Description
Stability AI
Overview
The Model Family
🖼️ Image - Stable Diffusion
| Model | Parameters | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SD 3.5 Large | 8B | Most powerful, up to 1MP resolution |
| SD 3.5 Large Turbo | 8B | Fast version, some quality tradeoff |
| SD 3.5 Medium | 2.6B | Optimized for consumer hardware |
| SD 3.5 Flash | - | Ultra-fast |
| SDXL 1.0 | 3.5B | Previous flagship, still popular |
| Stable Image Ultra | - | Best quality enterprise (API) |
| Stable Image Core | - | Quality/speed balance |
- Multimodal Diffusion Transformer (MMDiT)
- 3 text encoders: OpenCLIP-ViT/G, CLIP-ViT/L, T5-xxl
- QK-Normalization for stability
- Better typography and complex prompts
- Resolutions up to 2MP
🎬 Video
| Model | Description |
|---|---|
| Stable Video Diffusion (SVD) | Foundation video model, image-to-video |
| Stable Video 3D (SV3D) | Image-to-3D video, multiple angles |
| Stable Video 4D (SV4D) | Dynamic multi-angle videos |
| Stable Virtual Camera | Novel view synthesis |
🔊 Audio
| Model | Description |
|---|---|
| Stable Audio 2.5 | Enterprise text-to-audio, music, SFX |
| Stable Audio Open | Open-source, short samples |
🗣️ Language
| Model | Description |
|---|---|
| StableLM 2 | Open-source LLM (1.6B, 3B, 7B params) |
| Japanese Stable LM | Specialized for Japanese |
🎲 3D
| Model | Description |
|---|---|
| Stable Fast 3D (SF3D) | Image-to-3D in seconds |
| TripoSR | 3D reconstruction (partnership) |
| Stable Zero123 | Single image to 3D |
Products and Platforms
DreamStudio
- Image generation and editing
- Granular parameter control
- Brand-safe outputs
- $10 = 1,000 credits (new users: 25 free credits)
Stable Assistant
Developer Platform API
- Access to all models
- Pay-as-you-go with credits
- 25 free credits on signup
- Enterprise pricing available
Clipdrop
- Remove background
- Cleanup
- Relight
- Upscale
- Uncrop
Pricing (2025)
Credit Model
- $1 = 100 credits
- $10 = 1,000 credits
- Standard image: ~0.2 credits
API Pricing (per image/operation)
| Model | Credits |
|---|---|
| Stable Image Ultra | Higher cost |
| SD 3.5 Large | Medium-high |
| SD 3.5 Large Turbo | Medium |
| SD 3.5 Medium | Low |
| SDXL 1.0 | Low |
Licenses
| Use | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Personal/Research | Free (Community License) |
| Commercial <$1M revenue | Free (Community License) |
| Commercial >$1M revenue | Enterprise License required |
Enterprise
- Custom volume-based pricing
- Indemnification
- Dedicated support
- SLAs
- On-premises deployment
Integrations and Partners
Cloud Providers
- Amazon Bedrock - SD available
- Google Cloud - Vertex AI
- Microsoft Azure - Integration
Enterprise Partners
- WPP - Strategic partnership + Investment (Mar 2025)
- HubSpot - On-brand visuals
- Mercado Libre - 25% higher CTR
- Arm - Mobile optimization
Open Source
- Hugging Face - Models available
- ComfyUI - Recommended local
- Diffusers - Python library
Use Cases by Industry
Advertising & Marketing
- Campaign visual generation
- Product variations
- Personalization at scale
Entertainment & Gaming
- Concept art
- Asset generation
- Storyboarding
E-commerce
- Product photography
- Background removal
- Lifestyle imagery
Media & Publishing
- Editorial illustrations
- Cover art
- Visual content
PROS ✅
- Pioneer Open-Source - Started the revolution with SD
- 80% Market Share - Majority of AI-generated images
- Multimodal - Image, video, audio, 3D, language
- Free for Most - Generous Community License
- 270M+ Downloads - Massive community
- Local Deployment - Runs on consumer GPUs
- Customizable - Fine-tuning, LoRA, ControlNet
- Enterprise Ready - Indemnification, support, SLAs
- James Cameron Board - Hollywood credibility
- WPP Partnership - Enterprise validation
- Constant Innovation - Frequent new models
- ComfyUI Ecosystem - Advanced workflows
CONS ❌
- Getty Images Lawsuit - Copyright controversy (won UK Nov 2025)
- Leadership Turmoil - CEO changes, layoffs
- Financial Challenges - Debt issues in 2024
- API Pricing Changes - Increases August 2025
- No Default Indemnification - Enterprise only
- Quality vs Midjourney - Less "artistic" out-of-box
- Learning Curve - Requires prompting skill
- NSFW Concerns - Model can generate inappropriate content
- Model Size - Large models require hardware
Why Choose Stability AI?
