HiDream-I1 was only released by Viago ai, and it is already ranked among the top 5 best picture producers, outperforming well-known brands like Flux, Auraflow, and Stable Diffusion 3. 5, as well as some of the best closed-source brands like , MidJourney v7, Ideogram v3, and Reve.
Vivago is an AI-powered innovative software developed by Sparking Innovations Limited, a firm based in Hong Kong that offers a collection of equipment for generating and editing sensory information.
HiDream is available in three different variations:” Complete” produces the highest quality output and takes 50 ways to create a great image;” Dev” does its job in about 30 ways, while” Fast” takes 16 ways to produce good results.
Of program, the more ways the design takes, the more detailed the picture will be—and the more solutions it will require.
What distinguishes these concepts, though?
For example, their length. HiDream has a ton of criteria, making it capable of producing high-quality images across a range of styles in seconds. Only for reference, Stable Diffusion’s SD3.5 is almost half the size.
HiDream-I1 is economically accessible and uncensored. Released under the MIT registration, it enables “unrestricted use for both personal and commercial jobs”.
But, Vivago pointed out that it filtered its training data to reduce “problematic content” but doesn’t limit outputs, giving users “full creative independence,” which means you’ll need a fine-tuned edition if you want to make Inappropriate imagery.
( Problematic content does not include generating blasphemous images of China’s President Xi Jinping, despite Vivago being a Hong Kong-based company. )
Users must also have some reliable hardware in order to run it locally.
The full models require 27GB of VRAM to run, which can only be provided by behemoth GPUs that start at around$ 2, 500.
However, developers started producing quantized versions that ran on more “modest” setups, requiring as little as 16GB of VRAM, within days of the image generator’s release.
For users without high-end hardware, Vivago offers online access through its platform plus there’s a Hugging Face space demo. For a low price, Fal AI also supports Hidream:
- Hidream Full: For$ 1, you can run this model approximately 20 times.
- Hidream Dev: This model can be run about 33 times for$ 1.
- Hidream Fast: For$ 1, you can run this model approximately 100 times.
Testing the models
Here’s what we found when we put Hidream through its paces.
Understanding anatomy
Prompt:
Full HiDream-I1
Full HiDream-I1 nails human anatomy with professional-grade accuracy.
Hands appear natural when used correctly in finger counts and proportions. Facial features align properly with realistic eye spacing and ear positioning. Body structure maintains proper definition throughout and maintains proper proportions.
Its only weak spots show up in extremely complex poses where joints occasionally look stiff.
Score: 9 / 10
HiDream-I1 Dev
HiDream-I1 Dev provides accurate anatomy while sparing some detail for speed. Fingers stay intact but sometimes show minor distortions in length or thickness, which, in our generation, the model hides with blur.
Faces have less defined features but remain proportional. It handles standard poses well, but sometimes struggles with overlapping limbs.
Oddly, it occasionally surpasses the Full model in terms of natural textures, with fewer odd artifacts in hair and more imperfections that give the skin a more natural appearance.
Score: 8.5/10
HiDream-I1 Fast
HiDream-I1 Fast makes obvious anatomy compromises for speed. The well-known AI hand issues that appear include fused fingers, incorrect counts, and odd bending. Faces maintain basic structure, but features can drift slightly.
Bodies in some particular generations have strange shoulder widths or arm lengths that look warped. Surprisingly, it sometimes renders clothing folds and hair flow more naturally than higher-tier versions.
One positive finding is that when creating hands with extra fingers, it is simple to determine which generation is the “wrong” generation, which means it is simple to remove the artifact and the hand will remain natural.
If it weren’t for that extra finger, we could argue that it generated a better hand than Dev, with more defined fingers and joints.
Score: 7 / 10
artistic appreciation
Prompt: A man and a woman having dinner in a futuristic restaurant, illustration in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. The restaurant’s sign reads” Welcome to Emerge, by Decrypt,” an impasto, oil on canvas, on the wall.
Full HiDream-I1
The Full model achieves the most sophisticated balance between Van Gogh’s style and the heavy impasto technique.
Brushwork uses visible paint thickness and directional strokes to imitate oil-on-canvas technique. The composition is dynamic, and the lighting is very present, almost too bright.
The woman’s body has extra legs, which requires careful observation. The restaurant environment features rich details that enhance rather than distract from the central figures. The typo created the” Welcome to Emerge by Decrypt” sign, which appears as a natural element in the painterly world. The Full model’s only weakness is occasional perfectionism that sometimes looks too digital in smaller details.
Score: 9 / 10
HiDream-I1 Dev
With more extreme impasto texture and directional brushwork, Dev adheres to Van Gogh’s aesthetic. The couple’s interaction feels more natural, and the overall atmosphere is darker than the one generated by Hidream Full.
Similar to Full and Fast, this model didn’t really add any futuristic elements to the composition. Colors are vibrant but controlled, with the characteristic saturated blues and warm yellows.
The composition’s use of poorly written signage contrasts with the restaurant’s aesthetic rather than how it was perceived in Full’s day. Dev particularly shines in capturing Van Gogh’s emotional intensity through lighting effects and contrast.
Score: 8.5/10
HiDream-I1 Fast
Despite its speed improvements, the quick version surprisingly effectively captures Van Gogh’s vibrant brushwork.
The scene composition is dynamic with strong foreground-background separation. Characters have expressive poses that convey emotion and relationship, but they are the least stylishly accurate. The scene is more indoors, which means it focuses more on the subject than other accessory elements.
The” Emerge by Decrypt” sign is not entirely natural, but it still appears to be a natural extension of the environment.
