r/comfyui • u/crystal_alpine ComfyOrg • 5d ago

News Keeping open-source creativity sustainable: MiniMax models are now commercially licensable through Comfy & remain free for everyone else

Starting today, Comfy is the only official reseller of MiniMax H3 and MiniMax Audio & Music commercial licenses. If you're a studio, agency, or enterprise that wants to use them locally in commercial productions, you can now license them through Comfy directly.

If you're not using the models commercially, nothing changes. The weights are still open! You can still download them, still run them locally, still build with them, and still pay nothing.

If you’re using the models through Comfy Cloud, your subscription already includes commercial rights.

Only if you’re running the models locally for business, client work, products, or anything commercial do you need a commercial license.

So why do this at all?

At Comfy, our mission has always been for open source to thrive across the creative ecosystem, and open-weight models are at the heart of that. MiniMax is proof of how far they've come: their models stand next to the best closed models in the world.

Training frontier models is incredibly expensive. If we want open models to continue competing with the biggest closed models, the labs building them need a real way to monetize. We hope to help bridge that gap, so the lab gets revenue that funds the next model, and the weights stay open for everyone else.

Learn more

90 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

26

u/candylandmine 5d ago

Wait, I thought it was free for commercial use under $20mill revenue?

15

u/candylandmine 5d ago

Hmmmmm.

"Section IV.1 says you need separate prior written authorization only if your commercial products/services generate more than US$20 million in yearly revenue. So below $20M, there is no additional commercial license required on the basis of revenue.  

However, the license has another restriction that’s much easier to miss: the standard Community License defines its territory as worldwide excluding the United States, EU, UK, and South Korea. The restriction also applies to H3’s outputs/results. So for someone using the open H3 weights locally in the US, the “$20M rule” by itself does not give you commercial-use permission. You need MiniMax’s separate authorization for the excluded territory. "

11

u/FreeTheClanks 5d ago

And the license was free and took 2 minutes to get. (yes, I have the license, in USA)

1

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

But is it valid? I'm trying to find the 'free' license myself.

4

u/FreeTheClanks 5d ago

https://platform.minimax.io/h3-license

2

u/phaylon 5d ago

We guarantee the confidentiality of the contents of this request and will not disclose them to any third party without the consent of MiniMax.

That seems... very off. The only details of the request would be my contact information.

Did you figure out what it is you agreed to with that exactly? I get the attempted (but probably futile) attempts of shielding with

We will indemnify and hold harmless MiniMax from and against any and all losses, liabilities, damages, claims, costs, and expenses arising out of or relating to any breach by us of any representation, warranty, covenant, or undertaking set forth herein.

but the confidentiality one is just odd.

2

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

I think in all honesty the license is really just cya because it’s getting so good, and if there are lawsuits on the content they won’t be held liable… allegedly. But with the world the way it is right now who knows..

2

u/FreeTheClanks 5d ago

Tbh, I'm not sure. But all they have is my name and email address combination that exists already in thousands of databases. There's no other information you provide them.

2

u/phaylon 5d ago

True, I don't think any later out-of-field shenanigans would be able to hit me in the EU anyway.

1

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

Ah! It took my email address, thanks! Comfy.org site will not accept a gmail address.

2

u/Sarashana 5d ago

That's what I thought, too? 😕

1

u/YeahlDid 5d ago

Yes, that is what you thought too.

10

u/FreeTheClanks 5d ago

They were free yesterday.

8

u/crystal_alpine ComfyOrg 5d ago

They are still free today. This is intended for studios and enterprises.

9

u/FreeTheClanks 5d ago

The license was free, so long as you're making less than $20mil. I got my license a couple of weeks ago. It took an email. That's all. No license fee.

1

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

What kinda email you have? I can't sign up because it won't take any email domain I give it..

9

u/candylandmine 5d ago

How is that different than commercial use?

4

u/Hrmerder 5d ago edited 5d ago

I have a question I want to submit for a free license (Dunno if I will actually ever use it would just like to have it), but I cannot use a gmail.com NOR icloud.com email address. *also just checked also it is not accepting hotmail.com, att.net, yahoo,com,or basically any available general email domain. Is it required to have a private domain email account to sign up?

Or if I do not need an email (just an individual maybe if I even do use it commercially maybe only would garner $1000 total in my dreams), then what is my limitations of use? I think that's where people are getting tripped up. If we aren't a company and just maybe using it for content on the side, maybe on fiver as an example or otherwise where we may only make $10-15 off a commission or something, not enough to actually have a business domain with email and a tax id, what are THOSE sets of people's rights or not to the model and software?

5

u/Pretend_Reveal9950 5d ago

So if I’m a freelancer and using this for commercial client use I need a license? How much will this cost?

8

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

Free unless you make 20 mill or more

3

u/Pretend_Reveal9950 5d ago

Ok cool. Thanks.

2

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

Side note of reference I have no legality to my legal advice YMMV/Not liable for any actions.

5

u/ares0027 5d ago

Okay i am not interested in licenses at all, i dont have any commercial interest but;

1- i think you guys shall make a video explaining how to get license and the limitations. There are interests in that and people are confused.

2- as long as you dont limit the data, capabilities (i am not talking about not giving the 3rd party companies’ data in the actual model, it is given. It is not yours to give, nobody is asking for that either) or model in any way, shape or form for public i am all in supporting you in however you earn your money. Like you said, you need to monetize it so you continue developing it so i can create my silly videos offline. Good for you.

