OctoSqueeze or Cloudinary: which one do you need?
These are not the same product. Cloudinary is a full media platform: it stores your images, transforms them by URL (f_auto picks WebP or AVIF per browser) and delivers them from its own CDN.
OctoSqueeze compresses and converts the images you send and hands the files straight back, for you to store and serve wherever you already do.
Cloudinary pricing read from cloudinary.com/pricing on 22 September 2026. Their plans may have changed since — check before you decide.
At a glance
Prices checked 22 September 2026.
| What | OctoSqueeze | Cloudinary |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 500 images a month | 25 credits a month (a credit is 1,000 transformations, or 1 GB storage, or 1 GB bandwidth) |
| Paid pricing | $9–$49 per month | Plus $99 a month ($89 billed yearly), Advanced $249 a month ($224 yearly), Enterprise on request |
| Stores and serves your images | No — you keep your own storage and CDN | Yes |
| Transforms on the fly | No — you ask for the formats you want and get the files | Yes, by URL |
| What you integrate | One API call where your app already handles uploads | A media platform your app delegates to |
The real question is where your images live
- •If you already pay for S3, R2 or your host's storage and a CDN, a media platform duplicates them; a compression API does not.
- •If you have no storage story yet, or need video too, one vendor that does all of it is worth the price.
Both products make images smaller and neither published a fair head-to-head benchmark, so this page compares what you get and what it costs, not compression ratio. Run your own images through both before you commit.
Choose Cloudinary if
you want one vendor to store, transform and deliver every image and video, with per-device resizing at the edge.
Choose OctoSqueeze if
you already have storage and a CDN and only need the files made smaller, at a flat monthly price, with the originals staying yours.
Yes — that is the usual setup. Compress on upload, then serve the smaller file from whichever CDN you already use.
No. You tell us the formats and sizes you want when you send the image, and you get those files back.
Other comparisons
How OctoSqueeze sits next to the rest of the field.