Transloadit
Comparisons/Kraken.io

Transloadit vsKraken.io

A source-backed, feature-by-feature comparison of Transloadit and Kraken.io. Kraken.io is a dedicated image optimization and compression API supporting lossy/lossless modes for JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG, AVIF, HEIC, and PDF.

Switching Notes

If you are evaluating a switch from Kraken.io, 100% of its features are available in Transloadit, including Image resizing, Image optimization, and File upload handling, with 85 additional capabilities. All features offered by Kraken.io are covered by Transloadit.
Transloadit's free tier (5GB processing/mo) makes it easy to evaluate the platform hands-on before committing to a switch.
Kraken.io is image-only; teams needing video, audio, or document processing must add separate services or switch to a unified platform like Transloadit.
Kraken.io offers S3, GCS, Azure, Rackspace, and SoftLayer export; Transloadit adds more storage backends plus resumable tus uploads.

Key Differentiators

Only in Transloadit85

Show 75 more features
All Kraken.io features are also in Transloadit

Feature Coverage by Category

TransloaditKraken.io
8/11
0/11
Video
6/6
0/6
Audio
6/6
2/6
Image
9/10
0/10
Document
16/16
0/16
AI
17/18
3/18
File Mgmt
9/11
1/11
Security
5/6
0/6
Compliance
10/10
0/10
Infra
6/6
1/6
Dev Tools

Overview

Across the 92 capabilities we compare, Transloadit offers 92 while Kraken.io offers 7. The two platforms share 7 features in common (100% of Kraken.io's set), while Transloadit offers 85 additional features that Kraken.io does not, including Video encoding, Adaptive streaming, and Video concatenation.

Transloadit leads in Audio (6/6) and Image (6/6), while Kraken.io shows particular strength in Image (2/6) and File Mgmt (3/18).

Deep Dive Analysis

Transloadit covers Video, Audio, Document, AI, Compliance, Infra where Kraken.io has no comparable features yet, including Video encoding, Adaptive streaming, and Video concatenation.

Transloadit uses an open-stack ingestion model built on tus, Uppy, Companion, and tusd. You can self-host uploads and keep that ingestion layer independent of processing vendor choice. Kraken.io's commercial stack is typically more integrated end-to-end.

Both platforms offer free tiers: Transloadit (5GB processing/mo); Kraken.io (100 MB test quota).

Transloadit offers official SDKs for Swift, Android, Kotlin, and iOS that Kraken.io does not.

Need help comparing?

Our engineering team can help you map your specific Kraken.io workflow to Transloadit's architecture.

