Cutsio Blog

No Per-Seat Pricing: Why Pay-Per-Minute Makes More Sense for Post Production Teams

PIX and Frame.io charge per user. Cutsio charges per minute of footage. Learn why pay-per-minute pricing eliminates seat management, scales with your production, and costs less for post teams of any size.

Why does per-seat pricing hurt post production teams more than pay-per-minute pricing?

Per-seat pricing charges for every person who needs access to the review platform. A 15-person review team on a 30-day feature pays for 15 seats. Adding the VFX supervisor, the post coordinator, or the client means another seat. Cutsio charges per minute of footage processed with no per-user fees. The same 15-person team pays the same price as a 5-person team — the cost scales with footage volume, not team size. This is one of the core reasons post teams are looking for a PIX alternative for film and TV.

The difference is structural. Per-seat pricing was designed for enterprise software where a fixed number of employees use a tool. Post production does not work that way. Review teams grow and shrink across a production lifecycle. The director, DP, producers, editor, assistant editors, VFX supervisor, colorist, post supervisor, and client all need access at different stages. Per-seat pricing penalizes you for including the full team.

This post breaks down the cost difference between per-seat and per-minute pricing models across real production scenarios.

How does per-seat pricing compare to per-minute pricing for a typical feature film?

The cost difference depends on team size, production length, and footage volume. These are real-world comparisons based on published pricing for each platform.

| Production Scenario | PIX (Per-Seat Estimate) | Frame.io (Per-Seat, Team Plan) | Cutsio (Per-Minute) |

| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Indie feature, 30 days, 5 reviewers, 50 TB | Enterprise quote required | ~$110/month (5 × $22) | ~$X per minute of footage |

| TV series, 60 days, 15 reviewers, 200 TB | Enterprise quote required | ~$330/month (15 × $22) | ~$X per minute of footage |

| Commercial, 5 days, 10 reviewers, 10 TB | Enterprise quote required | ~$220/month (10 × $22) | ~$X per minute of footage |

| Documentary, 40 days, 8 reviewers, 100 TB | Enterprise quote required | ~$176/month (8 × $22) | ~$X per minute of footage |

PIX requires an enterprise contract for any production of this scale. The exact cost is not publicly available — potential customers must sign an NDA and negotiate with a sales team. PIX also imposes a 40GB upload limit and requires H.264 transcoding before any file can be uploaded. Frame.io's published pricing is $22 per user per month on the Team plan, with a minimum of 3 users and a maximum of 15.

Cutsio charges per minute of footage processed. There are no per-user fees. The total cost is determined by how much footage the production uploads, not by how many people need to see it. A feature film with 100 hours of finished footage at a 5:1 shooting ratio pays for approximately 500 hours (30,000 minutes) of processing.

What hidden costs exist in per-seat pricing models?

Per-seat pricing has costs beyond the monthly fee that are not immediately visible.

Reviewer creep. As a production progresses, more stakeholders need access. The VFX supervisor joins in week 3. The colorist joins in week 8. The client requests direct access rather than screenshots. Each addition increases the monthly cost. Production managers must decide whether to pay for a seat or leave someone out of the review loop.

Overage charges. Both PIX and Frame.io charge overage fees when usage exceeds plan limits. Frame.io's Team plan caps at 15 users and 3 TB of storage. A production that needs 16 reviewers or stores 4 TB of footage pays overage or must upgrade to a custom enterprise plan.

Annual contracts. Per-seat enterprise plans often require annual commitments. A 30-day feature that needs the platform for 4 months still pays for the full year. Post houses handling multiple productions may manage this differently, but single-production teams absorb the unused months.

Inactive seats during downtime. Post teams contract for specific productions. Between projects, seats sit idle but continue billing. Per-minute pricing has no idle cost — you pay only when you upload footage.

| Hidden Cost | Per-Seat (PIX / Frame.io) | Per-Minute (Cutsio) |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Adding reviewers mid-production | Additional monthly cost per seat | No additional cost |

| Overage for exceeding user or storage limits | Extra fees or forced upgrade | N/A — no user or storage limits |

| Annual contracts for short productions | Pay for unused months | No contracts — pay as you go |

| Idle time between projects | Seats continue billing | No cost when not uploading |

| Enterprise sales negotiation | Required — opaque pricing | Self-serve — transparent pricing |

How does per-minute pricing benefit post houses and multi-production facilities?

Post houses that handle multiple productions simultaneously benefit most from per-minute pricing because they can manage all projects under a single account without tracking seat assignments.

A post house running three productions in parallel — a feature, a commercial, and a television series — would need separate PIX or Frame.io accounts or a complex enterprise agreement covering all users across all projects. Each production's review team adds to the total seat count.

With Cutsio's per-minute pricing, the post house uploads all three productions to the same account. The cost is the sum of the minutes processed across all projects. There is no per-project accounting, no seat allocation, and no overage risk when a fourth production comes in mid-month.

For post houses that bill clients for review platform costs, per-minute pricing is easier to pass through than per-seat pricing. The line item is "processing cost per minute of footage" rather than "seat allocation for your production's review team."

How does Cutsio's pricing model compare to PIX for independent filmmakers?

Independent filmmakers and small production companies are priced out of PIX entirely by its enterprise sales model. PIX does not offer a self-serve tier. If you are an indie filmmaker, you cannot sign up for PIX without an enterprise agreement.

Cutsio offers a self-serve free tier with 60 minutes of processing. There is no contract, no sales call, and no credit card required to start. The per-minute pricing model means an indie filmmaker pays only for the footage they actually process — not for seats, storage, or minimum commitments.

For a 10-minute short film with 3 hours of raw footage, the Cutsio cost is a fraction of what a per-seat platform would require. The filmmaker uploads the footage, shares links with their small team, and pays only for the minutes consumed.

FAQ

Does Cutsio have any per-user fees at all?

No. Cutsio does not charge per user at any tier. The free tier and all paid plans are based on minutes of footage processed. You can add unlimited reviewers, clients, and stakeholders at no additional cost.

How does Cutsio's pricing compare to Frame.io for a small team?

A 5-person team on Frame.io pays $110 per month on the Team plan (5 × $22), plus storage overage if they exceed 3 TB. Cutsio's cost depends on footage volume, not team size. For a production with moderate footage, Cutsio is typically more cost-effective. For high-volume productions, the comparison depends on the specific footage count.

How do I estimate my monthly minutes on Cutsio?

Calculate the total duration of footage you upload per month. A 30-day feature with a 5:1 shooting ratio and 100 minutes of finished runtime generates approximately 500 minutes of recorded footage per day, or 15,000 minutes per month. Your actual minutes depend on shooting ratio, camera format, and upload volume.

Can I switch between per-minute and per-seat pricing on Cutsio?

Cutsio offers only per-minute pricing. There is no per-seat option. This is by design — per-minute pricing aligns the platform cost with the value you receive (footage processing) rather than with overhead costs like team size.

Does PIX offer any per-minute pricing?

No. PIX uses per-seat enterprise pricing only. The exact rates require an NDA and sales negotiation. There is no self-serve or usage-based option.