Startups > Stability AI

Stability AI

Stability AI enables creators and enterprises to generate images, video, and audio using open-source AI models.

Seed $181M total Founded 2019 London, England 50 employees

Stability AI develops open-source and commercial generative AI models for image, video, audio, 3D, and text generation. The company's flagship Stable Diffusion model has been downloaded over 150 million times and runs on consumer hardware with minimal GPU requirements, making advanced AI accessible to creators, enterprises, and developers. Unlike proprietary competitors, Stability AI emphasizes open-source accessibility, customizability, and the ability to run models locally without API dependencies or subscription fees.

Problem solved

Generative AI tools are either proprietary and expensive or require high computational resources; Stability AI makes advanced AI models accessible, customizable, and runnable on consumer hardware.

Target customer

Designers, content creators, enterprises, developers, gaming studios, media companies, and ecommerce platforms seeking customizable, cost-effective generative AI tools.

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Founders

Emad Mostaque

Co-Founder (former CEO until March 2024)

MA in Mathematics and Computer Science from Oxford; hedge fund manager at Pictet Group overseeing global portfolios; founded Symmitree in 2019 focused on technology accessibility for underserved populations.

Cyrus Hodes

Co-Founder

Co-founded Stability AI with Emad Mostaque in late 2020.

Prem Akkaraju

CEO (appointed June 2024)

Former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, bringing entertainment industry and large-scale production experience.

Funding history

Seed Round 1 $101M September 19, 2022 Led by Coatue, Lightspeed Venture Partners · O'Shaughnessy Ventures LLC

Seed Round 2 $80M June 25, 2024 Led by Coatue, Lightspeed Venture Partners · Multiple institutional and angel investors including Eric Schmidt

Total raised: $181M

Industries

Artificial Intelligence Image Recognition Information Technology Software

Pricing

Free tier for organizations under $1M annual revenue. API membership $20/month with 6,000 credits (1 credit = $0.01). Enterprise custom pricing available with volume discounts.

Notable customers

HubSpot, Mercado Libre, Stride Learning, Amazon Bedrock

Integrations

Amazon Bedrock, Arm (for mobile optimization of Stable Audio Open), HubSpot, various third-party platforms via open-source community integrations

Tech stack

Stimulus (JavaScript frameworks) Choices (JavaScript libraries) YUI (JavaScript libraries) Modernizr (JavaScript libraries) core-js (JavaScript libraries) web-vitals (JavaScript libraries) Squarespace (CMS) Cart Functionality (Ecommerce) Squarespace Commerce (Ecommerce) reCAPTCHA (Security) Google Font API (Font scripts) Typekit (Font scripts) Google Workspace (Webmail) MailChimp (Marketing automation)

Website

stability.ai/

Competitors

Midjourney

Closed-source, subscription-based service focused on user experience; less customizable than open-source Stable Diffusion but with stronger brand positioning.

DALL-E 3

Proprietary model integrated with ChatGPT; API-dependent with per-image costs; cannot run locally or be fine-tuned for custom applications.

Flux

Newer open-source model by Black Forest Labs; strong image quality but smaller community ecosystem compared to Stable Diffusion's 150M+ downloads.

Why this matters: Stability AI democratized access to cutting-edge generative AI by releasing Stable Diffusion as an open-source model, bypassing the proprietary model dominated by OpenAI and other incumbents. With $181M in funding, board additions from Sean Parker and James Cameron, and a new CEO from Weta Digital, the company is positioned to challenge closed-source competitors while expanding into video, audio, and 3D generation.

Best for: Organizations that need cost-effective, customizable generative AI for scale—whether running locally, on APIs, or integrated into custom workflows without vendor lock-in.

Use cases

On-Brand Visual Content Generation at Scale

HubSpot uses Stability AI to enable customers to generate on-brand visuals instantly for marketing campaigns. This reduces the time and cost of producing promotional images while maintaining brand consistency across channels.

Ecommerce Conversion Optimization

Mercado Libre integrated Stable Diffusion to generate product images and visual descriptions, resulting in 25% higher click-through rates. The ability to rapidly generate variants reduced time-to-market for product listings.

Rapid Prototyping for Media Applications

Stride Learning built a personalized storytelling app in 6 months using Stable Diffusion on Amazon Bedrock, capable of producing 1,000+ images per minute. The open-source model enabled fast iteration without waiting for proprietary API quotas.

Alternatives

Midjourney Choose Midjourney for team collaboration and superior user experience; choose Stability AI for customizability, cost control, and local deployment.

DALL-E 3 Choose DALL-E 3 for integration with ChatGPT ecosystem; choose Stability AI for independence from OpenAI and ability to run offline.

Flux Choose Flux for state-of-the-art image quality in newer releases; choose Stability AI for maturity, community support, and broader model portfolio (video, audio, 3D).

FAQ

What does Stability AI do? +

Stability AI develops open-source and commercial generative AI models for creating images, videos, audio, 3D assets, and text. Its flagship Stable Diffusion model has been downloaded over 150 million times and can run on consumer hardware with minimal GPU requirements, offering flexibility and customization options unavailable in proprietary competitors.

How much does Stability AI cost? +

Free tier for organizations under $1M annual revenue. API membership starts at $20/month with 6,000 credits (1 credit = $0.01). Enterprise customers can contact the sales team for volume-based custom pricing.

What are alternatives to Stability AI? +

Midjourney (closed-source, subscription-based, strong user experience), DALL-E 3 (integrated with ChatGPT, proprietary, per-image pricing), and Flux by Black Forest Labs (newer open-source model with strong image quality).

Who uses Stability AI? +

Designers, content creators, developers, gaming studios, media companies, and ecommerce platforms. Notable customers include HubSpot, Mercado Libre, Stride Learning, and organizations using Amazon Bedrock.

How does Stability AI compare to Midjourney? +

Stability AI offers open-source models that can run locally, be fine-tuned for specific use cases, and have no API limits or subscription requirements. Midjourney prioritizes user experience and team collaboration within a managed platform. Stability AI is better for cost-sensitive organizations and custom integrations; Midjourney is better for creative teams seeking simplicity.