Stability AI vs Black Forest Labs
Flux produces noticeably better images, especially for text and complex scenes. SDXL wins on accessibility and ecosystem.
Choose SDXL if you have 10-12GB VRAM, need specific LoRAs, or prioritize speed.
Choose Flux if you have 16GB+ VRAM and want the best possible image quality.
SDXL and Flux are the two leading open image generation models. Both run locally and produce stunning results.
| Specification | Stable Diffusion XL | Flux.1 Dev |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Stability AI | Black Forest Labs |
| Parameters | ~6.6B | ~12B |
| Context Length | 77 tokens | Unlimited (T5) |
| VRAM (Minimum) | 10GB | 16GB |
| VRAM (Recommended) | 12GB | 24GB |
| Release Date | July 2023 | August 2024 |
| License | CreativeML Open RAIL++-M | Flux Dev License |
| Category | Stable Diffusion XL | Flux.1 Dev | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image Quality | Very Good | Excellent | Flux.1 Dev |
| Text Rendering | Poor | Excellent | Flux.1 Dev |
| Prompt Following | Good | Excellent | Flux.1 Dev |
| Speed (4090) | ~3s/image | ~8s/image | Stable Diffusion XL |
| VRAM Required | 10-12GB | 16-24GB | Stable Diffusion XL |
| LoRA Ecosystem | Massive | Growing | Stable Diffusion XL |
Check our GPU buying guides to find the right hardware for running LLMs locally.