RunPod Cloud GPU

Run open-source AI models on cloud GPUs via RunPod serverless. Pay-per-second, no minimums.

Setup

# 1. Create account at https://runpod.io
# 2. Add API key to .env
echo "RUNPOD_API_KEY=your_key_here" >> .env

# 3. Deploy any tool with --setup
python tools/image_edit.py --setup
python tools/upscale.py --setup
python tools/dewatermark.py --setup
python tools/sadtalker.py --setup
python tools/qwen3_tts.py --setup

Each --setup command:

Creates a RunPod template from the Docker image
Creates a serverless endpoint with appropriate GPU
Saves the endpoint ID to .env (e.g. RUNPOD_QWEN_EDIT_ENDPOINT_ID)

Available Images

All images are public on GHCR — no authentication needed.

Tool	Docker Image	GPU	VRAM	Typical Cost
image_edit	`ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-qwen-edit:latest`	A6000/L40S	48GB+	~$0.05-0.15/job
upscale	`ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-realesrgan:latest`	RTX 3090/4090	24GB	~$0.01-0.05/job
dewatermark	`ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-propainter:latest`	RTX 3090/4090	24GB	~$0.05-0.30/job
sadtalker	`ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-sadtalker:latest`	RTX 4090	24GB	~$0.05-0.15/job
qwen3_tts	`ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-qwen3-tts:latest`	ADA 24GB	24GB	~$0.01-0.05/job

Total monthly cost: Rarely exceeds $10 even with heavy use.

How It Works

All tools follow the same pattern:

Local CLI → Upload input to cloud storage → RunPod API → Poll for result → Download output

File transfer: Tools use Cloudflare R2 when configured (R2_ACCOUNT_ID, R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID, R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, R2_BUCKET_NAME), falling back to free upload services
RunPod API: Tools call the /run endpoint, then poll /status/{job_id} until complete
Cold vs warm start: First request after idle spins up a worker (~30-90s). Subsequent requests are fast (~5-15s)

Endpoint Management

Workers

workersMin: 0    — Scale to zero when idle (no cost)
workersMax: 1    — Max concurrent jobs (increase for throughput)
idleTimeout: 5   — Seconds before worker scales down

Across all endpoints, you share a total worker pool based on your RunPod plan. If you hit limits, reduce workersMax on endpoints you're not actively using.

Checking Endpoint Status

Each tool stores its endpoint ID in .env:

Tool	Env Var
image_edit	`RUNPOD_QWEN_EDIT_ENDPOINT_ID`
upscale	`RUNPOD_UPSCALE_ENDPOINT_ID`
dewatermark	`RUNPOD_DEWATERMARK_ENDPOINT_ID`
sadtalker	`RUNPOD_SADTALKER_ENDPOINT_ID`
qwen3_tts	`RUNPOD_QWEN3_TTS_ENDPOINT_ID`

Disabling an Endpoint

To free worker slots without deleting the endpoint, set workersMax=0 via the RunPod dashboard or GraphQL API.

Troubleshooting

Force Image Pull

When you push a new Docker image version, RunPod may still use the cached old one. To force a pull:

Update the template's imageName to use @sha256:DIGEST notation
Wait for the worker to restart
Revert to :latest tag after confirming

Cold Start Too Slow

qwen3-tts: ~70s cold start, ~7s warm
sadtalker: ~60s cold start, ~10s warm
image_edit: ~90s cold start, ~15s warm

If cold starts are a problem, set workersMin: 1 (costs money when idle).

Job Fails with OOM

The model needs more VRAM than the GPU provides. Options:

Use a larger GPU tier
For dewatermark: reduce --resize-ratio (default 0.5 for safety)
For image_edit: reduce --steps

"No workers available"

You've hit your plan's concurrent worker limit. Either:

Wait for a running job to finish
Set workersMax=0 on endpoints you're not using
Upgrade your RunPod plan

Docker Images

All Dockerfiles live in docker/runpod-*/. Images use runpod/pytorch as the base to share layers across tools.

Building for RunPod (from Apple Silicon Mac):

docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-<name>:latest docker/runpod-<name>/
docker push ghcr.io/conalmullan/video-toolkit-<name>:latest

GHCR packages default to private — you must manually make them public for RunPod to pull them. Go to GitHub > Packages > Package Settings > Change Visibility.

Cost Optimization

Keep workersMin: 0 on all endpoints (scale to zero)
Only deploy endpoints you actively need
Use workersMax=0 to disable idle endpoints without deleting them
Qwen3-TTS is significantly cheaper than ElevenLabs for voiceovers
Check the RunPod dashboard for usage and billing