Free FFmpeg API

Add a logo watermark to any video in four different methods. Same job (overlay a PNG in the bottom right), four different tools: the command line (curl or a bash script), Make, N8N, and Claude using MCP.

Everything runs server-side through the FFmpeg Micro API. No FFmpeg install, no encoding servers, no hidden costs. The free tier is yours to keep, no credit card required.

What You'll Do

• ✅ Command line: raw curl calls, or a bash script that runs the whole flow in one command
• ✅ Make: No-code scenario using the official FFmpeg Micro app
• ✅ N8N: Workflow automation with FFmpeg Micro action nodes
• ✅ Claude (MCP): Plain English requests using the Model Context Protocol

What You Need

How It Works

All four methods put a logo on a video through the same API. The command line shows the whole flow, start to finish:

1. Upload the video: ask the API for an upload address, send the file to it, and confirm. The API hands back a gs:// address for the file
2. Upload the logo: the same three calls, with a PNG
3. Render: one transcode job takes both files as inputs, with one FFmpeg filter that scales the logo to 120 pixels wide and lays it 24 pixels in from the bottom-right corner
4. Wait: the job runs on its own. Check its status until it reads completed
5. Download: ask for the finished file and get a signed link to the MP4

The N8N workflow runs that same render step as a node. The Make template runs its own version of it, which also resizes the video to 720p, and makes a preview thumbnail in a second job. Claude makes the calls for you.

Choosing a Method

• • Command line suits developers and scripts. Raw curl shows the render call itself. The bash script, watermark.sh, runs all five steps as one command and takes the logo's position as an argument: any corner, or the center
• • Make suits no-code builders. You install the official FFmpeg Micro watermark template, connect your account, point it at your Drive folders and run. There is no JSON to import
• • N8N suits watermarking as one step in a larger automation. The ready-made workflow chains the upload, transcode and download steps as nodes you can see and edit, on n8n.cloud or self-hosted n8n
• • Claude (MCP) needs no code at all. You connect the FFmpeg Micro MCP server once, sign in through your browser, and ask for the edit in plain English

Cost Breakdown

• • FFmpeg Micro: Free to start: 200 tokens when you sign up, about 33 minutes of video, no credit card. Processing is metered on the length of the video you send in, per second. The logo is an image, so it adds nothing (see pricing)
• • Make: has a free plan
• • N8N: n8n.cloud is a paid plan with a free trial; self-hosted n8n is free
• • Sample video and logo: free to download

The exact commands, the bash scripts and the N8N workflow file are in the resource pack. Sign up free to get it.

Related Training

• • Watermark a video with a logo (deep dive): full bash + FFmpeg Micro walkthrough
• • 5 FFmpeg automations in Make: branded videos, captions, multi-platform fan-out
• • How to use FFmpeg with N8N cloud: full N8N workflow tutorial