Open Higgsfield AI on GitHub: Which Repo, Setup and Real Cost

Open Higgsfield AI is an open-source image and video studio on GitHub that copies the look and workflow of Higgsfield. The original, by developer Anil Matcha, has been renamed Open Generative AI (over 33,000 stars, MIT license). Autom8AI/Open-Higgsfield-AI, the first result on Google, is a fork of it. A second, unrelated app, wide-trace/open-higgsfield, calls itself OpenHiggsfield. The apps cost nothing to run, but cloud generation does: Open Generative AI sends jobs to MuAPI with your MuAPI key, and OpenHiggsfield sends them to Higgsfield's own pay-per-generation API, which Higgsfield itself markets as "Open Higgsfield". Only the local models in the Open Generative AI desktop app avoid per-generation charges.

Verification note: We read both repositories, their READMEs and parts of their source code on November 8, 2026, and checked Higgsfield's pricing and API pages the same day. We did not generate anything with either app, because both need a paid key from a third party. Kensa is an AI video generator that competes with Higgsfield; our side-by-side is on the Kensa vs Higgsfield page.

The three things called "Open Higgsfield"

Open Generative AI is the project most people mean. Its old address, github.com/Anil-matcha/Open-Higgsfield-AI, now redirects to the renamed repository, and it has grown well beyond a Higgsfield look-alike: image, video, lip sync, cinema-style camera controls, workflows and agents. The Autom8AI fork still uses the Open Higgsfield AI name and README (200+ models). GitHub shows no license file in the fork, although its README says MIT, the original's license.

OpenHiggsfield is a smaller, separate app: one prompt bar for image and video, per-model settings and a gallery. Its catalog includes Soul 2 and Soul Cinema, which are Higgsfield's own image models, and it signs requests with Higgsfield's Key id:secret header. In other words, it is an open-source front end for Higgsfield's paid API rather than a replacement for it. Its README calls it open source, but the repository has no license, which by default means the author keeps all rights to the code.

Higgsfield's API adds to the confusion: its page is titled "Open Higgsfield", and keys are created at open.higgsfield.ai. If you search for "open higgsfield" and land on higgsfield.ai, that is the paid developer API, not a free project.

Is Open Higgsfield AI free?

The software is free; the cloud models are not.

• Cloud models in Open Generative AI and the Autom8AI fork run through MuAPI. You paste a MuAPI key and pay MuAPI for each generation at the price listed per model on its pricing page.
• OpenHiggsfield needs a Higgsfield API key and a funded balance. Higgsfield bills per generation, with no subscription.
• Local models are the free exception. The Open Generative AI desktop app can download and run image models on your own computer through a bundled sd.cpp engine: Z-Image Turbo, Z-Image Base, SDXL and three Stable Diffusion 1.5 checkpoints, from 2.1 GB to 6.9 GB each. Local video goes through Wan2GP, which you install yourself and which needs an NVIDIA (CUDA) or AMD (ROCm) GPU.

The hosted versions are no different: muapi.ai asks you to sign up for a MuAPI account, and openhiggsfield.ai asks for your Higgsfield key before you can generate.

How much does generating cost?

With OpenHiggsfield you pay Higgsfield's API rates. These were the listed prices on November 8, 2026, most of them with a launch discount:

At those rates, a 5-second Seedance 2.0 clip costs about $0.49 on Higgsfield's API. With Open Generative AI, prices come from MuAPI's per-model list instead. Higgsfield's own app is sold by subscription; its cheapest plan, Starter, was $19 a month billed yearly with 270 credits on November 8, 2026.

How to install Open Higgsfield AI (Open Generative AI)

The project offers desktop installers for macOS and Windows, but they are not signed, so macOS Gatekeeper and Windows SmartScreen will warn you on first launch. To build it from source instead, you need Node.js 18 or newer and, for cloud models, a MuAPI key:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Anil-matcha/Open-Generative-AI.git
cd Open-Generative-AI
npm run setup          # installs and builds the workspace packages
npm run dev            # web version at http://localhost:3000
# or: npm run electron:dev   for the desktop app (needed for local models)

The app asks for your MuAPI key on first use. You can skip it if you only plan to use local models.

