Fastly Image Optimizer

Real-time image transformation on Fastly's edge, billed per image request (cache hits included) on top of CDN bandwidth and requests.

Fastly charges for every image request, including cache hits. Shielding can count a request twice if optimization runs at both the edge and shield. After 100,000 free requests, the rate starts at $0.50 per 10,000, on top of CDN bandwidth and request charges. The self-serve plan has had no monthly minimum since November 2025.

Headquarters: 🇺🇸 United States
Parent jurisdiction: 🇺🇸 United States
EU self-serve plan: No / not documented
GDPR DPA: Yes
Billing: payg
Free tier: 100,000 image requests, 100 GB bandwidth and 1M requests per month
Open source: No
Website: www.fastly.com
Source last checked: 2026-10-06
Pricing evidence: Modeled rates

Pricing

Published rates converted using workload assumptions. Read the notes. Converts image-request charges to GB assuming 100 KB per image. Image sizes change the effective rate. How to read these estimates.

Plan	Base fee / month	Bandwidth / GB
Usage-based (up to 100 GB)	$0	$0.5
Usage-based (100 GB-1 TB)	$45	$0.63
Usage-based (1-5 TB)	$612	$0.28
Usage-based (5-10 TB)	$1,732	$0.2
Usage-based (10-15 TB)	$2,732	$0.1595
Usage-based (15-20 TB)	$3,529.5	$0.1195

Allowances, plan limits & calculation details

Rates are shown at their recorded precision. A zero means no charge in this calculation; the vendor may charge for things we leave out. See the notes for usage assumptions and currency conversions.

Usage-based (up to 100 GB)

Base fee / month: $0
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 10
Bandwidth / GB: $0.5
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 100 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Usage-based (100 GB-1 TB)

Base fee / month: $45
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 100
Bandwidth / GB: $0.63
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 1,000 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Usage-based (1-5 TB)

Base fee / month: $612
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 1,000
Bandwidth / GB: $0.28
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 5,000 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Usage-based (5-10 TB)

Base fee / month: $1,732
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 5,000
Bandwidth / GB: $0.2
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 10,000 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Usage-based (10-15 TB)

Base fee / month: $2,732
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 10,000
Bandwidth / GB: $0.1595
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 15,000 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Usage-based (15-20 TB)

Base fee / month: $3,529.5
Included source images (thousands): 0
1k source images: $0
Included transformations (thousands): 0
1k transformations: $0
Included bandwidth / month (GB): 15,000
Bandwidth / GB: $0.1195
Modeled plan limits: ≤ 20,000 image bandwidth / month (gb)

Image Optimizer is billed per image request, counted on cache HITs and MISSes alike, and twice when shielding runs it at both edge and shield. That makes it a per-delivery charge, not per unique transformation, and there is no per-source-image fee. Tiers per 10,000 image requests: first 100k free, then $0.50 to 10M, $0.15 to 50M, $0.07 to 150M, $0.03 to 500M, and lower beyond. The self-serve plan has no monthly minimum (since 4 Nov 2025). North America/Europe bandwidth: first 100 GB free, $0.12/GB to 10 TB, $0.08/GB for the next 10 TB, then "contact us". CDN requests: first 1M free, then $0.01 per 10,000. All three are converted to per-GB assuming ~100 KB per image (10,000 image requests per GB). The tiers are modelled as plans whose plan_month is the cost of the tiers below, so the cheapest plan that fits is the exact tiered total. Above 20 TB, or for packages (Basic $1,500/month with 30M image requests), contact sales. Legacy accounts (before Nov 2025) have a $50/month minimum. Fastly publishes a DPA; there is no self-serve EU-only delivery.

Managed alternatives

At 50K unique source images / month, 500K transformations / month, 2,000 GB image bandwidth / month. Adjust usage and requirements.

Fastly Image Optimizer: $10,704/yr estimated.

Bunny Optimizer: $354/yr estimated · $10,350/yr bill differencePublished rates
Cloudflare Images: $2,460/yr estimated · $8,244/yr bill differenceModeled ratesConverts delivery requests to bandwidth assuming 100 KB per delivered image. Cached deliveries still count.
Vercel Image Optimization: $2,880/yr estimated · $7,824/yr bill differenceModeled ratesCache-write cost assumes 100 KB output images. Cache behavior, sizes and regional rates change cost.
Netlify Image CDN: $3,528/yr estimated · $7,176/yr bill differencePublished rates
imgix: $6,393/yr estimated · $4,311/yr bill differenceModeled ratesConverts credits to images and bandwidth assuming 1 MB per origin image; origin-cache retention changes storage cost.

The price difference leaves out migration costs, operating costs and any features you’d need to replace.

Self-hosted options

Operating cost is not estimated. These options are not counted as savings against managed services.

Want a European-owned provider? See European alternatives to Fastly Image Optimizer among european image processing providers.

Other image processing comparisons

Found a wrong rate or plan restriction? Report a correction with a current source.