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Stability AI licensing

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This article is an overview of how Stability AI licenses its self-hosted models, Platform API, Brand Studio, Stable Audio and enterprise offerings. It is not legal advice and does not replace the agreement you accepted.

On This Page

Stability AI licensing is the set of terms under which Stability AI Ltd and its affiliates make their image, video, audio, 3D and language models available. The company describes itself as a multi-modal generative AI company.[1] Its commercial structure has two halves that a software asset manager should keep apart. The first is self-hosting: a customer downloads model weights and runs them on its own hardware under a licence that follows the model. The second is hosted use: a customer calls the Platform API or signs in to a Stability AI application, buys credits or a subscription, and agrees to the Terms of Service.

Editions

Self-hosted licences

Self-hosted use of the models named on the Core Models page is offered under two options. The Community licence is described as free for researchers, developers, small businesses and creators with less than USD 1 million in annual revenue. The Enterprise licence is aimed at enterprises, API providers and businesses with annual revenue above USD 1 million, and includes commercial use and implementation support, with custom model training and consulting listed as available upgrades at custom pricing.[2] The legal text of the Community option is the Stability AI Community License Agreement, last updated on 5 July 2024.[3] The mechanics, including the threshold, registration and the models covered, are in Stability AI Community and Enterprise licence.

Hosted access

Hosted access is sold three ways. The Developer Platform API bills in prepaid credits, where one credit equals USD 0.01.[4] Brand Studio, the creative production platform, is sold as a free trial, two monthly plans and a custom Enterprise plan.[5] Stable Audio is sold as four monthly tiers with a credit allocation.[6] These are covered in Stability AI Platform API and credits and Stability AI Brand Studio and Stable Audio licensing.

Enterprise services

Stability AI Solutions, introduced on 5 August 2025, packages custom models and workflows with professional services, deployment options, brand safety guardrails, indemnification, compliance and dedicated support. Workflows can run on-premises, through API endpoints or in web applications.[7] Pricing is negotiated and is not published.

Metrics

Stability AI does not count installs or users for the self-hosted licences. The decisive number is the licensee’s annual revenue, aggregated with its affiliates, measured against USD 1 million or the local equivalent (Annual revenue (Community License threshold)).[3] For hosted products the metric is the credit: a prepaid API credit (Platform API credit), a monthly Brand Studio credit (Brand Studio monthly credit) or a Stable Audio credit (Stable Audio credit). Brand Studio also counts seats, with one seat on Creator and Core and unlimited seats on Enterprise.[5] The Platform API applies a request rate limit of 150 requests per 10 seconds per API key.[8]

Construct What is counted Source of the rule 
Community licence Annual revenue of the licensee and affiliates against USD 1M Community License Agreement[3] 
Platform API Credits at USD 0.01, priced per endpoint Pricing page[4] 
Brand Studio Monthly credits and seats Knowledge Base plan overview[5] 
Stable Audio Monthly credits, by tracks and process Knowledge Base plan page[6] 

Counting / floors

The threshold test is not limited to revenue from Stability AI models. The agreement counts revenue whether it is generated directly or indirectly from the materials or derivative works, and aggregates the licensee with its affiliates, which it defines by more than 50 per cent control.[3] The licence terminates as of the date the threshold is crossed, and the licensee must then request a licence that Stability AI may grant in its sole discretion.[3] A separate rule, covered in the self-hosted article, asks commercial users to register even below the threshold.

Cloud / BYOL

Stability AI models also reach customers through third-party platforms. Its partner page lists Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker JumpStart and Microsoft Azure AI Foundry.[9] Image Services, a set of editing tools delivered as managed API services, became available on Amazon Bedrock in 2025.[10] An NVIDIA NIM microservice for Stable Diffusion 3.5 is offered under the Community License, with an Enterprise licence for organisations with annual revenue above USD 1 million.[11] The commercial terms on a cloud marketplace follow the marketplace agreement, so a customer buying through one of them should confirm which document governs (Cloud platform distribution).

