A Cloudinary Alternative for Plain File Storage

Step by step

1. Create an app

   Sign in at api.rapidfile.cc, create an app and copy its secret key. The key is shown once, so save it somewhere safe on your server.

2. Ask for an upload

   From your server, send the file name, size, type and access setting. The API returns an upload address that expires after one hour.

3. Upload the file

   Send the file to that address from your front end or a script. Files above 95 MB are uploaded in parts automatically.

4. Serve or share it

   Public files get a CDN URL. For private files, create a signed URL that lasts up to 7 days.

Cloudinary is known for managing and delivering images and video. Its service stores media, then changes it on demand: resizing a photo for a thumbnail, cropping to a face, converting a file to a modern format or trimming a video. Many teams use it for exactly that, and it is a serious tool for media-heavy products. Other developers look elsewhere because they do not need transformations at all. They want to store documents, archives or user uploads, serve them over a CDN and keep the bill predictable. Rapidfile's Upload API is built for that narrower job. It is persistent file storage with signed upload addresses, private files and webhooks, but it does not transform media.

The short version

Cloudinary figures are from Cloudinary's website as of October 2026. Plans change — check their site.

Where Cloudinary is the stronger pick

• Image and video transformations. If your app generates many sizes of the same photo or converts video for different devices, Cloudinary does that work for you. Rapidfile does not, so you would need another step or another service.
• Media asset management. Cloudinary is designed for media libraries that many people search, tag and reuse. If your team manages a large catalogue of images and videos, that tooling is a real advantage.
• Free processing included. Its free plan's 25 credits cover transformations as well as storage, which suits small projects that do a lot of image processing.

Where Rapidfile fits better

• Storage without credit math. Rapidfile's Upload API is priced by storage and file-size tiers. You do not need to work out how many credits a deployment will burn through each month.
• More free storage and bigger files. The free tier gives you 2 GB and files up to 512 MB, which covers many documents, archives and short videos before any payment.
• Simple paid tiers for storage. Starter is $5 per month for 100 GB with 4 GB files and 10 apps. Growth is $15 per month for 500 GB with 16 GB files. The details are on the Upload API pricing page.
• Persistent files with signed access. Files stay until you delete them. Private files are served through signed URLs, which you can set to last up to 7 days.
• Uploads straight from the browser. Your server asks for an upload address using your secret key, and the browser sends the file itself. The API docs show the request shapes.
• Unlimited CDN requests. Public files are served without a request cap.

Storage, not transformations

Cloudinary's pricing works as a shared pool. One credit can be spent on 1,000 transformations, 1 GB of storage or 1 GB of image bandwidth, and you can mix them in any combination. That is flexible, but it means a single feature change can move your usage in ways that are hard to predict. For example, storing 1 GB, serving 1 GB of images and running 1,000 transformations would use three of the 25 free credits.

Before you move anything, list the file types you store. If most of them are documents or archives, the transformation features you would pay for in Cloudinary do no work for you.

Rapidfile's model is simpler. You pick a storage tier, and the size of each file is capped by that tier. If your app needs to store user uploads and deliver them, that is the whole bill. If you also need the app to produce thumbnails, you can add a separate step, such as generating thumbnails in your own worker before you upload them.

Rapidfile also does not provide the media-management interface that Cloudinary offers. The Upload API is an API, a JavaScript SDK and an MCP server for AI agents. If you want photo hosting with direct links and embeds for people rather than for your app, the separate Rapidfile Media product covers that use case.

How the upload flow works

The integration has four steps, and none of them needs your users to have an account:

1. Your server requests an upload slot for the file, using its secret key.
2. Your front end, or a script, sends the file to the address it received.
3. Rapidfile confirms the upload and marks the file ready. A webhook can notify your backend.
4. Public files are served from the CDN. Private files are opened with a signed URL that your server creates.

Which one should you use?

Choose Cloudinary if your product depends on transforming images or video, or if you need a media library with search and tagging. Choose Rapidfile's Upload API if your app stores and serves files, you want a generous free tier and you would rather pay for storage than track credits. Many projects use both: Cloudinary for the image pipeline and Rapidfile for documents, archives and other files that never need to be resized.

FAQ

Updated 2026-10-20