Mixpeek Logo
    Back to All Comparisons

    Mixpeek vs Twelve Labs

    A detailed look at how Mixpeek compares to Twelve Labs.

    Mixpeek LogoMixpeek
    vs
    Twelve Labs LogoTwelve Labs

    Key Differentiators

    Why Teams Choose Mixpeek Over Twelve Labs

    • Self-Hosting Option: Deploy on-prem for data sovereignty, HIPAA, GDPR compliance
    • Broader Multimodal Support: Video + Audio + Image + PDF + Text in one platform
    • Flexible Deployment: Cloud, hybrid, or fully embedded in your infrastructure
    • Composable Architecture: Custom pipelines for unique business requirements
    • Cost Control: Self-hosting eliminates per-API-call costs, predictable pricing
    • Advanced Retrieval: ColBERT, SPLADE, hybrid RAG for better search quality

    Where Twelve Labs Excels

    • Specialized Video AI: Deep expertise in video understanding models
    • Quick Setup: Cloud API, no infrastructure management required
    • Developer-Friendly: Simple API for common video intelligence tasks
    • Video-First Features: Action recognition, object tracking, scene detection

    TL;DR: Looking for a Twelve Labs alternative? Mixpeek offers self-hosting (vs cloud-only), broader multimodal support, and flexible deployment for teams needing data control, compliance, or cost predictability. Twelve Labs excels for quick cloud-based video-only use cases. Read our complete guide: [The Best Twelve Labs Alternative for Self-Hosted Video AI](/blog/twelve-labs-alternative/).

    Mixpeek vs. Twelve Labs

    💰 Pricing & Cost Comparison

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Pricing ModelContracted services + usage OR self-hosted flat rate Usage-based API calls (per minute of video processed)
    Self-Hosting✅ Yes – run on your infrastructure, no per-call costs 🚫 Cloud-only, vendor lock-in
    Cost Predictability✅ Fixed monthly costs with self-hosting option ⚠️ Variable costs scale with usage, can spike unexpectedly
    Data Egress FeesNone with self-hosting Potential egress costs for large video libraries
    Typical Mid-Market Cost$2K-8K/mo (self-hosted) OR usage-based $5K-15K/mo+ (usage-based only)
    Enterprise PricingCustom, with volume discounts and self-hosting options Custom, negotiated API rates

    🔒 Deployment & Compliance

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Deployment OptionsCloud (hosted), Hybrid, Self-hosted (on-prem or VPC) Cloud API only
    Data Residency✅ Full control with self-hosting (EU, US, Asia regions) 🚫 Data processed in Twelve Labs cloud
    HIPAA Compliance✅ Self-hosted deployment supports HIPAA ⚠️ Check with vendor; cloud processing may complicate
    GDPR Compliance✅ Self-hosting enables full GDPR control ⚠️ Third-party processing requires DPA
    Air-Gapped Environments✅ Supported with self-hosted deployment 🚫 Requires internet connectivity
    Data Sovereignty✅ Keep all data in your infrastructure 🚫 Data leaves your environment

    🧠 Vision & Positioning

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Core PitchTurn raw multimodal media into structured, searchable intelligence with flexible deployment Foundation models for video understanding via cloud API
    Primary UsersDevelopers, ML teams, solutions engineers, compliance-focused enterprises Developers building video-centric applications
    ApproachAPI-first, service-enabled AI pipelines with deployment flexibility API-first, specialized video AI models (cloud-only)
    Deployment FocusFlexible: hosted, hybrid, or embedded self-hosted Cloud API (vendor-hosted)
    Target MarketHealthcare, finance, government, enterprise, startups needing control SaaS companies, media companies, general video apps

    🔍 Tech Stack & Product Surface

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Supported ModalitiesVideo (frame + scene-level), audio, PDFs, images, text Primarily Video; extracts text, speech, objects from video
    Multimodal Fusion✅ Cross-modal search (find videos by image, audio by text) 🚫 Video-only, no cross-modal capabilities
    Custom Pipelines✅ Pluggable extractors, retrievers, indexers 🚫 Fixed video processing pipeline
    Retrieval Model Support✅ ColBERT, ColPaLI, SPLADE, hybrid RAG, multimodal fusion Proprietary multimodal embeddings for video search
    Real-time Support✅ RTSP feeds, alerts, live inference Async processing for uploaded videos
    Embedding-level Tuning✅ Per-customer tuning, chunking, semantic dedup ⚠️ Limited; fixed N-second video splitting
    Developer SDK✅ Open-source SDK + custom API generation Client SDKs (Python, JS) for their API
    Infrastructure Control✅ Full control with self-hosting: choose GPU, storage, network 🚫 No infrastructure control

