Why I Built EccoAPI: Slashing AI Image Costs by 74%

As an indie developer, I love building with AI. The possibilities are endless—until you look at the bill.

A few months ago, I was working on a new image generation app. Everything was going great until I started scaling my tests. I was using the standard providers (Google, Replicate, fal.ai), and while the quality was amazing, the costs were painful. Paying $0.04 per image doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re generating thousands of images or trying to offer a free tier to your users, it burns a hole in your pocket fast.

I did the math: if my app went viral, I’d be broke before I was profitable.

I looked around and saw other developers in the same boat. We were all paying premium prices for standard compute, effectively pricing us out of building the cool, accessible tools we wanted to make. I knew there had to be a better way.

The Solution

I started digging deep into how these APIs are structured and priced. I reached out to infrastructure partners and other parties in the AI space, looking for a way to optimize the supply chain.

That collaboration sparked an idea: what if we could pool resources and optimize the routing to drastically cut down the overhead?

After weeks of negotiation, engineering, and coffee, I’m proud to launch EccoAPI.

It’s the API I wish I had when I started. By collaborating with key partners and optimizing our infrastructure, we’ve managed to provide NanoBanana models that are blazing fast and significantly cheaper than the official alternatives.

The Numbers

We aren't just slightly cheaper; we are fractions of the price.

NanoBanana API (powered by Gemini 2.5 Flash Image tech)

~$0.01 per image

Compare that to Google’s ~$0.039. That’s a 74% saving.

NanoBanana Pro API (powered by Gemini 3 Pro Image tech)

~$0.06 per image

Compare to ~$0.134. That’s over 55% cheaper.

Built for Developers, by a Developer

I didn't just want it to be cheap; I wanted it to be easy. I built EccoAPI with the developer experience I crave:

Simple REST API: No complex SDKs required.

Drop-in Compatibility: Integrating it into your Python, Flutter, or Next.js app takes minutes.

Real-time Dashboard: Track your usage, spend, and logs without the lag.

What’s Next?

EccoAPI is live today. It’s my attempt to give the indie developer community a fighting chance against the high costs of AI. Whether you're building a side project, a startup, or just experimenting, you shouldn't have to worry about every single API call bankrupting you.

I’m constantly working on adding more models and features, but for now, I invite you to try it out.

eccoapi.com

Let’s build something cool (and affordable) together.

— Shakar Mustafa

Creator of EccoAPI