ComfyUI Models Explained: Checkpoints, LoRAs, VAEs & Every Type You Need (2026 Guide)

Run workflows in three seconds, no installs: https://floyo.ai. Every ComfyUI workflow starts with one decision: which model do you load? In this beginner-friendly tutorial, we break down everything you need to know about AI models in ComfyUI - from checkpoints and diffusion models to FLUX, SDXL, SD 1.5, and the newer open-source releases. If you've ever stared at the "Load Checkpoint" or "Load Diffusion Model" node wondering "wait - what's the actual difference?" - this video clears it up. This video was created by ‪@sebastiankamph‬ in collaboration with Floyo. What you'll learn in this video: • What an AI model actually is (in plain English) • Checkpoints vs. diffusion models (UNet) - when to use each • The major model families: FLUX, SDXL, SD 1.5, Wan, Hunyuan, Qwen • File formats explained - .safetensors, .ckpt, bf16, fp8, GGUF • How to pick the right model for your hardware and use case • Common mistakes that crash your workflow (and how to avoid them) Run ComfyUI in your browser - no setup, no GPU needed Floyo is the only platform with an enterprise and team collaboration for ComfyUI. Access every model, every node, every API, both open-source and proprietary, in a single workspace. 👉 Browse 1,000+ ready-to-run workflows: https://floyo.ai/workflows 👉 Book a demo (for teams & studios): https://floyo.ai/enterprise #ComfyUI #StableDiffusion #AIArt #FLUX #AIModels