Stable Diffusion

Name: Stable Diffusion
Rating: 4.2

Open-source AI image model with full local control, customization, and no censorship.

developerspower userscustom workflowsprivacy-sensitive use

Try Stable Diffusion

Start using Stable Diffusion today

Free plan available

Provider: Stability AIFree tier: YesAPI: YesStarting price: $0

84/100

Most customizable • Free & open-source • Massive community ecosystem

How we rate

Pros

Completely free and open-source
Run locally with full privacy
Massive ecosystem of community models
Most customizable (LoRA, ControlNet, etc.)
No content restrictions when self-hosted

Cons

Steep learning curve
Requires powerful GPU for local use
Base model quality below Midjourney
Setup can be complex for beginners
Text rendering still weak

What Real Users Say

Loved (75% positive)

r/StableDiffusion is one of the most active AI art communities. Users love the freedom and customization. Complaints center on the learning curve and Stability AI's business direction. ComfyUI and Automatic1111 are the dominant interfaces.

“SD with ComfyUI and custom LoRAs is unbeatable for specific styles. Nothing else gives you this level of control. The learning curve is worth it.”
r/StableDiffusion↑ 2876

“If you have an RTX 4070 or better, running SD locally is free and unlimited. Best value in AI image generation, period.”
r/LocalLLaMA↑ 1654

“SD 3.5 closed the gap with Midjourney significantly. With the right models and prompting it's very competitive now.”
r/StableDiffusion↑ 987

View all

Last updated: 2026-03-15

Specifications

Max Resolution	Up to 2048×2048 (SDXL), scalable with tiling
Model Version	SD 3.5, SDXL 1.0, SD 1.5 (legacy)
Style Range	Unlimited — via community models and LoRAs
Text In Images	Limited (improving in SD 3.5)
Upscaling	Yes — Real-ESRGAN, 4× and beyond
Generation Speed	2-30 seconds (GPU dependent)

Features

Text To Image

Image To Image

Inpainting

Outpainting

Upscaling

Text Rendering

Style Transfer

Batch Generation

Api Access

Video Generation

Pricing

Plan	Price	Limits	Key Features
Self-Hosted	$0	Unlimited (hardware dependent)	Full model access, No content filters, Custom fine-tuning, LoRA support
Stability API	From $0.01/image	Pay per generation	Cloud generation, SD3.5 Turbo, Upscaling, Inpainting API
DreamStudio	$10/1000 credits	~500 images per pack	Web UI, No setup needed, All models, Image editing

Last verified: 2026-03

Compare With

Similar Tools

Midjourney

92/100 • $10/mo

DALL-E 3

86/100 • $0

Ideogram

83/100 • $0

Leonardo AI

81/100 • $0

Compare Stable Diffusion with alternatives

See how Stable Diffusion stacks up against other tools in the same category.

Stable Diffusion vs Midjourney

92/100

Stable Diffusion vs DALL-E 3

86/100

Stable Diffusion vs Ideogram

83/100

Stable Diffusion vs Leonardo AI

81/100