Comparison
Lumen vs. Shotstack
A cloud video-rendering API (plus an editor SDK).
| Capability | Lumen | Shotstack |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-in React component | editor | |
| Image and video editing | render API | |
| Runs 100% client-side | ||
| On-device AI captions | cloud | |
| On-device AI voiceover | cloud | |
| On-device background removal | ||
| No per-use / per-minute fees | ||
| Public, flat licence price | metered |
When Shotstack is the better choice
Shotstack is the right tool when you want server-side, programmatic video rendering at scale — generate thousands of personalised videos from templates via an API, with the heavy lifting on their infrastructure.
Where Lumen wins
Where Lumen diverges: Lumen renders in the browser via WebCodecs — no render farm, no per-minute metering, no upload. It's an interactive editor your users drive, private by default, on a flat licence.