The Modern, Cost-Effective
Cloudinary Alternative.
Stop overpaying for opaque credits and locked-in storage. Keep your own S3 or Cloudflare R2 bucket, transform media at the edge with Sharp, and cut your media bills by up to 70%.
Transparent pricing without hidden credits
Compare predictable monthly costs across media platforms.
Or Free forever (1 GB storage + 5,000 transforms)
Plus unpredictable credit overage charges
CDN + Storage + $9.50/mo Optimizer add-on
Entry tier with strict bandwidth caps
Built for Modern Engineering Teams
Everything you loved about media transformation without the enterprise credit tax.
Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB)
Connect your own AWS S3, Cloudflare R2 (zero egress fees), MinIO, Wasabi, or DigitalOcean Spaces. Dreep charges $0 for storage bytes when you connect your own bucket.
1-Click Cloudinary OAuth Sync
Connect using your Cloud Name in seconds. Background workers import folders, images, and video assets asynchronously with complete metadata preservation.
Zero-Dependency TypeScript SDK
Install npm i dreep. Zero external packages in your node_modules. Built on native fetch and node:crypto with full type autocomplete.
Document OCR & Adaptive Video
Extract text from receipts, invoices, and PDFs on-the-fly (`.txt`), stream adaptive HLS video (`.m3u8`), and strip audio tracks in under 200ms.
Dreep vs Cloudinary
A clear look at capabilities, storage freedom, and developer experience.
| Feature / Capability | Dreep | Cloudinary |
|---|---|---|
Pricing Model Pricing & Billing | Flat transparent tiers + add-ons | Opaque 'Credits' system |
Starting Price Pricing & Billing | Free Forever / Paid from $2.99/mo | Free / Paid from $89/mo |
Regional Multi-Currency (NGN & USD) Pricing & Billing | Dynamic NGN & USD with local billing | USD only (International cards) |
Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB) Storage & BYOB | Native AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, Wasabi | Enterprise custom only (Locked silo) |
Dreep Storage Fees on BYOB Storage & BYOB | $0 (Zero storage markup) | High storage tier markups |
1-Click Cloudinary OAuth Sync Migration | ||
AWS S3 / Cloudflare R2 Background Import Migration | Manual CLI / API scripts | |
TypeScript SDK Dependencies Developer Experience | Zero external dependencies (pure TS) | Heavy legacy package (many sub-deps) |
Local URL & Signed URL Builder Developer Experience | Instant local HMAC (0 network calls) | Requires server-side signing |
Real-Time Image Transforms (Sharp) Media Transformations | WebP, AVIF, PNG, JPEG, Blur, Crop | Proprietary URL transforms |
AI Focal Point Detection (Gravity) Media Transformations | Attention & Entropy AI gravity | Auto gravity (Credit burn) |
Edge Document OCR Text Extraction AI & Intelligence | Built-in `.txt` API with Bounding Boxes | Paid add-on pack |
AI Background Removal AI & Intelligence | Built-in edge endpoint | Expensive add-on credits |
Adaptive HLS Video Streaming (.m3u8) Video & Streaming | Credit-intensive transcoding | |
Instant Audio Track Extraction (<200ms) Video & Streaming | Built-in `?format=mp3` / `wav` / `aac` | Full video transcode pipeline |
Folder Permissions (Public, Private, Signed) Security & Control | Basic folder tags |
Migrate from Cloudinary in 3 Simple Steps
Our automated background sync takes care of the heavy lifting so your production app never experiences downtime.
Connect via OAuth
Enter your Cloudinary Cloud Name in your Dreep dashboard and authorize access via secure OAuth in 1-click. No complex API secret exports needed.
Select Folders & Sync
Browse your entire Cloudinary media library visually. Select target folders and trigger a background worker sync that preserves all folder paths, tags, and dimensions.
Zero-Downtime Delivery
Switch your frontend media delivery URLs to Dreep CDN. Your existing files serve seamlessly with on-the-fly Sharp transformations, OCR, and global edge caching.
Clean, Typed TypeScript vs Legacy Boilerplate
Dreep runs on native fetch and node:crypto with zero dependencies in your lockfile.
// Dreep: Zero Dependencies, Pure TypeScript
import { Dreep } from "dreep";
import fs from "node:fs";
const dreep = new Dreep({ apiKey: process.env.DREEP_API_KEY });
// 1. Upload & ingest
const asset = await dreep.upload({
file: fs.createReadStream("hero.jpg"),
folder: "marketing",
transform: { width: 1200, format: "webp", quality: 85 }
});
// 2. Generate on-the-fly URLs locally (0 network calls)
const thumbUrl = dreep.url(asset, {
width: 400,
height: 400,
gravity: "attention", // AI focal crop
format: "avif"
});
// 3. HMAC Signed URLs for private assets
const signedUrl = dreep.signedUrl(asset, { expiresInSeconds: 3600 });// Cloudinary: Heavy Legacy SDK & Signature Boilerplate
const cloudinary = require("cloudinary").v2;
const crypto = require("crypto");
cloudinary.config({
cloud_name: process.env.CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME,
api_key: process.env.CLOUDINARY_API_KEY,
api_secret: process.env.CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET
});
// 1. Upload with credit-intensive transforms
const result = await cloudinary.uploader.upload("hero.jpg", {
folder: "marketing",
transformation: [{ width: 1200, crop: "scale", fetch_format: "auto" }]
});
// 2. Complex URL string concatenation
const thumbUrl = cloudinary.url(result.public_id, {
width: 400,
height: 400,
crop: "thumb",
gravity: "auto"
});
// 3. Manual signature hashing required for private deliveryFrequently Asked Questions
How does 1-click Cloudinary OAuth migration work in Dreep?
In your Dreep dashboard, simply enter your Cloudinary Cloud Name and authorize access via secure OAuth. Dreep will display your full Cloudinary folder tree. You select which folders to import, and our asynchronous background workers pull and register all assets with full metadata and dimension preservation without any downtime.
How does Dreep's pricing compare to Cloudinary's 'Credit' system?
Cloudinary uses opaque credits that burn simultaneously across storage, transformations, and bandwidth, leading to sudden $200–$1,000+ monthly bills. Dreep offers simple, predictable plans (Free Forever, or paid starting from $2.99/mo / ₦ equivalent) with modular add-ons and $0 storage fees when using Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB).
Can I use my own AWS S3 or Cloudflare R2 bucket with Dreep?
Yes! Dreep provides native Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB) for AWS S3, Cloudflare R2 (zero egress fees), MinIO, Wasabi, and DigitalOcean Spaces. Your master media files remain in your own cloud bucket with zero vendor lock-in.
Do I need to change my entire codebase to switch from Cloudinary?
No. Dreep's URL transformation syntax is clean and intuitive (`?w=800&fit=cover&f=webp&gravity=attention`). Our official Node.js/TypeScript SDK (`npm i dreep`) has zero dependencies and provides built-in `dreep.url()` and `dreep.signedUrl()` methods that run locally with zero network roundtrips.
Does Dreep support Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Background Removal?
Yes. Unlike Cloudinary which charges heavy add-on fees for add-on packs, Dreep includes native edge OCR text extraction (fetch `.txt` or `?format=txt`) with normalized bounding box ratios and AI-driven background removal.
Ready to ditch Cloudinary credits?
Connect your Cloudinary account via OAuth and start serving optimized media from Dreep in minutes.