Frame.io
Video review and approval with frame-accurate comments, stacked versions, and Camera to Cloud ingest
The review loop itself is not the hard part: a player, timecoded comments, version stacking, and an unlisted share link are a weekend of work for one editor and a few clients. What you cannot rebuild is the rest of the product · Camera to Cloud from set, the Premiere and Resolve panels that put comments on your timeline as markers, transcoding and CDN delivery that hold up when a client scrubs a 4K cut from a hotel wifi, and the security paperwork studios ask for. Solo and small-shop review is genuinely vibecodeable. Delivery infrastructure is not.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set
- Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers
- a transcode farm and global CDN, so client playback is only as good as your box
- forensic watermarking, SSO, and the security posture studios require
- the iPad and mobile review apps clients actually use
- storage, transfer tooling, and uptime bundled into the seat price
Why people still pay
They pay so the client link never buffers and the note never gets lost. A director opens a Frame.io link on a phone in a car and it plays; the editor opens the Premiere panel and the same notes land on the timeline as markers. That round trip, plus a transcode and delivery layer nobody has to think about, is the product. The comment box was never the expensive part.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions. FFmpeg, private object storage credentials and user-owned review videos.
- Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace. Private S3-compatible object storage and an FFmpeg worker for proxies/thumbnails; browser playback preserves source timebase metadata.
- Scope boundary: Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Optional external skill: vercel-react-best-practices — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: supabase-postgres-best-practices — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: web-design-guidelines — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: video assets, proxy jobs, source frame-rate metadata, version stacks, review tokens and timecoded comments
Project rule — preserve this invariant: Comments belong to a specific version/timebase; a new upload cannot silently inherit timecodes from an older cut.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: Upload a shorter second cut and keep first-version comments attached to their source; revoking a review link denies both playback and asset downloads.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Upload a video, generate a proxy and review it through a restricted share link with frame/time comments and simple annotations. Stack revisions and export reviewed notes for an editor. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers
Phase 2
Durable model. Model video assets, proxy jobs, source frame-rate metadata, version stacks, review tokens and timecoded comments Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Comments belong to a specific version/timebase; a new upload cannot silently inherit timecodes from an older cut.
Phase 3
Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.
Phase 4
Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
Phase 5
Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
Phase 6
Acceptance scenarios. Upload a shorter second cut and keep first-version comments attached to their source; revoking a review link denies both playback and asset downloads. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.
WORKING SLICE Upload a video, generate a proxy and review it through a restricted share link with frame/time comments and simple annotations. Stack revisions and export reviewed notes for an editor. Build this scoped Frame.io-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states. Architecture - Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. - PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace. - Private S3-compatible object storage and an FFmpeg worker for proxies/thumbnails; browser playback preserves source timebase metadata. Prerequisites and limits A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions. FFmpeg, private object storage credentials and user-owned review videos. Outside this release: Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers Data model and correctness video assets, proxy jobs, source frame-rate metadata, version stacks, review tokens and timecoded comments Invariant: Comments belong to a specific version/timebase; a new upload cannot silently inherit timecodes from an older cut. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. Security and privacy Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Recovery and export Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Implementation order 1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Upload a video, generate a proxy and review it through a restricted share link with frame/time comments and simple annotations. Stack revisions and export reviewed notes for an editor. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers 2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model video assets, proxy jobs, source frame-rate metadata, version stacks, review tokens and timecoded comments Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Comments belong to a specific version/timebase; a new upload cannot silently inherit timecodes from an older cut. 3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record. 4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results. 5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README. 6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. Upload a shorter second cut and keep first-version comments attached to their source; revoking a review link denies both playback and asset downloads. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder. Acceptance Upload a shorter second cut and keep first-version comments attached to their source; revoking a review link denies both playback and asset downloads. Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees. Optional agent guidance Optional external skill: [vercel-react-best-practices](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission. Project rule — data model: video assets, proxy jobs, source frame-rate metadata, version stacks, review tokens and timecoded comments Project rule — preserve this invariant: Comments belong to a specific version/timebase; a new upload cannot silently inherit timecodes from an older cut. Project rule — acceptance evidence: Upload a shorter second cut and keep first-version comments attached to their source; revoking a review link denies both playback and asset downloads.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
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Alternatives to building your own
KKitsuFrame-by-frame reviews, version comparisons and approvals; the VFX production tracker comes along for the ride.open source↗no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Frame.io pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/workspace | $0/workspace | 2 members; 2 GB storage; 2 GB mounted storage; 2 projects |
| pro | $15/user | $13.05/user | Up to 5 members; 2 TB included storage plus 2 TB per added member; 250 GB mounted storage; unlimited projectsAnnual equivalent calculated from the official 13% annual discount. |
| team | $25/user | $21.75/user | Up to 15 members; 3 TB included storage plus 2 TB per added member; 500 GB mounted storage; unlimited projectsAnnual equivalent calculated from the official 13% annual discount. |
| enterprise | — | — | Custom members and storage; multiple workspaces; enterprise security and supportSome Frame.io Select capabilities are separately priced add-ons. |
free tier2 members, 2 GB storage, 2 GB mounted storage and 2 projects
billingmonthly + annual (13% lower); annual billed upfront and auto-renews; applicable tax extra
hidden costsStorage and member caps require a higher plan; some Enterprise/Frame.io Select capabilities are add-ons rather than included.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Frame.io
Can you build your own Frame.io with AI?
Partly. The review loop itself is not the hard part: a player, timecoded comments, version stacking, and an unlisted share link are a weekend of work for one editor and a few clients. What you cannot rebuild is the rest of the product · Camera to Cloud from set, the Premiere and Resolve panels that put comments on your timeline as markers, transcoding and CDN delivery that hold up when a client scrubs a 4K cut from a hotel wifi, and the security paperwork studios ask for. Solo and small-shop review is genuinely vibecodeable. Delivery infrastructure is not.
What does the Frame.io build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Upload a video, generate a proxy and review it through a restricted share link with frame/time comments and simple annotations. Stack revisions and export reviewed notes for an editor. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers; a transcode farm and global CDN, so client playback is only as good as your box. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Frame.io prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Frame.io project take?
The catalogue estimate is weekend for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Frame.io?
Camera to Cloud ingest straight off set; Premiere, After Effects, and Resolve review panels that sync comments to timeline markers; a transcode farm and global CDN, so client playback is only as good as your box; forensic watermarking, SSO, and the security posture studios require; the iPad and mobile review apps clients actually use; storage, transfer tooling, and uptime bundled into the seat price. They pay so the client link never buffers and the note never gets lost. A director opens a Frame.io link on a phone in a car and it plays; the editor opens the Premiere panel and the same notes land on the timeline as markers. That round trip, plus a transcode and delivery layer nobody has to think about, is the product. The comment box was never the expensive part.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Team plan is $25/mo per seat (monthly per member), checked 2026-07-30. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Frame.io?
Kitsu: Frame-by-frame reviews, version comparisons and approvals; the VFX production tracker comes along for the ride. Clapshot: Frame-accurate comments, drawings and version stacks without Adobe; you still run the server. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.