    ⚙️ Use Cases & Capabilities

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    General Multimodal Search✅ Across video, audio, image, PDF, text 🚫 Video-only
    Video Content Moderation✅ Customizable pipelines with on-prem deployment ✅ Strong capability (cloud-based)
    Video Ad Targeting/Analytics✅ Scene/object/audio data with custom logic ✅ Core use case for video intelligence
    Compliance-Heavy Industries✅ Self-hosting for healthcare, finance, government ⚠️ Cloud processing may not meet requirements
    Image/PDF/Audio Search✅ Fully supported 🚫 Not supported
    Custom Internal Tooling✅ Build any tool with flexible APIs + self-hosting ⚠️ Limited to video tasks via cloud API
    Offline/Air-Gapped Use✅ Self-hosted deployment works offline 🚫 Requires internet

    🚀 Migration & Integration

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    API CompatibilityCustom API design or compatible endpoints Twelve Labs API
    Migration DifficultyMedium – typically 1-2 weeks with support N/A
    Data Export✅ Export all embeddings, metadata, and features ⚠️ Check data portability options
    Parallel Running✅ Can run both systems during migration N/A
    Migration Support✅ Solutions team assists with mapping and migration Developer support available
    Typical Migration Time1-2 weeks for most teams N/A

    📈 Business Strategy & Support

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    GTMSA-led land-and-expand + dev-first motion Developer-first, API-driven adoption
    Service Layer✅ Solutions team builds pipelines and templates Developer support, documentation
    Monetization ModelContracted services + platform usage OR self-hosted licensing Usage-based API calls, tiered plans
    SLA & SupportCustom SLAs with self-hosting, 24/7 support available SLA based on plan tier
    Customer Feedback LoopBespoke deployments inform core product Developer community, direct API user feedback
    Community/Open Source✅ SDK + app ecosystem via mxp.co/apps Active developer community, some open tools/examples

    🎯 When to Choose Which

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Choose Mixpeek✅ Need self-hosting for compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, data sovereignty) • Cost predictability important • Multimodal use cases (not just video) • Custom pipelines required • Enterprise with strict security requirements 🚫 Not ideal for these needs
    Choose Twelve Labs🚫 Not ideal for these needs ✅ Video-only use case • Quick cloud setup preferred • No compliance restrictions • Comfortable with usage-based pricing • Don't need self-hosting
    Migration TriggersTeams migrate to Mixpeek when: Twelve Labs costs become unpredictable • Compliance requires self-hosting • Need audio/image/PDF support • Want infrastructure control N/A

    🏆 Bottom Line: Mixpeek vs. Twelve Labs

    Feature / DimensionMixpeek Twelve Labs
    Best forSelf-hosting needs, multimodal apps, compliance-heavy industries, cost control Quick cloud setup for video-only use cases
    DeploymentFlexible: Cloud, hybrid, or self-hosted Cloud-only (vendor lock-in)
    ModalitiesVideo + Audio + Image + PDF + Text Video-only
    Cost ModelPredictable (self-hosting) OR usage-based Usage-based only
    Compliance✅ HIPAA, GDPR, air-gapped support ⚠️ Cloud processing limits compliance
    Migration Path✅ 1-2 week migration with solutions team support N/A
    When to SwitchWhen you need: Self-hosting • Compliance • Multimodal • Cost control • Custom pipelines When you want: Simple cloud API • Video-only • Quick setup

    Ready to See Mixpeek in Action?

    Discover how Mixpeek's multimodal AI platform can transform your data workflows and unlock new insights. Let us show you how we compare and why leading teams choose Mixpeek.

    Explore Other Comparisons

    Mixpeek LogoVSDIY Solution Logo

    Mixpeek vs DIY Solution

    Compare the costs, complexity, and time to value when choosing Mixpeek versus building your own custom multimodal AI pipeline from scratch.

    View Details
    Mixpeek LogoVSCoactive AI Logo

    Mixpeek vs Coactive AI

    See how Mixpeek's developer-first, API-driven multimodal AI platform compares against Coactive AI's UI-centric media management.

    View Details