Inpaint API vs SnapEdit — Object Removal Built for Developers

Searching for an inpaint API vs SnapEdit comparison? SnapEdit is a consumer web app — you click, you paint, you export. PixelAPI is the REST API that developers call from their code: POST an image and a text prompt, pay $0.005 per image, get back a clean result with the object gone and the background filled. 500 free credits, no credit card.

Quick start — remove any object in one API call

Sign up, copy your key from the dashboard, and POST your image with a plain-English description of what to remove. The endpoint returns a job id; poll GET /v1/image/{id} until status=completed, then download the cleaned image from output_url.

# Text-prompt mode — describe what to remove
curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/remove-object \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "prompt=the telephone pole on the left"
# Response: {"id": "uuid", "status": "queued", "operation": "remove-object", ...}

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

# Mask mode — white=remove, black=keep
curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/image/remove-object \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "prompt=object in masked region" \
  -F "[email protected]"

pip install pixelapi
---
from pixelapi import PixelAPI

client = PixelAPI(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# Text-prompt mode
result = client.remove_object(image="photo.jpg", prompt="the telephone pole on the left")
result.save("photo_clean.jpg")

# Mask mode (white=remove, black=keep)
result = client.remove_object(image="photo.jpg", prompt="object in masked region", mask="mask.png")
result.save("photo_clean.jpg")

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

const client = new PixelAPI({ apiKey: process.env.PIXELAPI_KEY });

// Text-prompt mode
const result = await client.removeObject({
  image: "./photo.jpg",
  prompt: "the telephone pole on the left",
});
await result.save("photo_clean.jpg");

// Mask mode
const masked = await client.removeObject({
  image: "./photo.jpg",
  prompt: "object in masked region",
  mask: "./mask.png",
});
await masked.save("photo_clean.jpg");

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

$client = new Client(getenv("PIXELAPI_KEY"));

// Text-prompt mode
$result = $client->removeObject([
    "image" => "photo.jpg",
    "prompt" => "the telephone pole on the left",
]);
file_put_contents("photo_clean.jpg", $result->getBody());

// Mask mode
$masked = $client->removeObject([
    "image" => "photo.jpg",
    "prompt" => "object in masked region",
    "mask" => "mask.png",
]);
file_put_contents("photo_clean.jpg", $masked->getBody());

gem install pixelapi
---
require "pixelapi"

client = PixelAPI::Client.new(api_key: ENV["PIXELAPI_KEY"])

# Text-prompt mode
result = client.remove_object(image: "photo.jpg", prompt: "the telephone pole on the left")
File.binwrite("photo_clean.jpg", result.body)

# Mask mode
masked = client.remove_object(image: "photo.jpg", prompt: "object in masked region", mask: "mask.png")
File.binwrite("photo_clean.jpg", masked.body)

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

client := pixelapi.New("YOUR_API_KEY")

// Text-prompt mode
result, err := client.RemoveObject("photo.jpg", pixelapi.RemoveObjectParams{
    Prompt: "the telephone pole on the left",
})
if err != nil { panic(err) }
result.Save("photo_clean.jpg")

// Mask mode
masked, err := client.RemoveObject("photo.jpg", pixelapi.RemoveObjectParams{
    Prompt: "object in masked region",
    Mask: "mask.png",
})
if err != nil { panic(err) }
masked.Save("photo_clean.jpg")

Inpaint API vs SnapEdit: Pricing Comparison

SnapEdit is a subscription consumer tool — there is no developer API or per-call pricing. Here is how PixelAPI's inpaint API compares to every option with a machine-callable endpoint:

Pricing verified from each rival's public pricing page May 2026. PixelAPI's per-image price is set at exactly half cleanup.pictures' API rate — the cheapest rival with a machine-callable endpoint.

Two ways to specify what to remove

Unlike consumer apps that require manual brush strokes, PixelAPI gives you two programmatic modes that work without a GUI:

What you get back

When to use prompt mode vs mask mode

A practical guide for the two removal modes:

• Use prompt mode when the target is a clearly named, visually distinct object: "the umbrella on the table", "the date stamp in the top-left". Works without any image editing tools on your end.
• Use mask mode when objects overlap, when the target spans an irregular shape, or when you need exact pixel control. Generate masks programmatically with OpenCV, Pillow, or any segmentation tool and pass them as a PNG.
• Combine both: provide a mask for location + a prompt for context ("the shadow under the product") to get the cleanest fill.
• For text/watermarks specifically: use POST /v1/image/remove-text — it runs OCR-guided detection that outperforms the generic object remover on small, dense text.

Common workflows

The Object Removal API powers these production use cases. Each links to a setup guide:

Integrations & SDKs

Comparison vs alternatives

Rate limits & error handling

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

Other status codes you may see:

• 400 vague_prompt — prompt did not name a concrete object. Fix: add a specific noun ("the bench on the left") or upload a mask.
• 400 wrong_tool — text/watermark removal should use POST /v1/image/remove-text instead.
• 402 Payment Required — insufficient credits. Top up at /pricing.
• 503 Queue Full — rare; credits are auto-refunded. Retry after a few seconds.

# Python SDK auto-retries 429 with exponential backoff
from pixelapi import PixelAPI
client = PixelAPI(api_key="...", max_retries=4)
result = client.remove_object(image="bulk.jpg", prompt="the date stamp") # handles 429 automatically

Frequently asked questions