Best Inpaint API for Object & Watermark Removal

The best inpaint API for developers who need to remove objects, erase watermarks, strip logos, or clean up unwanted elements from images — all via a single HTTP call. Describe what to remove in plain English, POST your image, and get back a seamlessly inpainted result. $0.001 per call — 50× cheaper than cleanup.pictures ($0.05). 500 free credits, no credit card.

Quick start — one API call

Sign up, copy your key from the dashboard, POST your image with a plain-English removal prompt. The endpoint returns a generation id; poll until status=completed, then download the inpainted image from output_url. The mask field is optional — send it when you need pixel-precise control over which region to erase.

curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/remove-object \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "prompt=remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner"
# Response: {"generation_id": "uuid", "status": "queued", ...}

# Optional: add a mask PNG (white pixels = erase area)
# -F "[email protected]"

# Poll until completed
curl https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/UUID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
# Response: {"status": "completed", "output_url": "https://..."}

pip install pixelapi
---
from pixelapi import PixelAPI

client = PixelAPI(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
result = client.remove_object(
    image="product.jpg",
    prompt="remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner"
    # mask="mask.png" # optional
)
result.save("product_clean.jpg")

npm install pixelapi
---
import { PixelAPI } from "pixelapi";

const client = new PixelAPI({ apiKey: process.env.PIXELAPI_KEY });
const result = await client.removeObject({
  image: "./product.jpg",
  prompt: "remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner",
  // mask: "./mask.png" // optional
});
await result.save("product_clean.jpg");

composer require pixelapi/pixelapi
---
<?php
use PixelAPI\Client;

$client = new Client(getenv("PIXELAPI_KEY"));
$result = $client->removeObject([
  "image" => "product.jpg",
  "prompt" => "remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner"
]);
file_put_contents("product_clean.jpg", $result->getBody());

gem install pixelapi
---
require "pixelapi"

client = PixelAPI::Client.new(api_key: ENV["PIXELAPI_KEY"])
result = client.remove_object(
  image: "product.jpg",
  prompt: "remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner"
)
File.binwrite("product_clean.jpg", result.body)

go get github.com/pixelapi/pixelapi-go
---
import "github.com/pixelapi/pixelapi-go"

client := pixelapi.New("YOUR_API_KEY")
result, err := client.RemoveObject(pixelapi.RemoveObjectParams{
  Image: "product.jpg",
  Prompt: "remove the watermark in the bottom-right corner",
})
if err != nil { panic(err) }
result.Save("product_clean.jpg")

Best Inpaint API — Pricing vs Rivals

Per Om's pricing principle, PixelAPI is set at exactly 50× cheaper than the nearest API competitor (cleanup.pictures, $0.05). Here is how we compare against the main inpaint and object-removal services:

cleanup.pictures pricing verified from internal competitive audit (March 2026); ~$0.05/call for API access. watermarkremover.io pricing verified from watermarkremover.io/pricing (May 2026). Magic Eraser and Snapedit API pricing not publicly listed — see their pricing pages. PixelAPI's per-call price is set at roughly 50× cheaper than the cheapest commercial API competitor (cleanup.pictures, ~$0.05) per our pricing principle.

What you get back

Why choose the best inpaint API for production workflows

Consumer "magic eraser" tools are click-to-erase web apps — great for one-off edits, not for processing thousands of images per day. PixelAPI's inpaint API is built for developers:

• Prompt-driven automation — describe the target in code, no UI interaction required. Process images in bulk from a queue, a webhook, or a cron job.
• Mask support for complex scenes — programmatically generate a mask (e.g., from a bounding-box detector) and pass it directly. Pixel-precise control at API speed.
• Predictable per-call pricing — $0.001 flat, no seat licenses, no monthly minimums. Scale from 10 images to 10 million without renegotiating.
• Auto-retry SDKs — the Python and Node SDKs handle 429 rate-limit responses automatically with exponential backoff, so bulk pipelines don't need custom retry logic.
• SOC2-aligned infrastructure — images are processed in-flight and not stored beyond the polling window. Suitable for real-estate MLS photos, e-commerce catalogs, and healthcare imagery where privacy matters.

Common workflows

The inpaint API is production-ready for these use cases. Each links to a setup guide:

More use-case guides: all industries →

Integrations & SDKs

Comparison vs alternatives

Rate limits & error handling

Default 60 requests/minute on the free tier, 600 on paid tiers. Exceeding the limit returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Recommended: exponential backoff starting at 2 s, doubling up to 30 s. The Python and Node SDKs handle this automatically.

# Python SDK auto-retries 429 with backoff
from pixelapi import PixelAPI
client = PixelAPI(api_key="...", max_retries=4)
result = client.remove_object(
    image="batch_item.jpg",
    prompt="remove the logo"
) # auto-retries on 429

Image processing failures are auto-detected by an output-quality QC layer. If a result would be blank or visibly corrupted, the job is rejected and credits are automatically refunded — you never pay for a broken inpainting result.

API parameters reference

Frequently asked questions