Among 36 makers' products we track that are built with Next.js, here's what they chose for image & video hosting — each counted from a live-product source.
Image pipeline, video streaming, or a raw CDN bundle. Image services resize, crop and convert through the URL. Video needs encoding and adaptive streaming, which is a separate job. A CDN bundle gives storage, delivery and basic optimization at low per-GB cost, with less done for you. Or process images yourself, with a library in your code or an image server you host.
Cloudinary16imgix10
Mux6
ImageKit4Counts are live products with a source, not market share; a product using two options counts in both.
CloudinaryImage pipelineBest forApps with lots of user-uploaded images and video that need crops, overlays and format conversion through URLs.
Trade-offCredit-based pricing is hard to predict and climbs with transformations and bandwidth.
16 of the 36 Next.js products here
Best forResizing and optimizing images straight from your own bucket through URL parameters.
Trade-offNo free plan, and every resize, gigabyte delivered and cached original draws on one credit bundle.
10 of the 36 Next.js products here
MuxVideo streamingBest forApps where video is the product — uploads encoded and streamed adaptively with a player and playback analytics.
Trade-offUsage-based by encoding, storage and delivery minutes; it's for video only, not images.
6 of the 36 Next.js products here
ImageKitImage pipelineBest forAdding resizing and optimization in front of storage you already have, such as an S3 bucket.
Trade-offFewer advanced media features than Cloudinary.
4 of the 36 Next.js products here
Also real options for image & video hosting, not seen among these Next.js products yet: Bunny.net, sharp, imgproxy, Cloudflare.