Uppy if you want the published Uploadcare / Filestack / Transloadit picker. tusd if the job is the tus protocol — /compare/uppy-vs-tusd.

A resize URL stays on /replace/cloudinary (imgproxy). This page is the upload.

A share link stays on /replace/dropbox. This page is an upload API you run.

Uppy, tusd, and FilePond are MIT. You pay hosting and object storage. Template users never pay c17.

Stacks / Sync

Easy

Uppy / tusd / FilePond

Uploads you run. Uppy is MIT; tusd is MIT resumable tus; FilePond is MIT — Uploadcare, Filestack, or Transloadit without the file API seat.

The problem

Uploadcare and Filestack sell a hosted upload, transform, and CDN API. Transloadit is the hosted encoding and assembly API (and the company that publishes Uppy). You wanted a picker and a resumable POST on a box you run. Uppy is MIT (transloadit/uppy; last push 25 Oct 2026) — a browser uploader that talks to your backend or tus. tusd is MIT (tus/tusd; last push 24 Oct 2026) — the reference tus server in Go. FilePond is MIT (pqina/filepond; last push 2 Oct 2026) — a file-input widget if Uppy is not the shape. copyparty already covers a share link — /replace/dropbox. imgproxy resizes after the file lands — /replace/cloudinary. This is not Uploadcare's every CDN SKU, Filestack's every ingestion SKU, or Transloadit's every encoding robot. You still put object storage behind the POST.

Replaces

Uploadcare / Filestack / Transloadit

Replace Uploadcare Replace Filestack Replace Transloadit See all best open-source file upload APIs

Estimated SaaS saved

$2,400

per year, small team, before lock-in

Start on Railway

copyparty if this is a share link, not an upload API

Sponsor this stack Tip jar

Placeholder: tusd (or your app plus Uppy) with a volume or S3-compatible store. Bind HTTP to 0.0.0.0:$PORT. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. A share link stays on /stacks/files-you-own. A resize URL stays on /stacks/imgproxy-media.

The stack

Uppy
MIT browser uploader — the published Uploadcare / Filestack / Transloadit path
Catalog entry →
tusd
MIT resumable tus server
Catalog entry →
FilePond
MIT file-input widget if Uppy is not the shape
Catalog entry →

Cost table

You stop paying	Typical / year	Self-host instead
Uploadcare / Filestack / Transloadit (small team)	$2,400	Uppy + tusd or FilePond + object storage

Agent setup prompt

Replace Uploadcare, Filestack, or Transloadit with Uppy (preferred) plus tusd.

- Official docs. Persist uploads on a volume or S3-compatible store. Confirm one resumable POST. Do not claim Uploadcare CDN, Filestack ingestion packs, or Transloadit encoding robots.
- FilePond if you want that MIT input widget — /compare/uppy-vs-filepond. tusd if the job is the protocol — /compare/uppy-vs-tusd.
- Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.

Also as markdown: /stacks/uppy-uploads.md

FAQ

Uppy or tusd?: Uppy if you want the published Uploadcare / Filestack / Transloadit picker. tusd if the job is the tus protocol — /compare/uppy-vs-tusd.
Is this Cloudinary?: A resize URL stays on /replace/cloudinary (imgproxy). This page is the upload.
Is this Dropbox?: A share link stays on /replace/dropbox. This page is an upload API you run.
Are these free?: Uppy, tusd, and FilePond are MIT. You pay hosting and object storage. Template users never pay c17.