If you want to self-host, check out comfyui. It is a breeze to install, and offers an api for headless interactions. On my 5 year old i7 NUC it produces a 1024x1024 image (cpu only! no gpu needed) in around 20 mins using the SDXL model.
I haven't heard of comfyui yet but a simple install with a headless API and ability to run on my linode (hopefully..!) without a gpu is all I really need to kickstart the local-running plan. Intersting, will check that out, thanks! And thanks for the kind words as well, glad you love the idea haha!
Good luck! Dunno if linode will cut it, my box has 6 cores and 32 gbs of RAM; it's a pretty resource heavy tool... but yeah if you are okay with >10 minute generation times this is a very cost effective solution.
If you want to self-host, check out comfyui. It is a breeze to install, and offers an api for headless interactions. On my 5 year old i7 NUC it produces a 1024x1024 image (cpu only! no gpu needed) in around 20 mins using the SDXL model.