MediaLit Logo
MediaLit

MediaLit vs Filestack: a lower-cost alternative

Pricing checked October 2026.

Filestack is a mature file-handling platform. It has a polished file picker with lots of cloud sources, document conversion, image transformations, virus scanning, and a long list of AI add-ons. For teams that use all of that, it earns its price.

For an indie hacker or a small SaaS team that mostly needs to accept uploads, store them and serve them, there's a big jump from Filestack's free plan to the $69/month Start plan. MediaLit sits in that gap. It's file storage for AI agents, apps and teams, with a flat $10/month Pro plan, and it's open source.

MediaLit vs Filestack at a glance

MediaLit

Filestack

Pricing

Basic: free. Pro: $10/mo or $100/yr

Free: $0. Start: $69/mo. Grow: $199/mo. Scale: $379/mo. Enterprise: custom

Free tier

1 GB storage, unlimited uploads and downloads

1 GB storage, 1 GB bandwidth, 500 uploads and 1,000 transformations per month

Max file size

50 MB (Basic), 2 GB (Pro)

20 MB (Free), 1 GB (Start), 2 GB (Grow), 5 GB (Scale)

Storage

1 GB (Basic), 100 GB (Pro)

1 GB (Free), 50 GB (Start), 150 GB (Grow), 350 GB (Scale). Overage from $0.25–$0.50/GB

Open source / self-host

Yes. AGPL server, MIT clients, self-host on any S3-compatible storage

Hosted service. You can store files in your own S3, GCS, Azure and others, but you can't self-host Filestack

Private files

Yes. Private files use expiring signed URLs

Yes, through signed security policies. Delivery isn't authenticated by default, but you can require it per app

AI-agent access (MCP/CLI)

Hosted remote MCP server with OAuth sign-in, plus the medialit CLI

Official Claude Code / Cursor plugin that runs a local MCP server with your API key

Versioning

No

No version history. The File API overwrites a file in place under the same handle

Transforms

Thumbnails for images and videos on upload, plus optional WebP conversion

Dozens of image transformations and document conversions. Video conversion from Grow up

Where Filestack is stronger

  • Processing. Filestack does image transformations, document conversion, video conversion (Grow and up), OCR, tagging and moderation. MediaLit makes a thumbnail and can optionally convert images to WebP.

  • Picker and sources. Its file picker can pull from 15+ cloud sources like Google Drive, Dropbox and Instagram. MediaLit's uploader takes local files.

  • Overwrite in place. Filestack can replace a file's contents and keep its URL. MediaLit can't overwrite a file. You upload a new one and delete the old one.

  • Bigger files at the top end. Scale allows 5 GB files. MediaLit Pro allows 2 GB.

Where MediaLit is stronger

  • Price. Pro gives you 100 GB of storage and 2 GB files for $10/month. Filestack's Start plan is $69/month for 50 GB and 1 GB files, and it meters uploads, bandwidth and transformations too.

  • No usage meters. MediaLit doesn't count uploads or downloads. You don't need a spreadsheet to estimate the bill.

  • Remote MCP with OAuth. Any MCP client, including web assistants like Claude and ChatGPT, connects to https://api.medialit.cloud/mcp and signs in, with nothing to install and no key to paste. MediaLit is also an official connector in the Claude directory, so Claude users can add it in a couple of clicks. Coding agents can also use the CLI (medialit upload build/report.pdf --public). Files that agents save land in the same dashboard and API your app uses.

  • No orphaned files. Uploads stay temporary until your app seals them, and unsealed files are deleted after 24 hours.

  • Open source and portable. The whole service is in codelitdev/medialit. Self-host it on AWS S3, Cloudflare R2 or MinIO with the same API if you ever need to.

When to pick Filestack

  • You need document conversion, OCR, moderation or a rich multi-source picker.

  • You rely on overwriting files in place under a stable URL.

  • You need files bigger than 2 GB, or enterprise support.

When to pick MediaLit

  • You need dependable uploads, public and private files, and CDN delivery, without a $69/month starting price.

  • You want a flat price with no per-upload or bandwidth charges.

  • You're building AI agents that need to save files and share links.

  • You want to be able to self-host.

Migrating from Filestack

  1. Create a MediaLit app and get an API key, or run medialit login.

  2. Download your files from Filestack (or from your own bucket, if Filestack stored them there), then upload them with the CLI or the Node.js SDK.

  3. Replace the Filestack picker with @medialit/react or @medialit/uploader. Your server gives out a short-lived upload signature, the same idea as a Filestack policy.

  4. Store mediaId values in your database. If your code overwrote Filestack handles, change it to upload a new file, save the new mediaId, and delete the old file.

  5. If you use Filestack transformations or conversions, keep a separate tool for that. MediaLit doesn't do them.

FAQ

Is MediaLit cheaper than Filestack?
For storage and delivery, usually yes. MediaLit Pro is $10/month for 100 GB and 2 GB files. Filestack's first paid plan is $69/month for 50 GB and 1 GB files, plus metered usage.

Can MediaLit overwrite a file like Filestack does?
No. MediaLit doesn't overwrite files or keep versions. Upload the replacement and delete the old file.

Do both have MCP support?
Yes, in different ways. Filestack's plugin runs a local MCP server in Claude Code or Cursor using your API key. MediaLit runs a hosted remote MCP server that any MCP client can connect to with OAuth, and it also has a CLI.

Can I keep files in my own bucket?
With MediaLit, yes, by self-hosting it on your own S3-compatible storage. The hosted medialit.cloud service keeps files in MediaLit's storage.

Try MediaLit

If you're paying for Filestack but mostly use it to store and serve files, MediaLit can do that job for much less. Start on the free plan, and upgrade to Pro ($10/month or $100/year) when you need 100 GB and 2 GB uploads.

Create your free MediaLit account →