--- title: "6 Stable Diffusion Alternatives: Local, Open and Hosted" url: https://www.imagequarry.com/alternatives/stable-diffusion/ last_updated: 2026-10-20 --- # Stable Diffusion alternatives for running models locally or in a ready app Stable Diffusion is Stability AI's family of image models, including SD 3.5 Large, Medium and Turbo and SDXL, sold through a pay per credit Platform API and self-hosted licenses. Stability's consumer chat app, Stable Assistant, now redirects away, and typed edits such as Search and Replace are offered as API calls. ComfyUI and Invoke suit people who want to keep running open models on their own computer, DreamStudio (now Brand Studio) is Stability's hosted app for teams, and FLUX suits people who want newer open weights with instruction editing. ImageQuarry is a different kind of tool, used in its own app, and fits only people who would rather edit by describing changes. _We make ImageQuarry, one of the alternatives below. Stable Diffusion and each alternative were compared on where it runs, model choice, editing in words, hardware support, usage terms and price, using each vendor's public pages, checked October 20, 2026._ ## Stable Diffusion alternatives at a glance | Tool | Best for | Price from | How it differs | |---|---|---|---| | ComfyUI | People who want to keep running SD models, and newer open ones, on their own GPU | Local app at no cost (GPL v3); Comfy Cloud Standard $20 a month billed monthly | Node graph app that runs SD 3.5, SDXL, Flux and more, locally or in Comfy Cloud | | DreamStudio | Brand and marketing teams who want Stability's own hosted app with SD and other models | Trial with 500 one-time credits; Creator $19 a month | Stability's hosted app, renamed Brand Studio, with a one-time 500 credit trial | | FLUX | Developers who want newer models, open weights and instruction editing from one lab | $0.048 per 1K image on FLUX 3 Image, $0.009 on Klein | FLUX 3 Image edits from instructions, with open weights and an API | | Invoke | Artists who want a layered local canvas for Flux, SDXL and SD 1.5 models | No charge; Apache 2.0 open source | Open-source desktop canvas with boards, inpaint masks and regional references | | Fooocus | Personal projects on a modest NVIDIA card where a simple SDXL app is enough | No charge; GPL v3 open source | Simple offline SDXL app with its own inpainting and variations | | ImageQuarry | People who gave up on local setups and want to edit images by asking for changes | Two plans billed monthly: $9 Starter, $29 Pro | An image workspace where each requested change becomes a kept version | ## What is Stable Diffusion? Stability AI presents itself as a model company: its site lists models for image, video, audio and 3D, then two ways to deploy them, a Self-Hosted License and the Platform API at platform.stability.ai. The image line includes Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large, Turbo and Medium plus SDXL and SDXL Turbo, and SD 3.5 can be self-deployed, called through the API or used inside web apps. The API adds editing calls such as Inpaint, Erase Object, Search and Replace and Replace Background and Relight. _Stable Diffusion is a set of models you run or call, not a workspace: the homepage links no consumer image app, and Stability's chat app, Stable Assistant, now redirects to other pages._ ## Stable Diffusion pricing There are no monthly or annual plans for the API. A generation costs 8 credits on Stable Image Ultra, 6.5 on SD 3.5 Large, 4 on SD 3.5 Large Turbo, 3.5 on SD 3.5 Medium, 3 on Stable Image Core and from 0.9 on SDXL 1.0; edits such as Inpaint or Search and Replace cost 5, and Creative Upscaler 60. Stability says pricing may change as it improves its models. Prices as of October 2026, from stability.ai. Check the vendor for current pricing. - Stable Diffusion Platform API: $0.01 per credit, pay as you go (25 credits to get started, then credits bought as needed) - Stable Diffusion Community License: Free per self-hosted (For researchers, developers, small businesses and creators under $1M in annual revenue) - Stable Diffusion Enterprise License: Custom per contact sales (For enterprises, API providers and businesses above $1M in annual revenue) Prices as of 2026-10. ## What Stable Diffusion does well - **Open models you can run yourself**: Stable Diffusion 3.5 can be self-deployed as well as called through the API, and the Community License covers self-hosting at no cost for creators and small businesses under $1M in annual revenue. - **Outputs belong to you**: Stability's license says you own outputs generated from its Core Models or derivative works