Model reference · open weights

Qwen-Image-2.1

Image Qwen Text→image 4 builds Its own licence terms 6k dl/mo

Qwen-Image-2.1 is an open-weight image model from Qwen. Qwen-Image-2.1-FP8 (FP8) weighs 23.8 GB; the smallest configuration that runs it is RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB.

For self-hosting, compare this build's requirements below with the GPU you plan to rent.

  • Qwen-Image-2.1 is a text-to-image generation and image editing model developed by Qwen.
  • It features a 7.1B parameter visual generation component and supports English and Chinese.
  • The model is released under the Qwen Research License Agreement.

Summary of the Qwen/Qwen-Image-2.1 model card, 2026-10-01. The estimate below is for another build of the family.

What it is

Released byQwen
Released2026-09-14
Parameters7.1B
VRAM23.8 GB for the weights

What it runs on

Memory and cards for Qwen-Image-2.1-FP8 (FP8)

23.8 GBweights, file size
9.4 GBbiggest part
5.0 GBworking memory, one 1024² image
537 MBruntime overhead
CardOne imageMemory
RTX 3060 12 GBdoes not fit11.6 GB
RTX 4060 Ti 16 GBtight (encoders offloaded)15.4 GB
RTX 3090 24 GBfits (encoders offloaded)23.4 GB
RTX 4090 24 GBfits (encoders offloaded)23.4 GB
RTX 5090 32 GBtight31.0 GB
L40S 48 GBfits44.0 GB
A100 80 GBfits78.2 GB
H100 80 GBfits78.1 GB
RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell 96 GBfits93.8 GB
DGX Spark (GB10) 128 GB unifiedfits107 GB
H200 141 GBfits138 GB
B200 180 GBfits176 GB

Builds

Sizes, precisions & builds

BuildParamsPrecisionWeightsSmallest setup
Qwen-Image-2.1 ↗ 7.1BBF16 33.1 GBRTX 4090 24 GB
Qwen-Image-2.1-GGUF ↗
packaged by unsloth
12 builds: Q2_K 2.5 GB … F16 14.2 GB
the transformer alone, to use with the text encoders and VAE
GGUF 4.2 GBRTX 3060 12 GB
Qwen-Image-2.1-FP8 (above) ↗
packaged by unsloth
FP8 23.8 GBRTX 4060 Ti 16 GB
Qwen-Image-2.1 ↗
packaged by unsloth
7.1BBF16 33.1 GBRTX 4090 24 GB

From the model card

What Qwen says about Qwen-Image-2.1

Read the model card

🤖 ModelScope  |   🤗 HuggingFace  |   📑 Blog  |   🖥️ Demo  |   🫨 Discord  |   💬 WeChat

Introduction

We are excited to open-source Qwen-Image-2.1, a unified text-to-image generation and image editing model in the Qwen family. With just 7B parameters in its visual generation component (32 Single-Stream DiT layers), Qwen-Image-2.1 balances generation quality, inference efficiency, and versatility.

Four key improvements define this release:

  • Compact and Efficient — A lightweight architecture with mixed-granularity attention and prefix KV cache reuse delivers strong image quality at low computational cost.
  • Native Transparency, Unified Creation and Editing — Generate regular or transparent (RGBA) images from text, edit transparent layers, and extract subjects from photographs—all in one model.
  • Versatile Editing — Support up to 10 reference images, specify local edits via circles, painted annotations, or separate masks, and preserve identity for people and products.
  • Realistic Textures and Refined Aesthetics — Improved typography, portrait lighting, and fine details for more visually compelling results.

For more details, see the GitHub repo and Blog.

Quick Start

Installation

pip install torch>=2.4.0
pip install transformers>=5.17
pip install git+https://github.com/huggingface/diffusers
pip install accelerate pillow

Text-to-Image

import torch
from diffusers import QwenImage21Pipeline

pipe = QwenImage21Pipeline.from_pretrained(
    "Qwen/Qwen-Image-2.1", torch_dtype=torch.bfloat16
).to("cuda")

image = pipe(
    prompt="A neon shop sign that reads \"QWEN IMAGE 2.1\", rainy night, reflections on wet pavement",
    width=2048, height=2048,
    num_inference_steps=40,
    generator=torch.Generator("cuda").manual_seed(42),
).images[0]

image.save("t2i_example.png")

Image Editing

import torch
from PIL import Image
from diffusers import QwenImage21Pipeline

pipe = QwenImage21Pipeline.from_pretrained(
    "Qwen/Qwen-Image-2.1", torch_dtype=torch.bfloat16
).to("cuda")

input_image = Image.open("input.png")

image = pipe(
    prompt="Change the background to a sunset beach",
    image=input_image,
    num_inference_steps=40,
    generator=torch.Generator("cuda").manual_seed(42),
).images[0]

image.save("edit_example.png")

Transparent Image Generation (RGBA)

Use the recommended prompt format for transparent images:

image = pipe(
    prompt="This is an RGBA image with transparency. A cute cartoon dragon sticker. The image has alpha channel and the background is transparent.",
    width=2048, height=2048,
    num_inference_steps=40,
    generator=torch.Generator("cuda").manual_seed(42),
).images[0]

image.save("transparent_example.png")

Supported Aspect Ratios

aspect_ratios = {
    "1:1":  (2048, 2048),
    "4:3":  (2400, 1792),
    "3:4":  (1792, 2400),
    "3:2":  (2528, 1696),
    "2:3":  (1696, 2528),
    "16:9": (2752, 1536),
    "9:16": (1536, 2752),
}

Memory Optimization

pipe = QwenImage21Pipeline.from_pretrained(
    "Qwen/Qwen-Image-2.1", torch_dtype=torch.bfloat16
)
pipe.enable_model_cpu_offload()

Showcase

License

This model is licensed under the Qwen Research License Agreement.

Quoted from the model card on Hugging Face. The full card is behind the Hugging Face link above.

Running it yourself

Run it on a rented GPU

Rent a machine by the hour. ComfyUI is installed on it. Open ComfyUI through the tunnel, then Templates → Qwen Image 2.1: Text to Image: it loads ComfyUI's own build of this model, the files above.

# 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 “Qwen Image 2.1: Text to Image” (24.9 GB)
get Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 diffusion_models/qwen_image_2.1_int8_convrot.safetensors diffusion_models
get Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 text_encoders/qwen3vl_8b_int8_convrot.safetensors text_encoders
get Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 vae/qwen_image_2.1_vae_bf16.safetensors vae
get Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 text_encoders/qwen3.5_9b_qwen_image_2.1_pe_t2i.int8_convrot.safetensors text_encoders

start-comfyui
Renting a GPU: connect, tunnels, 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
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