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Limits and Pricing for Image Optimization

This page outlines information on the limits that are applicable to using Image Optimization, and the costs they can incur.
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Image Optimization pricing is dependent on your plan and how many unique source images you have across your projects during your billing period.

PlanImage Optimization LimitPrice (after limit hit)
Hobby1000 source imagesN/A
Pro Trial2500 source imagesN/A
Pro5000 source images$5 per 1000 source images
EnterprisecustomContact Sales for custom pricing

Learn more about managing costs for Image Optimization.

A source image is the value that is passed to the src prop. A single source image can produce multiple optimized images. For example:

  • Usage: <Image src="/hero.png" width="700" height="745" />
  • Source image: /hero.png
  • Optimized image: /_next/image?url=%2Fhero.png&w=750&q=75
  • Optimized image: /_next/image?url=%2Fhero.png&w=828&q=75
  • Optimized image: /_next/image?url=%2Fhero.png&w=1080&q=75

For example, if you are on a Pro plan and have passed 6000 source images to the src prop within the last billing cycle, your bill will be $5 for optimized images.

To view your usage:

  1. On your dashboard, select your team from the scope selector
  2. Select the Usage tab and then Image Optimization from the bottom of the list. The usage dashboard displays the total number of Source Image Optimizations for your team and the number used per project.
  3. You can expand View Source Images to view a list of all source images that have been optimized, organized by date.

    Usage dashboard showing the number of source images were optimized per day.

Usage is not incurred until an image is requested. Learn more about managing costs for Image Optimization.

You are billed for the number of unique source images requested during the billing period.

Additionally, charges apply for the bandwidth used when optimized images are delivered from Vercel's Edge Network to clients.

Image Optimization is free for Hobby users within the usage limits. As stated in the Fair Usage Policy, Hobby accounts are restricted to non-commercial personal use only.

Vercel will send you emails as you are nearing your usage limits, but you will also be advised of any alerts within the dashboard.

Once you exceed the limits:

  • New source images will fail to optimize and instead return a runtime error response with 402 status code. This will trigger the onError callback and show the alt text instead of the image
  • Previously optimized images have already been cached and will continue to work as expected, without error

You will not be charged for exceeding the usage limits, but this usually means your application is ready to upgrade to a Pro plan.

Get started with Vercel Pro for free

Experience the power of Pro features during your trial. Unlock unlimited Serverless Function requests, 1000 GB-hours of execution, boosted application bandwidth, and enjoy free access to Speed Insights throughout your trial period.

If you want to continue using Hobby, read more about Managing Usage & Costs to see how you can disable Image Optimization per image or per project.

For Teams on Pro trials, the trial will end if your Team uses over 2500 source images. For more information, see the trial limits.

Vercel will send you emails as you are nearing your usage limits, but you will also be advised of any alerts within the dashboard. Once your team exceeds the 5000 source images limit, you will continue to be charged $5 per 1000 source images for on-demand usage.

Pro teams can set up Spend Management to get notified or to automatically take action, such as using a webhook or pausing your projects when your usage hits a set spend amount.

For all the images that are optimized by Vercel, the following limits apply:

  • The maximum size for an optimized image is 10 MB, as set out in the Cacheable Responses limits. If this limit is exceeded, a 500 status code will be returned
  • Each source image has a maximum width and height of 8192 pixels
  • A source image must be one of the following formats to be optimized: .bmp, .ico, .icns,.jpeg, .pct, .png, .tiff, .webp. Other formats will be served as-is

See the Fair Usage Policy for typical monthly usage guidelines.

Last updated on February 6, 2023