Programs

  • Membership (December 2023 to July 2024). Stability AI introduced a membership with Non-Commercial, Professional (USD 20 a month at launch) and Enterprise tiers for self-hosting core models.[12] The Community License replaced it in July 2024.[13] See Stability AI Membership (2023 to 2024).
  • Platform API prepaid credits. See Platform API prepaid credits.
  • Brand Studio and Stable Audio plans. See Brand Studio plans and Stable Audio plans.
  • Custom safeguards evaluation. A customer with its own content moderation can ask to disable default safeguards after an evaluation and a signed agreement.[14]
  • Lifecycle notices. The hosted Stable Video Diffusion API was deprecated on 24 July 2025, with self-hosting still possible.[15] Stable Assistant was sunset on 1 October 2026 with refunds.[16]

Contract terms

The Terms of Service cover Brand Studio, Stable Audio, the API and the websites, and incorporate the Acceptable Use Policy.[1] A signed agreement with Stability AI controls to the extent it conflicts with the Terms, and where open source or other licence terms apply to part of the technology those terms control for that part.[1] The Acceptable Use Policy applies to research, non-commercial and commercial use, including self-hosting under the Non-Commercial Research, Community or Enterprise licences, and to access through third-party platforms.[17] See Stability AI Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy for the restrictions, the ownership of outputs, credit expiry, content credentials and dispute resolution.

Audits and compliance

The public documents describe no audit right and no usage reporting for the self-hosted licences. Compliance for the Community option is therefore a matter of self-assessment: tracking which models and derivative works are deployed, recording the organisation’s revenue against the threshold, registering commercial use, and keeping the attribution notice.[3] A claim against Stability AI that the materials or outputs infringe terminates the licences on the date it is filed.[3] The court dispute about the training and distribution of Stable Diffusion is covered in Getty Images v. Stability AI.

Out of scope

  • Prices of Enterprise licences and Stability AI Solutions, which are negotiated.
  • Open model weights released under separate licences on third-party sites, which the 2023 announcement said may be available under separate licences.[12]
  • Signed Enterprise agreements, Solutions statements of work and cloud marketplace private offers.
  • Consumer privacy terms and data processing terms, apart from the training opt-out noted in the Platform API article.

References

  1. Terms of ServiceCatalog: Terms of ServiceEffective 2026-09-30. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  2. Stability AI LicenseCatalog: Stability AI License pageRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  3. Stability AI Community License AgreementCatalog: Community License AgreementEffective 2024-07-05. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  4. Stability AI Developer Platform pricingCatalog: Platform API pricing pageRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  5. Brand Studio Subscription Plans OverviewCatalog: Brand Studio subscription plans overviewRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  6. Stable Audio Subscription Plans and CreditsCatalog: Stable Audio plans and credits articleRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  7. Introducing Stability AI SolutionsCatalog: Stability AI Solutions announcementEffective 2025-08-05. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  8. API Key Rate Limit InformationCatalog: API key rate limit articleRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  9. PartnersCatalog: Partners pageRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  10. Stability AI Brings Image Services to Amazon BedrockCatalog: Image Services on Amazon Bedrock announcementEffective 2025-09-18. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  11. Stable Diffusion 3.5 NIMCatalog: Stable Diffusion 3.5 NIM announcementEffective 2025-08-12. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  12. Introducing the Stability AI MembershipCatalog: Stability AI Membership announcementEffective 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. Community License updateCatalog: Community License announcementEffective 2024-07-05. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  14. Custom Safeguards / Request to Disable Default SafeguardsCatalog: Custom safeguards articleRetrieved 2026-10-13.
  15. How to Access Stable Video DiffusionCatalog: Stable Video Diffusion access articleEffective 2025-07-24. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  16. Stable Assistant Deprecation NoticeCatalog: Stable Assistant deprecation noticeEffective 2026-10-01. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  17. Acceptable Use PolicyCatalog: Acceptable Use PolicyEffective 2026-09-30. Retrieved 2026-10-13.

See also

Catalog Rows Cited

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