Fooocus vs ComfyUI vs Automatic1111 (2026): Which Stable Diffusion Frontend to Pick

Quick navigation: TL;DR · Project status · Fooocus · ComfyUI · Automatic1111 · Side-by-side · Pick by use case · Hardware · FAQ · Sources

Three Stable Diffusion frontends still get installed in 2026: Fooocus, ComfyUI, and Automatic1111. The honest news is that two of them are now in maintenance mode and one of them is the only one keeping up with new model architectures. This is the head-to-head with verified facts about where each project actually stands today.

TL;DR {#tldr}

• ComfyUI is the only one of the three actively shipping new features (v0.20.1 released April 27, 2026). Native support for Flux.1, SD 3.5, video models, 3D models. Pick this if you care about new architectures.
• Fooocus is in "Limited LTS, bug-fixes only" mode per its official maintainer notice. Last release v2.5.5 was August 2024. Still excellent for SDXL prompt-first work, but no Flux, no SD 3.5.
• Automatic1111 has not had a major release since v1.10.1 in February 2025 — over a year. No native Flux or SD 3.5 support. Still works for SDXL + extensions.

If you want active development and the new models, the answer in 2026 is ComfyUI.

Project status (verified) {#status}

• Fooocus: latest release v2.5.5 (August 12, 2024). The maintainer (lllyasviel) explicitly stated the project is in "Limited LTS, bug-fixes only" mode with "no current plans to migrate to or incorporate newer model architectures." (See github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus)
• ComfyUI: latest release v0.20.1 (April 27, 2026) with a weekly Monday release cadence and active development. Now governed by the Comfy-Org organization. (See github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI)
• Automatic1111: latest release v1.10.1 (February 9, 2025) — over 15 months without a major release as of May 2026. Issues are still triaged but the cadence has slowed dramatically. (See github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui)
• Forge (the popular A1111 fork by lllyasviel): last commit November 2024; no releases since March 2025. De facto maintenance mode.
• SD.Next (vladmandic's fork): actively maintained, ~7.1k stars, real third option if A1111 isn't keeping up for you.

Fooocus {#fooocus}

A "no-knobs" frontend built on top of SDXL with a curated stack of style refiners and prompt expansion. Released 2023, became the default beginner pick by 2024.

What it does well in 2026:

• Prompt-only workflow: type, hit generate, get a usable image — no parameters to tune
• Built-in inpainting with a custom algorithm — works without ControlNet plumbing
• Built-in image prompts (style/character reference) since v2.1.0
• Apple Silicon supported via MPS (about 9× slower than RTX 30xx per its README)
• One-click installer on Windows
• Excellent default sampler/scheduler/refiner combination

What it cannot do (verified gaps):

• No native Flux.1 — confirmed; the project's LTS notice explicitly excludes new architectures
• No native SD 3.5 — same reason
• No general ControlNet UI — only built-in PyraCanny + CPDS (community fork Fooocus-ControlNet-SDXL exists but is unofficial)
• No video / 3D model support
• No extension marketplace — config-file customization only

Best for: Designers, marketers, hobbyists who want SDXL with a great default and no setup.

For the deep dive on installing and prompting Fooocus: Fooocus 2026 Complete Guide.

ComfyUI {#comfyui}

A node-graph editor for diffusion pipelines. Each model load, each conditioner, each sampler is a node you wire together. Steeper learning curve but the only mainstream frontend keeping pace with 2026 architectures.

What it does well in 2026:

• Native Flux.1, SD 3.5 / 3.5 Large, video models (CogVideoX, Hunyuan, Wan), 3D models (Hunyuan 3D 2.0) — all confirmed in current changelog
• Reproducibility: workflows save as JSON, embed in PNG, and rebuild exactly
• Native API mode (graph JSON over HTTP) — drive ComfyUI from your own backend
• Massive custom-node ecosystem; ComfyUI Manager (~14.5k stars) makes installs one-click
• Smart memory management — usable on consumer GPUs from ~6 GB VRAM with --lowvram; CPU-only via --cpu
• Apple Silicon: official desktop app with MPS

What it cannot do:

• Be approachable. The first 30 minutes are intimidating.
• Compete with Fooocus on "type a prompt, get a great image in one step."

Best for: Production AI artists, agencies, researchers, anyone running a content pipeline. If you are building a service on Stable Diffusion, this is the tool.

The full setup guide and node walkthrough: ComfyUI 2026 Complete Guide.

Automatic1111 {#a1111}

The original Stable Diffusion webui. Released 2022, dominated 2023, lost ground to ComfyUI by 2025, and as of May 2026 has not had a major release in over a year.

