Introduction

Across conversations with producers, editors, and content leads, a clear trend is emerging: creative teams are increasingly exploring alternatives to Frame.io.

It is not because Frame.io is irrelevant, quite the opposite. It remains a powerful enterprise solution with deep roots in post-production. But the lived experience of everyday creative teams is shifting. As workloads intensify, turnaround windows shrink, and clients expect faster feedback loops, the tool’s shortcomings are becoming impossible to ignore.

This article expands on insights gathered from dozens of discussions with creative teams and outlines why performance instability, feature bloat, and reduced human support are driving people toward more focused solutions such as Kreatli. It also shares specific criteria teams should evaluate when shopping for alternatives, paired with the underlying industry signals pushing this change.

The Growing Frustration: What Teams Are Saying

When you speak to enough editors, producers, and content teams, patterns emerge quickly. Three frustrations come up repeatedly, regardless of company size or industry.

1. Buggy Performance Creates Real Production Bottlenecks

Creative work is time-sensitive. Editors often have hours, not days, to deliver a polished cut and move it through approvals. Yet teams increasingly report playback glitches, slow uploads, UI lag, and unpredictable behavior inside Frame.io during critical moments.

These issues impact more than convenience. They introduce risk into deadlines, compromise review cycles, and break workflow momentum. In a typical day:

• Playback latency can make approvals inefficient.

• Project switching may cause freezes during time-sensitive edits.

• Upload failures force redundant compression or retransfers.

Post-production demands reliability. Anything less becomes a liability. When a platform becomes part of the problem instead of the solution, teams take notice.

A performance-first environment is one of the guiding principles behind Kreatli’s review and approval experience. By optimizing for predictable playback and stable uploads, the platform focuses on what actually moves projects forward.

For more insight into workflow bottlenecks, see our post:
How to Design a Post-Production Workflow That Actually Scales

2. Feature Bloat Adds Complexity Instead of Clarity

Another growing theme: Frame.io’s feature set has ballooned, but actual day-to-day usage among typical creative teams has not. Many users estimate they touch only 20 percent of the platform, and the rest becomes noise.

Feature bloat manifests in several ways:

• More menus, more settings, and more steps to complete routine actions.

• Confusion among clients and external reviewers who only need a simple way to leave feedback.

• Increased onboarding time for new collaborators or freelancers.

As platforms chase enterprise parity, they often drift away from the core workflows that made them valuable. The challenge is not whether features exist, but whether they support the real flow of video production.

Kreatli takes the opposite approach. As a purpose-built production management platform, its features revolve around:

• Project stages

• Version-controlled assets

• Centralized communication

• Frame-accurate reviews

It is intentionally narrow, not broad. The priority is to reduce cognitive load, not expand it.

For examples of how tool bloat creates inefficiency, see:
Kreatli vs Monday.com: Custom Workflows vs Purpose-Built Production Software.

3. Less Human Support When Teams Need It Most

This one is universal. Creative teams want human support, especially when workflows break. But as platforms grow, customer success often scales through automated systems rather than personal relationships.

Teams consistently mention:

• Slow or generic support replies

• Routing through documentation instead of problem-solving

• Lack of people who understand production workflows

Production issues are rarely simple UI questions. They almost always involve timing, dependencies, asset organization, or client communication patterns. Without domain-aware support, teams feel abandoned during high-pressure delivery windows.

Kreatli’s customer success approach centers on hands-on onboarding, rapid assistance, and production-literate guidance. This includes mapping your internal workflow into reusable templates and helping set up real projects - not just sending documentation links.

Feel free to book a free call with us to experience it firsthand: Book a Demo.

The Underlying Cause: Losing Touch With Core Users

All three of these issues - bugginess, bloated features, and impersonal support - share the same root cause. When platform development shifts toward enterprise checklists instead of the needs of creators and content teams, the product inevitably drifts away from its core user base.

This disconnect erodes trust. Teams stop expecting improvements that reflect their needs. They adopt workarounds. Eventually, they start exploring alternatives.

What Teams Should Look for in a Frame.io Alternative

If you are evaluating replacements, focus on solutions that excel in five specific areas:

1. Performance that stays stable under pressure

Review platforms must work consistently during deadlines, not just in ideal conditions.

2. Workflow-first design

Choose tools built around real production stages, not abstract features.

3. Simplicity for external reviewers

A client or stakeholder should be able to open a link and leave feedback in seconds, not minutes.

4. Human onboarding and clear support

Look for platforms that guide your setup, templates, and workflows - not just respond to tickets.

5. Visibility, accountability, and version clarity

Especially in post-production, you must know exactly which cut was approved, when, and by whom.

These are foundational for teams that move fast and deliver consistently.

Why Teams Are Moving Toward Kreatli

While Frame.io is optimized for enterprise-grade post-production, Kreatli is built to simplify the entire production lifecycle. It combines:

• Project management

• Creative workflow orchestration

• File and asset organization

• Review and approval

• Centralized communication

An end-to-end purpose-built environment focused on clarity over complexity. Creative teams switch because the platform reduces tool sprawl and ensures reviewers, editors, producers, and clients stay aligned.

If you want a deeper comparison, check out our article: Kreatli vs Frame.io - Which Video Collaboration Tool is Right for Your Team?

Final Thoughts: The Market Is Signaling a Shift

Frame.io is still a major player in enterprise post-production, but its growing performance issues, expanding complexity, and less hands-on support are affecting both large organizations and everyday creative teams. These frictions make it harder for teams to move quickly, stay aligned, and keep reviewers engaged.

As a result, more teams are seeking tools built around their real workflow needs rather than feature expansion. Purpose-built platforms like Kreatli are gaining momentum because they offer predictable performance, simpler review cycles, and support that understands production from the inside.