FLUX.1
Open-weight text-to-image model from Black Forest Labs with state-of-the-art quality and API access.
Pricing
Free tier
Usage-based
Adoption
↘CoolingLicense
Open Source
Data freshness
Verified · Jun 21, 2026Overview
What is FLUX.1?
FLUX.1 is a family of text-to-image models from Black Forest Labs (founded by the original Stable Diffusion researchers). It comes in open-weight variants (schnell, dev) you can self-host and a hosted Pro variant via API, and is widely regarded as state-of-the-art for open image generation. FLUX powers many third-party tools (via Replicate, fal, Together) and can run locally on capable GPUs, making it the open flagship for developers who want control.
Key differentiator
“The open-weight flagship — state-of-the-art quality you can self-host or call via API, from the original Stable Diffusion team.”
Capability profile
Capability Radar
Honest assessment
Strengths & Weaknesses
↑ Strengths
Widely rated top among open-weight generators; rivals closed models on many prompts
schnell (Apache-2.0) and dev variants run locally on capable GPUs — full control, no per-image fees
Hosted on Replicate, fal, Together; integrates into many pipelines
↓ Weaknesses
dev/Pro-quality inference wants 24GB+ VRAM; not laptop-friendly
No polished consumer app; you use it via APIs or self-hosted UIs
FLUX.1 [dev] is non-commercial; commercial use needs Pro/API or schnell
Fit analysis
Who is it for?
✓ Best for
Developers wanting open weights and self-hosting
Run locally with full control and no per-image fees (schnell)
API image generation with cost control
Hosted via Replicate/fal at competitive per-image pricing
✕ Not a fit for
Non-technical users wanting a polished app
No consumer app — access is via API or self-hosted UIs
Commercial use of the dev weights without a license
FLUX.1 [dev] is non-commercial; use schnell or Pro/API
Cost structure
Pricing
Free Tier
Available
Open weights (schnell) are free to self-host
Starts at
$0.003/image (API)
Model
Usage-based
Enterprise
Available
schnell open weights free to self-host; Pro via API ~$0.003-0.05/image depending on variant/host.
View full pricing details ↗Performance benchmarks
How Fast Is It?
Ecosystem
Relationships
Next step
Get Started with FLUX.1
Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.