What it does well in 2026:

• Largest collection of extensions — sd-webui-controlnet, ADetailer, Regional Prompter, AnimateDiff, hundreds more (the official extension index ships ~300-400+ entries)
• Familiar tabbed UI (txt2img, img2img, extras, train)
• Mature LoRA, Textual Inversion, Hypernetworks support
• --api flag for HTTP API access (confirmed in README)
• Native Apple Silicon / MPS support
• Works on a 4 GB video card per its README (some reports of 2 GB)

What it cannot do well in 2026 (verified):

• No native Flux.1 support — see Discussions #16314 / #16482
• No native SD 3.5 support — see Discussion #16581
• New architectures arrive months later than ComfyUI, if at all
• Maintenance has slowed; the community has openly raised "Future of A1111" concerns (Discussion #16670)

Best for: Users with an existing A1111 workflow that depends on a specific extension they don't want to leave. Otherwise the project's slowdown is a real risk factor in 2026.

Side-by-side {#table}

Pick by use case {#pick}

You are new to Stable Diffusion → Fooocus. Get comfortable with prompts and SDXL before touching node graphs. Just understand: Fooocus stays on SDXL — for Flux.1 or SD 3.5 you'll need a second tool.

You are building a product or running content at scale → ComfyUI. The only frontend keeping pace with new architectures, and the only one with first-class API mode and JSON workflows.

You want video, 3D, or anything beyond SDXL → ComfyUI. Neither A1111 nor Fooocus support these in 2026.

You are happy with A1111 today and ship daily on it → keep it for now, but install ComfyUI alongside for new-model exploration. The A1111 release cadence is a real concern.

You want maximum control over LoRAs and ControlNet without writing graphs → A1111 (or its actively-maintained fork SD.Next). Its UI for stacked LoRAs and chained ControlNets is still ergonomic.

If you are weighing Stable Diffusion vs the closed-source players: AI Image Generators 2026 comparison.

Hardware {#hardware}

Verified minimums from official READMEs:

• Fooocus: 4 GB VRAM on RTX 20/30/40 series; 8 GB on GTX 10xx or AMD; MPS works on Apple Silicon
• ComfyUI: no fixed published minimum — --lowvram and --cpu modes; community guides cite ~4-6 GB usable for Flux Q4
• A1111: 4 GB VRAM officially; reports of 2 GB; --medvram-sdxl for SDXL

Practical 2026 sizing:

• 6-8 GB VRAM: Comfortable for SDXL on all three. Flux possible only via ComfyUI with quantization.
• 12 GB: Flux.1 dev usable in ComfyUI with quantized weights.
• 16 GB+: Native Flux.1 dev / SD 3.5 with headroom.
• 24 GB (RTX 4090 / 5090 class): Full unquantized Flux, video models, batch generation.
• Apple M3 Max / M4 with 32+ GB unified memory: All three usable; ComfyUI fastest.

FAQ {#faq}

Can I migrate workflows between them?

No, not directly. Fooocus has no exportable graph. A1111 PNG metadata cannot reconstruct a ComfyUI workflow. ComfyUI workflows do not load in A1111. The closest portable thing is reusing prompts and seeds.

Is Fooocus dead?

Not dead — explicitly in "Limited LTS, bug-fixes only" per the official notice. It still works, still gets bug fixes, but new architectures aren't coming.

What about Forge / SD.Next / InvokeAI?

• Forge (lllyasviel's A1111 fork): last commit November 2024; no releases since March 2025. Effectively maintenance mode.
• SD.Next (vladmandic): actively maintained, ~7.1k stars. The strongest A1111-style fork in 2026.
• InvokeAI: prosumer alternative with paid plans available. Polished UI; commercial support.

Which is best for inpainting?

Fooocus has the most polished one-click inpainting. ComfyUI is more flexible but you wire it. A1111 inpainting is reliable but feels dated.

Which is best for ControlNet?

A1111 (or SD.Next) wins on UI ergonomics for stacked ControlNets. ComfyUI is more flexible but more verbose. Fooocus exposes only PyraCanny + CPDS natively.

What about Midjourney, DALL-E?

Different category — closed-source, hosted, not local, no model ecosystem. They complement; they don't replace Stable Diffusion frontends.

Bottom Line

The 2026 default for serious work is ComfyUI — by clear margin, since it's the only one of the three actively shipping support for new architectures.

Pair it with Fooocus for fast SDXL iteration and presets. Keep A1111 only if you depend on a specific extension you can't replace. If you love A1111 but worry about its release cadence, SD.Next is the live alternative.

Sources {#sources}

• github.com/lllyasviel/Fooocus
• github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI
• github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui
• github.com/lllyasviel/stable-diffusion-webui-forge
• github.com/vladmandic/automatic
• github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI-Manager
• A1111 Discussion #16670 (Future of A1111)
• A1111 Discussion #16314 (Flux Support)
• A1111 Discussion #16581 (SD 3.5 Support)