Art & Design · head-to-head
ColourLovers vs DummyImage
ColourLovers runs a free, keyless REST API behind its color-palette community site, covering colors, palettes, patterns, and user profiles. A live request against /api/palettes returned real palette data over both HTTP and HTTPS, in JSON or XML, with no Access-Control-Allow-Origin header in the response. Results carry the site's Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license, so reuse needs credit and stays non-commercial.
DummyImage generates placeholder images on the fly from a simple URL pattern — width, height, background/text color, and format (PNG, GIF, or JPG) are all encoded in the path — with no signup or key. A live GET against the real host returned a genuine PNG carrying Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *, resolving cors unknown -> yes and reconfirming auth None.
| ColourLovers | DummyImage | |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | None | None |
| Pricing | free | free |
| Formats | JSON, XML | PNG, GIF, JPG |
| CORS | no | yes |
| HTTPS | Yes | Yes |
DummyImage supports CORS, while ColourLovers doesn't — pick DummyImage for direct browser calls.