Automatic1111 (Stable Diffusion WebUI) is the classic open-source browser interface for Stable Diffusion. It made AI image generation accessible to millions with its simple tabs for text-to-image, image-to-image, inpainting and a huge extension library.
Table of Contents
What Is Automatic1111?
It is a Gradio-based web app that runs Stable Diffusion models locally or on a server. You open it in your browser, type a prompt and generate images. It supports SD 1.5, SDXL, LoRAs, embeddings, ControlNet and many extensions.
Automatic1111 in 2026
Automatic1111 is mature and stable, but updates have become infrequent, and it does not support newer models like FLUX.2 natively. Many users now run Forge, a faster fork with lower VRAM use and FLUX support, or move to ComfyUI.
Key Features
- txt2img, img2img, inpainting and outpainting
- Extensions: ControlNet, ADetailer, Deforum and more
- LoRA, embeddings and hypernetworks
- Upscalers (ESRGAN, 4x-UltraSharp)
- API mode for automation (
--api)
Hardware Requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA 4–6 GB | NVIDIA RTX 12–24 GB |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Python | 3.10.6 | 3.10.6 |
How to Install
Follow our step-by-step guide: How to install Automatic1111 on Windows.
Alternatives
- ComfyUI for the newest models
- Forge for a faster A1111-style UI
- Fooocus for simple prompting
- SwarmUI for a friendly UI on top of ComfyUI
Run Automatic1111 on a GPU Server
No powerful GPU at home? You can run Automatic1111 on a rented GPU server instead. RunPod has an Automatic1111/Forge template on RTX 4090s at $0.34/hour. For a fixed monthly price, GPU Mart (RTX A4000 VPS from $119/month, RTX 4090 $409/month) and HOSTKEY (RTX 4090 from €279/month) offer dedicated servers you can keep running 24/7.
FAQ
Yes, it is free and open source.
Not natively; use Forge or ComfyUI for FLUX models.
Conclusion
Automatic1111 is still a friendly way to generate images with SD 1.5 and SDXL. For newer AI models, pair it with Forge or ComfyUI.