and may use them commercially, subject to law and its Acceptable Use Policy. - **A wide set of API edit tools**: The API covers Erase Object, Inpaint, Outpaint, Remove Background, Search and Recolor, Search and Replace, and Replace Background and Relight, plus Structure, Sketch, Style Guide and Style Transfer controls. - **Low per-image cost on smaller models**: At $0.01 a credit, SDXL 1.0 starts from 0.9 credits an image and SD 3.5 Medium is 3.5 credits, with no subscription to keep up. - **Upscaling to 4K**: Conservative and Creative Upscale take images from 64 by 64 up to 1 megapixel and enlarge them to 4K, and Fast Upscaler increases resolution 4 times. ## Where Stable Diffusion falls short - **No consumer image app from Stability**: Stable Assistant's addresses return 301 redirects to other Stability pages, and no image app for web, iOS or Android is linked from stability.ai. A September 2026 Wayback capture still showed Stable Assistant as a chat tool for generating and editing images. - **Typed edits are API parameters**: Search and Replace takes a search_prompt naming the object and a prompt describing its replacement, and Search and Recolor uses a select_prompt, so you need code or another app to use them. - **Short storage and rate limits on the API**: Slow services such as Creative Upscale return an id to poll, and results are stored for 24 hours. The API allows 150 requests every 10 seconds before blocking you for 60 seconds. - **Larger businesses need a custom license**: Self-hosting for companies above $1M in annual revenue, and for API providers, needs the Enterprise License, which has custom pricing. ## Why people look for a Stable Diffusion alternative - You want an app to open rather than raw models or an API, and Stability's chat app, Stable Assistant, now redirects away. - You want to change an image by describing the edit, and Stability offers that through API fields such as search_prompt rather than in a chat. - You want other model families next to SD 3.5 and SDXL, which are the text to image models Stability lists. - Your company earns more than $1M a year, so self-hosting moves from the Community License to custom Enterprise pricing. ## The 6 Stable Diffusion alternatives ### 1. ComfyUI Best for: People who want to keep running SD models, and newer open ones, on their own GPU How it differs: ComfyUI's README lists Stable Diffusion 1.5, SDXL and SD3.5 next to Flux.2, Qwen Image and HiDream, plus edit models such as Flux Kontext and Qwen Image Edit. Its manual install supports NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple Silicon GPUs, it runs fully offline, and Comfy Agent builds workflows from a described goal. Price: Local app at no cost (GPL v3); Comfy Cloud Standard $20 a month billed monthly (as of 2026-10) Limitation: You build workflows as node graphs, and Comfy Cloud runs stop after 30 minutes except on Pro. ### 2. DreamStudio Best for: Brand and marketing teams who want Stability's own hosted app with SD and other models How it differs: DreamStudio is now Brand Studio at brandstudio.com, and it is the hosted app Stability itself runs for professional teams. Its Curated Model Routing picks from Stable Diffusion, Nano Banana, Seedream and others, and Precision Inpainting, Outpaint and Remove handle edits in the browser, with a Library of projects for clients or brands. Price: Trial with 500 one-time credits; Creator $19 a month (as of 2026-10) Limitation: Curated Model Routing needs Core at $50 a month, unused monthly credits expire, and no mobile app is mentioned. ### 3. FLUX Best for: Developers who want newer models, open weights and instruction editing from one lab How it differs: Black Forest Labs' FLUX 3 Image asks you to write the change as an instruction, and bounding boxes recolor, move or replace one element while the rest stays unchanged. Like Stability, BFL sells credits at $0.01 with no subscription, and it offers open weights under self-hosting licenses plus a browser Playground. Price: $0.048 per 1K image on FLUX 3 Image, $0.009 on Klein (as of 2026-10) Limitation: No free credits were found on the pricing page, and self-hosting license prices are not listed (Purchase or Contact Sales). ### 4. Invoke Best for: Artists who want a layered local canvas for Flux, SDXL and SD 1.5 models How it differs: Invoke is an Apache 2.0 desktop app for Windows, macOS on Apple Silicon and Linux that runs Flux, SDXL and SD 1.5 with LoRAs and ControlNets. Its layered canvas offers inpaint masks and regional references, and images are kept in boards with their prompt, seed and model stored inside each file. Price: No