Image CDN and media offload services charge you in one of two ways. Some meter visits, meaning how many people show up. Others meter storage and bandwidth, meaning how many GB you keep and serve. Same job, very different bills. Infinite Uploads is a storage and bandwidth service, so you know where I stand, but I want you to understand both models before you pick one.
For the visits side I'm using Optimole as the example, because it's one of the best known visit metered services for WordPress. Every Optimole number below comes from their own pricing page and visits based plan docs, prices checked Oct 13, 2026, in USD.
How visit based pricing works
Optimole counts unique daily visitors and adds them up into a monthly quota. Their docs say "we only count the number of unique daily users who visit your site." One person who views 30 pages in a day is one visit. That same person coming back tomorrow is a second visit.
Think of it like a gym that charges per check-in, not per machine you use. According to the Optimole docs, your quota isn't affected by the number of optimized images, images downloaded, pages visited, or layout changes. Optimization and viewing bandwidth are unlimited, subject to their fair use terms.
Here's what the Optimole pricing page showed (prices checked Oct 13, 2026). The yearly toggle advertises "Save 20%".
- Free: 2,000 monthly visits, $0 (from the visits based plan docs).
- Starter: 48,000 visits/month, $22.90/mo billed monthly, or $19.08/mo billed yearly ($229/yr).
- Business: 120,000 visits/month, $47.00/mo billed monthly, or $39.08/mo billed yearly ($469/yr).
- Flexible: 300,000 visits/month at $109.00/mo billed monthly, or $90.83/mo billed yearly ($1,090/yr), with higher steps on the slider.
Every Optimole plan lists unlimited images and sites, image offloading, and CDN delivery. Custom Domain (CNAME) is marked as not included on Starter. Their docs add that you can unlock 20,000 more visits by enabling the Optimole badge on your site. A Video Optimization add-on is listed too, currently behind a "Join the Waitlist" button.
Where visit counts get tricky
Visits are a number you don't control. Optimole counts them server side, from image requests hitting their CDN. Their docs say it's normal for that count to run higher than Google Analytics, because ad blockers and disabled JavaScript hide visitors from GA but not from Optimole. Their count is the one used for your quota. So the number in your analytics dashboard can undersell what you'll be billed on.
Then there's going over. The docs say that on a premium plan "the upgrade will happen automatically," followed by a note: "Automatic quota upgrades for premium plans cannot be disabled." Their reason is to keep your optimized images available without interruption. The FAQ on the pricing page words it a little differently, saying you'll "have the option to upgrade to a higher plan or pay for the additional visitors as a one-time fee." Either way, on a paid plan a traffic spike costs money. If that matters to your budget, ask Optimole which applies to your account BEFORE it happens.
Free accounts aren't upgraded automatically. Per the docs, "you will have a few days to evaluate the upgrade; if you choose not to proceed, we will stop access to the optimized images permanently." That's optimized delivery stopping, not your images disappearing. Optimole's pricing page says offloaded images can be transferred back whenever needed.
And a visit model is only as good as your traffic is predictable. A post that takes off on social, a mention in a newsletter, a wave of bot traffic hitting your images. None of that changes how big your media library is. All of it changes your visit count.
How storage and bandwidth pricing works
Infinite Uploads meters the other way. You pay for how many GB you store and how many GB our CDN serves. Visits don't matter. It's the gym that charges for the locker you rent, not how many times you walk through the door. Current pricing:
- Starter, 25 GB storage and 50 GB bandwidth: $8.25/mo billed yearly ($99/yr), or $11/mo billed monthly.
- Starter, 50 GB storage and 100 GB bandwidth: $16/mo billed yearly, or $19/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 100 GB storage and 200 GB bandwidth: $24/mo billed yearly ($288/yr), or $29/mo billed monthly.
Larger Business plans, from the pricing page:
- Business, 200 GB storage and 400 GB bandwidth: $41/mo billed yearly ($492/yr), or $49/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 400 GB storage and 800 GB bandwidth: $66/mo billed yearly ($792/yr), or $79/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 1 TB storage and 2 TB bandwidth: $124/mo billed yearly ($1,488/yr), or $149/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 2.5 TB storage and 5 TB bandwidth: $275/mo billed yearly ($3,300/yr), or $329/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 5 TB storage and 10 TB bandwidth: $492/mo billed yearly ($5,904/yr), or $590/mo billed monthly.
