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Cloudinary Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users appreciate the ease of use of Cloudinary, simplifying media management with quick uploads and powerful transformations. (40 mentions)
Users value the easy asset management and frequent updates that enhance performance and integration capabilities. (28 mentions)
Users appreciate the easy media management with Cloudinary, enabling seamless uploads, transformations, and optimizations. (25 mentions)
Users find easy integrations with Cloudinary highly beneficial for managing assets seamlessly within their applications. (16 mentions)
Users value the efficiency of Cloudinary, benefiting from automated optimizations and seamless asset management for their projects. (15 mentions)
Users appreciate the helpful customer support of Cloudinary, aiding in quick integration and setup processes. (13 mentions)
Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Cloudinary, enhancing their image and video optimization experience seamlessly. (13 mentions)
Users find navigation challenging, making it difficult to manage assets and transformations effectively within Cloudinary. (17 mentions)
Users find pricing transparency lacking, making cost management complicated as they scale up with transformations. (13 mentions)
Users find the complex UI of Cloudinary challenging, particularly when navigating assets and settings seamlessly. (11 mentions)
Users find the learning curve steep for beginners, making it challenging to adopt Cloudinary effectively. (9 mentions)
Users express concerns about cost limitations in Cloudinary, noting unexpected price increases and lack of flexibility in packages. (8 mentions)
Users find difficult navigation in Cloudinary, struggling with complex UI and searching for basic features. (8 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Cloudinary

1. Ease of Use
Users appreciate the ease of use of Cloudinary, simplifying media management with quick uploads and powerful transformations.
See 40 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Kimberly J.
KJ

Kimberly J.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Very easy to use with great compatibility"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

It's very easy to use. I can drop my image in and the link is instantly ready for me to use as needed.

DH

David H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Super useful and reliable tool"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

The upload widget combined with their transformation API makes user generated images super easy to manage on our app.

2. Features
Users value the easy asset management and frequent updates that enhance performance and integration capabilities.
See 28 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Works great for our team"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

It is a helpful way to upload and manage assets. I appreciate the frequent updates and enhancements to keep it working well. Our team uses it on a wee

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Swiss Army Knive"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

We especially like using the API, metadata features, and inline URL parameters.

3. Image Management
Users appreciate the easy media management with Cloudinary, enabling seamless uploads, transformations, and optimizations.
See 25 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Kimberly J.
KJ

Kimberly J.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Very easy to use with great compatibility"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

It's very easy to use. I can drop my image in and the link is instantly ready for me to use as needed.

DH

David H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Super useful and reliable tool"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

The upload widget combined with their transformation API makes user generated images super easy to manage on our app.

4. Easy Integrations
Users find easy integrations with Cloudinary highly beneficial for managing assets seamlessly within their applications.
See 16 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Works great for our team"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

It is a helpful way to upload and manage assets. I appreciate the frequent updates and enhancements to keep it working well. Our team uses it on a wee

Mateus C.
MC

Mateus C.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Great experience with cloudinary"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

For me, the genAI image correction and simple integration with python

5. Efficiency
Users value the efficiency of Cloudinary, benefiting from automated optimizations and seamless asset management for their projects.
See 15 mentions

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Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Works great for our team"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

It is a helpful way to upload and manage assets. I appreciate the frequent updates and enhancements to keep it working well. Our team uses it on a wee

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Automatic Image Optimization"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

The best thing for me is that Cloudinary automatically optimizes images for different devices. It reduces file size without losing quality, which save

6. Customer Support
Users appreciate the helpful customer support of Cloudinary, aiding in quick integration and setup processes.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Upadesh S.
US

Upadesh S.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Best CDN to implement on your site."

What do you like about Cloudinary?

I've been working in the digital marketing field for over a year now and I can confidently say that Cloudinary is the best CDN to implement on your si

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"One of the easiest SDKs to integrate for on-the-fly image transformations"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

This was so easy to setup, install, and load the SDK into my software. We were able to scale our application to accept millions of user images very qu

7. User Interface
Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Cloudinary, enhancing their image and video optimization experience seamlessly.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Media storage for website images"

What do you like about Cloudinary?

Easy user interface, good storage options, best for hi-res image download packages for our website

Verified User
U

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"It makes sharing images easy."

What do you like about Cloudinary?

I love how user friendly it is and the layout. It's easy to navigate and customer service responds quickly to any questions or concerns.

Top Cons or Disadvantages of Cloudinary

1. Poor Navigation
Users find navigation challenging, making it difficult to manage assets and transformations effectively within Cloudinary.
See 17 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2.5/5

"Steady CDN with quirks"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Very complicated navigation on the site. Hard to figure out transformations taking place. Pricing model for transformations in videos is not transpare

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Powerful and easy to get started with"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

The UI is going through some modernisation and difficult to navigate.

2. Expensive
Users find pricing transparency lacking, making cost management complicated as they scale up with transformations.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2.5/5

"Steady CDN with quirks"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Very complicated navigation on the site. Hard to figure out transformations taking place. Pricing model for transformations in videos is not transpare

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Cloudinary makes my digital asset management easier"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Sometimes the pricing can get a little tricky, especially when you scale up or have a lot of transformations happening behind the scenes. Also, the UI

3. Complex UI
Users find the complex UI of Cloudinary challenging, particularly when navigating assets and settings seamlessly.
See 11 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Cloudinary makes my digital asset management easier"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Sometimes the pricing can get a little tricky, especially when you scale up or have a lot of transformations happening behind the scenes. Also, the UI

Verified User
U

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"The free tier for cloudinary is very generous in terms of image upload"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Not much, the UI was a bit confusing at first.

