Stable Diffusion 3.5 vs FLUX.1 [dev] vs HiDream-O1
For self-hosted pipelines only open weights count. This battle pits the three strongest open image models against each other.
Verdict
FLUX.1 [dev] wins on raw quality, SD 3.5 on ecosystem and fine-tunes, HiDream-O1 on pure economics.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| # | Model | Arena Elo | Gen Speed | Cost / Image | Resolutions | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large Stability AI | 1175 | 2.8s | $0.015 | 1024x1024, 2048x2048 | Open Weights |
| 10 | FLUX.1 [dev] Black Forest Labs | 1215 | 2.1s | $0.012 | 1024x1024, 1536x1536 | Open Weights |
| 23 | HiDream-O1-Image HiDream.ai | 1152 | 3.5s | $0.008 | 1024x1024, Custom AR | Open Weights |
Model-by-Model
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large — Stability AI
FLUX.1 [dev] leads the open-weights pack at 1215 Elo — genuinely near-frontier quality you can run on a single 24GB GPU.
FLUX.1 [dev] — Black Forest Labs
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large (1175 Elo) has the deepest ecosystem: thousands of LoRAs, ControlNets and fine-tunes — for community tooling nothing comes close.
HiDream-O1-Image — HiDream.ai
HiDream-O1-Image (1152 Elo) is the budget sleeper: $0.008/image via API, open weights, solid photoreal output for the price.
FAQ
What is the best open-weights image model in 2026?
FLUX.1 [dev] at 1215 Arena Elo is the strongest openly-available image model on our leaderboard.
Stable Diffusion 3.5 or FLUX for fine-tuning?
SD 3.5 — its LoRA/ControlNet ecosystem is vastly larger. FLUX fine-tunes exist but are heavier to train and less documented.
What is the cheapest open image API?
HiDream-O1 at roughly $0.008 per image, then Z-Image Turbo at $0.005 (lower quality), then FLUX.1 [dev] at $0.012.