Cloudinary alternative
A simpler Cloudinary alternative for client websites
Cloudinary is a developer media platform. If you just need client photos, videos, and galleries on the sites you build, Dropl does that for $15/month flat, with no code and no credits to track.
Why switch
Made for agencies, not media pipelines
Dropl skips the transformation APIs and SDKs and gives you what client websites need: hosting, galleries, video, and a way for clients to add new work.
No credit math
$15/month flat with 100 GB storage and 500 GB monthly delivery, pooled across every client site. Your bill only changes if you add a capacity pack.
A workspace per client
Add unlimited client sites. Each one has its own videos, showcases, nested folders, and player settings.
A portal for your clients
Invite clients to upload photos and videos from their phone. They see only their own workspace, and their site updates on its own.
No-code embeds
One snippet, a div and an async script, works on Webflow, Framer, WordPress, Next.js, and plain HTML. No SDK to install.
Galleries ready to use
Mix photos and videos in a grid or collage with category filter tabs and a lightbox, or use the Projects layout for a portfolio with a page per project.
Unlimited team members
Invite every designer and developer on your team at no extra cost.
Side by side
Dropl vs Cloudinary for client websites
How Dropl compares with Cloudinary's Image and Video API plans for agencies putting client media on websites.
Price
- Dropl
- Yes: $15/month flat, billed monthly. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
- Cloudinary
- Yes: Free plan. Plus is $99/month billed monthly or $89/month billed annually. Advanced is $249/month or $224/month billed annually.
What pricing is based on
- Dropl
- Yes: One plan with 100 GB storage and 500 GB monthly delivery, pooled across every client site. Add capacity packs for more.
- Cloudinary
- Partly: Monthly credits shared by storage, bandwidth, and transformations, measured over a rolling 30 days
Going over your allowance
- Dropl
- Partly: Photos always load. Videos pause past 110% of delivery until next month or a capacity pack (automatic packs are opt-in). Full storage pauses new uploads only.
- Cloudinary
- Partly: Soft limits: warnings and upgrade prompts, then the account can be disabled if usage stays over
Client sites
- Dropl
- Yes: Unlimited client sites, each with its own media and settings
- Cloudinary
- Partly: Product environments: 1 on Free, 2 on Plus, 3 on Advanced. Extra environments cost more.
Team members
- Dropl
- Yes: Unlimited
- Cloudinary
- Partly: 3 users on Free and Plus, 5 on Advanced. Extra users cost more.
Client uploads
- Dropl
- Yes: Client portal with phone uploads. Clients see only their own workspace.
- Cloudinary
- Partly: Role-based users from Plus, and an upload widget you build into your own app
No-code galleries and embeds
- Dropl
- Yes: Galleries and videos embed with one snippet on Webflow, Framer, WordPress, Next.js, and HTML
- Cloudinary
- Partly: Built for developers: delivery URLs, APIs, SDKs, and a customizable video player
Video hosting
- Dropl
- Yes: Uploads up to 20 GB, adaptive streaming, ad-free player, private and password-protected videos
- Cloudinary
- Yes: Transcoding, adaptive streaming, and a player. Max video file is 100 MB on Free, 2 GB on Plus, 4 GB on Advanced.
Page performance
- Dropl
- Yes: Photos resized and lazy loaded automatically. Embeds reserve their space, so no layout shift.
- Cloudinary
- Yes: Automatic format and quality optimization, responsive images, and delivery through Akamai, Fastly, and Cloudflare
Image and video transformations
- Dropl
- No: No. Photos are resized for you, but there are no transformation URLs or effects.
- Cloudinary
- Yes: URL-based resizing, cropping, format conversion, effects, and overlays
Asset management and AI
- Dropl
- No: No. Nested folders, but no DAM, search by tags, or AI tagging.
- Cloudinary
- Yes: Media library with search and tags, auto-tagging add-ons, and a full DAM on Assets Enterprise
Developer API and SDKs
- Dropl
- Partly: Versioned REST API with scoped keys and an OpenAPI document. No language SDKs.
