Model Installation Guide

ComfyUI requires various models to generate images. This guide covers downloading and installing different model types.

Download Platforms

Platform	Description	URL
🤗 Hugging Face	Official models	Official
🏠 ModelScope	Domestic mirror, fast	ModelScope
🎨 Civitai	Community models	Civitai

💡 Recommended to use ModelScope for faster access.

Model Directory Structure

ComfyUI/
└── models/
    ├── checkpoints/      # Base checkpoint models
    ├── vae/               # VAE models
    ├── loras/             # LoRA models
    ├── controlnet/       # ControlNet models
    ├── embeddings/        # Textual Inversion / Embedding
    ├── upscale_models/    # Upscale models
    └── unet/              # UNet models

Checkpoint Models (Base Models)

Download Links

Platform	Description
🏠 ModelScope	Domestic fast download, recommended
Civitai	Largest SD model platform
Hugging Face	Official and community models
Stability AI	Official models

Recommended Models

Model	Size	Use Case
SD 1.5	~4GB	Universal
SD 2.1	~5GB	Universal
SDXL	~6.5GB	High quality

Installation

Place model files in models/checkpoints/ directory.

VAE Models

Purpose

VAE is used for image encoding and decoding, affecting colors and details.

Download Links

• 🏠 ModelScope - Domestic fast, recommended
• Stability AI VAE
• VAE collections on Civitai

Installation

Place in models/vae/ directory.

Built-in VAE

Some checkpoint models have built-in VAE, enable in settings.

LoRA Models

Download Links

Platform	Description
🏠 ModelScope	Domestic fast, recommended
Civitai	Main LoRA resource
Hugging Face	Partial LoRA

Installation

Place in models/loras/ directory.

Usage

# In node:
# Double-click canvas and search "Load LoRA"
# Select LoRA file, set strength

ControlNet Models

Model List

Model	Purpose	Pretrained
canny	Edge detection	v1.1 / SDXL
depth	Depth map	v1.1 / SDXL
openpose	Pose	v1.1
normal	Normal map	v1.1
scribble	Sketch	v1.1

Download Links

• 🏠 ModelScope - Domestic fast, recommended
• lllyasviel ControlNet
• SDXL ControlNet
• Civitai

Installation

Place in models/controlnet/ directory.

Embedding (Textual Inversion)

Purpose

Used for negative prompts to quickly avoid unwanted elements.

Common Embedding

Name	Effect
easynegative	Universal negative
bad-hands-5	Fix hands
ng_deepnegative	Strong negative

Installation

Place in models/embeddings/ directory.

Usage

In prompt use:

<embedding:easynegative>

Upscale Models

Recommended Models

Model	Scale	Purpose
RealESRGAN_x4plus	4x	Universal
4x-UltraSharp	4x	High quality
4x_AnimeSharpen	4x	Anime

Installation

Place in models/upscale_models/ directory.

Share Models with WebUI

If you already have Stable Diffusion WebUI installed, you can share models:

Configure extra_model_paths.yaml

# extra_model_paths.yaml
base_path: D:/AI/stable-diffusion-webui

Restart ComfyUI to load automatically.

Troubleshooting

Q: Model not showing

A: Restart ComfyUI, or check if file format is correct.

Q: Out of VRAM

A: Use quantized models (FP16), or reduce resolution.

Q: Slow download

A: Use ModelScope for faster access.

Next Steps

• LoRA Tutorial - Learn more about LoRA
• ControlNet Tutorial - ControlNet tutorials