Transloadit
Comparisons/Zencoder

Transloadit vsZencoder

A source-backed, feature-by-feature comparison of Transloadit and Zencoder. Zencoder is a cloud video encoding API by Brightcove, focused on fast transcoding with broad format support and multi-region processing across AWS and GCE.

Switching Notes

If you are evaluating a switch from Zencoder, 92% of its features are available in Transloadit, including Video encoding, Adaptive streaming, and Video subtitles, with 80 additional capabilities. However, Zencoder currently offers 1 feature not yet available in Transloadit: DRM encryption.
Transloadit's free tier (5GB processing/mo) makes it easy to evaluate the platform hands-on before committing to a switch.

Key Differentiators

Only in Transloadit80

Show 70 more features

Only in Zencoder1

Feature Coverage by Category

TransloaditZencoder
8/11
4/11
Video
6/6
1/6
Audio
6/6
1/6
Image
9/10
0/10
Document
16/16
0/16
AI
17/18
1/18
File Mgmt
9/11
2/11
Security
5/6
0/6
Compliance
10/10
3/10
Infra
6/6
1/6
Dev Tools

Overview

Across the 93 capabilities we compare, Transloadit offers 92 while Zencoder offers 13. The two platforms share 12 features in common (92% of Zencoder's set), while Transloadit offers 80 additional features that Zencoder does not, including Video concatenation, Audio concatenation, and Audio waveform.

Transloadit leads in Audio (6/6) and Image (6/6), while Zencoder shows particular strength in Video (4/11) and Infra (3/10).

Deep Dive Analysis

Transloadit covers Document, AI, Compliance where Zencoder has no comparable features yet, including Face detection, Object recognition, and Text recognition (OCR).

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. Zencoder's commercial stack is typically more integrated end-to-end.

Transloadit offers a free tier (5GB processing/mo), while Zencoder does not. Transloadit uses tier-based pricing while Zencoder uses usage-based pricing.

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

Need help comparing?

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

Contact Support

Full Feature Comparison

FeatureTransloaditZencoder
Company
Years active17
16
Source Availability
Starting price$9/mo$0.05/min
Uptime SLA99.9%99.9%
SDKs11
7
Supported formats688
15
Employees11–50
-
Fundingbootstrappedn/a
Free tier5GB processing/moNo
Pricing modeltier basedusage based
GitHub stars41K
600
npm downloads/wk9.7M
0
Video
Adaptive streamingSupportedSupported
On-demand video processingSupportedNot supported
Picture-in-pictureSupportedNot supported
Video concatenationSupportedNot supported
Video encodingSupportedSupported
Video overlaysSupportedNot supported
Video subtitlesSupportedSupported
Video thumbnailsSupportedSupported
Audio
Audio artworkSupportedNot supported
Audio concatenationSupportedNot supported
Audio encodingSupportedSupported
Audio loopingSupportedNot supported
Audio mixingSupportedNot supported
Audio waveformSupportedNot supported
Image
AI image descriptionSupportedNot supported
Image analysisSupportedNot supported
Image optimizationSupportedNot supported
Image resizingSupportedNot supported
Spritesheet generationSupportedNot supported
WatermarkingSupportedSupported
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 importingSupportedNot supported
File previewSupportedNot supported
File type verificationSupportedNot supported
File upload handlingSupportedNot supported
Media catalogingSupportedNot supported
Metadata extractionSupportedNot supported
Metadata writingSupportedNot supported
Resumable uploadsSupportedNot supported
Thumbnail generationSupportedNot supported
Security
Custom security policiesSupportedNot supported
DRM encryptionNot supportedSupported
Encrypted storageSupportedNot supported
File encryptionSupportedSupported
File virus scanningSupportedNot supported
Sandboxed encodingSupportedNot supported
Secure API accessSupportedNot supported
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 supportSupportedSupported
Multi-region supportSupportedSupported
Rate limitingSupportedNot supported
Real-time monitoringSupportedNot supported
Region-specific processingSupportedSupported
Scalable infrastructureSupportedNot supported
Developer Tools
Custom encoding presetsSupportedNot supported
Custom workflowsSupportedNot supported
Developer APISupportedSupported
Media analysisSupportedNot supported
Playlist generationSupportedNot supported
Script executionSupportedNot supported
Overall Score97%
22%

The right choice depends on your needs

Zencoder 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, Zencoder may be the better fit.

Best for

  • ✓Teams needing a straightforward video transcoding API with broad codec and format support
  • ✓Organizations requiring multi-region encoding across AWS and GCE data centers

Not ideal for

  • •Teams needing image processing, document conversion, or non-video media workflows
  • •Projects requiring user-defined multi-step pipeline orchestration

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

Zencoder's Perspective

As far as we know, Zencoder 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.
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Auto-scaling global infrastructure
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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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