Media Asset Management Pricing in 2026: What Video Teams Actually Pay

Media asset management pricing for a 10-person video team runs from about $2,600 to $13,000 a year on self-serve tools at 10 TB of footage, and $25,000 to $100,000 or more on quote-based enterprise contracts. Shade starts at $29.75 per seat per month, with 500 GB per seat, proxies and AI indexing included.

Most MAM and DAM pricing guides are written for marketing teams storing logos and product photos. Video is different. A single 4K shoot can fill a terabyte, so storage, egress and proxies drive the bill more than seats do. This guide prices the tools video teams actually shortlist at 10 TB, 50 TB and 100 TB, using list prices we checked on each vendor's site on November 9, 2026. Where a vendor hides its price, we say so and give the best public estimate with its source.

Disclosure: Shade publishes this guide. Shade appears first in each table, and we include the cases where another tool costs less.

How much does media asset management cost?

For a sense of enterprise deal sizes, Vendr's buyer data shows these median annual contracts: Iconik $95,000, Aprimo $50,000, Bynder $43,605, Frontify $42,000, LucidLink $24,120 and Frame.io $10,710. Vendr does not show purchase counts for Iconik and Aprimo. Medians cover all deal sizes, so a 10-person team will usually land below them.

What is media asset management?

Media asset management (MAM) is software that stores, catalogs and finds video and audio files. It adds metadata, proxies, search and review on top of storage so a team can find and reuse footage instead of re-shooting it. A digital asset management (DAM) system does the same job for brand assets such as images, logos and documents.

The difference matters for pricing. DAMs are usually priced by users and modules, with storage as a side line. Video MAMs are storage-heavy: a 50 TB library costs about $13,800 a year to store on AWS S3 Standard before any software fee. That is why video teams should price a MAM by terabytes first and seats second. For a full product comparison, see our guides to the best MAM for video production and the best DAM for video production.

How are MAM and DAM tools priced?

What does a video team pay at 10 TB, 50 TB and 100 TB?

Assumptions: 10 named users (2 media managers or admins, 5 editors and producers, 3 stakeholders who mostly browse), unlimited outside reviewers, US list prices on November 9, 2026, annual billing where offered, and 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Where a tool lets you bring your own storage (BYOS), we price that storage at AWS S3 Standard in US East: $0.023 per GB per month, about $23 per TB. Egress, AI usage and one-time setup are not in this table; they are covered in the hidden costs section below.

How to read this table: the cheapest rows (Frame.io and Dropbox) are not media asset managers. They are a review tool and a sync tool. LucidLink is fast cloud storage for editing but has no catalog or search. A team that wants storage, review and search from those tools ends up buying two or three of them, which is the comparison in the 3-year TCO section. Shade does not publish its add-on storage price, so ask for a quote before comparing totals.

Shade

Shade is a cloud post-production platform that combines a mountable cloud drive (often called a cloud NAS), review and approval, and AI media asset management. Editors stream 4K, BRAW and ProRes from the mounted drive, and the same files are searchable by description, face or spoken words.

• Growth: $29.75 per seat per month billed annually ($35 month to month). Up to 15 seats and 150 guests, 500 GB of active storage per seat, unlimited drives, unlimited AI indexing. Storage add-ons are available (priced on request; ask Shade for a quote).

• Enterprise: custom price. Unlimited seats and workspaces, up to 250 guests, 1 TB of active storage per seat, bring your own storage (Enterprise only; Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Backblaze or Wasabi, per Shade's help docs), SSO/SAML, OIDC, SCIM, audit logging, data migration, an enterprise SLA and payment by invoice.

• Included at no extra charge: 1080p proxies for every video format, previews of hundreds of formats (including MXF, BRAW and WAV), metadata extraction for 100+ formats, and unlimited AI indexing.

• Billed on top: storage beyond the per-seat allowance (priced on request; ask Shade for a quote).

"If you're not using Shade, you should be. We used to lose about 60% of the footage we shot. Now, we upload from the field and edit in real time, so we're finally getting real value from what we produce. Our clients are way happier for it." Alexander Volberding, Video Director, FieldWrk

See current plans on the Shade pricing page.

