MediaTofu

MediaTofuMediaTofu vs FFmpeg API Cloud

MediaTofu vs FFmpeg API Cloud

Both products let you send FFmpeg-style jobs over HTTP. FFmpeg API Cloud sells prepaid credit packs priced at $0.600, $0.525, and $0.471 per minute of runtime. MediaTofu bills Pay per use at $0.024 per compute minute by the second with no monthly fee, and offers a Free plan with 5 compute minutes a month.

Get an API keyPricing

Example

POST /v1/run?wait=25
curl "https://api.mediatofu.com/v1/run?wait=25" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MEDIATOFU_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "input_files": { "in": "https://example.com/clip.mov" },
    "output_files": { "out": "small.mp4" },
    "ffmpeg_command": "-i {{in}} -vf scale=1280:-2 -crf 26 {{out}}"
  }'

Example MediaTofu request. Compare with FFmpeg API Cloud's ffmpegArgs job format on their site.

Billing model

FFmpeg API Cloud lists one-time packs: Starter $12 at $0.600/min, Builder $49 at $0.525/min, Scale $149 at $0.471/min, with credits that do not expire and no subscription required (their pricing page). MediaTofu Pay per use is $0.024/min billed by the second with no monthly fee; Starter is $9/month and Pro is $19/month with included minutes. Machine sizes are not published side-by-side, so treat rates as list prices for the billing unit each vendor defines.

API shape

FFmpeg API Cloud accepts structured ffmpegArgs arrays on POST /v1/jobs. MediaTofu accepts a string ffmpeg_command with {{placeholders}} on POST /v1/run, plus eight named tool endpoints. Both support async jobs and webhooks on paid tiers where offered.

Failures

On MediaTofu, a failure on our side is never charged; if your command runs and FFmpeg exits with an error, the seconds it used count. Check FFmpeg API Cloud's own docs for how partial runtime is billed on failed jobs.

Sources

Questions

What does MediaTofu cost?

Free: $0, 5 minutes of compute a month, jobs up to 1 minute, inputs up to 50 MB, 1 job at a time. Pay per use: $0.024 per compute minute, billed by the second, no monthly fee. Jobs up to 5 minutes, inputs up to 2 GB, 3 jobs at once. Starter: $9/month includes 600 minutes, then $0.015 a minute. Jobs up to 1 minute, inputs up to 500 MB. Pro: $19/month includes 1,500 minutes, then $0.0127 a minute. Jobs up to 10 minutes, inputs up to 2 GB.

Do failed jobs cost anything?

A failure on our side is never charged, and neither is an input we couldn't download or one over your plan's size limit. If your command runs and FFmpeg exits with an error, or the job reaches your plan's length limit, the seconds it used count.

How do I get the result?

Add ?wait=25 and a short job can return its result in the same request. Short jobs typically take about 5–15 seconds including container start. 25 seconds is the longest wait. Otherwise you get a job id to check with GET /v1/jobs/:id, or on a paid plan you can pass webhook_url and we POST the result to you.

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