Fast surprisingly outperforms higher versions in background details, with more varied and smoother-looking brushstrokes in the sky.
Score: 8.5/10
HiDream-I1 Full: Winner
Prompt Adherence and Spatial Awareness Test
Prompt: A dog wearing a red hat is seen standing next to a TV with the message” Decrypt is the best Crypto+A I media site in the world” displayed on the screen. On the left there is a blonde woman in a business suit holding a coin, on the right there is a robot standing on top of a first aid box, a green pyramid stands behind the box,. The overall setting is bizarre. A cat is standing upside down on top of a white soccer ball, next to the dog. An astronaut from NASA is positioned next to the robot and holds an” Emerge” sign next to it.
Full HiDream-I1
Full HiDream-I1 struggled with this prompt. The dog sits centered on the TV with the message clearly legible and a red hat accurately represented.
The businesswoman appears proper on the left with a realistic coin gesture. The pyramid is located behind the astronaut and first aid box, and they are positioned correctly to the dog’s right.
But that’s where the accuracy ends. If properly represented, the other elements can be found in random places.
Score: 8/10
HiDream-I1 Dev
Dev strives to convey a more surreal representation while maintaining a prompt adherence to artistic interpretation.
The dog wears the correct red hat and sits atop the television, the TV text suffers from perspective distortion but is accurate.
Even though the astronaut is holding the Emerge sign is a second astronaut sitting on top of the pyramid, the astronaut is correctly positioned next to the green pyramid.
The desert setting enhances the surreal quality effectively. The cat is better represented than the full generation, but it doesn’t get the soccer ball as requested.
Score: 8.5/10
HiDream-I1 Fast
Fast includes most requested elements, but with limited spatial accuracy.
The dog is on top of the TV and wears the red hat. The screen displays text, but it’s illegible after the word “media”.
The woman appears in the appropriate location, and interesting enough, it was the only design to create the astronaut who was positioned directly in front of a pyramid and holding an” Emerge” sign.
The cat lies near the soccer ball, and some additional coins and another astronaut were generated. The larger composition is present ( showing the elements ), but it fails in details ( like the text ) as a result of the obvious compromise in rendering steps.
Score: 8.2/10
Realism
Prompt: Donald Trump eating a hamburger in a busy sweatshop. A sign that reads” Make Tariffs Great Again” appears on the wall.
Full HiDream-I1
Full achieves the strongest sense of visual narrative and realism. Trump is centered ( though with a typo ) on a well-remembered sign. The lighting is consistent, and the environment closely resembles a sweatshop, with workers wearing uniforms and hairnets.
The setting effectively supports the prompt thanks to industrial cues like raw cinder block walls and cluttered workstations.
Trump’s suit is believable and textured, and he interacts naturally with the hamburger. A second burger is on the plate, which is a typo that affects all generations, just like the spelling of tariffs.
Technical flaws include minor distortions in Trump’s hand anatomy. However, it is the only version that effectively combines all elements with strong coherence.
Score: 9 / 10
HiDream-I1 Dev
HiDream-I1 Dev offers a well-lit and sharply focused image with a professional photographic tone, though it strays slightly from the prompt’s grit.
More closely resembles a clean, commercial kitchen than a sweatshop, in terms of setting. Workers in the background are casually dressed, and the environment lacks visual indicators of labor intensity.
The sign is clearly written and reads “MAKE TARRIFFS GREAT AGAIN” ( much of the same misspelled ), but the print quality is flatter. Trump’s pose is clear and symmetrical, and the burger looks realistic.
Additionally, Dev’s portrayal of Trump’s face appears more realistic than the generation who uses Hidream Full, as this one isn’t overly sharpened.
Score: 8.5/10
HiDream-I1 Fast
HiDream-I1Fast achieves a moderate level of realism, with accurate lighting, depth, and a believable Trump figure, but it misses key emotional and contextual cues.
In Dev’s generation, the environment seems more like a sweatshop. The sign reads “MAKE TARRIFS GREAT AGAIN” ( misspelling again ), and although it is legible, it is the only one that appears in one single color, which could pass as more realistic.
Trump’s posture is good, but the prompt does not specify anything about clothing, even though the burger is adequately rendered and his suit jacket is a vest. The lighting does not correspond to the scene, but it’s overall a very accurate representation
Score: 8/10
Winner: Full HiDream-I1
The Conclusion
The HiDream-I1 models are a welcome shift in the AI image generation landscape and put open-source models once again in the public eye after the release of a new generation of powerful closed-source AI Image generators.
In nearly all tests, the Full version consistently outperformed other models, but the Dev model offers an impressive balance between speed and quality.
Even the Fast version, while clearly sacrificing detail and accuracy, still produces results that would have been considered cutting-edge just months ago.
HiDream’s MIT license and open-source nature, in contrast to closed-source competitors, allow artists, developers, and businesses to adapt and build upon it freely.
The high hardware requirements present an important barrier, but if history repeats itself, the community will continue optimizing the model for broader accessibility.
HiDream is a compelling alternative for creators who have been hampered by the censorship of commercial models or frustrated by licensing restrictions.
The models are pretty cheap to run on cloud servers on a pay-per-use basis, which makes them a strong alternative to closed-source models that charge for monthly or yearly subscriptions.
HiDream’s impact on the generative AI landscape will likely grow even further as quantized versions ( smaller models ) get better and more fine-tuned ( customized models ) emerge.
Just wait a few weeks and check on Hugging Face and Civitai for updates. Flux finetunes are still very effective and powerful in the interim.
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