Contact Support

Full Feature Comparison

FeatureTransloaditKraken.io
Company
Years active17
14
Source Availability
Starting price$9/mo$5/mo
Uptime SLA99.9%-
SDKs11
7
Supported formats688
8
Employees11–50
1–10
Fundingbootstrappedbootstrapped
Free tier5GB processing/mo100 MB test quota
Pricing modeltier basedtier based
GitHub stars41K
326
npm downloads/wk9.7M
394
Video
Adaptive streamingSupportedNot supported
On-demand video processingSupportedNot supported
Picture-in-pictureSupportedNot supported
Video concatenationSupportedNot supported
Video encodingSupportedNot supported
Video overlaysSupportedNot supported
Video subtitlesSupportedNot supported
Video thumbnailsSupportedNot supported
Audio
Audio artworkSupportedNot supported
Audio concatenationSupportedNot supported
Audio encodingSupportedNot supported
Audio loopingSupportedNot supported
Audio mixingSupportedNot supported
Audio waveformSupportedNot supported
Image
AI image descriptionSupportedNot supported
Image analysisSupportedNot supported
Image optimizationSupportedSupported
Image resizingSupportedSupported
Spritesheet generationSupportedNot supported
WatermarkingSupportedNot supported
Document
Document analysisSupportedNot supported
Document auto-rotationSupportedNot supported
Document conversionSupportedNot supported
Document mergingSupportedNot supported
Document thumbnailsSupportedNot supported
PDF optimizationSupportedNot supported
PDF splittingSupportedNot supported
Webpage screenshotsSupportedNot supported
Webpage to PDFSupportedNot supported
Artificial Intelligence
AI chatSupportedNot supported
AI image generationSupportedNot supported
AI recognitionSupportedNot supported
AI-powered automationSupportedNot supported
Background removalSupportedNot supported
Content moderationSupportedNot supported
Document data extractionSupportedNot supported
Face detectionSupportedNot supported
MCP serverSupportedNot supported
Object recognitionSupportedNot supported
Speech analysisSupportedNot supported
Speech transcriptionSupportedNot supported
Speech translationSupportedNot supported
Text recognition (OCR)SupportedNot supported
Text to speechSupportedNot supported
Text translationSupportedNot supported
File Management
Automated file deletionSupportedNot supported
Custom metadataSupportedNot supported
File access controlSupportedNot supported
File compressionSupportedNot supported
File decompressionSupportedNot supported
File exportingSupportedSupported
File filteringSupportedNot supported
File hashingSupportedNot supported
File importingSupportedSupported
File previewSupportedNot supported
File type verificationSupportedNot supported
File upload handlingSupportedSupported
Media catalogingSupportedNot supported
Metadata extractionSupportedNot supported
Metadata writingSupportedNot supported
Resumable uploadsSupportedNot supported
Thumbnail generationSupportedNot supported
Security
Custom security policiesSupportedNot supported
Encrypted storageSupportedNot supported
File encryptionSupportedNot supported
File virus scanningSupportedNot supported
Sandboxed encodingSupportedNot supported
Secure API accessSupportedSupported
Secure file handlingSupportedNot supported
Signature authenticationSupportedNot supported
Two-factor authenticationSupportedNot supported
Compliance
CCPA complianceSupportedNot supported
GDPR complianceSupportedNot supported
HIPAA complianceSupportedNot supported
PCI DSS complianceSupportedNot supported
SOC 2 complianceSupportedNot supported
Infrastructure
Adaptive file deliverySupportedNot supported
Disaster recoverySupportedNot supported
Global file deliverySupportedNot supported
High uptimeSupportedNot supported
Multi-cloud supportSupportedNot supported
Multi-region supportSupportedNot supported
Rate limitingSupportedNot supported
Real-time monitoringSupportedNot supported
Region-specific processingSupportedNot supported
Scalable infrastructureSupportedNot supported
Developer Tools
Custom encoding presetsSupportedNot supported
Custom workflowsSupportedNot supported
Developer APISupportedSupported
Media analysisSupportedNot supported
Playlist generationSupportedNot supported
Script executionSupportedNot supported
Overall Score98%
19%

The right choice depends on your needs

Kraken.io and Transloadit were built to solve real production problems. Both are used in serious systems, and both have strengths.

Choose based on your workload: file types, delivery targets, and how much control you need over upload and processing. If you need broad file processing with a self-hostable upload stack and an API that has been stable for 17 years, Transloadit is worth a trial. If your needs are narrower, Kraken.io may be the better fit.

Best for

  • ✓Teams that only need image optimization and resizing via a simple REST API.
  • ✓Projects requiring bulk lossy/lossless compression with cloud storage export.

Not ideal for

  • •Workflows requiring video encoding, audio processing, or document conversion.
  • •Teams needing multi-step orchestrated pipelines or resumable uploads.

This page is maintained and updated over time. If you spot something wrong or missing, let us know and we actively welcome feedback from competitors and users alike.

View full comparison matrix with all competitors

Kraken.io's Perspective

As far as we know, Kraken.io does not currently publish a first-party comparison page against Transloadit. If they add one and we miss it, please let us know and we will link to it here.

Testimonials

Loved by Developers Worldwide

Transloadit is used by developers all over the world to handle file processing. Don't take our word for it, see what they have to say.
Dave Perrett
Dave PerrettCTO / Shuttlerock
I'm not usually one for fanboy-ism but Transloadit is one service I would recommend without hesitation. Their product and customer support is outstanding.
Mike ReidDirector of Engineering / Signed
Top notch support — better than top notch.
Elio CapellaHead of Development / Filestage
We wouldn't be able to be here without your support. Your service is the best video transcoding service out there and I'm happy about the reliability.
Jon Wong
Jon WongStaff Software Engineer / Coursera
Having a solution for both uploading and transcoding has been a godsend for the current scale that we are at five years after first choosing Transloadit.
Braden SchaefferLead Engineer / Biginterview
I absolutely love you people. From the support to the technology, performance and APIs... you've taken what could have been the most painful process of my entire development career and turned it into an absolute joy. I cannot thank or recommend you enough.
View more
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Building file processing from scratch
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Scaling infrastructure headaches
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Auto-scaling global infrastructure
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Managing codec updates
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Always up-to-date processing
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Handling file security
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Enterprise-grade security
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Supporting all file formats
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1000+ formats & codecs supported
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