# Open Source AI Image Generator > An open source AI image generator is an image model whose weights you can download and run yourself. The strongest in 2026 are FLUX.2 (Black Forest Labs), Qwen-Image (Alibaba), HiDream-I1, Z-Image and HunyuanImage 3.0 (Tencent). Licences differ: Qwen-Image, Z-Image and FLUX.2 [klein] 4B are Apache 2.0, HiDream-I1 is MIT, while FLUX.2 [dev] weights are non-commercial. To skip the GPU, Kenerate runs 20 open models online. URL: https://kenerateai.com/open-source-ai-image-generator Publisher: Kenerate AI (https://kenerateai.com) Last updated: 20 October 2026 ## Key facts - Apache 2.0: Qwen-Image, Z-Image, FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, Chroma1-HD - MIT: HiDream-I1 - Non-commercial weights: FLUX.2 [dev], FLUX.2 [klein] 9B - Own licence: HunyuanImage (not EU, UK, South Korea) - Smallest to run locally: FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, about 13 GB VRAM - Online on Kenerate: 20 open models, Flux 2 Dev on the free plan ## Steps 1. Open Image Studio — Sign in free for starter credits — Flux 2 Dev and Flux 2 Klein are on the free plan. 2. Pick an open model — Flux 2, Qwen Image, HiDream, Z Image, Hunyuan Image, Chroma and others are in the model picker. 3. Write the prompt — Sentence-style prompts for FLUX.2, Qwen and HiDream; tags for Pony-style models. 4. Compare and download — Run the same prompt on two open models, keep the best, download without a watermark. ## In depth ### Open-weight image models in 2026, and what their licences allow Licence and size as each model card states them on Hugging Face (checked 20 October 2026). Licences cover the weights; read the full text before commercial use. - FLUX.2 [dev] (Black Forest Labs): licence FLUX Non-Commercial License; size 32B; on Kenerate: Flux 2 Dev (free plan). - FLUX.2 [klein] 4B (Black Forest Labs): licence Apache 2.0; size 4B, ~13 GB VRAM; on Kenerate: Flux 2 Klein (free plan), Klein Base 4B. - FLUX.2 [klein] Base 9B (Black Forest Labs): licence FLUX Non-Commercial License; size 9B; on Kenerate: Flux 2 Klein Base 9B. - FLUX.1 [schnell] / [dev] (Black Forest Labs): licence Apache 2.0 / FLUX.1 [dev] Non-Commercial; size 12B; on Kenerate: Flux Schnell, Flux Dev. - Qwen-Image / Qwen-Image-2512 (Alibaba (Qwen)): licence Apache 2.0; size 20B; on Kenerate: Qwen Image, Qwen Image 2512. - HiDream-I1 Full / Dev (HiDream.ai): licence MIT; size 17B; on Kenerate: HiDream I1 Full, I1 Dev. - Z-Image (Alibaba (Tongyi-MAI)): licence Apache 2.0; size 6B; Turbo fits 16 GB; on Kenerate: Z Image Base. - HunyuanImage 3.0 / 2.1 (Tencent): licence Tencent Hunyuan Community (excludes EU, UK, South Korea); size 3.0: 80B MoE, 13B active; on Kenerate: Hunyuan Image 3, Hunyuan Image 2.1. - Chroma1-HD (lodestones): licence Apache 2.0; size 8.9B (from FLUX.1 schnell); on Kenerate: Chroma. - Neta Lumina (Neta.art): licence Apache 2.0; size Built on Lumina-Image 2.0; on Kenerate: Neta Lumina. - LongCat-Image (Meituan): licence Apache 2.0; size 6B, ~17 GB VRAM with offload; on Kenerate: LongCat Image. - ERNIE-Image (Baidu): licence Apache 2.0; size 8B; on Kenerate: ERNIE Image. - BitDance-14B (BitDance): licence Apache 2.0; size 14B; on Kenerate: BitDance 14B. - Nucleus-Image (NucleusAI): licence Apache 2.0; size Sparse MoE; on Kenerate: Nucleus Image. - SDXL 1.0 (and Pony fine-tunes) (Stability AI): licence CreativeML Open RAIL++-M; fine-tunes add their own terms; size —; on Kenerate: Prefect Pony XL. - Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large (Stability AI): licence Stability AI Community (free under US$1M revenue); size 8B; on Kenerate: Not on Kenerate — run locally. ### Run an open model locally, or online? Same weights, two ways to use them. - Hardware — locally: An NVIDIA GPU: about 13 GB VRAM for FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, 16 GB for Z-Image Turbo, far more for 20B+ models; online: Any browser, phone included. - Setup — locally: Install ComfyUI or Diffusers, download weights (some gated), keep drivers updated; online: None — pick the model and type. - Cost — locally: Your GPU and electricity; no per-image fee; online: Credits per image; Flux 2 Dev and Klein on the free plan. - Licence — locally: You accept each model's licence when you download it; online: You use the hosted model through Kenerate's terms. - Custom LoRAs and nodes — locally: Yes — any LoRA, ControlNet or workflow; online: No custom LoRAs; reference images and edits instead. - Privacy — locally: Images never leave your machine; online: Private mode keeps results out of the public feed. - Switching models — locally: Download and test each one; online: 20 open models plus closed ones in one picker. ### Models vs apps Many 'open source image generator' lists mix two things. Models are the trained weights — FLUX.2, Qwen-Image, HiDream-I1. Apps are what you run them in — ComfyUI, InvokeAI, Fooocus, Automatic1111, or a hosted studio like Kenerate. The model decides image quality and the licence; the app decides how easy it is to use. ### Reading an image model licence Three questions cover most cases: - Can I use it commercially? Apache 