4. Learning Curve
Users find the learning curve steep for beginners, making it challenging to adopt Cloudinary effectively.
See 9 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
U

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Works great for our team"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Sometimes the enhancements cause changes in the interface that make workflows a bit confusing temporarily - we could use better support to explain new

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Automatic Image Optimization"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Learning curve is steep for beginners without technical background.API responses can be slow during peak usage times.

5. Cost Limitations
Users express concerns about cost limitations in Cloudinary, noting unexpected price increases and lack of flexibility in packages.
See 8 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Cloudinary review after 3 years of usage"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

I wish cost management was more transparent.

Verified User
A

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Outstanding technology & support"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Costs are tied to consumption metrics and therefore costs are therefore increasing in case the amount of content / website traffic increases

6. Difficult Navigation
Users find difficult navigation in Cloudinary, struggling with complex UI and searching for basic features.
See 8 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2.5/5

"Steady CDN with quirks"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Very complicated navigation on the site. Hard to figure out transformations taking place. Pricing model for transformations in videos is not transpare

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Powerful and easy to get started with"

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

The UI is going through some modernisation and difficult to navigate.

Cloudinary Reviews (161)

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Reviews

Cloudinary Reviews (161)

View 1 Video Reviews
4.5
161 reviews
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Verified User in Furniture
AF
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Robust DAM suited for technical teams"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

Cloudinary is feature-rich, which can be helpful, but takes some getting used to. They do offer lots of training documentation, webinars, and have responded quickly on their help forum. I particularly like all of the tagging and filtering, it makes sorting and searching images easy. The collection feature is also a great value for sharing assets with people outside of your organization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

When my team first started using cloudinary in 2022, it felt overbuilt and overly complex to perform some basic features. The UI has gotten much better, but the product still has many features my team doesn't use for managing our front-end assets and some basic tasks still require specialization and training to get the hang of.

The integration with Contentful, my CMS, is still rudimentary. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Eugene Musebe of Cloudinary

Thanks for the thoughtful review! We're glad Cloudinary's tagging, filtering, and collections are helping streamline your asset management and external sharing. We hear your feedback on complexity and Contentful integration we’re continuously working to improve usability and expand CMS support.

Lyam C.
LC
Digital Media Designer
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Cloudinary Review"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

The user interface is highly intuitive, and it offers a wide range of features that I find extremely useful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Finding the right item can be quite difficult due to the current tagging system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Leisure, Travel & Tourism
AL
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Generate Multiple Versions Easily from a Single Photo"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

The fact of only having to upload a single photo and then being able to have x versions of it depending on the parameters you specify Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

The solution is a bit expensive when using tens of thousands of images. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software
AC
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Steady CDN with quirks"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

It was easy to setup and there's enough documentation and support to make it all work. Good amount of pre-defined libraries to hook it up. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Very complicated navigation on the site. Hard to figure out transformations taking place. Pricing model for transformations in videos is not transparent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Eugene Musebe of Cloudinary

We're glad to hear that you found Cloudinary easy to set up and that the documentation and support were helpful for you. We understand your concerns about the complicated navigation and transparency of the pricing model for video transformations, and we are constantly working to improve the user experience and make our pricing more transparent.

Verified User in Entertainment
UE
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"User-Friendly App for Effortless Image Storage"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

It's a great application for image storage! Very user-friendly and simple to understand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

The storage limits. I have been getting emails about my storage running out. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Automotive
AA
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Easy Asset Sharing, Solid Digital DAM Experience"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

Digital dam simplifies the process of sharing assets throughout the business, making collaboration more efficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

S3's lack of compliance has been a source of frustration for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Real Estate
UR
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Effortless Moderation and Powerful Image Search"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

The easy moderation process and ability to search and look up images, even ones that have been uploaded months or even years earlier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

The UX isn't always intuitive, it can be difficult to find what you need straight away. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Eugene Musebe of Cloudinary

We're glad to hear that you find the moderation process and image search capabilities effortless and powerful. We understand the importance of an intuitive user experience and are continuously working to improve it. Thank you for your feedback!

Verified User in Program Development
TP
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great ease of implementation."
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

It's ease of use. Personaly I don't use the available image enhacing/optimization tools, but I like very much the ease of integration of the Cloudinary API in code, it works very well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Perhaps I haven't found something to strongly dislike. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Dennis B.
DB
Principle Software Engineer
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Execellent API support for developers."
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

I like the ease of signup and very generous free tier.

I regularly run workshops in which participants build a starter web application which allows users to upload images through the browser on mobile phones.

I like the cloudinary dashboard which immidiatelly presents a code example to integrate the upload into a node.js application.

We also use cloudinary as CDN for pdf documents and host all media presented on our corporate website geolytix.com on cloudinary. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

Having to install the cloudinary node package is somewhat cumbersome and completely unnecessary. It is fairly easy to sign an url for upload to the cloudinary API directly from the browser. The trickiest bit was to find the example.

The media explorer interface is somewhat long in the tooth. Batch uploads could be smoother.

I'd prefer if the file name would be retained when uploading an image through the media explorer interface into a folder. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Eugene Musebe of Cloudinary

Awesome to hear Cloudinary’s making a difference in your workshops and web projects! Love that you're using the dashboard code snippets and CDN features to the fullest. Your feedback on the SDK, media explorer, and upload flow is super helpful—we’re actively refining those areas. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Verified User in Retail
UR
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Great for Image Management, But Tagging Is Crucial"
What do you like best about Cloudinary?

Cloudinary is an excellent tool for managing images. I find it very effective for organizing and handling my image files. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cloudinary?

if people don't tag the images correctly it struggles to find them Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.