AWS vs Cloudinary: Pricing Comparison 2026
Side-by-side pricing comparison of AWS and Cloudinary. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.
Bottom line: Cloudinary starts at $99/mo, making it $1921/mo cheaper than AWS ($2020/mo). Cloudinary offers a free plan.
Last updated: March 16, 2026
AWS vs Cloudinary: Quick Pricing Facts
| Feature | AWS | Cloudinary |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $2020/mo | $99/mo |
| Number of Plans | 4 | 4 |
| Free Tier | No | Yes |
| Pricing Model | usage-based | freemium |
| Annual Discount | N/A | N/A |
Cloudinary is the more affordable option, starting at $99/mo compared to AWS' $2020/mo. Both are Hosting & Infra tools with 8 combined pricing plans and 48 features compared.
Cloudinary stands out with a free plan for getting started. AWS uses usage-based pricing while Cloudinary uses freemium pricing, which may affect your total cost at scale.
Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Hosting & Infra needs.
| Pricing Plans |  AWS Try it free |  Cloudinary Try it free |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | How does AWS pricing work? Custom pricing | FreePopular $0/monthCheapest Includes
|
| Tier 2 | How do you pay for AWS? Custom pricing | PlusPopular $99/monthCheapest Includes
|
| Tier 3 | Is AWS Private Pricing right for you? Custom pricing | AdvancedPopular $249/monthCheapest Includes
|
| Tier 4 | Pricing for AWS products $2020/monthCheapest | EnterprisePopular Custom pricing Includes
|
Swipe to compare plans →
Cloudinary
Cloudinary offers a free plan, starts at $1921/mo lower ($99/mo vs $2020/mo).
Based on pricing data only. Review the full comparison below for your specific needs.
Best value: Cloudinary
Try Cloudinary freeWhich Should You Choose?
Choose AWS if:
- •You want AWS's approach to incremental feature unlocking across its 4 pricing tiers
- •AWS keeps its feature set lean, which means faster onboarding and less complexity
- •You need a Hosting & Infra tool that scales with your team — AWS's tier progression supports that
Choose Cloudinary if:
- •You want lower per-user costs—Cloudinary starts at $99/mo, saving $1921/mo compared to AWS at $2020/mo
- •You need a free plan with Upload widget, API, and search, Remote fetch, auto-backup, and revision tracking—Cloudinary offers no-cost access with no credit card required
- •You want more features built-in—Cloudinary offers 48 additional features across its plans
Cloudinary is the more affordable choice [1], starting at $99/mo compared to AWS's $2020/mo. For a 50-person team on paid plans, this translates to Cloudinary saving approximately $96050/month. Cloudinary offers 4 pricing tiers compared to AWS's 4, giving you more granular control over scaling costs as your team grows. Across all tiers, Cloudinary provides 48 total features versus 0 for AWS, offering a richer feature set depending on your specific needs. The pricing math favors Cloudinary for most team sizes. AWS becomes worth the premium only when its differentiating features are central to your workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions: AWS vs Cloudinary
Which is cheaper, AWS or Cloudinary?
How many pricing plans does AWS have vs Cloudinary?
Does AWS or Cloudinary offer a free plan?
What is the most popular Cloudinary plan?
Does AWS or Cloudinary offer custom enterprise pricing?
What pricing models do AWS and Cloudinary use?
How do AWS and Cloudinary compare for Hosting & Infra?
Sources
- AWS Official Pricing— Vendor pricing page
- Cloudinary Official Pricing— Vendor pricing page
Track Price Changes
Get notified when pricing changes for these tools.