Model reference · open weights
LongCat-Image is an open-weight image model from meituan-longcat. LongCat-Image (BF16) weighs 29.3 GB; the smallest configuration that runs it is RTX 4090 24 GB.
For self-hosting, compare this build's requirements below with the GPU you plan to rent.
Summary of the meituan-longcat/LongCat-Image model card, 2026-10-01
What it is
| Released by | meituan-longcat |
|---|---|
| Released | 2025-12-04 |
| VRAM | 29.3 GB for the weights |
What it runs on
| Card | One image | Memory |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 3060 12 GB … RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB | does not fit | |
| RTX 3090 24 GB | tight (encoders offloaded) | 23.4 GB |
| RTX 4090 24 GB | tight (encoders offloaded) | 23.4 GB |
| RTX 5090 32 GB | fits (encoders offloaded) | 31.0 GB |
| L40S 48 GB | fits | 44.0 GB |
| A100 80 GB | fits | 78.2 GB |
| H100 80 GB | fits | 78.1 GB |
| RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell 96 GB | fits | 93.8 GB |
| DGX Spark (GB10) 128 GB unified | fits | 107 GB |
| H200 141 GB | fits | 138 GB |
| B200 180 GB | fits | 176 GB |
From the model card
We introduce LongCat-Image, a pioneering open-source and bilingual (Chinese-English) foundation model for image generation, designed to address core challenges in multilingual text rendering, photorealism, deployment efficiency, and developer accessibility prevalent in current leading models.
pip install git+https://github.com/huggingface/diffusers
[!TIP] Leveraging a stronger LLM for prompt refinement can further enhance image generation quality. Please refer to inference_t2i.py for detailed usage instructions.
[!CAUTION] 📝 Special Handling for Text Rendering
For both Text-to-Image and Image Editing tasks involving text generation, you must enclose the target text within single or double quotation marks (both English '...' / "..." and Chinese ‘...’ / “...” styles are supported).
Reasoning: The model utilizes a specialized character-level encoding strategy specifically for quoted content. Failure to use explicit quotation marks prevents this mechanism from triggering, which will severely compromise the text rendering capability.
import torch
from diffusers import LongCatImagePipeline
if __name__ == '__main__':
device = torch.device('cuda')
pipe = LongCatImagePipeline.from_pretrained("meituan-longcat/LongCat-Image", torch_dtype= torch.bfloat16 )
# pipe.to(device, torch.bfloat16) # Uncomment for high VRAM devices (Faster inference)
pipe.enable_model_cpu_offload() # Offload to CPU to save VRAM (Required ~17 GB); slower but prevents OOM
prompt = '一个年轻的亚裔女性,身穿黄色针织衫,搭配白色项链。她的双手放在膝盖上,表情恬静。背景是一堵粗糙的砖墙,午后的阳光温暖地洒在她身上,营造出一种宁静而温馨的氛围。镜头采用中距离视角,突出她的神态和服饰的细节。光线柔和地打在她的脸上,强调她的五官和饰品的质感,增加画面的层次感与亲和力。整个画面构图简洁,砖墙的纹理与阳光的光影效果相得益彰,突显出人物的优雅与从容。'
image = pipe(
prompt,
height=768,
width=1344,
guidance_scale=4.0,
num_inference_steps=50,
num_images_per_prompt=1,
generator=torch.Generator("cpu").manual_seed(43),
enable_cfg_renorm=True,
enable_prompt_rewrite=True
).images[0]
image.save('./t2i_example.png')
Quoted from the model card on Hugging Face. The full card is behind the Hugging Face link above.
Running it yourself
Rent a machine by the hour. ComfyUI is installed on it. Open ComfyUI through the tunnel, then Templates → LongCat Image: Text to Image: it loads ComfyUI's own build of this model, the files above.
# on your rented machine: pip install diffusers transformers accelerate
import torch
from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline
pipe = DiffusionPipeline.from_pretrained("meituan-longcat/LongCat-Image", torch_dtype=torch.bfloat16).to("cuda")
image = pipe(prompt="a red bicycle on a cobbled street").images[0]
image.save("/workspace/out.png")
# on your rented machine (the ssh line is on its page in the console)
# get REPO FILE FOLDER: one file into /workspace/models/FOLDER, where ComfyUI loads it from
get() { hf download "$1" "$2" --local-dir /workspace/hf-files && mkdir -p "/workspace/models/$3" && mv "/workspace/hf-files/$2" "/workspace/models/$3/$4"; }
# the files of the template “LongCat Image: Text to Image” (20.7 GB)
get Comfy-Org/LongCat-Image split_files/diffusion_models/longcat_image_bf16.safetensors diffusion_models
get Comfy-Org/HunyuanVideo_1.5_repackaged split_files/text_encoders/qwen_2.5_vl_7b_fp8_scaled.safetensors text_encoders
get Comfy-Org/z_image_turbo split_files/vae/ae.safetensors vae
start-comfyui
# on your computer, in a second terminal: ComfyUI in your browser at http://localhost:8188
# HOST, PORT and BOOKING are your machine's, from its page in the console
ssh -o HostKeyAlias=axforge-BOOKING -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -L 8188:localhost:8188 dev@HOST -p PORT