Best ComfyUI video models (2026): Wan, LTX-2.5, MiniMax H3

Updated September 2026 · Part of our AI and ComfyUI tutorials. For images, see our dedicated guide to AI image models in ComfyUI.

Just two years ago, making AI video on your own PC meant a few seconds of blurry, silent footage. Today, with ComfyUI, you can create high-resolution video with synced audio, dialogue and several connected shots. It's the thing that has surprised us most since we started working with local AI.

It's also the area where it's easiest to get lost: huge models, new versions every month and licences full of traps, to the point that some models can't be used in the EU at all. In this guide we put them in order, from oldest to newest: what they do, how much memory they need (with an eye on those who, like us, work with 12 GB) and what their licence really allows.

All the video models in one table

This page is an informational guide, not legal advice. Licences can change: before using a model for paid work, always read the full text on the official page linked in each section.

Video model licences at a glance

• Apache 2.0 (Wan 2.1 and 2.2, Mochi) — the most open: commercial use, modifications and integration into products are all allowed.
• LTX-2 / LTX-2.x Community License (LTX-2, 2.3, 2.5) — free commercial use if your revenue is under $10 million a year; above that you need a commercial agreement with Lightricks. No geographic restrictions. The videos you generate are yours, but the licence asks you to disclose that the content is machine-generated when you share it.
• Licences that exclude Europe (HunyuanVideo, MiniMax H3) — the licence text itself excludes the European Union: from the EU you can't use the model unless you get a separate licence from the company.

What computer you need for AI video

Video models are the heaviest of all: they generate dozens of frames at once (and the newest ones generate audio too). To work comfortably you need at least 16 GB of VRAM, ideally 24 GB or more, plus plenty of system RAM (32 GB minimum, 64 GB recommended), because ComfyUI offloads to RAM the parts of the model that don't fit on the card. With less memory you can still experiment using quantized versions (fp8, int8, GGUF), low resolutions and short clips.

To pick a card, read our guide to the best GPUs for AI. If you don't have ComfyUI yet, start with how to install ComfyUI on Windows.

The first generation (2024–2025)

LTX-Video 0.9

Lightricks' first video model (late 2024, updated in 2025) made its name with speed: short clips generated in seconds, even on cards with little memory. For many people it was the starting point for video in ComfyUI (we used it too in our tests on the RTX 3060), but today it has been overtaken by the LTX-2 family.

• Licence: Lightricks' own licence, to be read on the model page.
• Where to get it: LTX-Video

Mochi 1

Released by Genmo in October 2024, it was one of the first good-quality video models with a fully open licence. Today it's mostly of historical interest: later models look better and are lighter.

• Licence: Apache 2.0.
• Where to get it: Mochi 1

Wan 2.1 (2025)

In February 2025 Alibaba released Wan 2.1, the first open video model that could really compete with paid services: text-to-video and image-to-video, a large 14-billion-parameter version and a small 1.3-billion version for cards with little memory. A huge ecosystem of LoRAs, controls and ComfyUI workflows grew around Wan, and it's still widely used today.

• Licence: Apache 2.0, free for commercial use too.
• Where to get it: Wan 2.1 T2V 14B

Wan 2.2 (2025)

Released in July 2025, it improves motion, lighting and composition with a "mixture of experts" architecture: one model sets up the scene, another refines the details. It comes in three versions: T2V-A14B (from text), I2V-A14B (from an image) and TI2V-5B, the compact version that generates 720p video at 24 frames per second on consumer cards like the RTX 4090. It's the go-to choice if you want the most open licence. It doesn't generate audio.

• VRAM: the 5B version is designed for consumer cards (24 GB); in ComfyUI the 14B versions need quantized versions and RAM offloading.
• Licence: Apache 2.0, free for commercial use too. So far, later versions of Wan have only been offered as an online service.
• Where to get it: Wan 2.2 T2V A14B · Wan 2.2 TI2V 5B

HunyuanVideo 1.5 (watch the licence)

Tencent's video model (November 2025) has 8.3 billion parameters, generates up to 10 seconds at 480p or 720p and runs on at least 14 GB with offloading. Technically it's excellent for its quality-to-weight ratio, but the Tencent Hunyuan Community License explicitly states that it "does not apply in the European Union, the United Kingdom and South Korea". From the EU there's no licence covering its use: better to choose Wan or LTX.

• Licence: Tencent Hunyuan Community License, EU, UK and South Korea excluded.
• Where to get it: HunyuanVideo 1.5 (to read the licence)

The new generation: video with audio (2026)

The big leap of 2026 is audio generated together with the video, in the same pass: dialogue with lip sync, sound effects and ambience. No more adding the audio afterwards in another program.

LTX-2 (January 2026)

On 6 January 2026 Lightricks released LTX-2, the first production-ready open model that generates synchronized video and audio in a single pass. It has 19 billion parameters (about 14 for video and 5 for audio) and goes up to 4K at 50 frames per second, for clips up to 20 seconds long. Lightricks says it was trained on licensed data.

• Licence: LTX-2 Community License, free for commercial use too under $10 million in annual revenue.
• Where to get it: LTX-2

LTX-2.3 (March 2026)

LTX-2.3 takes the model to 22 billion parameters with a new VAE and a new latent space: sharper details, cleaner edges, better audio, more consistency from image to video and better support for the vertical 9:16 format, perfect for Shorts and Reels. As the prompt "translator" (text encoder) it uses the 12-billion-parameter Gemma model.