- Cloudinary
- Yes: Upload, admin, and search APIs, with client libraries for popular frameworks
Cloudinary details are from the Cloudinary pricing page, the plan comparison, the pricing summary in the docs, the billing and plans guide, the Free plan FAQ and the usage limits guide as of October 11, 2026, and may have changed since.
All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Dropl is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Trade-offs
When Cloudinary is the better pick
Cloudinary is far more capable as a media engine. If your work depends on any of these, it is the stronger choice.
Programmatic transformations
Cloudinary can resize, crop, convert, and apply effects to images and video on the fly from a URL. Dropl resizes photos for its galleries but offers no transformation API.
Digital asset management and AI
Cloudinary has a searchable media library, auto-tagging, and a full DAM for large teams. Dropl organizes media in folders per client site and nothing more.
Large developer pipelines
For apps and stores with heavy traffic, Cloudinary offers SDKs, multi-CDN delivery, SSO, and custom enterprise plans. Dropl is sized for agency client websites.
Switching
Move client media from Cloudinary to Dropl
Move one client at a time. Your Cloudinary URLs keep working until you change them.
- 1
Start your trial and add client sites
14-day free trial, no credit card required. Add a client site for each website you serve from Cloudinary.
- 2
Download the original files
Download the original photos and videos for that client from your Cloudinary media library. Dropl handles the sizes, so you only need the originals.
- 3
Upload and organize
Drag the files into Dropl, use nested folders if you like, and build showcases with layouts and category filter tabs.
- 4
Replace the embeds
Swap Cloudinary URLs and players for Dropl embed snippets. On Next.js or custom builds, the REST API returns embed code for each showcase and video.
- 5
Invite the client
Send a portal invite so the client adds new work themselves. Keep Cloudinary for any project that needs transformations.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Dropl a good Cloudinary alternative for agencies?
Yes, if your goal is client photos, videos, and galleries on websites. Dropl gives each client a workspace and a portal, embeds without code, and costs $15/month flat for unlimited client sites and team members. If you rely on transformation URLs, AI tagging, or a DAM, Cloudinary is the better fit.
How does Cloudinary pricing work?
Cloudinary plans include a number of monthly credits. One credit equals 1,000 transformations, 1 GB of storage, or 1 GB of image bandwidth, and on paid plans 2 GB of video bandwidth. Free includes 25 credits, Plus 225, and Advanced 600. Transformations and bandwidth are measured over a rolling 30 days.
What happens if I go over my plan?
On Cloudinary, limits are soft: you get warnings and upgrade prompts, and the account can be disabled if usage stays over. On Dropl, photos always keep loading. Videos keep playing up to 110% of monthly delivery, then pause until next month or until you add a capacity pack (+100 GB storage and +500 GB delivery for $10/month per capacity pack). You can turn on automatic packs, and a full storage allowance only pauses new uploads.
Can Dropl resize or crop images from a URL like Cloudinary?
No. Dropl resizes and lazy loads photos automatically for its galleries, but it has no on-the-fly transformation URLs, crop or format APIs, or effects. If you need those, Cloudinary does them well.
Can clients upload their own photos and videos?
Yes. Invite them to the Dropl client portal. They upload from their phone and see only their own workspace, and new media shows up on their website without you editing it.
Does Dropl have an API for Next.js or custom builds?
Yes. Dropl has a versioned REST API with scoped keys and an OpenAPI document. Use it from your server to create showcases, upload media, and get embed codes. Dropl doesn't publish SDKs for many languages the way Cloudinary does.
Does Dropl have a free plan like Cloudinary?
No. Dropl has a 14-day free trial, no credit card required, then one plan at $15/month flat, billed monthly. Cloudinary's Free plan has no time limit as long as you stay within its 25 monthly credits.
Keep reading
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Put client media on the web without the credit math
14-day free trial, no credit card required. One plan for every client site.