Media — hobby stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
Hosting / Application Platform
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsVercel Hobby FREE $0/mo incl. 100GB bandwidth, 6000 execution hrs, 100GB-hrs compute, unlimited deploys / Pro $20/seat/mo + $40 per 100GB bandwidth over ($0.18/GB-hr compute over, $0.60/M function invocations) / Enterprise $4000+/mo custom seat, 99.99% SLA, dedicated support / Netlify Free $0 100GB bw, 300 build min / Pro $19/mo 1TB bw + $55/100GB over, $7/500 build min over / Cloudflare Pages FREE $0 unlimited bandwidth + 500 builds/mo / Render Free $0 750 hrs Web Service + 100GB bw / Standard $19/mo + $0.10/GB over / Railway Hobby $5/mo + usage $0.000463/vCPU/s + $0.000008/GB/s (~$0.10/GB egress) / Fly.io PayG $0 + $0.10/GB egress, $0.015/GB storage, Machines ~$1.94/mo 1x / AWS ECS Fargate $0.04048/vCPU/hr + $0.004445/GB/hr + ALB $0.0225/hr + EKS $0.10/hr ($72/mo) cluster / GCP Cloud Run $0 free tier 2M req + $0.40/M req + $0.000024/vCPU-s | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Database (Primary - Postgres)
Persistent storage for your app’s data — users, products, orders. The single most important architectural decision for most projects.Pricing & free-tier limitsSupabase Free $0 500MB DB, 1GB file, 50k MAU, 2GB bandwidth, 7d backup / Pro $25/mo 8GB DB + 100GB storage + 250GB bandwidth, $0.125/GB DB over, $0.021/GB file storage over, $0.09/GB bw over, PITR 7d ($100/mo for 28d) / Team $599/mo 100GB DB + SOC2 + 28d PITR + 5x read replicas / Enterprise $2000+/mo custom + multi-region + HIPAA / Neon Free $0 0.5GB storage, 10 CU-hours, 10 branches / Launch $19/mo 10GB + 100 CU-hr + $4/GB over, $5/10 CU-hr over / Scale $69/mo 50GB + 500 CU-hr + $18/10GB, $7/10 CU-hr over / PlanetScale Scaler Pro $29/mo 10GB storage $2.50/GB over, 100M reads $5/10M over / AWS RDS db.t4g.micro $12.5/mo single-AZ, db.r6g.large $300/mo Multi-AZ $600/mo + storage $0.115/GB-mo + IOPS $0.10/IOPS-mo + backup $0.095/GB-mo / Aurora Serverless v2 $0.12/AU-hr min 0.5AU + storage $0.10/GB-mo + IO $0.20/M / CockroachDB Cloud Free $0 10GB + $0.25/M RUs | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
File Storage for Media Assets (S3 Compatible)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsCloudflare R2 Free $0 10GB storage, 10M Class A ops, 50M Class B, ZERO egress fees (huge saving) / PayG Standard $0/mo + $0.015/GB-mo storage + $4.50/M Class A after 10M, $0.36/M Class B after 50M + free egress still / AWS S3 Standard $0.023/GB-mo first 50TB, $0.022 next 450TB, $0.021 after, + $0.09/GB egress first 10TB ($0.085 next 40TB), $0.005/1k PUT, $0.0004/1k GET + Intelligent Tiering $0.0025/1k obj monitoring / Backblaze B2 Free 10GB + first 1GB/day egress free / Paid $0.006/GB-mo storage + $0.01/GB egress, $0.005/1k download / Wasabi $6.99/TB/mo min 1TB, no egress, no API fees, $6/TB over / Vercel Blob Free 1GB + Pro $20/mo 100GB bw ($0.15/GB over) + $0.15/GB storage / Cloudinary Free 25GB bw, 25GB storage / Plus $89/mo 25GB storage + $0.40/credit overage / Supabase Storage Free 1GB + Pro 100GB + $0.021/GB over | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Video Hosting API (VOD)
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsMux Video Free $0 1000 min test asset (watermarked), 1000 min delivery trial / Starter PayG $0/mo + encoding SD $0.004/min, HD $0.008/min, 4K $0.016/min, per-title optimization $0.0025/min base, storage $0.0013/GB-hr (~$0.95/GB/mo), delivery $0.0025/min (~$0.08/GB) + $0.0013/GB storage long term + $20 credit included / Pro $199/mo includes $100 credits, volume discount 20% after $1000/mo / Enterprise $3000+/mo custom contract - $0.002/min encode (50% off), $0.0015/min delivery, SOC2, 24/7 / Cloudflare Stream Free trial $0 1000 min video / Standard $5/mo per 1000 min stored + $1/1000 min delivered - includes automatic encoding to 1080p, signed URLs, no egress / Pro 500k min incl $5000/mo Enterprise / Bunny Stream $20/mo starter 500GB storage + $0.01/GB delivery NA/EU (APAC $0.03), $1/1000 min encoding / Vimeo OTT Growth $1/subscriber + $500/mo platform fee + $0.09/GB delivery over 2.5TB | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Audio Hosting API / Podcast Hosting
