Show HN: 20-endpoint image API (remove bg, upscale, face restore)
useknockout is a new open-source, self-hostable image API offering 20 endpoints for background removal, upscaling, face restoration, and more, with state-of-the-art quality and low cost. It currently operates in public beta with a shared token, no signup required, and promises performance on par with or better than commercial alternatives. The API supports various formats, batch processing, and advanced features like smart cropping, shadow effects, and studio presets. It's built on Modal's GPU infrastructure and claims a raw compute cost of just $0.00005 per image.
- ▪The useknockout API provides 20+ image processing endpoints including background removal, upscaling, face restoration, and smart cropping.
- ▪It uses the BiRefNet model, achieving state-of-the-art results on major segmentation benchmarks and matching or exceeding services like remove.bg and Pixelcut.
- ▪During public beta, the API is free to use with a shared bearer token and no signup, hosted on Modal with GPU-backed performance.
- ▪The service is self-hostable, MIT licensed, and supports features like batch processing, background replacement, and studio-style presets for e-commerce.
- ▪Pricing in the upcoming paid tier is expected to be significantly lower than competitors, with a current raw compute cost estimated at $0.00005 per image.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
🥊 useknockout State-of-the-art background removal API — open source, self-hostable, 40× cheaper than remove.bg. Live API · Docs · Quick Start · API Reference · Self-hosting Drop an image in. Get a transparent PNG out. ~200ms per call. A production-grade background removal API powered by BiRefNet — the current SOTA on DIS5K, HRSOD, and COD benchmarks. Served on Modal's GPU infrastructure with scale-to-zero economics. SOTA quality — matches or beats remove.bg, Photoroom, and Pixelcut on hair, fur, fine detail Fast — ~200ms per image on a warm L4 GPU Cheap — ~$0.00005 per image raw compute cost (4,000x cheaper than remove.bg PAYG) MIT licensed — model weights and code, commercial use OK Self-hostable — deploy to your own Modal workspace in one command Works alpha-preserving (PNG with…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at GitHub.