ComfyUI vs InvokeAI
Two of the top image and video, side by side: score, setup, license, activity and what each review found.
ComfyUI
Node-graph engine for diffusion image, video, audio and 3D models
InvokeAI
Canvas-first web UI for Stable Diffusion and Flux image generation
| What we compare | ComfyUI | InvokeAI |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 97, widely used | 58, popular |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 77, fair | 86, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 33, some setup |
| Agent-ready | 30, minimal | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 136.9k | 28.6k |
| License | GPL-3.0 (copyleft) | Apache-2.0 (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Language | Not stated | Not stated |
| Docker | No | Yes |
| GPU | Optional | Not stated |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Not stated |
ComfyUI
Builds generation pipelines as a visual node graph and runs them locally for image (SD 1.5, SDXL, SD3.5, Flux.1 and Flux.2, Qwen Image), video (Wan 2.x, LTX-Video, HunyuanVideo), audio (ACE-Step, Stable Audio) and 3D (Hunyuan3D) models, with a local API and an App Mode that exposes a workflow as a simple UI. Runs on NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Apple Silicon and Ascend. For professionals who want control over every parameter.
Who it is for: Visual professionals running diffusion models locally
Strengths
- Asynchronous weight streaming runs large models on 4 GB VRAM plus 8 GB RAM
- Workflows saved as JSON and recoverable from generated media metadata
- Runs fully offline; --offline disables the paid API nodes
- Loads checkpoints, separate diffusion models, VAEs, text encoders, LoRAs, ControlNets
Weaknesses
- Commits outside stable tags can break many custom nodes; stable releases roughly biweekly
- GPL-3.0 license constrains embedding in proprietary products
- NVIDIA 20-series and newer require PyTorch built with CUDA 13.0 or above
- Paid partner and API nodes stay on unless --offline or --disable-partner-nodes is set
- RAM ≥ 8 GB
- GPU optional
- Models: Stable Diffusion 1.5, SDXL, SD3.5, Flux.1 and Flux.2, Qwen Image and Qwen Image Edit, Wan 2.1/2.2, LTX-Video 2
InvokeAI
Local web server and React UI for image generation with a Unified Canvas (inpainting, outpainting, brushes), a node-based workflow editor and a boards gallery with per-image metadata. Loads SD 1.5 to SD 3.5, SDXL, Flux.1 and Flux.2 variants, Qwen Image, Z-Image, Krea 2 and CogView 4 in ckpt, diffusers and some GGUF formats; Nano Banana, GPT Image and Wan are API-only. For artists iterating on images.
Who it is for: Artists iterating on images with a canvas workflow
Strengths
- Unified Canvas with in/outpainting, brush tools and SAM/SAM2 segmentation
- Broad model list including Flux.2 Dev and Klein, SD 3.5 Large, Qwen Image Edit
- Apache-2.0 license; serves as the base for commercial products
- Dedicated launcher application handles install and updates
Weaknesses
- No Dockerfile or compose file at the repo root; install goes through the Launcher
- README lists features only; ports, hardware needs and env vars are in external docs
- Video generation (Wan) is API-only, not local
- Nano Banana and GPT Image require third-party API access
- Docker + Compose
- Models: SD 1.5, SD 2.0, SDXL, SD 3.5 Medium/Large, CogView 4