TESTED_APIS.md

Image Generation APIs -- TESTED RESULTS (2026-02-27)

CONFIRMED WORKING (with your actual API keys)

1. NVIDIA NIM -- FLUX.1-dev (BEST QUALITY)

• Status: WORKING
• Speed: 4.8 seconds per image
• Resolution: 1024x768
• Anime Quality: EXCELLENT (professional anime key visual level)
• Free Credits: 1,000 on signup (up to 5,000 with business email + 90-day enterprise license)
• API:

import requests, base64

r = requests.post(
    "https://ai.api.nvidia.com/v1/genai/black-forest-labs/flux.1-dev",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_NVIDIA_KEY", "Accept": "application/json"},
    json={
        "prompt": "anime style, young warrior girl, silver hair, blue eyes, glowing sword, fantasy forest, masterpiece",
        "mode": "base",
        "cfg_scale": 3.5,
        "width": 1024,
        "height": 768,
        "seed": -1,
        "steps": 30
    }
)
img_bytes = base64.b64decode(r.json()["artifacts"][0]["base64"])
with open("output.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(img_bytes)

2. NVIDIA NIM -- FLUX.1-schnell (FASTEST)

• Status: WORKING
• Speed: 3.4 seconds per image
• Resolution: 1024x1024
• Anime Quality: EXCELLENT
• API: Same as above, endpoint: black-forest-labs/flux.1-schnell, steps=4

3. HuggingFace -- FLUX.1-schnell (MOST GENEROUS FREE)

• Status: WORKING
• Speed: 1.4-3.8 seconds per image
• Resolution: up to 1024x768
• Anime Quality: EXCELLENT
• Free Tier: Rate-limited but generous (3 rapid requests all succeeded)
• API:

import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://huggingface.co/proxy/router.huggingface.co/hf-inference/models/black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-schnell",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_HF_TOKEN", "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    json={
        "inputs": "1girl, silver hair, blue eyes, holding sword, anime style, masterpiece",
        "parameters": {"negative_prompt": "low quality, blurry", "width": 1024, "height": 768}
    }
)
with open("output.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(r.content)  # Returns raw image bytes

4. HuggingFace -- SDXL Base (GOOD PAINTERLY STYLE)

• Status: WORKING
• Speed: 9.8 seconds per image
• Resolution: up to 1024x768
• Anime Quality: EXCELLENT (more painterly/artistic style)
• API: Same as above, model: stabilityai/stable-diffusion-xl-base-1.0

---

NOT WORKING / NOT FREE

Service	Status	Reason
OpenRouter	NO free image models	All 29 free models are text-only
Prodia	Needs paid upgrade	Free accounts can't create API tokens
Google Gemini	Quota = 0 on free tier	Image gen removed from free tier entirely
Google Imagen	Paid only	"Imagen 3 is only available on paid plans"
Pollinations	HTTP 530	Cloudflare blocking (may work from other networks)
Together AI	No free tier (2026)	User confirmed free tier discontinued
DeepInfra	Needs auth/credits	403 without authentication
fal.ai	Needs auth/credits	401 without authentication
HF FLUX.1-dev	DEPRECATED	"No longer supported by provider hf-inference"
HF Animagine XL	404	Not available on inference API
Stability AI	Needs API key	401 without key

---

RECOMMENDED STRATEGY

Primary: HuggingFace FLUX.1-schnell

• Fastest (1.4-3.8s)
• No visible hard limit yet
• Excellent anime quality
• Use for bulk image generation

Secondary: NVIDIA NIM FLUX.1-dev

• Best quality (30-step generation)
• 1,000-5,000 free credits
• Use for hero/key moment images
• Save credits for important scenes

Fallback: HuggingFace SDXL

• Different artistic style
• Good for variety
• 9.8s per image (slower)

Combined Monthly Estimate

• HuggingFace: Unknown hard limit, but generous for free tier
• NVIDIA: 1,000+ credits (unknown images-per-credit ratio)
• Pollinations: ~1,000 images (if accessible from your network)
• Total: Likely 1,000-5,000+ images/month for $0

Images Per Chapter

• A 3-5 minute episode needs ~20-30 keyframe images
• At 2,000 images/month = ~66-100 chapters/month
• More than enough for production

---

QUALITY RANKING (for anime)

1. NVIDIA FLUX.1-dev (30 steps) -- Most detailed, best composition
2. NVIDIA FLUX.1-schnell -- Great quality, fastest NVIDIA
3. HuggingFace FLUX.1-schnell -- Slightly different style, very fast
4. HuggingFace SDXL -- More painterly, artistic feel

All four produce professional-grade anime art suitable for our project.