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsSpotify for Podcasters (Anchor API) Free $0 unlimited hosting, distribution, monetization / SoundCloud API Free 15k requests/day, upload limit 180min / Pro $12/mo unlimited upload / Transistor.fm API $19/mo 15k downloads/mo + $0.50/1k over / $49/mo 75k + $0.25/1k over / Castos $29/mo 100k downloads + $0.20/1k over, transcription $0.10/min / Mux Audio PayG $0 + encoding $0.004/min, storage $0.0013/GB-hr, delivery $0.0022/min (audio optimized) / Cloudflare R2 self-host + Howler.js/Shaka + RSS feed Free $0 10GB + $0.015/GB after, zero egress + Dolby.io Enhance API Free 1000 min/mo + $0.20/min after, 48kHz improve $0.02/min / Riverside.fm API $30/mo 20hrs transcription $0.15/min over | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Authentication / User Management
How users sign up, log in, and are authorized. Getting roles and access control right early prevents painful rewrites.Pricing & free-tier limitsClerk Free $0 10k MAU, 5k M2M tokens, email/pass + social, 1 org / Pro $25/mo incl 10k MAU + $0.02/MAU after 10k, orgs $25/mo per 100 + SSO add-on $100/mo (50 SSO connections), MFA $0 included / Business $100/mo incl 10k MAU + RBAC advanced + $0.015/MAU over / Enterprise $500+/mo custom SSO, SLA, DPA, HIPAA / Supabase Auth Free 50k MAU included per project, 2 MFA factors, email + social + SSO (Pro) / Auth0 Free $0 7.5k MAU, 1000 M2M tokens, social logins / B2C Essentials $35/mo 500 MAU + $0.07/MAU over, 1k M2M / B2C Professional $240/mo 1000 MAU + $0.07/MAU, MFA, RBAC / B2B Essentials $150/mo 500 org MAU + $0.18/MAU / Enterprise $800+/mo 1000 org MAU + custom / WorkOS SSO $250/mo 100 SSO cnx + $8/connection over + Directory Sync $150/mo / Okta Customer Identity $0.015/MAU + $0.05/MFA sms / Enterprise $2000+/mo + Support / Lucia Auth + Oslo Open Source $0 self-host | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
CDN (Content Delivery - Video/Audio)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsCloudflare CDN Free $0 unlimited bandwidth, global 300+ PoPs, 3 page rules + Cache 256MB upload / Pro $20/mo 20 page rules + WAF OWASP core + Image resize 20k + $5/mo extra 100k + Tiered cache + Argo Smart Routing $5/mo + $0.10/GB (30% bw saving) / Business $200/mo 100 page rules + 100% WAF managed + custom TLS + tiered cache + prioritized / Enterprise $5000+/mo custom bw commit $0.02/GB, Bot Management Enterprise $10k/mo, SLA / Bunny CDN Volume Tier PayG $1/mo min + $0.01/GB NA/EU, $0.03/GB SA/APAC, $0.01/GB storage, optimizer $9/mo + $0.01/10k req + Perma-cache $0.005/GB / Fastly PayG $50/mo min + $0.12/GB first 10TB $0.08 next 40TB + $0.012/10k req + $20/domain TLS + $0.30/M image optim / Enterprise $3000/mo commit incl DDoS + 99.99% SLA / AWS CloudFront Free 1TB + $0.085/GB first 10TB + $0.08 next 40TB + $0.0075/10k HTTPS reqs | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Transcoding API / Video Encoding
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsMux Encoding PayG included with Mux Video: SD $0.004/min, HD $0.008/min, 4K $0.016/min, per-title encoding $0.0025/min base + $0.004/min extra quality / Just-in-Time $0.0022/min delivery only if needed / Cloudflare Stream auto-encode included in $5/1000min storage + $1/1000min delivery, no separate encoding fee, up to 4K / AWS Elemental MediaConvert Basic $0.0075/min SD ($0.007/min QVBR), $0.015/min HD, $0.030/min UHD 4K + Pro tier HEVC 2x price, audio $0.003/min + Reserved $0.005/min min 1yr commit / Coconut.co $0.03/min SD + $0.06/min HD + $49/mo platform fee, HEVC $0.09/min / Bitmovin Encoding $500/mo incl 10k min SD / $0.02/min SD over, $0.04 HD, $0.08 4K + per-title AI $0.01/min extra / Enterprise $2000+/mo + $0.015/min / Self-host FFmpeg on Render Standard $19/mo or AWS Spot $0.02/min equivalent + $0.10/GB egress / Dolby.io Transcoding $0.10/min HD + $0.20/min 4K + $0.02/min audio | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Email API (Transactional)
