Upscribe: File uploads implemented in under an hour

File uploads implemented: <60 min
Maintenance required for file handling: Zero
Of hours saved in development time: Hundreds

I integrate it with all of my side projects now, and it takes just 10 to 20 minutes, especially with a Ruby on Rails site: Add the gem, place the helpers in the template, and I’m going.
Joshua AndertonFounder

Executive summary

Upscribe is an email marketing platform that helps businesses and creators embed opt-in forms, deliver lead magnets, and send email campaigns. As it grew beyond its initial Medium integration, the product needed a simple yet reliable way to accept images and downloadable files.

With limited engineering resources, building an in-house upload system wasn’t feasible. By integrating Uploadcare, Upscribe added full upload functionality in under an hour and offloaded all file handling, freeing up time to focus on product development.

The challenge: Upscribe’s setup made it difficult to reliably accept and manage user uploads

To support form styling and deliver lead magnets, Upscribe needed to accept two types of uploads: images such as logos used in branded opt-in forms and files like PDFs, ebooks, and spreadsheets offered as incentives for new subscribers.

The early DIY uploader quickly ran into problems. Files were stored on the same server as the website, resulting in assets being lost during migrations. Building and maintaining integrations with services like Google Drive or Dropbox required more time than a solo founder could commit. File handling was essential to the product but too costly and time-consuming to manage in-house.

I definitely would have had to go and write integrations with Google Drive and Dropbox and Box. Learn those APIs and build all of that myself. And, of course, maintain it over time — a total headache.
Joshua AndertonFounder

The solution: a simple upload solution that worked out of the box

After struggling with limited internal tools and time constraints, Upscribe implemented Uploadcare to handle uploads, storage, and image processing. The integration took about an hour, giving the product reliable file handling.

How Uploadcare helped

Quick setup with minimal code: A lightweight integration allowed Upscribe to add file uploads immediately, embedding the widget with just a few lines of code.
Support for external upload sources: Uploadcare enabled users to upload files directly from services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box, without requiring Upscribe to build server-side infrastructure or maintain custom integrations.
Automated image resizing: They can now add the necessary dimensions for an image right into the HTML attribute and have the image automatically resized.

The results

Using Uploadcare helped Upscribe rapidly enable file uploads and stay focused on product growth rather than managing infrastructure.

Instant upload functionality: Upscribe implemented working file uploads in under an hour, reducing weeks of development work to minutes.
Hands-off file handling: Uploads, processing, and storage shifted entirely to Uploadcare, eliminating the risk of losing files during deployments or migrations.
Significant development time saved: Avoiding custom integrations and image-processing tools saved Upscribe hundreds of hours, enabling him to rebuild and expand Upscribe into a full email marketing solution.