; permanent CDN URLs; any file type | Predictable, API-first file hosting without S3 or CDN setup | Image/video transformations, malware scanning, DAM workflows |
| Uploadcare | Pro plan shows 100,000 operations, 75GB traffic, 50GB storage; Business shows 250,000 operations | Operations-based billing across uploads, requests, transformations, processing, traffic, and storage | Polished widget, media processing, custom domains, moderation, document conversion | Teams that only want a simple upload endpoint and permanent public URLs |
| Filestack | Start plan: $69/mo; Grow: $199/mo; Scale: $379/mo | Start includes 20,000 uploads, 75GB bandwidth, 50GB storage; Grow includes 50,000 uploads | Enterprise upload suite with transformations, workflows, SDKs, cloud sources, and integrations | Small apps and automation flows that do not need a large content platform |
| Cloudinary | Free plan available; pricing uses credits for transformations, storage, bandwidth, and video seconds | Free DAM page lists 25GB storage; credit model covers media usage dimensions | Image/video optimization, DAM, transformations, responsive media delivery | Arbitrary file hosting when you do not need visual-media features |
Why FilePost can be the paid choice
Paid users are usually not buying "uploads." They are buying fewer infrastructure decisions. FilePost works when the file pipeline is a supporting feature, not the product itself.
- No storage project: no bucket names, IAM policies, signed URLs, CORS rules, lifecycle policies, or CDN distribution.
- No framework lock: the same endpoint works from cURL, Python, Node, FastAPI, Rails, Zapier, n8n, Make, and Pipedream.
- Permanent URLs: store one URL in your database, CRM, Airtable record, webhook payload, or customer email.
- Clear limits: FilePost pricing is based on upload count and max file size, not a mixed credits model.
- Any file type: reports, PDFs, ZIPs, CSVs, screenshots, invoices, exports, images, and videos are all normal files.
When Uploadcare is better
Uploadcare is better if the user-facing upload experience is a big part of your product. Its public pricing page lists an upload widget, upload API, signed uploads, webhooks, transformations, traffic/storage dimensions, and higher-tier features like custom upload domains and CDN CNAMEs.
That is valuable for media-heavy products. It is also more product surface than a team needs if the requirement is "receive a file and save a URL."
When Filestack is better
Filestack is better when you want a content platform: SDKs, cloud source integrations, transformations, workflows, document/video features, and enterprise support. Its public pricing page lists Start, Grow, Scale, and Enterprise tiers with separate usage for uploads, bandwidth, transformations, and storage.
That breadth is useful for enterprise content workflows. It is unnecessary if the upload feature is just one part of a SaaS app or automation flow.
When Cloudinary is better
Cloudinary is better when image and video are the product. Its public pricing and compare-plan docs describe a credit model spanning transformations, storage, bandwidth, and video processing. That model makes sense when you need one file to become many optimized variants.
For mixed files such as PDFs, CSV exports, ZIP archives, compliance reports, and webhook attachments, FilePost is usually easier to reason about.
Migration shape
The FilePost migration shape is deliberately boring:
curl -X POST https://filepost.dev/v1/upload \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
-F "file=@report.pdf"The response includes a stable url, file_id, original name, size, and content type. Store the URL if the file should remain public. Store the file ID too if your app needs to list, inspect, or delete it later.
Source links
External references checked for this comparison: Uploadcare pricing, Filestack pricing, Cloudinary pricing, and Cloudinary compare plans.