Since the early days of mobile app development, one recurring challenge has been finding ways to reduce operational costs without compromising performance. Beyond development itself, expenses such as cloud hosting, storage, and usage fees often add up significantly. Among these, hosting images and graphical assets is one of the most common yet costly requirements for modern apps.
The Problem with Image Hosting Costs
Almost every app today relies heavily on images for functionality, accessibility, and inclusivity. However, hosting high-resolution images on cloud platforms can quickly become expensive.
Cloudinary is one of the most widely used solutions for managing images and videos in web and mobile apps. While powerful, its free plan is limited to a combined 25GB across all projects. For development teams handling multiple apps, this quickly becomes a bottleneck. Paid plans start at $99 per month, which may not be cost-effective for small businesses, startups, or agencies managing numerous client projects.
A Smarter Alternative: Wasabi
Wasabi offers a more affordable option for storing and delivering assets. Positioned as a “hot cloud storage” provider, Wasabi is designed for data that needs to be accessed frequently and quickly.
- Pricing Advantage: Wasabi charges around $7 per month for 1TB of storage—a fraction of Cloudinary’s cost.
- No Hidden Fees: Unlike some providers, Wasabi does not charge for data egress or API requests.
- Scalability & Security: It delivers predictable, secure storage suitable for images, videos, and other digital assets.
For teams looking to cut down storage costs while scaling, Wasabi is emerging as a strong alternative to traditional asset-hosting providers.
The Hack: Combining Wasabi with IMG Proxy
One common counterargument in favor of Cloudinary is its ability to perform real-time image transformations (resizing, optimization, format conversion). Wasabi alone doesn’t offer these features—but this gap can be filled.
Here’s the workflow that optimizes both cost and functionality:
- Store images in Wasabi cloud storage. Even with a paid plan, the cost remains significantly lower than Cloudinary.
- Use IMG Proxy—a self-hosted, fast, and secure server—for real-time image processing. It enables resizing, conversion, and optimization of images via simple URLs, without relying on third-party SaaS solutions.
- Serve processed images directly from IMG Proxy, delivering the same functionality you would expect from Cloudinary but at a fraction of the price.
This hybrid approach ensures you get cost savings without compromising on features or user experience.
Why This Approach Works
- Massive Cost Reduction: Switch from $99/month for limited storage to $7/month for 1TB.
- Flexibility: Control how and where your image transformations are done.
- Scalability: Handle multiple projects without worrying about free plan limits.
- Performance: IMG Proxy ensures fast, optimized delivery for mobile and web apps.
Conclusion
Cloud hosting costs, especially for images and assets, can quickly inflate budgets. By leveraging Wasabi for storage and IMG Proxy for transformations, development teams can achieve the same level of functionality as Cloudinary while cutting costs by up to 90%.
This cost-effective setup makes sense for startups, agencies, and enterprises alike—anyone looking to scale their apps without overspending on hosting. It’s a practical, proven solution for developers who want to build apps that are not only powerful but also financially sustainable.
