ImgBB
ImgBB
Role
Tier 2 origin in the 4-tier image-host chain. Used by CI for blog-post images that don't belong in the repo — throwaway screenshots from automated publishing flows, batch uploads generated outside an editor session, and any image too big to commit sensibly.
Free tier
- Unlimited uploads
- Unlimited bandwidth on hot-link
- REST API at
https://api.imgbb.com/1/upload(key-based) - No file-count cap, no per-day cap documented at family scale
- 32 MB per upload ceiling
- Albums + auto-delete-after-N-days options for ephemeral content
Card / subscription required?
NO. Free-tier sign-up is email-only; the API key is generated on the dashboard. No payment method requested.
How it's used
- CI step uploads the image via
POST /1/uploadwithkey=<IMGBB_KEY>(sourced from Doppler) + base64-encoded body. - API returns
{ data: { url, display_url, delete_url, ... } }. - The URL gets committed back to the post's frontmatter as
image_tier_2:. - Site build embeds the URL into the 3-tier image-CDN chain so deliveries still go through wsrv.nl / ImageKit transforms.
Methods supported
Upload-by-URL, upload-by-base64, upload-by-multipart-form-data. No paid plan; no auth flow beyond API key.
Alternatives
- repo-hosted on CF Pages — Tier 1 default
- Imgur — Tier 3 mirror, similar feature set
- GitHub user-content — Tier 4 for > 32 MB
Swap cost
Low — single env var (IMGBB_KEY) + one CI step. Existing URLs keep
resolving even after a swap because each tier's URLs are absolute and
permanent.
Why this is our pick
- Free unlimited, no card, no quota cliff at family scale
- Permissive REST API doesn't require OAuth dance
- Mature service (around since 2014); low operational risk
Cross-refs
- 4-tier image-host decision
- repo-hosted Tier 1
- Imgur Tier 3
- GitHub user-content Tier 4
- 3-tier image-CDN chain — the delivery layer wrapping all 4 origin tiers
- No card-on-file rule
- Never-hit-quotas rule