Iconik

Iconik is a cloud MAM known for flexible storage connections and usage-based billing.

• Starter (pay as you go, no commitment): Browse user $9 per month, Standard user $65, Power user $120. Collaborators who only review or receive shares are free. Users are charged only in months they log in.

• Credits: $1 each, valid for 12 months. Credits pay for storage, users, AI and services as you use them.

• Storage: Iconik-hosted Google Cloud buckets for proxies and keyframes, multi-region originals and single-region originals (single-region costs less than multi-region). Iconik does not publish a per-TB rate. Bringing your own cloud or local storage has no Iconik storage charge.

• Egress: charged on downloads from Iconik storage, on transfers to third-party storage and on proxy playback (for the portion viewed).

• AI: Google video and image AI and transcription are billed per use. Transcription dropped to $1 per hour of analyzed content on January 1, 2025.

• Professional and Enterprise: custom annual pricing. Professional includes storage for proxies, transfers and egress plus monthly AI credits. Vendr shows a median Iconik contract of $95,000 a year (range $35,000 to $120,760). Vendr does not say how many purchases that median is based on.

One detail to watch: an active application token (for example, for the Iconik Storage Gateway) counts as a Power user each month. For a side-by-side view, see Shade vs Iconik and our Iconik review.

Frame.io

Frame.io is a review and approval tool. It stores media, but it is not built as a full media asset manager.

• Team: $25 per member per month, or $264 per member per year. 3 TB plus 2 TB per additional member, up to 15 members (a ceiling of 31 TB). 500 GB of mounted storage.

• Pro: $15 per member per month, or $156 per member per year. 2 TB plus 2 TB per additional member, up to 5 members.

• Storage add-ons: sold in 250 GB increments from the in-app plan page. The price is not on the public pricing page.

• Enterprise: custom. Vendr shows a median contract of $10,710 a year across 36 purchases (range $3,000 to $59,475).

Frame.io is excellent value at 10 TB if review is all you need. Past 31 TB you need add-ons or Enterprise, and you will still want a MAM for search across past projects. More in our Frame.io review.

LucidLink

LucidLink is a cloud file system that mounts storage like a local drive. It is storage only: there is no review, catalog or AI search.

• Business: $27 per member per month on annual billing ($32 monthly), 400 GB per member (pooled), up to 25 members. Extra storage is $8 per 100 GB per month ($80 per TB). LucidLink lists Business as "best for up to 10 TB" and recommends contacting sales above 25 TB.

• Starter: $7 per member per month, 100 GB per member, extra storage $7 per 100 GB per month, up to 10 members and 1 TB.

• Enterprise: custom, with bring-your-own storage. Vendr shows a median contract of $24,120 a year across 37 purchases (range $14,400 to $53,769), which suggests large libraries are priced well below the list-rate math in our table.

• Plans include both storage and egress.

See Shade vs LucidLink.

Dropbox

Dropbox is file sync and sharing. It works for finished files and light collaboration, but it is not a MAM: there is no proxy workflow or footage search by content.

• Advanced: $24 per user per month billed yearly (monthly billing costs more), 3-user minimum. 5 TB per actively used license with a 3-license minimum (15 TB), so 10 active users get a 50 TB pool.

• Storage add-ons: 1 TB increments, up to 1,000 TB. Dropbox does not publish the add-on price. Dropbox staff have quoted about $8 per TB per month on annual billing, so treat that as an estimate.

• Replay (video review): $10 per user per month billed annually as an add-on.

See Shade vs Dropbox.

Evolphin

Evolphin sells a video MAM (its current platform is Evolphin X) with published tiers.

• Launch: $10,000 a year (from $900 a month list), up to 10 users and 10 TB of media indexed.

• Growth: $36,000 a year (from $3,000 a month list), up to 30 users and 30 TB indexed.

• Scale: custom, for more than 30 users or larger libraries.

• All plans are billed annually and include AI with an allowance; additional usage is priced per plan. Collaboration, Plugins (Premiere Pro, Photoshop, InDesign), Portals, Mobile and Analytics are add-on modules priced on request. Originals can stay in your own storage or use Evolphin's storage, which has no public price. Our table assumes you bring your own S3 storage.

