Files APIs are here to stay, and as a market segment it’s growing at a rapid clip. With cloud computing becoming more powerful and most large businesses opting to invest in cloud-first solutions over powerful workstations, it would follow that there’s more demand than ever for in-app file management. With demand rising, we at Weavy want to offer our take on the Files API landscape, and one of the most interesting options: Transloadit.
Transloadit at a glanceTransloadit works primarily as an API vendor, though to support some of the more advanced features they also have a global content delivery network, or CDN. Subscribers essentially pay for access to the API as well as CDN bandwidth. Transloadit provides no hosting options to customers, instead offering its CDN as an intermediary step between end users and the host app’s cloud storage or data warehouse solution. To belabor a metaphor: imagine Transloadit as a toll road to a storage facility.
Transloadit operates similarly to Transloadit files competitor Filestack where they provide subscribers with access and documentation for their APIs, while charging for metered access to their services and customer support. Transloadit pulls ahead of Filestack in the simplicity with which they meter access: exclusively through bandwidth and user seats.
Though Transloadit’s primary function is to act as a middleman between host apps and data storage, their CDN allows for some more complex file handling features.
Transloadit Features:
First, a quick breakdown of the features of Transloadit’s competitors.
Filestack Features:
Uppy Features:
Weavy Files API Features:
Transloadit’s alternatives have different approaches to their feature offering. First and foremost is Uppy, Uppy is the file uploader technology that Transloadit API utilizes, and unlike its bigger brother, Uppy has no options for file handling or infrastructure integration. Filestack’s featureset has much more in common with Transloadit, but has a much wider, though some may say more scattered, offering of file handling and transformation functions. Weavy Files API has the most focused functionality, leaning into giving users options to digitize their workflow and move their productivity directly into your app.
Transloadit’s offering seems tailored to what it truly is: a highway for files. Through the API, Transloadit provides apps with an onramp in the form of a file uploader, as well as exits in the form of file exports and data storage buckets. Along the way they provide features that act as service stations for your files: tune up your images in the form of conversions, organize your data through machine learning powered automations.
These transformation options all seem to have a definite focus: creativity. Nearly all of Transloadit files transformation features are for handling, compressing, transcoding, and modifying media files. If you’re trying to build a great streaming video platform Tranloadit API may be a great option, but if your goal is to have users working with more traditional files, a solution like Weavy may be a better fit.
Similar to Transloadit’s alternatives, Transloadit operates on a tiered pricing structure that corresponds to usage limitations. The biggest differentiator is how it handles these tiers.
Transloadit Prices:
$49/month for up to 30gb/month
$99/month for up to 70gb/month
$249/month for up to 200gb/month
First, a quick breakdown of the price structure of Transloadit alternatives.
Filestack Prices:
Free for up to 5gb/month, 1gb of storage, 500 uploads, and 1000 transformations
$59/month for up to 50gb/month, 20gb of storage, 10,000 uploads, and 25,000 transformations
$199/month for up to 200gb/month, 150gb of storage, 50,000 uploads, and 250,000 transformations
$359/mont for up to 400gb, 350gb of storage, 125,000 uploads, and 300,000 transformations
Uppy Prices:
Free
Weavy Prices:
$1299/month for up to 250 directories
$2299/month for up to 1000 directories
When compared to Transloadit alternatives Weavy and Filestack, Transloadit’s pricing differs greatly in price points. One place where they are all similar is in having a tiered pricing structure, however each company chooses different metrics upon which to base their pricing. Weavy takes the simplest approach by only charging by the number of directories (groups of users) an app services, while Filestack operates on a complex matrix of storage, bandwidth, and access to more advanced features.
Transloadit’s pricing is very straightforward: you are charged for the volume of data that passes through their network. One thing to note is that their listed tiers have a surprisingly low bandwidth cap compared to the average size of media files. If you don’t want to pay for overages (between $1.80 and $1.20 per additional GB of data), you’ll have to opt for an enterprise plan, which Transloadit does not provide pricing estimates for.
If you’re building a platform that is all about moving media files and providing ways for users to creatively modify those files, Transloadit provides a powerful API and a pipeline for those files to move through. However if you’re looking for an option that provides storage or you simply need more bandwidth than Transloadit is willing to give, you may want to reconsider subscribing to Transloadit.
But if your product team is more focused on giving end users a fully digitized workflow with common sense file management functions, Weavy provides a solution that allows users to do most or all of their file management directly within your app.
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