It's natively supported in ComfyUI, with six official templates and no extra custom nodes:

• text to video;
• image to video;
• first and last frame (FLF2V): a video that connects two images;
• image + audio: a character speaking in sync with an audio track;
• control with IC-LoRA (depth, pose, edges);
• ID-LoRA: personalized videos from a reference.

Besides the full model (dev) there's an 8-step distilled version, much faster, plus upscalers to increase resolution and smoothness.

• VRAM: it's a big model. Even in fp8 it works best with 24 GB or more and plenty of RAM; with less memory you can try the distilled version, low resolutions and short clips.
• Licence: LTX-2 Community License, free for commercial use too under $10 million in annual revenue. No geographic restrictions.
• Where to get it: LTX-2.3 · official ComfyUI tutorial

LTX-2.5 (August 2026)

On 11 August 2026 Lightricks released LTX-2.5, 22 billion parameters, which it calls an open "world model". The main new features:

• Native multi-shot: several connected shots in a single pass, with characters and settings that stay consistent from one cut to the next.
• Automatic duration: an optional module works out on its own how long the clip should be, based on the action you describe.
• Native 4K HDR and a new prompt translator (12-billion-parameter Gemma 4), better at long prompts describing characters, camera moves and lighting.
• 8-step distilled version, much faster, alongside the full model for training.

It has been supported in ComfyUI since day one, with official text-to-video and image-to-video templates and quantized int8 and NVFP4 versions (the latter for the newest NVIDIA cards).

• VRAM: like LTX-2.3, 24 GB or more is best; the int8 versions reduce the footprint.
• Licence: LTX-2.x Community License, free for commercial use too under $10 million in annual revenue, with no obligation to show the brand. The videos you generate are yours; you must disclose that they are machine-generated.
• Where to get it: LTX-2.5 · licence text

MiniMax H3 (August 2026): the most powerful, but not in the EU

MiniMax, the company behind the Hailuo service, unveiled H3 on 31 July 2026 and released its weights on 3 August. It's considered the most powerful open video model: 33 billion parameters, video with stereo audio generated in the same pass, clips from 4 to 15 seconds at 24 frames per second, a base resolution of 768p and many aspect ratios, including 9:16. It comes in two versions:

• FL2VA: from text, with optional first and last frames;
• Ref2VA: from references, up to 9 images, 3 videos and 3 audio clips.

Some parts haven't been released: the module that upscales the output to 2K and the one that rewrites prompts are only available online. ComfyUI supports it natively, and the community has already released LoRAs to speed it up (8-step versions), to control it and for video editing. The quantized INT8 version takes about 19.5 GB for the model alone.

But for us the licence is the key point. The MiniMax H3 Community License applies worldwide except in the "Excluded Territories", defined as the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea and the United States. Anyone in these territories is invited to contact MiniMax to obtain a licence. In the rest of the world commercial use is allowed, but above $20 million in annual revenue you need written authorization.

In practice, from the EU: without a licence requested directly from MiniMax, you can't use H3 locally. For video with audio in Europe, the open alternative is the LTX-2 family; MiniMax's online Hailuo service is a separate matter, with its own terms of use.

• Licence: MiniMax H3 Community License, EU, UK, South Korea and US excluded; above $20 million in revenue you need authorization.
• Where to get it: MiniMax H3 (to read the licence)

Which video model to choose

Practical tips for video in ComfyUI

• Start from the official templates in the Workflow menu: they download the right files and come with tested settings. You'll also find them in the Comfy library.
• Test small first: low resolution and a few seconds to find the right prompt, then raise quality and length.
• Use the distilled versions (4–8 steps) for tests: they're much faster.
• Start from an image: it often pays to create the shot first with an image model (see the image models guide) and then animate it with an image-to-video model.
• Disclose that the video is AI-generated when you publish it: some licences require it and, for realistic content, so do the platforms.

The graphics cards we recommend

• NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB – the sensible starting point for local AI video: 16 GB of VRAM at an accessible price.
• NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB – same memory, but much faster: shorter wait times on every generation.
• NVIDIA RTX 5090 32 GB – the top choice: 32 GB of VRAM, the most headroom for the big video models.
• Ready-made PC with RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB – for those who'd rather not build a computer and want to start right away.

For local AI video we recommend starting at 16 GB (RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB). The 12 GB RTX 3060 is fine for learning, but with video models it's at its limit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best open source video model in 2026?

Technically MiniMax H3, but its licence excludes the European Union. If you work from the EU, the reference is LTX-2.5 (or LTX-2.3), with built-in audio and a free licence under $10 million in revenue. If you need the most open licence, go with Wan 2.2.

Can I use MiniMax H3 if I download it anyway?

The licence grants no usage rights in the European Union: downloading and using it from the EU isn't covered by the licence. If you need it for a project, contact MiniMax for a dedicated licence, as the licence text itself says.

How much memory do LTX-2.3 and LTX-2.5 need?

They're 22-billion-parameter models: to work comfortably you need 24 GB or more of VRAM and at least 32 GB of RAM. With quantized versions (fp8, int8), the distilled version and lower resolutions you can experiment with less memory too.

Can I use the generated videos for work?

With Wan (Apache 2.0), yes. With the LTX-2 family, yes, if your business makes less than $10 million a year, and you disclose that the content is machine-generated. With HunyuanVideo and MiniMax H3, from the EU, no, not without a dedicated licence.