charge; Apache 2.0 open source (as of 2026-10) Limitation: The hosted Invoke service has shut down, AMD GPUs work on Linux only, and typed instruction editing exists only through external models billed to your own account. ### 5. Fooocus Best for: Personal projects on a modest NVIDIA card where a simple SDXL app is enough How it differs: Fooocus is built entirely on SDXL and runs offline with as little as 4GB of NVIDIA VRAM and 8GB of RAM. It keeps the controls short: inpaint or outpaint an input image, Vary (Subtle) or Vary (Strong), and an Image Prompt for references. Price: No charge; GPL v3 open source (as of 2026-10) Limitation: It is limited long-term support with bug fixes only, has no plans for newer model architectures, and describes itself as 100% non-commercial. ### 6. ImageQuarry Best for: People who gave up on local setups and want to edit images by asking for changes How it differs: Stability's typed edits, such as Search and Replace, are API calls with one field naming the object and another describing its replacement. ImageQuarry puts that kind of request into a workspace: select a version, describe the change in plain language, and the result is saved as a new version next to the others. You choose between Nano Banana 2.1, Nano Banana Pro and two GPT Image models, and you can branch from any earlier version. Price: Two plans billed monthly: $9 Starter, $29 Pro (as of 2026-10) Limitation: ImageQuarry is used in its own app with its own set of models, so it does not give you weights to run on your hardware, and every plan is paid. ## Who should stay with Stable Diffusion - You build on the Platform API and want to pay per image without a subscription, for example 3.5 credits for SD 3.5 Medium. - You self-host SD 3.5 under the Community License, your business earns under $1M a year, and you want to own your outputs. - Your product needs Stability's edit and upscale calls, such as Search and Replace, Replace Background and Relight, or Creative Upscale to 4K. ## How to move from Stable Diffusion to another setup 1. Save every API result you still need now, since slow services such as Creative Upscale keep results for only 24 hours. 2. If you self-host, keep the SD 3.5 or SDXL models you use: ComfyUI lists both, and Invoke runs SDXL, so you can keep them while trying newer models. 3. Write down the prompts, seeds and edit settings behind your best results, and run three of them in the new tool to compare. 4. If you call the API from code, list each endpoint you use, such as Search and Replace or Inpaint, and find the matching tool or model in the alternative before you switch. Does not carry over: Stability API credits and code written for its /v2beta endpoints stay with Stability; other platforms have their own endpoints and billing. ## Stable Diffusion alternatives: questions ### What is a free alternative to Stable Diffusion? ComfyUI (GPL v3), Invoke (Apache 2.0) and Fooocus are open-source apps you run at no charge, and AUTOMATIC1111 is free too, though its last release was in February 2025. Stability's own Community License is free for self-hosting under $1M in annual revenue, and the API starts with 25 credits. Every ImageQuarry plan is paid. ### Does Stability AI still have a consumer app? Stable Assistant's pages now redirect to other parts of stability.ai, and no official shutdown notice was found. Stability's hosted app today is Brand Studio, formerly DreamStudio, aimed at professional teams, with a 500 credit trial. ### Which Stable Diffusion alternative works on AMD or a Mac? ComfyUI's manual install supports NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple Silicon. Invoke runs on all Apple Silicon Macs (16GB of memory recommended) and supports AMD on Linux only. Fooocus treats AMD support as beta, and its README says Mac M1 and M2 are about 9 times slower than recent NVIDIA cards. ### Which alternative lets me edit by describing the change? FLUX 3 Image takes the edit as a written instruction, ComfyUI runs edit models such as Flux Kontext and Qwen Image Edit, and Stability's own Search and Replace works through API prompts. In ImageQuarry, you select a version and ask for the change in words, and the result arrives as a new version. ### Which alternatives have an API? FLUX sells API access at $0.01 a credit, ComfyUI lists API endpoints next to Comfy Cloud, and Replicate, a model API platform now part of Cloudflare, runs many image models by the second. Stability's own Platform API remains available. ### How is ImageQuarry different from Stability's models? Stable Diffusion gives you models to run or call. ImageQuarry is a workspace you