2.0 and MIT: yes. FLUX non-commercial: not without a separate licence. Stability Community: yes under US$1M revenue. - Where can I use it? The Tencent Hunyuan licence excludes the EU, UK and South Korea. - Do fine-tunes change it? A LoRA or merge usually carries the base model's licence plus its author's own terms. ### Why run an open model online Running locally gives you privacy, custom LoRAs and no per-image fee — if you have the GPU. Online, you skip the download and can run the same prompt on FLUX.2, Qwen-Image and HiDream in a minute to see which one suits the job, then keep using it locally if you like. ## FAQ Q: What is the best open source AI image generator? A: In 2026 the strongest open-weight image models are FLUX.2 from Black Forest Labs, Qwen-Image from Alibaba, HiDream-I1, Z-Image and Tencent's HunyuanImage 3.0. For commercial projects, pick an Apache 2.0 or MIT model — Qwen-Image, Z-Image, FLUX.2 [klein] 4B or HiDream-I1. All five families run on Kenerate without a GPU. Q: Is FLUX.2 open source? A: Its weights are open, but not all under the same licence. FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is Apache 2.0, so it can be used commercially. FLUX.2 [dev] and FLUX.2 [klein] 9B are released under the FLUX Non-Commercial License, according to their Hugging Face model cards. Black Forest Labs sells commercial licences and runs its own API for the larger models. Q: Which open source image models can be used commercially? A: Models under Apache 2.0 or MIT allow commercial use under those licences' terms: Qwen-Image and Qwen-Image-2512, Z-Image, FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, FLUX.1 [schnell], Chroma1-HD, Neta Lumina, LongCat-Image, ERNIE-Image, BitDance-14B and Nucleus-Image (Apache 2.0), and HiDream-I1 (MIT). Stable Diffusion 3.5 is free for organisations under US$1 million annual revenue. Q: Can I run an open source image generator on my own PC? A: Yes, with an NVIDIA GPU and ComfyUI or Hugging Face Diffusers. The compact models are built for it: Black Forest Labs says FLUX.2 [klein] 4B fits in about 13 GB of VRAM (RTX 3090 or 4070 and up), and Tongyi-MAI says Z-Image Turbo fits within 16 GB. 20B-and-up models such as Qwen-Image or HunyuanImage 3.0 need far more memory. Q: Is there a free open source AI image generator online? A: Yes. On Kenerate, Flux 2 Dev and Flux 2 Klein are on the free plan, and a new account gets starter credits for other open models such as Qwen Image, HiDream, Z Image and Hunyuan Image. Nothing to install, and downloads carry no watermark. Q: Is Stable Diffusion still the best open source option? A: It's still the biggest ecosystem: SDXL fine-tunes such as Pony, thousands of LoRAs and ControlNets. For raw image quality and prompt following, newer open models — FLUX.2, Qwen-Image, HiDream-I1, Z-Image — have overtaken it. Kenerate runs Prefect Pony XL from the SDXL family; for SD in the browser, see Stable Diffusion online free. Q: What is the difference between open source and open weights? A: Open weights means you can download the trained model file. Open source in the strict sense also means a licence that lets anyone use, change and share it, including commercially. So Apache 2.0 or MIT models like Qwen-Image and HiDream-I1 are open in both senses, while FLUX.2 [dev] is open-weight but non-commercial. Q: Is HunyuanImage 3.0 open source? A: Its weights are public under the Tencent Hunyuan Community License, not Apache or MIT. The licence text says it does not apply in the European Union, the United Kingdom or South Korea. Tencent's card describes it as a Mixture-of-Experts model with 80 billion parameters, 13 billion active per token. Kenerate runs it as Hunyuan Image 3. ## Related pages - BitDance-14B: https://kenerateai.com/models/shallowdream204/bitdance-14b - LongCat-Image: https://kenerateai.com/models/meituan-longcat/longcat-image - ComfyUI alternative: https://kenerateai.com/comfyui-alternative - ERNIE-Image: https://kenerateai.com/models/baidu/ernie-image - Stable Diffusion online free: https://kenerateai.com/stable-diffusion-online-free - Flux 2: https://kenerateai.com/model/flux-2 - Qwen Image: https://kenerateai.com/model/qwen-image - HiDream: https://kenerateai.com/model/hidream - Hunyuan Image: https://kenerateai.com/model/hunyuan-image - FLUX.2 [klein] Base 9B: https://kenerateai.com/models/black-forest-labs/flux-2-klein-base-9b - AI image generator: https://kenerateai.com/ai-image-generator ## Sources - Black Forest Labs — FLUX.2 [klein] 4B model card: https://huggingface.co/black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-klein-4B - Black Forest Labs — FLUX.2 [dev] model card: https://huggingface.co/black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev - Qwen — Qwen-Image model card: https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen-Image - HiDream.ai — HiDream-I1 Full model card: https://huggingface.co/HiDream-ai/HiDream-I1-Full - Tencent — HunyuanImage 3.0 model card and licence: https://huggingface.co/tencent/HunyuanImage-3.0 - Stability AI — Community License: https://stability.ai/community-license-agreement