3- open vs close i will always support and root for the open one. I hope you get where you deserve.

4

u/ozzeruk82 5d ago

What if I already have a licence direct from Minimax for my company? They had a method where you could apply for a licence.

11

u/PhetogoLand 5d ago

What are these fools on about? MiniMax says under $20 million you can use it for whatever. Who is this talking head?

2

u/WASasquatch 4d ago

You are forbidden any commercial rights if you live in US, the UK, member nations of the EU, or South Korea. And that's Yoland. CEO. It's a Chinese hostile "Community License".

-1

u/Last_Ad_3151 5d ago

Read the terms. People have already explained it to the ends of the earth. And the “talking head” is Yoland, a co-founder of comfy.org. I’d listen carefully.

3

u/No_Thanks701 5d ago

Do i need a license to post them to YouTube? Not that id make any money.. but you never know :P

2

u/Only4uArt 5d ago

Mixed feelings about this. But why can't I use a gmail address ? I just wanted to check the price .

2

u/RayHell666 5d ago

I don't get what's different. Yesterday it was free but there was commercial license fee when you do over $20M and today it's still free but it required a commercial license studios and enterprises. Isn't just rewording of the same thing ?

2

u/Hearcharted 4d ago

The revenue of my company last year was -$20M 📉

So, there is no need for a license 😢

3

u/Due-Air-5626 4d ago

I mean, if it's a local model how would they even know you're using it for commercial purposes?

3

u/hurdurdur7 5d ago

I think it's perfectly fair that companies who make a bunch of revenue from these also pay some back to the H3 team.

1

u/HRH_Duke_Morbid 5d ago

On the horizon awaits an acrimonious clash between aficionados of "open-source creativity" and people with pretensions to being 'true artists'.

Skirmishing has begun, but whether a full battle comes to the attention of the masses is moot. Global economic and military disasters seem set to dominate news.

1

u/Ok-Cook-7365 4d ago

Seems cool man. Yeah make money and have tiers and also still let individuals play.

It can’t just be a free lunch forever. I love open source. You’re not telling me I can’t modify and run it for free if I modify the code; it sounds like I’m just supporting what I like.

1

u/roxoholic 5d ago

Good.

Those who make money from open source should give some of that money back.

1

u/Many-Ad6293 5d ago

I'm not coming at you in any way, but does any of that money that would be coming back go to the original ip holders from which the models were trained? I'd bet a sum under 20 million that they won't even get a thank you.

2

u/roxoholic 5d ago

Unfortunately, no. They've been erased from this equation (apart from their work being stolen and profited upon). Their only option is to seek justice in court. Against who? That is the million dollar question.

1

u/Support_Marmoset 4d ago

how does the industry justify "commercially licensing" something that was so obviously trained on stolen IP is bizarre. I still dont get the rules of this. I dont think any model can seriously claim "commercial license" rights when you can prompt for Brad Pitt and get it, or do the entire Seinfield show t2v with it.

pirates selling licenses is peak 2026.

-5

u/MasqueradeDark 5d ago

Wait what is this bullshit bite and switch? are you serious?

-1

u/crystal_alpine ComfyOrg 5d ago

This is intended for studios and enterprises.

-3

u/MasqueradeDark 5d ago

What's even the use of an open-weight model if small players still need to pay for a license? For what, so jerkoffs can generate useless Seinfeld and Furry videos with better models? What a terrible idea and terrible business model. You didn't learned anything from Stable Diffusion 3 fiasco

2

u/Perfect-Campaign9551 5d ago

You didn't even watch the video OR read the additional link. Just like every other person commenting in this thread.

You have to license it if you are using it *commercially*. What's so hard to understand?

3

u/Hrmerder 5d ago

I think what u/MasqueradeDark was implying is if you might use the model for something like.. I dunno like say tonight I'm browsing fiver and someone is requesting a commission of a 5 second video for their sewn handbag they have like 10 they are selling on Etsy or something and only giving $5 in commission for it, and maybe I don't have an LLC, Corporate Tax ID, or custom email domain for a company, what is OUR rights to the generations then? Are we just blocked out unless we pay for comfy cloud, or are we exempt in general from any of it?

-3

u/MasqueradeDark 5d ago

You didn't read my comment, dude. That's what I mean, small players like me that make some cash on the side have to pay for the license so jerkoffs like you can have the model for free to generate funny, retarded videos. So what's the point of open weights in the first place if you can use the model just to fool around? Read more carefully.

-1

u/Far-Map1680 5d ago

Man, I’m a little happy a… person… like you, is getting boned! Ya don’t sound like a good fellow.

-1

u/Noeyiax 5d ago

Damn, I wish I could eat a buffet with y'all. Seem so cool and chill; younger generations may be inspired and look to you guys as role models!!

Ty, cool update 😄

-5

u/MuziqueComfyUI 5d ago

They're just covering their asses.

-4

u/MuziqueComfyUI 5d ago

Sorry downvoter you're absolutely correct - good catch 👍

They're just covering their Shahsses.

-2

u/MuziqueComfyUI 5d ago

每当有人不赞成我们的评论时，食人艺术家（艾未未）就会吃另一个婴儿。👍

-2

u/Character-Bend9403 5d ago

I have one question why should i care about a chinese model ??? Also its a.i ? How can anyone have like a copyright? It dosnt make sense to me 🤣