Embedly turns any URL into a rich media embed for over 1,000 providers. Compare Cards, API, and Enterprise pricing, features, and who it's built for.
Embedly, styled embed.ly, is an API and widget service that converts plain URLs into rich, interactive embeds — video players, image carousels, article cards, polls, and more — instead of the bare hyperlinks browsers show by default. Founded in Boston in 2010, it built support for over 1,000 content providers so publishers and developers don't have to write custom parsing logic for every site their users might paste a link from.
Medium acquired Embedly in 2016 to power its own rich-media embedding, and the product has continued operating as a standalone service with its own pricing and customer base, serving publishers like The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and Reddit alongside smaller sites and apps.
Embedly's core products are Cards, a lightweight JavaScript widget for turning links into preview cards; Embed, an API for generating full rich embeds; Extract, which pulls structured metadata (title, images, description) out of a URL; and Display, an image-optimization and resizing service. Together they cover the common needs of a publishing or content platform: showing a clean preview, extracting page data, and serving optimized images.
The service supports rate limits up to 50 URL requests per second on its APIs and includes analytics on embed usage, letting publishers see which embedded content drives engagement. Its scale — over 1,000 supported providers — means most social, video, and media sites a user might link to are covered without custom integration work.
Embedly's entry point is the Cards plan at $14/month, aimed at small publishers who just need branded, ad-free preview cards via a JavaScript SDK. The API plan starts at $119/month and includes a base quota of 10,000 Embed URLs, 10,000 Extract URLs, and 25,000 Display images, with metered overage pricing (roughly $9.50 per additional 10,000 Embed/Extract URLs and $4.00 per additional 10,000 Display images).
Larger organizations with high-volume or custom integration needs can move to an Enterprise plan with custom pricing negotiated directly with Embedly's sales team. A 30-day free trial is available on the API plan for teams that want to test volume and integration before committing.
No. Embedly's cheapest plan, Cards, starts at $14/month; there is no permanent free tier, though a 30-day free trial is offered on the API plan.
Embedly was acquired by Medium in 2016 but continues to operate as a distinct, separately priced product serving its own customer base.
Cards is a simple JavaScript widget for showing preview cards on a website, while the API plan gives developers direct access to the Embed, Extract, and Display endpoints for custom integrations.
Embedly supports embeds from over 1,000 official content providers, including major video, social, and publishing platforms.
Embedly charges metered overage fees beyond the base quota rather than blocking requests, roughly $9.50 per additional 10,000 Embed/Extract URLs.