IMG.LY vs Cloudinary
Media Editor

The best Cloudinary Media Editor alternative for
a full-featured creative SDK that brings advanced design, video editing, and automation capabilities out of the box.

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500M+

video and photo creations are powered by IMG.LY every month
HP
Shopify
Reuters
Hootsuite
Semrush
Shutterfly
Sprout Social
One.com
Constant Contact
Your partner in crime

What makes IMG.LY the best Cloudinary Media Editor alternative?

Fully-Featured Design Editor

A fully customizable, white-label solution where you control the UI, branding, and functionality

Creative Automation & Headless Mode

Use our headless APIs for batch generation, data-driven templates, and generative AI-powered content creation.

Extensibility & Plugin System

Supports custom plugins and extensibility, allowing businesses to tailor the editor to specific use cases.

Cross-Platform

Run the same creative experience across web, mobile, and desktop, with full interoperability and consistent rendering.

What Our Clients Say About Us

IMG.LY’s solution engineers did a deep dive on our business case and helped us implement a custom print kiosk UI.

André Albrecht
Digital Solution Manager
 @ 
Brother

Our customers create over a million personalized postcards each year choosing from over hundreds of templates with IMG.LY’s SDK. It’s the only solution that allows us to build our own specialized, on-brand UI that integrates seamlessly with our platform.

Jeanine Zaalberg
Product Manager
 @ 
Swiss Post

Our app has photo-editing at the very core of its experience and the editor has been invaluable in making that vision happen. There are no other tools on the market up to the quality of PE.SDK.

Toby Green
Lead Developer
 @ 
Elbi

IMG.LY vs. Cloudinary Media Editor at a Glance

Features

IMG.LY

Cloudinary Media Editor

Full Customization & White-Labeling

Fully customizable, allowing complete control over UI, branding, and functionality.

Offers branding options and UI customization.

Advanced Editing Features

Full-featured image, design, and multi-track video editor.

Offers AI-driven editing and transformation features for photo and video editing.

Multi-Layer & Media Support

Layered editing with text, image, video, vectors, and overlays.

Supports adding overlays to images and videos; however, it does not offer a traditional multi-layer editing system.

Platform & Framework Support

Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Electron, macOS.

Primarily web-based; integrates with various platforms through APIs and widgets.

Extensibility

Plugin architecture allows adding custom tools and workflows.

Offers extensibility through APIs and integrations; however, it does not support a plugin system for the Media Editor.

Templating System

Dynamic templates with placeholders, layout constraints, and automation.

Supports creating reusable templates for image editing.

Creative Automation

Headless API for programmatic design generation and batch workflows.

Provides automation through MediaFlows and AI-powered tools like Generative Fill and Enhance; supports batch editing and workflow automation.

Advanced Video Editing

Multi-track timeline with overlays, transitions, effects, and audio support.

Offers basic video editing features such as trimming and adding overlays; lacks advanced video editing capabilities.

Design File Conversion

Import PSD, INDD, AI files with editable layers.

Supports design file imports through its Adobe Creative Cloud (Adobe CC) Connector.

Asset Libraries

Built-in integrations with Getty, Unsplash, and custom libraries.

Manages assets within Cloudinary's own media library; supports integrations with various CMS platforms.

IMG.LY

Cloudinary Media Editor

Full Customization & White-Labeling

Fully customizable, allowing complete control over UI, branding, and functionality.

Limited branding options in prebuilt UI.

Advanced Editing Features

Full-featured image, design, and multi-track video editor.

Basic photo and video editing (crop, rotate, trim, filters, stickers).

Multi-Layer & Media Support

Layered editing with text, image, video, vectors, and overlays.

No layer system; single-layer editing only.

Platform & Framework Support

Web, iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Electron, macOS.

Web-based only.

Extensibility

Plugin architecture allows adding custom tools and workflows.

Limited extensibility via Cloudinary transformations or widgets.

Templating System

Dynamic templates with placeholders, layout constraints, and automation.

No built-in templating system.

Creative Automation

Headless API for programmatic design generation and batch workflows.

Automation limited to media delivery and transformation APIs.

Advanced Video Editing

Multi-track timeline with overlays, transitions, effects, and audio support.

Basic trimming, cropping, and rotating.

Design File Conversion

Import PSD, INDD, AI files with editable layers.

No support for design file imports.

Asset Libraries

Built-in integrations with Getty, Unsplash, and custom libraries.

Cloudinary-hosted assets only.

Everything you need

Key Capabilities

Learn more about some of the functionalities of IMG.LY’s SDK

Editing

Transform

A globe
Web
Mobile

Crop, flip, and rotate with ease. Preset crop ratios to common formats.

Filters

A globe
Web
Mobile

Over 60 state-of-the-art filters allow users to control the style and mood of their creations.

Adjustments

A globe
Web
Mobile

Fine-tune designs with an exhaustive set of adjustment operations such as brightness and contrast.

Effect & Blur

A globe
Web
Mobile

Add a unique mood to designs with effects & blur.

Element Snapping

A globe
Web
Mobile

Snap stickers and text to control points for more precise placements.

