DEV Community: Mrstrongai

How I Built an AI Image & Video Generator in 2 Weekends

Mrstrongai — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:05:09 +0000

Two weekends. One idea. A fully functional AI image and video generator.

I wanted to create something that lets anyone generate stunning AI images and videos without technical knowledge. Here's how I built AI Gen.

The Tech Stack

Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS
AI Generation: Replicate API for image and video generation
Authentication: NextAuth.js
Database: PostgreSQL with Prisma

Key Features

🎨 Text-to-image generation with multiple AI models (FLUX, Stable Diffusion, etc.)
🎬 Image-to-video conversion
🖼️ Support for various aspect ratios and styles
💳 Simple credits system for usage tracking

Challenges Faced

API Rate Limiting: Had to implement smart queuing and caching
Image Optimization: Ensuring fast loading while maintaining quality
User Experience: Making AI generation feel instant even when it's not

Try It Yourself

👉 https://ai.mrstrongai.com

Built with #AI #IndieHacker #BuildInPublic

Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

How I Built an AI Image & Video Generator in 2 Weekends (And What I Learned)

Mrstrongai — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 06:03:16 +0000

A few months ago, I was frustrated with AI image generation tools. They all required expensive monthly subscriptions ($20-50/month), but I only needed a few images per week. That's when I decided to build my own solution.

The Problem

Most AI tools follow the same model:

Pay $20-50/month
Get unlimited (or limited) generations
Hope you use it enough to justify the cost

For casual users like me, this doesn't make sense. I wanted a simple pay-per-use model.

The Solution: AI Gen

I built AI Gen - a dead-simple AI image and video generator with no subscriptions. Just pay for what you use.

Pricing:

Images: $0.99 each
Videos: $4.99 each
No monthly fees

Technical Stack

Here's what I used:

Backend:

EvoLink API for AI generation
Simple Node.js/Express server
Stripe for payments

Frontend:

Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS (no frameworks!)
Clean, minimal UI
Mobile responsive

Deployment:

VPS (DigitalOcean droplet)
Nginx reverse proxy
Let's Encrypt SSL

Key Lessons

1. Start Simple

I could have spent months adding features:

User accounts
Image galleries
Advanced editing
Mobile apps

Instead, I built the MVP in 2 weekends. No user system, no database - just generate and download.

2. API Arbitrage is Real

I buy AI credits wholesale through EvoLink, sell retail to users. The margin is small but it's passive income.

3. Pricing Psychology Matters

People hate subscriptions more than they hate paying per use. Even if the per-use model is more expensive for heavy users, casual users love it.

The Code

The entire frontend is less than 500 lines of vanilla JS. Here's the core generation flow:

async function generateImage(prompt, style) {
  const response = await fetch('/api/generate', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ prompt, style })
  });

  const { imageUrl } = await response.json();
  return imageUrl;
}

That's it. No React, no state management, no complexity.

Results

Launched on Product Hunt last week. The response has been positive - people love the simplicity and the no-subscription model.

Key metrics:

100+ signups in first week
60% conversion rate from free to paid
Average order: 3 images

What's Next?

Keeping it simple:

More art styles
Batch generation
API for developers

No plans for subscriptions. The pay-per-use model is the differentiator.

Try It

Want to see it in action? Check out AI Gen. Use code DEVTO2026 for your first image free.

Questions? Drop them in the comments. Happy to share more about the technical implementation or the business model.

MrStrongAI Content Generator: AI-Powered API for Chinese Social Media

Mrstrongai — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:42:52 +0000

MrStrongAI Content Generator: AI-Powered API for Chinese Social Media

🚀 Introduction

Creating engaging content for Chinese social media platforms can be time-consuming. That's why I built MrStrongAI Content Generator - an AI-powered API that helps content creators, marketers, and MCN agencies generate high-quality Chinese content at scale.

✨ Features

🎭 Short Drama Script Generation

Generate complete short drama scripts with multiple episodes:

Character profiles and dialogues
Scene descriptions
Plot hooks for each episode
Support for popular genres: 霸总(Boss), 甜宠(Sweet Romance), 悬疑(Mystery), 逆袭(Comeback), 古风(Ancient Style)

📕 Xiaohongshu Title Generation

Create viral Xiaohongshu titles with:

Trending emojis and keywords
High CTR (Click-Through Rate) formulas
Multiple style options
Optimized for the Xiaohongshu algorithm

🎵 Douyin Copy Generation

Generate engaging Douyin video captions featuring:

Hook sentences to grab attention
Trending hashtags
Multiple length options (short/medium/long)
Call-to-action phrases

🚀 Quick Start

Authentication

All API requests require a RapidAPI key passed in the header:

X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY
X-RapidAPI-Host: mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com

Base URL

https://mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com

💻 Code Examples

Generate Xiaohongshu Title (JavaScript)

async function generateXiaohongshuTitle(topic, style = 'trendy', count = 5) {
  const url = 'https://mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/xiaohongshu-title';

  const options = {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'content-type': 'application/json',
      'X-RapidAPI-Key': 'YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY',
      'X-RapidAPI-Host': 'mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      topic: topic,
      style: style,
      count: count
    })
  };

  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    const result = await response.json();
    console.log(result);
    return result;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
}

// Generate 5 skincare-themed titles
generateXiaohongshuTitle('skincare', 'trendy', 5);

Generate Douyin Copy (Python)

import requests

def generate_douyin_copy(topic, tone="exciting", length="medium"):
    url = "https://mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/douyin-copy"

    payload = {
        "topic": topic,
        "tone": tone,
        "length": length
    }

    headers = {
        "content-type": "application/json",
        "X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY",
        "X-RapidAPI-Host": "mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com"
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
    return response.json()

# Generate travel-themed Douyin copy
result = generate_douyin_copy("travel", "exciting", "medium")
print(result)

Generate Drama Script (cURL)

curl -X POST \
  https://mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/drama-script \
  -H 'X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY' \
  -H 'X-RapidAPI-Host: mrstrongai-content-generator.p.rapidapi.com' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "genre": "bazong",
    "episodes": 10,
    "title": "CEO Secret Love"
  }'

📊 Pricing

Plan	Price	Requests/Month
BASIC	Free	100
PRO	$9.99	10,000
ULTRA	$29.99	50,000

🎯 Use Cases

Social media content creation: Generate batch content for multiple accounts
Video script writing: Create scripts for short dramas and videos
Marketing copy generation: Produce ad copy and promotional content
Influencer content production: Help influencers maintain posting frequency
MCN agency automation: Streamline content production workflows

🔗 Links

API on RapidAPI: MrStrongAI Content Generator
Documentation: Available on RapidAPI
Support: 13737653@qq.com

💡 Why I Built This

As a developer working with Chinese social media platforms, I noticed a gap in the market for AI content generation tools specifically optimized for Chinese platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Most existing tools focus on Western platforms, so I created this API to fill that gap.

🤝 Feedback Welcome!

I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. If you try the API, please share your experience in the comments below!

This API is part of the MrStrongAI API suite, which also includes News Aggregator, Price Tracker, and AI Content Detector APIs.