- Business, 10 TB storage and 20 TB bandwidth: $825/mo billed yearly ($9,900/yr), or $990/mo billed monthly.
You can estimate yours with the pricing calculator.
Here's why I firmly believe this is the better model for most WordPress sites. It's predictable, because your media library grows at a pace you can see. You pay for what you actually store and serve. A viral day doesn't change what you're metered on, it just uses some bandwidth. And it covers ALL your media, not just images. Videos, PDFs, audio, large downloads, everything in the media library is offloaded and delivered from the CDN.
One honest note. Image Optimization (WebP and AVIF delivery, compression, right-sizing) is on the Business plan only. Starter offloads and serves your media, but it doesn't optimize images. Custom CDN domains and S3 credentials are Business only too.
We have auto upgrades as well. It's called Smart Upgrade, and it's on by default so your site keeps working when you cross a limit. The difference is you can turn it off. However, turning it off is not a free hard cap. If you go over your limit with Smart Upgrade off, your site may stop working until you upgrade or bring usage down. You pick which risk you'd rather carry. More on these controls in our billing update post.
A worked example
Say you run a local services site. Optimole's dashboard shows about 60,000 visits a month. Your media library is 18 GB, and your CDN serves around 40 GB a month. You want WebP and AVIF delivery.
On Optimole, 60,000 visits is over Starter's 48,000. The badge's extra 20,000 visits would get you to 68,000, with little headroom. Without the badge, you're on Business at $39.08/mo billed yearly ($469/yr), or $47.00/mo billed monthly. And remember, that visit count can climb on a good month even if nothing on your site changed.
On Infinite Uploads, 18 GB of storage and 40 GB of bandwidth fit the 25 GB Starter plan with 50 GB of bandwidth at $8.25/mo billed yearly ($99/yr) or $11/mo monthly. To get Image Optimization you need Business, at $24/mo billed yearly ($288/yr), or $29/mo billed monthly. Business covers 100 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth, so a traffic spike that doubles your bandwidth still fits.
Now take a busy one. A store with 250,000 visits and huge galleries pushing 600 GB of image traffic a month fits Optimole Flexible at $90.83/mo billed yearly ($1,090/yr), with viewing bandwidth unmetered (prices checked Oct 13, 2026). On Infinite Uploads, the same store fits the 400 GB plan with 800 GB of bandwidth at $66/mo billed yearly ($792/yr, or $79/mo monthly). That's less than Optimole Flexible, and the GB plan covers ALL your media, not just images. Check your real monthly bandwidth in your host or CDN stats first, then pick the plan whose bandwidth covers it.
Want the feature side by side? See our Optimole alternative page. Still choosing an optimizer? Read the best WordPress image optimization plugins and how to optimize images for WordPress.
FAQ
Is it cheaper to pay for visits or for storage and bandwidth?
It depends on how much media each visitor pulls. For most sites, storage and bandwidth is easier to predict because it tracks your media library, not your traffic. Even for busy, image heavy sites, a GB plan often comes out cheaper. In the example above, 800 GB of bandwidth on Infinite Uploads costs $66/mo billed yearly, against $90.83/mo billed yearly for Optimole Flexible. Check your own monthly bandwidth and run both numbers.
What counts as a visit on Optimole?
A unique user per day, per their docs. Pages viewed, images loaded, and repeat visits the same day don't add to it.
Why is my Optimole visit count higher than Google Analytics?
Optimole counts server side from image requests, so visitors with ad blockers or JavaScript disabled still count. GA misses them.
Can I turn off Optimole's auto upgrade?
Not on premium plans, according to their docs. Their pricing FAQ also mentions paying for extra visitors as a one-time fee instead of upgrading.
Can I turn off Smart Upgrade on Infinite Uploads?
Yes. It's on by default and you can switch it off. With it off, going over your limit may stop your site from working until you upgrade or reduce usage, so it's not a free hard cap.
Does storage and bandwidth pricing cover video and PDFs?
On Infinite Uploads, yes. Every file in your media library is offloaded and served from the CDN, and it all counts toward the same storage and bandwidth.
If paying by GB makes more sense for your site, try any Infinite Uploads plan free for 7 days. The trial includes the features of the plan you pick.
