FLUX Kontext

FLUX.1 Kontext is an image editing model from Black Forest Labs. Instead of selecting regions or building layer stacks, you describe the change in plain words — "turn the car red," "make it night" — and the model applies it in seconds. Most editors redraw the whole picture for each tweak, so faces drift and backgrounds shift. Kontext keeps everything you did not ask to change exactly as it was, which makes it ideal for iterative work where a character or scene must stay recognizable across rounds of edits.

Key Features

Plain-Word Editing

Describe the change in a sentence and the model applies it to the image — no masks, selections, or layer stacks needed.

Character Consistency

A person, pet, or object stays recognizable through a whole sequence of edits, which is where most image editors fail.

In-Image Text Editing

Replace words on signs, posters, and labels directly in the photo by putting the target text in quotation marks.

Style Transfer From Reference

Restyle a photo as watercolor, oil painting, or sketch while the original scene and composition stay intact.

Fast Edits

A typical edit finishes in about three to five seconds at one-megapixel output, so iterating feels conversational.

Annotation Boxes for Local Edits

Draw bright boxes over parts of the image to aim a change precisely, including text that needs repositioning.

Open Weights for Self-Hosting

The Dev variant's open weights run on your own hardware with ComfyUI or Diffusers, giving full control over deployment and customization.

FAQ

Can FLUX Kontext generate an image from scratch?

Yes. With no input image it switches to plain text-to-image generation, so the same model handles both creation and editing.

What is the difference between Pro, Max, and Dev?

Pro is the balanced hosted option: fast, high-quality editing through the BFL API. Max costs more per image and delivers the best prompt adherence and typography. Dev is the downloadable open-weight model for research and self-hosting.

Is there a free way to try it?

Yes. The BFL Playground gives new users free trial credits, enough to test edits on your own images before buying API credits.

How does it keep a character looking the same across edits?

Your input image is encoded together with the generation as one sequence, so identity from the original carries into every edit. That is the idea behind the "Kontext" name — the image itself is part of the context.

Do I need to mask the area I want to change?

No. Your text instruction is the whole input and nothing needs selecting. If a change lands in the wrong spot, refining the wording usually fixes it better than masking.

Can I use the Dev model commercially?

No. The Dev weights are licensed for non-commercial use only. Commercial work should run through the paid API tiers, where commercial terms apply.

Conclusion

FLUX.1 Kontext fixes the most annoying problem in AI image editing: the slow drift that ruins a good picture after a few rounds of edits. If you iterate on characters, product shots, or posters, consistency matters most - and Kontext is the strongest option for it. Start in the Playground, then match the API tier to the job.