Blend Modes & Grouping

A globe
Web
Mobile

Define the blending behavior and grouping.

Undo & Redo

A globe
Web
Mobile

Allow users to undo and redo all editing operations.

Printing

Cutout Lines

A globe
Web
Mobile

Create and customize cutout shapes for web-to-print.

CMYK/ Spot color support

A globe
Web
Mobile

Integrate CMYK and Pantone color spaces, customized color libraries, including your brand's colors.

Templating

Design Templates

A globe
Web
Mobile

Create role based design templates to jumpstart users’ creativity.

Text Variables

A globe
Web
Mobile

Enable mass personalization and creative automation by embedding variables.

Placeholders & Lockable Designs

A globe
Web
Mobile

Constrain templates to guide your users’ design and ensure brand consistency.

Configurable Presets

A globe
Web
Mobile

Enforce a consistent aesthetic across all creations by using preset filters, adjustments, fonts, and crop ratios.

Customizability

Build Custom UIs

A globe
Web
Mobile

Use the headless API powering all creative operations to implement an entirely custom UI.

Theming

A globe
Web
Mobile

Change the editor theme to fit seamlessly with your app.

Media Libraries

A globe
Web
Mobile

Set up custom libraries that are easily sortable.

Toolbar Customization

A globe
Web
Mobile

Reposition toolbar elements, change icons, or rename tools to fit your use case.

Internationalization

A globe
Web
Mobile

Add support for additional languages, and customize any button label.

Export Options

A globe
Web
Mobile

Export designs in JPG, PNG, or PDF with custom quality, page ranges, and dimensions.

And there’s more

Check Out Other Use Cases

Learn more about related social media solutions.
Web2Print Designer

Web2Print Designer

Elevate your Web2Print application with best-in-class Design Editor.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase
Creative Automation

Creative Automation

Automate & scale content creation with ease.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase
Variable Data Printing

Variable Data Printing

Enable mass-personalization in your design & print workflows.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase
Photo Prints

Photo Prints

Provide seamless design experience and inspire users with easily personalized templates.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase
Print Personalization

Print Personalization

Streamline personalization for your print products.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase
Apparel Designer

Apparel Designer

Whether t-shirts, hoodies or caps, build for any use case, deploy on any platform.
Learn MoreOpen Showcase

More from IMG.LY

IMG.LY for Brands & Agencies

Automate design processes and generate on-brand marketing materials with ease.
Learn More

IMG.LY for Marketing Tech

Scale and automate any creative workflow.
Learn More

Camera SDK

Make in-app recording easy with our Camera SDK.
Learn More

Photo Editor SDK

Bring beautiful photo editing to your applications.
Learn More

Creative Editor SDK

Empower your users with an easy-to-use design editor.
Learn More

IMG.LY for Social Media

Unleash your users' creativity & leverage user generated content.
Learn More

IMG.LY for DAM

Empower users to create, collaborate , and automate design tasks in your app.
Learn More

Video Editor SDK

Powerful video editor for your iOS, Android, and web applications.
Learn More

More to discover

Explore Our Demos

See how IMG.LY looks and feels.
Check out our
demos

Get in Touch

Contact our sales team to learn more about licensing options and get access to our AI plugins for CE.SDK.

Contact SalesFree Trial

FAQs

What is the best Cloudinary Media Editor alternative?

If you’re building a creative platform, social design tool, or marketing content studio, IMG.LY is a great alternative to Cloudinary’s built-in editor. You’ll get full editing, automation, and UI control in one SDK.

What are the key differences between IMG.LY and Cloudinary’s Media Editor?

Cloudinary’s Media Editor is great for lightweight use cases like cropping, trimming, and simple filters. IMG.LY goes far beyond that with layered design, multi-track video editing, automation APIs, and full customization for SaaS and enterprise use.

Do both solutions support templating or creative automation?

Not directly. You can build dynamic assets via URL parameters, but you’ll need to custom-code any kind of user-facing template system. IMG.LY includes built-in support for dynamic templates, placeholders, and automated content generation.

Which solution offers better integration options for SaaS platforms?

IMG.LY is designed for seamless integration into SaaS tools, creative platforms, and custom workflows. It offers UI configuration, SDKs for multiple platforms, and a plugin system to tailor the editor to any use case.

Can I use both for cross-platform apps?

Cloudinary’s Media Editor is browser-based. IMG.LY supports cross-platform deployment across mobile, desktop, and web.

Does IMG.LY and Cloudinary Media Editor support layered design files like PSD or AI?

Only IMG.LY supports importing layered design files for editing. Cloudinary supports media storage and delivery, but no layered file editing.

Do both support advanced video editing?

Cloudinary supports basic trimming and effects. IMG.LY offers a full video editing timeline, with support for transitions, overlays, audio, and export.

Is the UI customizable on both platforms?

Cloudinary allows light branding. IMG.LY offers full UI customization and theming with white-label support.

Which platform is more scalable for building a full creative experience?

IMG.LY is purpose-built for scaling creative tools, from media editing and automation to full design workflows, making it a better fit for teams building next-gen content creation platforms.