Charging by the byte allows us to support any kind of conversion with a single $/GB metric.

Transloadit handles many types of files. Not all of those have a duration (documents, zip files, images, web pages) and the ones that do (audio & video) are not all created equal. If we charged by the minute, we would need separate rates for low-res vs. 4K. That’s already getting quite complex and it would only get worse when new formats come out — 32K anyone?

Instead, usage is based on file sizes flowing through each Robot in an Assembly. Robots that transform a file count both the bytes going in and the bytes coming out, while imports, exports, and similar operations count only their own side. This applies a single unit of measurement to image resizing, document conversion, metadata extraction, video encoding, and workflows that combine them. It also reflects the work more closely than duration alone: encoding one minute of a small standard-definition clip is not equivalent to encoding one minute of high-resolution video, and an image or PDF has no meaningful number of minutes at all.

The raw byte count is not always the billed byte count. Each Robot can apply its own discount factor, including Robots that are free or count only a fraction of their input and output. Imports and exports have their own factors as well. The pricing examples show how those factors combine in representative Assemblies, and the Robot pricing page lists each Robot’s current discount and, where one applies, its minimum charge.

When estimating a workflow, include every Step that reads or produces a file rather than looking only at the original upload. Running a small test Assembly gives you its actual usage before you project production volume. Plans then lower the effective per-GB price for committed monthly usage; processing above the included amount continues at the published overage rate.

We do offer discounts when we can in order to pass on savings. For instance, because 🤖/video/thumbs is very lightweight, it only counts every tenth byte flowing through.