Stable Diffusion 3.5
Stability AIImage GenerationOpen SourceThe most popular open-source image generation model with extensive customization through LoRAs, ControlNet, and community models.
Abilities
Use Cases
Available in Tools
Availability
How to Use
Pros
- Open source with enormous active community — thousands of custom models and LoRAs on Civitai
- Unmatched customization — LoRAs, ControlNet, IP-Adapter, inpainting, img2img
- Can run locally on consumer GPUs (8GB+ VRAM) — zero ongoing costs
- Full control over every aspect of the generation pipeline
- ComfyUI enables complex node-based workflows for professional use
Cons
- Requires GPU and technical knowledge to set up locally
- Prompt engineering has a steep learning curve for consistent quality
- Community license restricts large-scale commercial use (>1M monthly revenue)
- Raw output quality typically below DALL-E 3 or Midjourney without fine-tuning
- No built-in safety filters — requires responsible deployment practices
What to Use It For
Perfect For
Unmatched ecosystem of customization tools — LoRAs, ControlNet, IP-Adapter, and inpainting enable precise creative control
Once set up locally, every image is free — ideal for high-volume generation pipelines
ComfyUI node-based workflows allow controlling every aspect of the generation process
Good For
Extensive style control through LoRAs and prompting enables rapid iteration on visual concepts
Self-hosted deployment enables automated batch generation of thousands of images at no per-image cost
Not Recommended
Requires GPU setup, software installation, and prompt engineering knowledge to get started
Try instead: DALL-E 3
Raw output quality requires fine-tuning and careful prompting to match polished results from closed models
Try instead: Midjourney v6
Do Not Use For
Image-only model — cannot generate, analyze, or process text in any way
Try instead: GPT-4o
Static image model with no temporal or video generation capabilities
Try instead: Sora