Over the years, I’ve had to replace so many online placeholder image services that I finally hit my breaking point. First, I used placeholder.com. Then, when the main site was replaced, their via service kept working—until it didn't. Other alternatives came and went, each disappearing when I needed them most.

There’s nothing worse than prepping a demo for a client and realizing all your placeholder images are broken because yet another service vanished overnight. Instead of finding yet another temporary fix, I decided to solve the problem for good.

I built my own placeholder image service, one designed to be reliable, open, and permanent. Not only is it freely available as a running service, but I also packaged it as a fully functional Docker image so anyone can build and deploy their own version, extend it, or contribute back. No more sudden outages. No more searching for alternatives. Just a simple, self-hostable solution that will always be there when you need it.

If you’ve ever been burned by broken placeholder images, check it out. Feedback and contributions are welcome!