PixelAPI vs Replicate

Two different approaches to AI model APIs. Curated simplicity vs maximum flexibility.

Key Differences

Aspect	PixelAPI	Replicate
Models available	11 curated models	1000s of community models
Pricing model	Fixed credits (1 credit = $0.001)	Per-second GPU billing
SDXL cost	$0.003/image	~$0.01-0.05/image
FLUX Schnell cost	$0.003/image	~$0.003-0.01/image
Background removal	$0.002/image	~$0.005-0.01/image
Cold starts	None (always warm)	Common (seconds to minutes)
Infrastructure	Self-hosted dedicated GPUs	Shared cloud GPUs
Video models	❌	✅
LLMs	❌	✅
3D models	❌	✅
Custom/fine-tuned models	❌	✅
Audio generation	✅ MusicGen	✅ Multiple
Free tier	100 credits	None (pay-as-you-go)
INR pricing	✅ (Razorpay)	❌

PixelAPI's 11 Models

Model	Credits	Cost	Speed
FLUX Schnell (text-to-image)	3	$0.003	~3s
SDXL (text-to-image)	3	$0.003	~13s
SDXL img2img	3	$0.003	~6s
SDXL Inpainting	5	$0.005	~10s
ControlNet Canny	5	$0.005	~13s
Background Removal (BiRefNet)	2	$0.002	~3s
Background Replacement	5	$0.005	~10s
Real-ESRGAN 4x Upscale	20	$0.02	~3s
Face Restore (GFPGAN)	3	$0.003	~11s
Object Removal (LaMa)	5	$0.005	~4s
MusicGen (audio)	5	$0.005	~10s

When to Choose Each

Choose PixelAPI when:

You need predictable, fixed pricing
Cold starts are unacceptable for your use case
The 11 included models cover your needs
You want the simplest possible integration
Cost per image is critical
You want INR billing (India)

Choose Replicate when:

You need models PixelAPI doesn't offer (video, 3D, LLMs)
You want to run custom/fine-tuned models
You need access to the latest models as they release
You're okay with variable pricing and cold starts
Model variety matters more than cost predictability

Cold Starts: Why It Matters

Replicate runs models on shared cloud infrastructure. When a model hasn't been used recently, it needs to "cold start" — loading model weights into GPU memory. This can add 10-60 seconds to your first request.

PixelAPI runs on dedicated GPUs with all 10 models always loaded. Every request starts immediately. If your app needs consistent response times, this matters.

Pricing Predictability

Replicate bills by GPU-second. A model that takes 5 seconds on an A40 costs differently than the same model taking 8 seconds on a slower GPU. Your actual cost per image can vary.

PixelAPI uses fixed credits. SDXL always costs 3 credits ($0.003) regardless of how long it takes. No surprises on your bill.

Try PixelAPI Free

100 free credits on signup. No credit card required.

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