use in its own app, where you create from a description or an upload, ask for changes in words, and keep each version in projects. ## Sources Checked 2026-10-20. - [Stability AI: docs.stability.ai/api-reference](https://docs.stability.ai/api-reference) - [Stability AI: docs.stability.ai/api-reference/upscale/conservative](https://docs.stability.ai/api-reference/upscale/conservative) - [Stability AI: docs.stability.ai/faq](https://docs.stability.ai/faq) - [Stability AI: docs.stability.ai/pricing](https://docs.stability.ai/pricing) - [Stability AI: platform.stability.ai/docs/api-reference](https://platform.stability.ai/docs/api-reference) - [Stability AI: stability.ai](https://stability.ai/) - [Stability AI: stability.ai/license](https://stability.ai/license) - [Stability AI: stability.ai/stable-assistant](https://stability.ai/stable-assistant) - [Stability AI: stability.ai/stable-image](https://stability.ai/stable-image) - [Stability AI: web.archive.org/web/20260905080618/https://stability.ai/stable-assistant](https://web.archive.org/web/20260905080618/https://stability.ai/stable-assistant) - [AUTOMATIC1111: github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui](https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui) - [AUTOMATIC1111: github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui/releases](https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui/releases) - [ComfyUI: comfy.org](https://comfy.org/) - [ComfyUI: comfy.org/pricing](https://comfy.org/pricing/) - [ComfyUI: github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI](https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI) - [ComfyUI: github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/releases](https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/releases) - [DreamStudio: kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/-fraud-alert-identifying-genuine-dream-studio-transactions-and-reporting-fraud](https://kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/-fraud-alert-identifying-genuine-dream-studio-transactions-and-reporting-fraud) - [DreamStudio: kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/brand-studio-subscription-plans-overview](https://kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/brand-studio-subscription-plans-overview) - [DreamStudio: kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/how-b-credits-work-billing-faqs](https://kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/how-b-credits-work-billing-faqs) - [DreamStudio: kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/your-quick-guide-to-getting-started-with-brand-studio](https://kb.stability.ai/knowledge-base/your-quick-guide-to-getting-started-with-brand-studio) - [DreamStudio: stability.ai/news-updates/brand-studio-by-stability-ai-creative-production-platform-for-brands](https://stability.ai/news-updates/brand-studio-by-stability-ai-creative-production-platform-for-brands) - [Flux: bfl.ai](https://bfl.ai/) - [Flux: bfl.ai/legal/developer-terms-of-service](https://bfl.ai/legal/developer-terms-of-service) - [Flux: bfl.ai/pricing](https://bfl.ai/pricing) - [Flux: docs.bfl.ai/llms.txt](https://docs.bfl.ai/llms.txt) - [Flux: docs.bfl.ml/flux_3/flux3_image_overview.md](https://docs.bfl.ml/flux_3/flux3_image_overview.md) - [Flux: docs.bfl.ml/quick_start/pricing.md](https://docs.bfl.ml/quick_start/pricing.md) - [Fooocus: github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus](https://github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus) - [Invoke: invoke.ai](https://invoke.ai/) - [Invoke: invoke.ai/features/canvas/layers-and-drops](https://invoke.ai/features/canvas/layers-and-drops/) - [Invoke: invoke.ai/features/external-models](https://invoke.ai/features/external-models/) - [Invoke: invoke.ai/features/gallery](https://invoke.ai/features/gallery/) - [Invoke: invoke.ai/start-here/system-requirements](https://invoke.ai/start-here/system-requirements/) - [Replicate: replicate.com](https://replicate.com/) - [Replicate: replicate.com/blog/replicate-cloudflare](https://replicate.com/blog/replicate-cloudflare) - [Replicate: replicate.com/pricing](https://replicate.com/pricing) ## Related pages - [Invoke alternatives](https://www.imagequarry.com/alternatives/invoke/): Alternatives to the open-source InvokeAI app now that its hosted service has shut down. - [All AI image tool alternatives](https://www.imagequarry.com/alternatives/): Every alternatives page, grouped by kind of tool. ## No install, just ask for the next change Describe the image or upload one, request each edit in plain words, and come back to any version in your project later.