Stable Diffusion 3 Medium's Community License permits qualifying commercial use without a license fee and requires commercial registration. Stability's licensing FAQ describes free commercial use below $1 million in annual revenue; the agreement includes affiliates and revenue from all sources in its threshold. Download the weights from Stability AI's gated Hugging Face repository after accepting its access conditions. Licensing FAQ, agreement, model access
What are the key facts about SD3 Medium licensing?
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Stability AI. Model card |
| Released | June 12, 2024; Community License update announced July 5, 2024. Release, license update |
| Type | Multimodal Diffusion Transformer for text-to-image generation. Model card |
| Size or parameters | Two billion model parameters; text encoders are additional components. Release, file structure |
| License and access | Stability AI Community License; gated weight download and conditional commercial use. Agreement, repository |
| Where it runs | Local or self-hosted inference through ComfyUI or Diffusers. Model card |
What does the SD3 Medium Community License allow?
Stability's release describes SD3 Medium as a model for image generation with improvements in typography and complex prompt understanding.
Treat those as areas to evaluate on your material, not guarantees of correct output. Launch announcement
Downloadable weights provide a concrete deployment choice. You can select a documented package and build a repeatable inference environment around it, subject to the applicable license. Model access and packaging
That is useful when a project needs a recorded model version and a known set of components. Start a deployment note with the repository identifier, selected files, intended use, and a copy of the terms supplied with the download.
The July license update specifically broadened free use for individuals and small businesses and clarified treatment of fine-tuned models. Its purpose was wider access under a conditional Community License. Stability's announcement
For a team, assign responsibility for keeping the deployment note current. A model choice is easier to review when the actual files and intended service are described together.
What conditions apply to commercial use and distribution?
The agreement requires registration for commercial use.
Its revenue condition includes affiliates and revenue from all sources, and it provides for license termination and a separate requested license above the stated threshold. Commercial section
Stability's FAQ describes free commercial use for organizations below $1 million in annual revenue. Use that as a starting summary, then read the agreement's definitions for the entity operating your product. Licensing FAQ
Distribution conditions include supplying the agreement, retaining an attribution notice, and displaying “Powered by Stability AI.” General terms
The agreement also incorporates use restrictions and limits using covered materials or outputs to improve other foundational models. General terms
Record the Stability AI Community License by name and retain the relevant notices with your deployment documentation.
The card says packaged text encoders retain their respective original licenses. Review those component references alongside the main model terms instead of assuming one label covers every downloaded file. Component licensing
Model licensing and generated-image ownership are different questions.
The agreement describes output ownership as between the user and Stability, to the extent permitted by law; that statement does not remove the agreement's other conditions. Ownership clause
How do you download and document an SD3 Medium setup?
Define the intended activity: personal experimentation, internal business use, a hosted product, or distribution of modified weights. Write the concrete use case down before choosing a deployment route.
Read the Community License and licensing FAQ. For a commercial project, identify the organization and relevant affiliates, complete the required registration, and check whether an enterprise arrangement is needed. Agreement, FAQ
Open the official SD3 Medium repository, sign in to Hugging Face, and review the gated-access conditions. File access requires accepting those conditions. Repository access
With the Hugging Face CLI installed, authenticate and download a named file into a dedicated directory. This example retrieves a package that includes the text encoders with FP8 T5 weights. CLI guide, file list
hf auth login
hf download stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3-medium \
sd3_medium_incl_clips_t5xxlfp8.safetensors \
--local-dir ./sd3-medium
Keep the repository's license and component references beside your deployment documentation as well. The command only illustrates weight retrieval; it does not complete registration or collect every required notice for redistribution.
The model card distinguishes packages with and without text encoders. Select a package that matches the workflow you will load, and record that choice rather than referring vaguely to an “SD3 download.” Packaging documentation
For ComfyUI, use the example workflows supplied in the repository. For Diffusers, follow the linked Diffusers-compatible repository and model-card example.
Check the selected package before investigating a missing-component error. Inference instructions
The PromptZone ComfyUI guide explains the surrounding graph. Keep the workflow and download inventory together so another operator can reproduce the setup.
Before sharing a derivative or launching a service, prepare the actual notices and documentation that accompany it. Review the concrete package and user-facing materials against the agreement, rather than approving an abstract model name.
For ongoing operation, add license review to the same process that records a model change. Revisit the deployment note when the operating organization, revenue situation, distribution method, or model package changes.
A useful handoff includes the model source, selected files, purpose, registration record where applicable, notices, and who maintains them. These are documentation suggestions; the agreement determines the obligations themselves.
How does SD3 Medium licensing compare with SDXL?
| Choice | Access arrangement | Practical distinction |
|---|---|---|
| SD3 Medium weights | Community License with conditional commercial permission. Agreement | You operate the inference environment. |
| SDXL Base weights | CreativeML Open RAIL++-M license. SDXL card | Review that separate license and model workflow. |
The SDXL models pillar covers the second option. Do not transfer a licensing conclusion from one model family to another merely because both offer downloads.
Hosted access is another decision. The SD3 API sibling article covers Stability's service and its SD3.5 migration, which should be reviewed separately from self-hosted weights.
What else should you know about the SD3 Medium license?
Can a small business use SD3 Medium commercially?
Stable Diffusion 3 Medium is available for free commercial use below $1 million in annual revenue under Stability's published licensing FAQ. Commercial users must register and comply with the Community License's other conditions. FAQ, agreement
Does the SD3 Medium license count only revenue earned from AI?
The SD3 Medium Community License threshold includes revenue from all sources and addresses the licensee's affiliates. Its commercial section requires a separate license when individual or aggregate annual revenue exceeds $1 million. Commercial terms
Can I distribute a fine-tuned SD3 Medium model?
The SD3 Medium Community License grants conditional rights to create and distribute derivatives. Distribution requires the agreement, attribution notice, and displayed Stability attribution described in its general terms. Agreement
Does an SD3 Medium weight download include API usage?
SD3 Medium's downloadable weights and Stability's hosted API are separate access routes. Use the model repository for weight access and the developer platform for hosted generation. Model access, API release notes
Sources
- Stable Diffusion 3 Medium release
- Stable Diffusion 3 Medium model card
- Stability AI license update
- Stability AI Community License Agreement
- Stability AI licensing FAQ
- Hugging Face CLI guide
- SDXL Base model card
- Stability developer release notes
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