Compared honestly

Octopin vs Pinata

The mainstream IPFS pinning service since 2018.

Verdict

Pick Pinata if your team is enterprise-grade and needs 1 TB+ storage on a single plan. Pick Octopin if you're an NFT project that wants honest pricing, unlimited bandwidth, and a generous free tier.

Side-by-side

FeatureOctopinPinata
Free storage1 GB1 GB
Free bandwidthUnlimited10 GB
Free file count2,000500
Entry paid plan$5/mo (25 GB)$20/mo (1 TB)
Bandwidth overage feeNone — always unlimited$0.10/GB
Subdomain gateway (`<CID>.ipfs.your-domain`)Coming soonPaid feature only
Public IPFS network announceYes (IPNI HTTP provider on cid.contact)Yes (IPNI on cid.contact)
Trustless retrieval (raw, CAR)YesYes
NFT-community focusYesGeneral-purpose

When to pick Pinata

Pinata is the safe enterprise default — well-funded, mature SDK, 5 TB single-plan ceiling, dedicated support. If you're a Fortune-500-adjacent team with procurement on speed dial, they're the answer.

  • Higher raw storage ceiling at top tier (5 TB vs our 3 TB).
  • Mature SDK with framework adapters and CLI.
  • Dedicated gateway feature with hostname customization (paid).
  • Long track record — running since 2018.

Where we differ

  • Unlimited bandwidth on every tier including free — no overage shock.
  • Entry plan starts at $5/mo (Pinata's smallest paid plan is $20/mo).
  • Trustless retrieval (raw + CAR) on every tier — same protocol as Pinata's paid 'Dedicated Gateway'.
  • Built specifically for NFT projects and small communities.
  • Open about our cost structure — built on Cloudflare R2 + free egress.

FAQ

Will my contract's `tokenURI` still work if I use Octopin?

Yes. Octopin publishes your CIDs to the public IPNI indexer (cid.contact) as an HTTP gateway provider — the same channel Pinata, web3.storage, and Filecoin Pin all use. Marketplaces (OpenSea, Magic Eden) and wallets resolve `ipfs://CID/...` URIs through their own gateway pools, which consult the indexer to find providers like us.

What happens if my collection goes viral?

Nothing changes financially. Bandwidth is unlimited on every Octopin tier. Pinata charges $0.10/GB after their bandwidth limit — for an active NFT collection serving 1.5 TB/mo that's an extra $150/mo on top of your plan.

Try Octopin for free

1 GB free. Unlimited bandwidth. No credit card.