ComfyUI is a node-based user interface designed for Stable Diffusion. It is becoming increasingly popular among Stable Diffusion users due to its high level of configurability, making it a favored choice for both developers and artists. ComfyUI serves as an excellent alternative to traditional Stable Diffusion graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as AUTOMATIC1111, Forge, and SD.Next.
This guide covers installing ComfyUI on Windows and Mac. See the Beginner’s Guide for using ComfyUI.
Benefits of ComfyUI
Why use ComfyUI? It offers a different experience from other GUIs. ComfyUI stands out in the following areas.
1. Lightweight
Unlike other full-feature GUIs such as AUTOMATIC1111, ComfyUI only loads what is necessary. This results in lower memory usage and faster generations.
2. Flexible
ComfyUI is very configurable. You can easily generate two images with different CFG scales in a single workflow and compare the results.
3. You know what it is doing
If you have a good knowledge of how Stable Diffusion works, ComfyUI shows you precisely what it does. No more guesswork.
4. Easy to share workflows
Instead of writing a description of what buttons to click, you can save a workflow in JSON and PNG files and share it with someone else.
5. Good for prototyping
It’s a godsend for developers because you can prototype a workflow before coding it for production.
6. Cutting-edge workflows
AUTOMATIC1111 used to be the first GUI to implement the latest tools coming out from the research labs. But now, the software team is more cautious in pushing out new features. ComfyUI has the benefit of being agile. Their node-based system allows many more users to wire up and share workflows. You can count on ComfyUI to use the latest goodies.
Installing ComfyUI on Windows
Installing ComfyUI on Windows and Mac:
- Visit ComfyUI.org
- Download ComfyUI ofr your system or download from GitHub.
- Open downloaded file and follow steps on the screen.
After starting ComfyUI for the very first time, you should see the default text-to-image workflow. It should look like this:
If this is not what you see, click Load Default on the right panel to return this default text-to-image workflow.
1. Selecting a model
First, select a Stable Diffusion Checkpoint model in the Load Checkpoint node. Click on the model name to show a list of available models. A great source for Checkpoints is Civita.
If the node is too small, you can use the mouse wheel or pinch with two fingers on the touchpad to zoom in and out.
2. Enter a prompt and a negative prompt
You should see two nodes with the label CLIP Text Encode (Prompt). Enter your prompt in the top one and your negative prompt in the bottom one.
3. Generate an image
Click Queue Prompt to run the workflow. After a short wait, you should see the first image generated. For prompt ideas visit Multimedia Artist prompt shares
Alternative to local installation
After a successful installation, you must keep the software and custom nodes up-to-date.
Check out Think Diffusion for a fully managed ComfyUI online service. They offer 20% extra credits to our readers. (and a small commission to support this site if you sign up).