ComfyUI vs Flux vs Leonardo.ai vs Recraft
A side-by-side look at ComfyUI, Flux, Leonardo.ai and Recraft for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
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Node-based workflows for image, video and audio generation, run locally or on Comfy Cloud
- Price
- Local app free (GPL-3.0); Comfy Cloud Standard $20/mo ($16/mo billed yearly)
- Learning
- Steep
- Best for
- Filmmakers who need a repeatable, documented process for a series of shots
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Image model family for accurate text and photoreal stills, plus FLUX 3 video with native audio
- Price
- Pay per image on the API, from $0.014 (FLUX.2 klein 4B). Open weights are free for non-commercial use; commercial open-weights licences are quoted by sales.
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Key art and concept frames where legible text in the image matters
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Image and video generation with a canvas, Motion animation and third-party video models
- Price
- See the vendor's pricing page
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Concept art and key-art stills that later become motion tests
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Image and native SVG generation for logos, icons, and brand assets, plus video models in Studio
- Price
- Free (limited credits); Basic $12/mo; Pro $20/mo; Teams $22/seat/mo (monthly billing, annual saves about 20%)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Title cards, logos and lower-third graphics that must scale without quality loss
The short version
Where they differ
- Flux is the only one without third-party models.
All 4 offer: text to image, image editing, text to video, public API.
Feature by feature
ComfyUI vs Flux vs Leonardo.ai vs Recraft: capabilities
| ComfyUI | Flux | Leonardo.ai | Recraft | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Local app free (GPL-3.0); Comfy Cloud Standard $20/mo ($16/mo billed yearly) | Pay per image on the API, from $0.014 (FLUX.2 klein 4B). Open weights are free for non-commercial use; commercial open-weights licences are quoted by sales. | See the vendor's pricing page | Free (limited credits); Basic $12/mo; Pro $20/mo; Teams $22/seat/mo (monthly billing, annual saves about 20%) |
| Infinite canvas | Partial | No | Yes | Yes |
| Node / flow builder | Yes | No | Partial | Not confirmed |
| AI agent | Partial | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Partial | Not confirmed | Partial | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Video to video | Partial | Partial | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Native audio in video | Not confirmed | Yes | Partial | Not confirmed |
| Lip-sync | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Voice / TTS | Not confirmed | Partial | Not confirmed | No |
| Music & SFX | Yes | Partial | Not confirmed | No |
| Upscaling | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Character consistency | Not confirmed | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Camera control | Not confirmed | Partial | Partial | Not confirmed |
| Custom training | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Third-party models | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Mobile app | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Open source | Yes | Partial | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
ComfyUI
| Local | Freenone |
|---|---|
| Standard | $20/mo or $16/mo yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Creator | $35/mo or $28/mo yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Pro | $100/mo or $80/mo yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Team | $700/mo or $630/mo yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Enterprise | Customcustom |
Flux
| Open weights, non-commercial | Freeone-time download |
|---|---|
| API pay-as-you-go | From $0.014 per imagepay-per-image |
| Builder (open-weights licence) | Contact saleslicence |
| Platform (open-weights licence) | Contact saleslicence |
| Professional (open-weights licence) | Contact saleslicence |
| Enterprise | Contact salescustom |
Leonardo.ai
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| API | Pay as you gousage |
Recraft
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Basic | $12 ($10/mo billed yearly)monthly |
| Pro | $20 ($16/mo billed yearly)monthly |
| Teams | $22 per seat ($18/mo billed yearly)per seat per month |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
ComfyUI
Pick it for
- Filmmakers who need a repeatable, documented process for a series of shots
- Motion and VFX teams combining several models in one pass
- Studios that want local GPU generation with a free app and no per-render fee
Stands out
- Open source under GPL-3.0 with a free local app; Comfy Cloud is optional and billed in credits
- Every step of a generation is a visible node, so a workflow can be saved, versioned and rerun for the same shot
Watch out
- Node graphs take time to learn; App Mode hides the detail until you need it
- Local speed depends entirely on your GPU and model choice
Flux
Pick it for
- Key art and concept frames where legible text in the image matters
- Environment plates and set-design variations at 2K or 4K, priced per megapixel
- Studios that want open weights and custom LoRAs running locally in ComfyUI
Stands out
- Open weights: FLUX.2 [dev] and the klein models can be downloaded, self-hosted and fine-tuned, with LoRA rights on the licensed tiers. Midjourney is closed.
- Pay per image with no subscription: FLUX.2 [klein] 4B from $0.014 per image, FLUX.2 [pro] from $0.03. Midjourney and Adobe Firefly sell monthly plans.
Watch out
- Video is new. FLUX 3 Video availability and FLUX 3 Image early access have been described differently across sources, and video pricing is not published
- Open-weights models are non-commercial by default, and commercial use needs a licence quoted by sales
Leonardo.ai
Pick it for
- Concept art and key-art stills that later become motion tests
- Animatic and previz stills turned into 5-second motion clips
- Custom-trained visual styles for a short film or music video look
Stands out
- Canvas-first editing (AI Canvas for inpainting and outpainting, plus a realtime mode) in the same tool as image and video generation
- Several model families under one account, including Leonardo's own Lucid and Motion 2.0 alongside third-party video models such as Kling 3.0 and Veo 3.1
Watch out
- Video is short (about 5 seconds on Motion 2.0) and not built for sequences or dialogue scenes
- Hosted third-party models are removed on short notice, so a workflow that depends on one can break mid-project
Recraft
Pick it for
- Title cards, logos and lower-third graphics that must scale without quality loss
- Production-design concept boards and set-dressing mockups for a film or series
- Icon and graphic systems for a festival, studio or film brand
Stands out
- Native SVG output from the same prompt box as raster images; most image generators only output PNG or JPEG
- Vector Editor in Studio lets you adjust AI-made SVG paths and colors without a round trip to Illustrator or Figma
Watch out
- Free tier is for personal use only; outputs are public and not licensed for commercial use
- Video is third-party models inside Studio, not Recraft's own model, and is not available through the API
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.
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