Canto

Canto is a brand DAM. All five packages (DAM Essentials, DAM Plus, DAM Pro, Retail Suite and Brand Suite) are quote-based, and Canto says pricing scales with team size and storage. Plans include unlimited end users, and DAM Pro adds a media publishing CDN and video embedding. Unofficial third-party entry estimates run $6,000 to $12,000 a year, while CostBench reports a median of $107,500 a year from only 7 buyer reports. Both are unofficial and based on small samples. CostBench also notes 12-month minimum contracts that auto-renew. See our Canto alternative guide.

Bynder

Bynder is a brand DAM sold as a core platform plus modules. Bynder does not publish prices and names users, storage, products, integrations and support level as its price factors. Vendr shows a median contract of $43,605 a year across 84 purchases (range $9,930 to $124,706), with buyers saving 18% on average. Vendr also reports that implementation and migration services can add 15 to 30% of first-year value, and that multi-year deals often carry 3 to 5% annual escalators. See Bynder alternatives.

CatDV

CatDV is a long-standing video MAM, now sold by Quantum. It runs on-premises or in the cloud (all-in-one, client and server, or hosted). Quantum does not publish prices; you request a quote or demo. The Enterprise edition lists unlimited client license seats, which helps large teams. See our CatDV review.

What hidden costs should you budget for?

Egress fees

Egress is the fee for data leaving a cloud. On AWS S3 it is $0.09 per GB for the first 10 TB a month (after 100 GB free), so downloading a 2 TB project costs about $180. Iconik charges egress on downloads and on proxy playback. Backblaze B2 includes free egress up to 3 times your stored data, and LucidLink includes egress in its plans.

Transcoding and proxy storage

Proxies are smaller copies of your footage for playback and review. They have to be created (transcoding) and stored. Iconik stores proxies and keyframes in a billed bucket and sells its Edge Transcoder as an add-on on Professional and Enterprise. Shade generates 1080p proxies for every video format at no extra charge.

AI credits

AI search, tagging and transcription are often metered. Iconik bills video AI, image AI and transcription per use; at $1 per hour of content, transcribing a 500-hour interview archive costs about $500. Evolphin includes an AI allowance and prices extra usage per plan. Shade includes unlimited AI indexing.

Implementation, migration and training

Enterprise DAMs often bill setup separately. Vendr puts Bynder's professional services at 15 to 30% of first-year value. Moving the library itself costs money too: pulling 50 TB out of AWS S3 at list rates is about $4,300 in egress. Shade Enterprise includes data migration.

Seat caps and user creep

Self-serve plans cap seats: Frame.io Team at 15 members, Shade Growth at 15 seats, LucidLink Business at 25 members and Starter at 10. Hitting a cap moves you to an enterprise quote. On per-user-type pricing, check who counts as a paid user. On Iconik, anyone who logs in that month is billed, and integrations that use an API token count as Power users.

Renewal terms

Multi-year enterprise deals often include annual price increases (Vendr cites 3 to 5% for Bynder). Canto contracts auto-renew with a 12-month minimum, according to CostBench. Iconik credits expire 12 months after purchase. Ask for a renewal cap in writing.

What does a MAM cost over 3 years? (TCO example)

Scenario: a 10-person video team with a 20 TB library, kept flat for 3 years so the math is easy to follow. We compare three common setups:

• A. Stitched stack: LucidLink Business for editing storage, Frame.io Team for review, and Iconik Starter for cataloging and search (2 Power, 3 Standard and 5 Browse users).

• B. All-in-one: Shade Growth with 10 seats.

• C. Budget sync and review: Dropbox Advanced with the Replay add-on.

What this shows:

• Shade vs the stitched stack: the stack costs about $23,530 a year more in seats, storage and AI before Shade's storage add-on. Shade stays cheaper as long as its storage add-on costs less than about $130 per TB per month (our arithmetic: $23,530 divided by 15 TB and 12 months). Shade does not publish its add-on storage price, so ask for a quote before comparing totals. The stack also needs three logins and three vendor contracts.

• Dropbox plus Replay is the cheapest setup. It is a fair choice if editors can work from synced local copies and nobody needs to search past footage by content. You give up streaming from a mounted drive, automatic proxies and AI search.