Sending transactional email (receipts, resets, alerts) and sometimes marketing mail. Deliverability matters more than features here.Pricing & free-tier limitsResend Free $0 3k emails/mo + 100 emails/day limit, 1 domain, webhook / Pro $20/mo 50k emails/mo + $0.80/1k over ($0.0008/email) actually $0.0004 in higher tier, 50k limit -> Scale $85/mo 100k + $0.60/1k over, 400 req/s / AWS SES Free (EC2) $0 3k msgs/day + $0.10/1k after (i.e. $0.0001/email) + $0.12/GB attachment + dedicated IP $24.95/mo / Postmark Free $0 100 emails trial / $15/mo 10k + $1.80/1k ( $0.0018/email) over + $1.25/1k bounce inbound / $50/mo 50k + over $0.00125 / $100/mo 125k + Message Streams included / Brevo (Sendinblue) Free 300 emails/day + unlimited contacts / Starter $25/mo 20k emails no daily limit + $15/mo per 10k extra, transactional $0.15/1k over / SendGrid Free 100 emails/day free forever / Essentials $19.95/mo 10k + $2/M over + Pro $89.95/mo 100k + $6/100k over / Customer.io $200/mo 12k profiles + $0.08/profile over, unlimited emails | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Backups (Automated DB + Storage)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsSupabase Free 7d daily logical backups retained 2 backups + PITR not available / Pro $25/mo PITR 7d included + WAL continuous, 2 backups + restore $100 per PITR extension to 28d ($100/mo add-on), + $0.021/GB storage backup over / Team $599/mo PITR 28d incl + 3x weekly full / Neon Free 1d PITR / Launch $19/mo 7d PITR + branch restore + 1d backup window / Scale $69/mo 14d PITR + 7d backup / AWS Backup $0.05/GB-mo warm backup + $0.15/GB restore + S3 Standard $0.023/GB + Glacier Flexible $0.0036/GB-mo + Deep Archive $0.00099/GB + cross-region replication $0.02/GB / SimpleBackups $9/mo 10 servers + $0.02/GB storage B2/R2/S3, overage $2/server + $0.025/GB / Scale $29/mo 50 servers / R2 versioning FREE - only storage $0.015/GB-mo + no egress / S3 versioning $0.023/GB-mo + egress $0.09/GB / Veeam Cloud Connect $13.50/workload/mo + $0.02/GB | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
Monitoring / Error Tracking / Logging
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsSentry Free $0 5k errors/mo (5k spans), 10k replays 1k min, 1 user, 30d retention / Team $26/mo 50k errors + $0.00029/error over, 50k transactions $0.0004/transaction over, 50 replays + 5 seats / Business $80/mo 100k errors + 200k transact + unlimited seats + 90d retention / Enterprise $600+/mo custom / Better Stack (LogTail+Uptime) Free $0 10 monitors 3-min, 1GB logs / Pro $24/mo 50 monitors 30-sec + 30GB logs + 500k ingest + $0.50/GB over + SMS $0.30 + call $0.75 / Grafana Cloud Free 10k series metrics, 50GB logs, 50GB traces / Pro $29/mo + $8/1k series over, $0.50/GB logs over 100GB, 5 users / Scale $150/mo + $0.012/series over / Datadog Pro $15/host/mo infra + APM $31/host + log $0.10/GB ingest + $0.05/GB retention + RUM $1.50/1k sessions + 450 custom metrics free $0.05/100 metrics over / Enterprise $500-3000/mo bundle / New Relic Free 100GB ingest + 1 user full + all features / Pro $49/user/mo 100GB + $0.30/GB over + Advanced $349/user / UptimeRobot Free 50 monitors 5-min + 5 status pages | Hobby free tier covers dev/test ~1k users
How this hobby media checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby media build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.