Alternatives for Running Stable Diffusion Locally and in the Cloud
If you are looking for ways to run Stable Diffusion locally or in the cloud without having to spin up a GPU each time and load models, there are several options available. Here are some of the most cost-effective and reliable solutions:
- RunDiffusion - Offers serverless GPU service on a per-second basis for $0.50/hour.
- Stable Horde - A free service powered by volunteers, allowing you to generate faster if you have a GPU and let other people generate with it.
- Paperspace - Offers virtual machines with GPU support for $8/month, and most of the time, you can use free RTX4000 GPUs. To run Stable Diffusion, follow the guide here. Additional charges apply if you exceed the free tier usage limits.
- Amazon Web Services - Considered one of the most cost-effective and reliable hosting solutions for AI applications. You can start up a GPU instance, install the Nvidia drivers, download Stable Diffusion, and start prompting. The cost of AWS EC2 instances varies depending on the instance type, region, and usage duration. For example, a p3.2xlarge instance costs $3.06/hour in the US East (N. Virginia) region.
- RunPod - Provides serverless GPU service, and has templates to choose from, including Automatic1111. Plans start at $15-$25 per month, depending on usage. Additional charges apply if you exceed the usage limits.
- WebGPU - Allows you to run Stable Diffusion directly in the browser, and pricing varies depending on the cloud provider and the number of GPUs used.
Other options include using happyaccidents.ai or drawing app on iPhone or iPad, setting up an eGPU on a laptop, or running it on your own PC if you have a decent graphics card. While some people may prefer running their own servers or renting out GPUs, it may not be the most cost-effective solution in the long run.
Tags: Stable Diffusion, GPU, cloud computing, serverless, Amazon Web Services, Paperspace, RunPod, WebGPU, happyaccidents.ai, eGPU, local host.