• Growth changes the math. If your library grows 10 TB a year, add about $9,600 a year on LucidLink at list rates, about $2,760 a year of S3 for BYOS tools, and 10 TB of Shade add-on storage (priced on request).

How much does MediaValet cost?

MediaValet does not publish prices. Its pricing page offers unlimited users and permission groups and says each quote is built around storage (especially for video), features such as portals, AI tagging and integrations, implementation and support. Third-party estimates vary widely: ITQlick lists an entry point around $5,000 per organization, while CostBench reports a median of $131,500 a year from only 4 buyer reports. Both are unofficial and based on small samples. Ask for a quote based on your library size in TB and your expected growth.

Which vendors publish their prices?

How do I budget for a media asset management system?

1. Measure your library in TB, split into camera originals, proxies and archive, and estimate how many TB you add each year.

2. Count users by role: who edits, who manages metadata, who only browses and who only reviews. Reviewers are free on most tools; editors and admins are not.

3. Decide where storage lives. Vendor-hosted storage is simpler. BYOS can be cheaper at 50 TB and up, but you pay your cloud provider's storage and egress fees directly.

4. Estimate egress: how many TB leave the cloud each month through downloads, deliveries and proxy playback.

5. Estimate AI usage: hours of transcription and how much footage you want tagged each month.

6. Price the move: egress from your current cloud, migration services and training.

7. Ask every vendor for a 3-year quote with storage growth included and a cap on renewal increases.

When is Shade not the cheapest option?

We would rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one from us. Shade is not the lowest-cost choice if:

• You only need sync and share. Dropbox Advanced at $24 per user per month gives 10 active users a 50 TB pool.

• You only need review. Frame.io Team at $264 per member per year includes 21 TB for 10 members.

• You need Camera to Cloud. Frame.io includes it. Shade does not.

• You already own storage and only need a catalog. Iconik with bring-your-own local or cloud storage, or CatDV on-premises, avoids paying for cloud storage twice.

• Your library is mostly brand assets for hundreds of non-video users. A brand DAM with unlimited end users, such as Canto or MediaValet, may fit better.

• You have 100 TB or more and want the cheapest possible storage. Compare Shade Enterprise with BYOS against Iconik plus a low-cost bucket such as Backblaze B2 at $6.95 per TB per month.

FAQ

How much does an asset management system cost?

For a 10-person video team, a media asset management system costs about $2,600 to $13,000 a year on self-serve tools at 10 TB of footage. Enterprise MAM and DAM contracts usually run $25,000 to $100,000 or more a year. Vendr reports median contracts of $43,605 for Bynder and $95,000 for Iconik.

How much does MediaValet cost?

MediaValet does not publish prices. It offers unlimited users and builds each quote around storage, features such as portals and AI tagging, implementation and support. Unofficial third-party estimates range from about $5,000 a year at entry level to a reported median of $131,500 from a few buyer reports, so ask for a quote based on your library size.

What is media asset management?

Media asset management (MAM) is software that stores, catalogs and finds video and audio files. It adds metadata, proxies, search and review on top of storage so a team can find and reuse footage. A digital asset management (DAM) system does the same for brand assets like images and documents.

How much does Iconik cost?

Iconik Starter is pay as you go: $9 per month for a Browse user, $65 for a Standard user and $120 for a Power user, and collaborators are free. Storage, egress and AI are billed separately through $1 credits. Professional and Enterprise plans are custom annual quotes.

How much does a DAM cost for video?

A DAM for video costs more than a DAM for images because footage needs far more storage. Storage is the biggest variable: AWS S3 Standard costs about $23 per TB per month, so storing 50 TB alone is about $13,800 a year before software, egress and AI fees.

Is LucidLink a media asset manager?

No. LucidLink is a cloud file system that mounts storage like a local drive so editors can work from the cloud. It does not catalog footage, generate searchable metadata or handle review, so teams usually pair it with a MAM and a review tool. Shade combines all three in one product.

What hidden costs come with a MAM?

The most common hidden costs are egress fees for downloads and proxy playback, proxy storage, transcoding add-ons, AI credits for transcription and tagging, implementation and migration fees, and renewal increases. Ask each vendor which of these are included in the quoted price.