UploadThing
Hosted file upload service with type-safe SDKs for full-stack TypeScript apps.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is UploadThing free?
Free plan, plus paid plans
- Starting price:
- $10/month for 100GB
- Free plan:
- 2GB of storage
Checked on UploadThing's site Nov 8, 2026
Full UploadThing pricing and plansSwitch from UploadThing to
All 8
UploadcareStarting price: $79/month (Pro, monthly billing)
CloudinaryStarting price: $99/month, or $89/month billed yearly (Plus)
FirebaseFree plan + paid
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 8
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About UploadThing
UploadThing is a hosted file upload service aimed at TypeScript developers who don't want to wire up S3 buckets, signed URLs and upload widgets themselves. You define file routes on your server, with size and type limits plus your own auth check, and drop a ready-made upload button or dropzone into the front end; the files themselves go straight to UploadThing's storage. It ships first-party adapters for Next.js, Remix, SvelteKit, Nuxt, SolidStart, Astro and Expo, plus backend adapters for Express, Fastify and others, and a dashboard to manage stored files. It is built by Ping Labs, the team behind the T3 Stack. Pricing is simple: a free tier with a small amount of storage, a flat monthly plan for more, and a usage-based plan for larger apps, with uploads and downloads not metered separately. The SDKs are MIT-licensed, but the storage service itself is hosted only. It does not do image transformations or a media CDN in the way Cloudinary or ImageKit do.
Best for: TypeScript and Next.js developers who want file uploads working in minutes without managing S3..
UploadThing pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from UploadThing's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 2GB of storage | Nov 8, 2026 | uploadthing.com |
| Starting price | $10/month for 100GB | Nov 8, 2026 | uploadthing.com |
| Usage-based plan | From $25/month, 250GB included | Nov 8, 2026 | uploadthing.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Type-safe server routes and drop-in upload components
- Adapters for most popular JS frameworks and backends
- Simple flat pricing with no separate bandwidth charges
Why people leave
- Built for the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem only
- No image resizing or transformation pipeline
- Storage is hosted only; you can't self-host the service
UploadThing vs Uploadcare, Cloudinary and Firebase
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | UploadThing | Uploadcare | Cloudinary | Firebase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Verified price | $10/month for 100GB | $79/month (Pro, monthly billing) | $99/month, or $89/month billed yearly (Plus) | — |
| Free plan | 2GB of storage | Yes, 1,000 operations/month | Yes, $0 forever, no credit card | Yes, Spark plan |
| Open source | No | No | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
Top UploadThing alternatives
See all 8- 1Uploadcare68.8
Hosted uploader with a ready widget plus on-the-fly image processing and a CDN, and SDKs beyond JavaScript.
- 2Cloudinary64.8
Full media platform with uploads, transformations and video delivery, for apps where media is central.
- 3Firebase63.2
Cloud Storage for Firebase gives client SDK uploads guarded by security rules, a fit for mobile and web apps.
- 4
ImageKit61.8Adds real-time image and video optimisation and a CDN on top of file uploads, with a free tier.
- 5
Amazon S351.2Raw object storage with full control and the widest ecosystem, if you can handle signed URLs yourself.
Why people left UploadThing
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from UploadThing, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
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UploadThing: common questions
What is UploadThing?
UploadThing: Hosted file upload service with type-safe SDKs for full-stack TypeScript apps. Best for typeScript and Next.js developers who want file uploads working in minutes without managing S3. Available for Web.
Is UploadThing free?
UploadThing has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: 2GB of storage (checked on UploadThing's own site).
How much does UploadThing cost?
UploadThing is free with paid plans. Free plan: 2GB of storage; Starting price: $10/month for 100GB; Usage-based plan: From $25/month, 250GB included. Checked on UploadThing's own site, November 2026.
Is UploadThing open source?
No, UploadThing is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Supabase.
What platforms does UploadThing run on?
UploadThing is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to UploadThing?
The highest-ranked UploadThing alternatives right now are Uploadcare, Cloudinary and Firebase. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
UploadThing vs Uploadcare: what's the difference?
Both UploadThing and Uploadcare are free with paid plans. Verified prices: UploadThing $10/month for 100GB, Uploadcare $79/month (Pro, monthly billing). Both run on Web.