Last updated: 2026-10-03
Civitai is an online marketplace and community where creators share Stable Diffusion, Flux and Wan checkpoints and LoRAs, with 3 million registered users reported by TechCrunch in November 2023. Its differentiator is that every model page ties example images to their prompts, and an on-site generator and trainer run on the same files.
About Civitai
Civitai is a community platform where creators publish and download generative AI models, mainly checkpoints and LoRAs (small add-on files that teach a base model one style, character or concept) for image generators such as Stable Diffusion and Flux. Justin Maier founded it in 2022 and the company is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. TechCrunch reported in November 2023 that the site had passed 100,000 registered users in January of that year and had raised a $5.1 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Maier built it because people were sharing custom models on Reddit and Discord with no central place to find them.
Every model page carries example images with the prompts and resources behind them, so you can reproduce a result instead of guessing at it. Beyond hosting files, Civitai runs an on-site image and video generator paid for in its own currency, Buzz, and a LoRA trainer that spares you a local GPU. Creators earn Buzz when others generate with their resources, and Civitai's 2025 anniversary post said its Creator Program had grown to over 35,000 creators and paid out $330,000 since March of that year.
Since April 2026 the service has run as two sites on one account. civitai.com is the safe-for-work site and takes credit cards, while civitai.red carries unrestricted content and takes crypto. Maier wrote in the announcement that card processors would not work with a platform that hosts mature content anywhere on it, which is why the two are walled apart. Developers get a documented orchestration API with recipes for Flux, FLUX.2 images, FLUX 3 video, Krea, Qwen image, Wan video, Kling, Vidu and LoRA training, plus MCP servers that let an agent browse models and post.
Peers to weigh it against are Hugging Face for general model hosting, Leonardo.Ai and Midjourney for hosted generation, and LoraAI for LoRA training alone. Its generator recipes include SDXL and Flux, base models from Stability AI (company, product) and Black Forest Labs. Other hosted generators in the same category include Ideogram and Adobe Firefly. The image generator category and the video generator category list the wider field, and our image generator cost guide works out what each option costs per picture.
Screenshots
Pricing
com/pricing on 2026-10-03. Each membership pays out 10,000, 25,000 or 50,000 Green Buzz a month. red.
For per-picture costs across the category see the image generator cost guide and the image and video guide.
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Public browsing of models and images, Blue Buzz rewards for engagement, 100 Blue Buzz for new accounts per the Buzz guide, Ad-supported browsing |
| Bronze | $10/mo | 10,000 Green Buzz per month, 3 private models, 8 images per job, 8 queued jobs, Free high priority generation, Ad free browsing |
| Silver | $25/mo | 25,000 Green Buzz per month, 10 private models, 10 images per job, 10 queued jobs, Silver perks match Bronze, Monetize 25 model versions a month |
| Gold | $50/mo | 50,000 Green Buzz per month, 100 private models, 12 images per job, 10 queued jobs, Gold perks match Bronze, Unlimited monetized model versions |
Key Features
- Community model library: Hosts user-uploaded checkpoints, LoRAs and embeddings, and example images list the prompt and resources used so a result can be reproduced.
- On-site generator: Generates images and video on Civitai's servers and charges in Buzz, a currency that comes as Blue (free rewards), Green (card purchases) and Yellow (crypto) types.
- LoRA trainer: Trains image and video LoRAs on Civitai's GPUs, and the developer docs list SDXL, Flux 1, Flux 2 Klein, Wan and LTX2 trainers.
- Orchestration API: Submits image, video, audio and text jobs through one REST contract, with documented recipes for Flux, Wan, Kling and Veo 3.
- MCP servers: Two MCP servers let an agent browse models and images, post, comment and message, or generate media through the orchestration service.
- Creator monetisation: Bronze members can set a licensing fee or paid access on 10 model versions a month, on top of the Buzz paid out for generation use of their uploads.
- Open-source codebase: The site's code is published on GitHub under Apache 2.0, and the repository had over 7,000 stars on 2026-10-03.
Pros
- A free account is enough to try the generator before paying anything, since Blue Buzz rewards can cover safe-for-work jobs.
- The April 2026 split kept one account on both sites, and Civitai said balances, uploads and follows were not reset.
- Video is covered as well as images, so one site can host a Wan or LTX2 video LoRA and train a new one.
- A documented API and MCP servers let a team automate generation without scraping the site.
Cons
- Trustpilot showed a TrustScore of 1.5 out of 5 from 42 reviews on 3 Oct 2026, so read the billing terms before paying.
- Unrestricted content lives only on civitai.red and needs crypto, while civitai.com is safe-for-work only, and Green and Yellow Buzz cannot be converted into each other.
- Civitai wrote in April 2026 that it had lost every mainstream payment rail except crypto, so how you can pay has changed more than once in a year.
- Neither the privacy policy nor the safety page names a SOC 2, ISO 27001 or GDPR attestation, and the policy says the service is hosted in the United States for US visitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Civitai cost in 2026?
Memberships on civitai.com were listed on 3 Oct 2026 at $10 a month for Bronze, $25 for Silver and $50 for Gold, paying out 10,000, 25,000 and 50,000 Green Buzz a month. Higher tiers add private model slots (3, 10 and 100) and larger image batches (8, 10 and 12 per job). Buzz is also sold separately, by card on civitai.com and by crypto on civitai.red, and the pricing page offers a perks-only membership bought with Buzz. Civitai does not state a flat per-image price, because a job's Buzz cost depends on step count and model.
Does Civitai have a free plan?
Yes. The site loads without an account, and Civitai's Buzz guide (updated 20 Oct 2025) says new accounts receive 100 Blue Buzz, with more earned by reacting to images, posting, and a once-daily claim in the generator. Blue Buzz pays for safe-for-work generation and LoRA training and cannot be traded between accounts. Free users also see ads, and spending Blue Buzz on unrestricted generation at civitai.red needs a membership.
Which tools compete with Civitai in 2026?
[Hugging Face](/hub/tools/hugging-face) is the broader model host and the better choice when you need text models or datasets rather than image styles. [Leonardo.Ai](/hub/tools/leonardoai) suits someone who wants a polished hosted generator and cares less about community LoRAs. [LoraAI](/hub/tools/loraai) is narrower, a credit-based LoRA trainer for one character or product.
What separates Civitai from Midjourney?
[Midjourney](/hub/tools/midjourney) is a closed hosted service sold on GPU-hour plans with no free tier on our record, while Civitai is free to browse and distributes community models people download and run themselves. The practical gap is choice: Midjourney gives a coherent house look, and Civitai gives narrow styles and characters from independent creators. Pick Midjourney for polish and Civitai when a specific community LoRA is the whole point.
How do you get started with Civitai?
Open civitai.com, choose a model from the Models tab and read its example images, which list the prompt and settings used. Create a free account to claim Blue Buzz, then open the generator from the Create menu and select that model. Developers can start at developer.civitai.com, which documents OAuth sign-in and the orchestration API.
Top Alternatives
- Hugging Face: Pick Hugging Face for non-image models, datasets or team controls; pick Civitai for community image and video styles with a built-in generator.
- Leonardo.Ai: Pick Leonardo.Ai if you want token plans on a hosted generator; pick Civitai for downloadable community checkpoints and LoRAs.
- Midjourney: Pick Midjourney for one consistent house look; pick Civitai when you need a specific open-model LoRA or an API.
- LoraAI: Pick LoraAI if you only want a credit-based LoRA trainer; pick Civitai for the library, generator and trainer together.