- You want full control (open-source)
- You need local/on-premises deployment
- Your annual revenue is <$1M (free)
- You want to customize models (fine-tuning)
- You need video, audio, 3D besides image
- You value community and open ecosystem
- You work in gaming, VFX, entertainment
- You want "artistic" results out-of-box (→ Midjourney)
- You have no technical knowledge
- You need simple API without complications
- You have strict copyright concerns
- Very limited budget for enterprise
vs Competitors
| vs | Stability AI Wins | Competitor Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Open-source, local, free, customizable | Better aesthetics, easier |
| DALL-E 3 | Free, control, full multimodal | ChatGPT integration, safety |
| Adobe Firefly | Free, more powerful | Creative Cloud integration, ethical training |
| Flux | More established, ecosystem | Comparable quality, open |
| Leonardo AI | More models, customization | Better UX, community |
Company Information
- Founded: 2019
- Headquarters: London, UK (operations in LA)
- Founder: Emad Mostaque (left March 2024)
- Current CEO: Prem Akkaraju (ex-Weta Digital)
- Chairman: Sean Parker (ex-Facebook President)
- Board: James Cameron
- Employees: ~45 (2024, after layoffs)
- Valuation: $1B (Unicorn)
- Total Funding: $181M
Investment Rounds
| Date | Round | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | Seed | $101M | Coatue, Lightspeed |
| Jun 2023 | Seed | ~$10M | Sound Ventures |
| Jun 2024 | Seed | $80M | Coatue, Lightspeed, Greycroft, Sean Parker, Eric Schmidt |
| Mar 2025 | Strategic | - | WPP |
Notable Investors
Metrics
- 270M+ downloads of models
- 80% of AI image market
- 150M+ downloads Stable Diffusion specifically
- #1 most-liked text-to-image on Hugging Face
- 1,000+ images/minute on Amazon Bedrock
Recognition
- Stable Audio - TIME Best Inventions 2023
- Stable Diffusion - Started the generative AI revolution (Aug 2022)
- UK Court Victory - Getty Images lawsuit (Nov 2025)
Important Notes
Community License
- Free for research, non-commercial
- Free for commercial if revenue <$1M annually
- Enterprise license required if >$1M
Acceptable Use Policy
- CSAM
- Deepfakes of people without consent
- Misinformation
- Illegal content
Key Features
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large 8B parameters
SD 3.5 Turbo fast generation
SD 3.5 Medium consumer hardware
SDXL 1.0 previous flagship model
Stable Image Ultra best quality API
Stable Video Diffusion image-to-video
Stable Video 3D multiple angles
Stable Video 4D dynamic multi-view
Stable Audio 2.5 music and SFX
Stable Audio Open source
StableLM 2 language models
Stable Fast 3D image-to-3D seconds
DreamStudio official web app
Clipdrop editing tools
API Developer Platform
ControlNets Blur Canny Depth
Community License free under $1M
Local deployment consumer GPUs
Fine-tuning LoRA customization
ComfyUI advanced workflows
Use Cases
Image generation text-to-image
Image-to-image editing variations
Inpainting outpainting extension
Concept art games movies
Product photography e-commerce
Marketing advertising campaigns
Storyboarding pre-production
Asset generation gaming
Background removal product shots
Upscaling resolution enhancement
Video generation short clips
3D asset creation from images
Audio music generation
Sound effects SFX creation
Brand visual generation
Editorial illustrations
Social media content
NFT digital art creation
Architectural visualization
Fashion design prototyping
Categories
Information
Company
Stability AI Ltd.
Website
stability.aiUser Reviews
Related AIs
ChatGPT
OpenAI
ChatGPT by OpenAI is a versatile AI assistant that excels at natural conversation, content creation, and complex problem-solving. With advanced multimodal capabilities, it processes text, voice, and images to streamline productivity and creativity.
DALL-E
OpenAI
OpenAI AI image generation system including DALL-E 3 and the new GPT-Image-1, with text-to-image, editing, inpainting capabilities and up to 4K resolution, integrated in ChatGPT and available via API.
Jasper AI
Jasper AI Inc.
AI platform for marketing content creation with personalized Brand Voice, 50+ templates, SEO integration and team collaboration. Used by 20% of Fortune 500.