--- title: "Image Hosting APIs Without a Subscription" description: "Compare one-time storage, per-image payment, and free-quota image hosting without mislabeling monthly plans." slug: image-hosting-api-without-subscription date: 2026-08-20 updated: 2026-08-20 last_tested: 2026-08-20 summary: "Use imgd.dev for one-time storage, img402 for free or per-image uploads, or a competitor free plan for a limited monthly quota." cluster: Choosing a host intent: comparison sources: - title: "imgd.dev agent reference" url: https://imgd.dev/llms.txt - title: "imgd.dev OpenAPI specification" url: https://imgd.dev/openapi.json - title: "img402 API reference" url: https://img402.dev/docs - title: "img402 terms" url: https://img402.dev/terms - title: "PixelVault pricing" url: https://pixelvault.dev/pricing - title: "PixelVault documentation" url: https://pixelvault.dev/docs/ - title: "imageupload.io documentation" url: https://imageupload.io/docs - title: "Cloudinary pricing" url: https://cloudinary.com/pricing --- # Image Hosting APIs Without a Subscription Use imgd.dev for a one-time storage purchase. Use img402 for a free upload or a current $0.01 USDC permanent upload. Use a competitor free plan when its monthly quota and features fit. Do not call a paid monthly plan subscription-free. PixelVault, imageupload.io, and Cloudinary each publish monthly or quota-based plan models. **Fact checked: 2026-08-20** **Disclosure:** imgd.dev publishes this comparison. Every imgd.dev image is public. imgd.dev is not suitable for private images, a free trial, video, or full digital-asset management. ## Three different cost models The phrase "without a subscription" can describe different needs. Separate them before you choose a service. 1. **One-time capacity:** Pay once for reusable storage. 2. **Per-image payment:** Pay only for each stored image. 3. **Free quota:** Use a limited $0 plan, then accept its limits or move to a monthly plan. These models are not equivalent. A free plan can have monthly limits. A paid monthly plan remains a subscription even when it has a low price. ## Current comparison | Service | Current cost model | Stated limits in the cited sources | Better when | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **imgd.dev** | $1 per GB, one-time and stackable | 20 MB per image; 60 uploads per minute; no free tier | You want reusable public storage without a recurring plan. | | **img402** | Free endpoint or $0.01 USDC per paid permanent image | 10 MB; free retention depends on size; free daily capacity limits apply | You want no account, no key, or one paid image transaction. | | **PixelVault** | Free $0 plan; $9 and $29 monthly plans are listed as coming soon | Free: 200 MB storage, 500 uploads monthly, 1 GB bandwidth, 5 MB files | You want private signed URLs, richer transforms, or a free starting quota. | | **imageupload.io** | Free tier; the docs list Starter, Pro, and Business tiers without paid prices | Free: 500 MB, 10 API or MCP uploads monthly, 25 MB files, one-month maximum expiry | You want password share pages, expiry controls, EXIF removal, or MCP tools. | | **Cloudinary** | Free $0 plan; paid monthly credit plans and custom Enterprise terms | Free: 25 monthly credits, three users, one account | You want video, broad transformations, DAM, or team workflows. | The table uses only values that the first-party pages state. Check those pages before purchase because pricing and quotas can change. ## One-time storage: imgd.dev imgd.dev sells reusable storage capacity. A one-time $1 payment adds 1 GB to the account. Another purchase adds more capacity to the same account. The storage purchase does not expire. There is no free tier and no free trial. The smallest useful purchase is $1 for 1 GB. The account can then store many images within its quota. Current public limits include: - 20 MB for one upload. - 60 uploads per minute for one key. - JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and AVIF formats. - Public serving for every available image. Choose imgd.dev when a reusable image library fits better than per-image payment. It also provides list, metadata, unpublish, republish, and delete operations. ## Per-image or free use: img402 img402 has no accounts and no API keys. Its free endpoint needs no authentication. Its paid permanent upload currently costs $0.01 USDC per image through x402. Current img402 limits and retention rules are: - 10 MB maximum for free and paid uploads. - PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP formats. - Free files of 1 MB or less have no scheduled expiry. - Free files above 1 MB and up to 10 MB last 30 days. - Free uploads have daily global and per-IP capacity limits. - Paid permanent images have no scheduled expiry during the service's operational life. The paid retry model uses the payment proof as an idempotency key. The same proof returns the same result. img402 is better for no-account free use or a small number of independent paid images. Read [imgd.dev versus img402](/blog/imgd-vs-img402/) for the detailed trade-off. ## Free quota with private image support: PixelVault PixelVault's current Free plan costs $0 forever. It lists these limits: - 200 MB of storage. - 500 uploads per month. - 1 GB of bandwidth. - One project. - 5 MB maximum file size. - Up to 100 private images with signed URLs. The pricing page also lists Starter at $9 per month and Pro at $29 per month. Both paid plans are marked "Coming soon" on the accessed page. Do not call those monthly plans subscription-free. PixelVault is better when private signed URLs, a free quota, batch collections, or broad image transforms matter. Its docs also describe a CLI, MCP server, GitHub Action, and full project export. ## Free quota with share controls: imageupload.io The imageupload.io documentation lists Free, Starter, Pro, and Business tiers. The approved documentation does not publish paid prices or a payment schedule. The current Free tier limits include: - 500 MB of storage. - 10 API or MCP uploads per month. - 25 MB maximum file size. - Up to one month before expiry. - 60 REST API calls per minute. - 120 MCP calls per minute. The same documentation publishes monthly API and MCP quotas for all four tiers. It also lists longer retention and larger limits for the named higher tiers. A paid monthly plan is always a subscription. The approved documentation does not state a payment schedule for these tiers. This article therefore treats only the Free tier as a source-supported no-subscription option. imageupload.io is better when password-gated share pages, burn-after-view links, view limits, or EXIF removal matter. ## Free credit plan with full media scope: Cloudinary Cloudinary's current Free plan costs $0 and needs no credit card. It lists 25 monthly credits, three users, and one account. One credit can map to stated units of transformations, storage, or bandwidth. The pricing page also lists paid Plus and Advanced plans with monthly prices. It lists Enterprise with custom terms. These paid self-serve plans are monthly subscriptions. Cloudinary is better when the project needs video, broad transformations, team administration, or DAM. Read [imgd.dev versus Cloudinary](/blog/imgd-vs-cloudinary/) for the full product-scope comparison. ## Which service should you choose? Choose **imgd.dev** when you want one-time reusable public storage. Choose **img402** when you want account-free free uploads or $0.01 USDC per permanent image. Choose **PixelVault** when private signed URLs or its free quota are central. Choose **imageupload.io** when controlled share links and expiration modes are central. Choose **Cloudinary** when a full image and video platform is central. No option is best for every workload. Read [the image-host guide for AI agents](/blog/best-image-hosting-api-ai-agents/) for a wider task-based decision. ## Sources and access date All sources below are first-party pages. They were accessed on **2026-08-20**. - imgd.dev reference: https://imgd.dev/llms.txt - imgd.dev OpenAPI: https://imgd.dev/openapi.json - img402 API reference: https://img402.dev/docs - img402 terms: https://img402.dev/terms - PixelVault pricing: https://pixelvault.dev/pricing - PixelVault documentation: https://pixelvault.dev/docs/ - imageupload.io documentation: https://imageupload.io/docs - Cloudinary pricing: https://cloudinary.com/pricing Use [`/evaluate.md`](/evaluate.md) to give an agent the current imgd.dev fit checklist.