MODEL · TONGYI-MAI (ALIBABA) · 6B (SINGLE-STREAM DIT, DECOUPLED-DMD DISTILLATION)
Z-Image-Turbo
Alibaba Tongyi's distilled 6B T2I that matches FLUX.2-dev quality in 8 steps. Bilingual English + Chinese text rendering. The community daily driver for Apache-2.0 image gen in 2026.
License: Apache 2.0 · Context: 1024², 8-step sampling · Released: November 27, 2025 (500K+ downloads first-day)
The decision in five lines
- The call
- Buy — for image
- Best for
- image
- Runs on
- 23 hardware picks fit (cheapest: Intel Arc B580 12 GB · $249)
- Watch out
- >1024² native resolution or multi-reference image editing — Z-Image-Turbo is tuned for single-image 1024² T2I, not compositional editing like FLUX.2 dev.
- Evidence
- Estimated
- 6B (single-stream DiT, Decoupled-DMD distillation)
- PARAMETERS
- IMAGE GEN
- TYPE
- 1024²
- CONTEXT
- ~6 GB (quantized) / ~12 GB (native)
- VRAM AT Q4
Where we recommend this
Every tier slot in the planner where this model is a top or alternate pick. Pulled live from planner.js — when the planner refreshes, this table stays current.
The call
Alibaba Tongyi's distilled 6B T2I that matches FLUX.2-dev quality in 8 steps. Bilingual English + Chinese text rendering. The community daily driver for Apache-2.0 image gen in 2026.
When not to use: >1024² native resolution or multi-reference image editing — Z-Image-Turbo is tuned for single-image 1024² T2I, not compositional editing like FLUX.2 dev.
Runner notes
ComfyUI or Diffusers. Top pick alongside FLUX.2 klein 4B for any commercial SaaS image pipeline thanks to Apache 2.0. Tongyi-MAI also released Z-Image-Base (January 28, 2026) — the raw non-distilled checkpoint, which is the right starting point for fine-tuners.
Hardware that fits
Every hardware pick whose memory fits this model at the quant we recommend. Sorted cheapest-first — the top row is your best-value fit. Click through for the full buyer’s guide.
- Intel Arc B580 12 GBPerfect · 1.7× 12 GB · $249–$299
- NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GBPerfect · 1.7× 12 GB · $280–$400
- Minisforum UM890 ProPerfect · 3.3× 32 GB DDR5 (shared) · $463–$580 all-in
- RTX 5060 Ti 16 GBPerfect · 2.2× 16 GB · $560–$610
- AMD Radeon RX 9070 XTPerfect · 2.2× 16 GB · $649–$779
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTXPerfect · 3.3× 24 GB · $760 used / ~$1,500 new
- Mac Mini M4 16 GBPerfect · 1.5× 16 GB unified · $799 (new floor) / $499–$599 (eBay/residuals)
- NVIDIA RTX 3090 (used, single)Perfect · 3.3× 24 GB · $950–$1,200
- NVIDIA RTX 5070 TiPerfect · 2.2× 16 GB · $980–$1,300
- NVIDIA RTX 5080Perfect · 2.2× 16 GB · $999–$1,400
- MacBook Air M5 24 GBPerfect · 2.2× 24 GB unified · $1,299–$1,699
- Mac Mini M4 Pro 24 GBPerfect · 2.2× 24 GB unified · $1,399
- Dual RTX 3090 (used)Perfect · 6.6× 48 GB · $1,800–$2,500 all-in
- Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395)Perfect · 11.9× 128 GB unified · $1,999–$2,851
- NVIDIA RTX 4090Perfect · 3.3× 24 GB · $2,200–$2,800
- M5 Pro MacBook Pro 48 GBPerfect · 4.5× 48 GB unified · $2,599–$3,099
- NVIDIA RTX 5090Perfect · 4.4× 32 GB · $2,910–$4,300
- Mac Studio M4 Max 64 GBPerfect · 5.9× 64 GB unified · $3,199
- NVIDIA RTX A6000 (48 GB, used)Perfect · 6.6× 48 GB ECC · $3,500–$4,500
- Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96 GBPerfect · 8.9× 96 GB unified · $3,999
- M5 Max MacBook Pro 64 GBPerfect · 5.9× 64 GB unified · $4,499
- NVIDIA DGX SparkPerfect · 11.9× 128 GB unified · $4,699
- Dual RTX 5090Perfect · 8.9× 64 GB (2×32) · $8,500–$10,500
Next step
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