Open Source I2V API

A production REST API that animates any static image into a 5-second MP4 video — one multipart POST, no proprietary SDK required. The open source i2v api api that fits into any pipeline: self-hosted apps, open source repos, SaaS products, and batch automation. $0.20 per 5-second video. 5,000 free trial credits, no credit card required.

What the Open Source I2V API does

Image-to-video (I2V) is the task of generating a short video clip from a single still image. The source image provides the scene: composition, subjects, colors, lighting. The API infers and renders realistic motion — camera drift, environmental movement, subtle subject animation — producing an MP4 that looks like the image came to life.

PixelAPI's I2V endpoint wraps this capability in a simple REST interface with no proprietary client required. POST your image and a text prompt describing the motion. Poll for the result. Download the MP4. It integrates cleanly into open source Python scripts, Node.js servers, PHP back-ends, and any language that can issue an HTTP request.

• Accepts JPEG and PNG input images up to 4096×4096 px
• Returns a 5-second MP4 at 720p (default) or 1080p
• Preserves subject identity — faces, outfits, brand elements remain consistent
• Camera-fixed mode available for product and portrait shots
• Asynchronous job model with polling endpoint — no webhook required
• Auto-refund on failed generations — you never pay for a broken result

Quick start — open source I2V API in 6 languages

Sign up, copy your key, and POST your image as multipart/form-data. The endpoint queues the job and returns a generation_id. Poll GET /v1/seedance/{generation_id} until status=completed, then download the MP4 from output_url.

# Step 1 — submit image-to-video job
curl -X POST https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/seedance/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "prompt=Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach" \
  -F "resolution=720p" \
  -F "duration=5" \
  -F "camera_fixed=true"
# Response: {"generation_id":"uuid","status":"processing","credits_used":200}

# Step 2 — poll until completed
curl https://api.pixelapi.dev/v1/seedance/UUID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
# Response: {"status":"completed","output_url":"https://...mp4"}

pip install pixelapi
---
import time
from pixelapi import PixelAPI

client = PixelAPI(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# Submit image-to-video job
job = client.image_to_video(
    image="photo.jpg",
    prompt="Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach",
    resolution="720p",
)

# SDK polls automatically; or poll manually:
while job.status != "completed":
    time.sleep(10)
    job.refresh()

job.save("output.mp4")  # download the 5-second MP4

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

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

const job = await client.imageToVideo({
  image: fs.createReadStream("./photo.jpg"),
  prompt: "Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach",
  resolution: "720p",
});

// SDK polls and resolves when completed
await job.save("output.mp4");
console.log("Video saved:", job.outputUrl);

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

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

$job = $client->imageToVideo([
    "image"      => "photo.jpg",
    "prompt"     => "Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach",
    "resolution" => "720p",
]);

// Poll until done
while ($job->status !== "completed") {
    sleep(10);
    $job->refresh();
}

file_put_contents("output.mp4", $job->download());

gem install pixelapi
---
require "pixelapi"

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

job = client.image_to_video(
  image: "photo.jpg",
  prompt: "Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach",
  resolution: "720p"
)

job.wait_until_complete   # polls with backoff
File.binwrite("output.mp4", job.download)

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

client := pixelapi.New("YOUR_API_KEY")

job, err := client.ImageToVideo(pixelapi.I2VRequest{
    Image:      "photo.jpg",
    Prompt:     "Gentle ocean waves rolling across the beach",
    Resolution: "720p",
})
if err != nil { panic(err) }

result, err := job.Wait() // polls until completed or error
if err != nil { panic(err) }
result.Save("output.mp4")

Pricing — cheaper than Runway, cheaper than Pika

Pricing verified from each rival's public pricing page October 2026. Runway ~$0.48 calculated at Max plan ($76/month, 9,500 credits) for a Gen-4.5 60-credit 5-second clip. Pika ~$1.35 calculated at Creator plan ($35/month, 3,150 credits) for a 122-credit Seedance 2.5 720p video. PixelAPI's per-video price is cost-plus at $0.20 — no subscription required, pay per generation.

What you get back

Request parameters

Common workflows

The I2V API is the foundation for these production workflows. Each links to a setup guide:

More use-case guides: all industries →

Integrations & SDKs

Comparison vs alternatives

Rate limits & error handling

20 requests/minute on the free trial, 60 on Starter, 120 on Pro, and 300 on Scale. Parallel concurrent jobs: 3 / 10 / 20 / 50 respectively (see pixelapi.dev/docs/parallel-processing.html). Exceeding the rate limit returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Recommended: exponential backoff starting at 10s, doubling on each retry up to 120s. The Python and Node.js SDKs handle this automatically.

Video generation is an asynchronous operation. Never poll more frequently than every 10 seconds — the job takes 2–3 minutes minimum and aggressive polling wastes rate-limit quota.

# Python SDK with automatic retry on 429
from pixelapi import PixelAPI
client = PixelAPI(api_key="...", max_retries=4)

job = client.image_to_video(image="photo.jpg", prompt="sunrise timelapse")
# SDK polls with 10s interval and handles 429 backoff automatically
job.wait_until_complete()
job.save("output.mp4")

Common error codes:

Frequently asked questions