I Built a Free AI Background Remover Using Cloudflare Workers + D1
I spent my weekend building an AI background remover website, with both frontend and backend deployed on Cloudflare, costing almost nothing. Here's my development journey and some lessons learned.
🌟 Project URL
🔧 Tech Stack
- Frontend: Static HTML + JavaScript (Cloudflare Pages)
- Backend: Cloudflare Workers
- Database: Cloudflare D1
- AI Background Removal: Remove.bg API
- Payment: PayPal
🚀 Features
- Free to Use: 3 free uses per day, no login required
- Google Login: Cross-device sync after login
- Credit Packs: Purchase credits via PayPal
- Membership: Monthly/Yearly unlimited plans
💡 Key Highlights
1. Benefits of D1 Database
Previously I used localStorage, so users would lose their data when switching devices. After switching to D1, once a user logs in, their credits and membership sync across all devices.
-- User table structure
CREATE TABLE users (
id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
google_id TEXT UNIQUE,
email TEXT,
credits INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
membership TEXT,
membership_expire TEXT,
total_used INTEGER DEFAULT 0
);
2. Interesting Uses of Workers
Workers aren't just for APIs - they can also serve HTML pages directly. One Worker handles all routes:
// Home page
if (path === '/') {
return new Response(HOME_PAGE, {
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' }
})
}
// Pricing page
if (path === '/pro') {
return new Response(PRO_PAGE, {...})
}
// API endpoint
if (path === '/purchase' && method === 'POST') {
return handlePurchase(request, env)
}
3. PayPal Integration Lessons
Sandbox and production have different API addresses, and sandbox testing sometimes has weird CORS issues. The final solution was to provide a manual payment confirmation as a fallback, in case the automatic flow fails after user pays.
📊 Cost Estimate
| Service | Free Tier | Overage |
|---|---|---|
| Workers | 100,000 req/day | $0.50/million |
| D1 | 5GB storage | $1/GB/month |
| Pages | 500MB | Free |
| Remove.bg | - | $0.07/image |
Currently with a few hundred visits per day, everything is within the free tier.
🔜 Future Plans
- [ ] Add more AI features (background replacement, resize)
- [ ] Batch processing support
- [ ] Open API for developers
🤔 Reflection
This project made me rethink Cloudflare's product capabilities. The Workers + D1 + Pages combo is amazing for small to medium web applications - easy deployment, global CDN, and extremely low cost.
If you have similar ideas, try this stack! Feel free to ask questions in the comments!
Feel free to try https://zmjjkk.xyz and leave your feedback in the comments!