How to install OpenHiggsfield

OpenHiggsfield is a Next.js app that uses pnpm:

git clone https://github.com/wide-trace/open-higgsfield.git
cd open-higgsfield
pnpm install
pnpm dev               # http://localhost:3000

Before it works you set two environment variables: HF_API_BASE_URL, the address of the generation API, and OPEN_HIGGSFIELD_READ_WRITE_TOKEN, a Vercel Blob token used to upload reference images. Then click Add key and paste your Higgsfield API key as id:secret.

Open Higgsfield vs Higgsfield

Before you paste an API key

• Know where the key goes. Open Generative AI keeps your MuAPI key in the browser's localStorage, where any script running on that page can read it. On the hosted openhiggsfield.ai, your Higgsfield key is stored in a cookie and used by that site's server, so you are trusting its operator with it.
• Be careful with unknown copies. Many sites now call themselves "Open Higgsfield". Paste a key only into an app you run yourself or a host you trust.
• Keep balances small. Both providers bill per generation, so fund only what you plan to spend.

If you'd rather not manage keys

Kensa is a hosted alternative for video: no API key and no install. It runs Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Seedance 1.5 Pro, Veo 3.1, MiniMax H3 and Grok Image Video, shows the credit price before you generate, and returns the credits if a generation fails. Accounts that sign up with Google get 15 free credits, valid for 72 hours. Z-Image Turbo, one of the local models in Open Generative AI, also runs in Kensa's AI Image Generator at 1 credit per image.

The smallest image-to-video clip on each model on Kensa, November 8, 2026:

Start from Image to Video or Text to Video, and see Kensa vs Higgsfield for plans and team seats.

FAQ

What is Open Higgsfield AI?

An open-source, Higgsfield-style studio for AI images and videos, published on GitHub by Anil Matcha and since renamed Open Generative AI. It is a front end: cloud models run through MuAPI with your own key, and the desktop app can also run some image models locally. A separate project, wide-trace/open-higgsfield (OpenHiggsfield), uses a similar name.

Is Open Higgsfield AI made by Higgsfield?

No. Neither GitHub project is made by Higgsfield. Confusingly, Higgsfield calls its own paid developer API "Open Higgsfield" and issues keys at open.higgsfield.ai.

Is Open Higgsfield AI free?

The code is free to run. Cloud generations are paid: MuAPI bills Open Generative AI users per generation, and Higgsfield bills OpenHiggsfield users per generation. Only the local image models in the Open Generative AI desktop app, and local video through Wan2GP on your own GPU, avoid those charges.

Which GitHub repo is the real Open Higgsfield AI?

github.com/Anil-matcha/Open-Higgsfield-AI is the original. It now redirects to Anil-matcha/Open-Generative-AI. Autom8AI/Open-Higgsfield-AI is a fork of it, and wide-trace/open-higgsfield is an unrelated app with a similar name.

Do I need an API key?

For cloud models, yes: a MuAPI key for Open Generative AI or a Higgsfield API key for OpenHiggsfield. The Open Generative AI desktop app can run its local models without any key.

Does Open Higgsfield include Higgsfield's Soul model?

Only OpenHiggsfield does, because it calls Higgsfield's own API, where Soul 2 was listed at $0.0032 per image on November 8, 2026. Open Generative AI does not offer Higgsfield's proprietary models.

Is Open Higgsfield AI safe to use?

The code is public, so you can read it before running it. The main risks are unsigned desktop installers and where your API key is stored: in the browser's localStorage for Open Generative AI, and on the host's server if you use the hosted openhiggsfield.ai. Paste keys only into copies you run yourself or trust.

Is there a Higgsfield alternative that needs no API key?

Yes. Hosted generators such as Kensa sell the same kind of models with credits and no key or install. On Kensa, image-to-video clips start at 5 credits (Grok Image Video, 6 s at 480P), and new Google sign-ups get 15 free credits.

Sources

• Anil-matcha/Open-Generative-AI on GitHub: README, license, stars and setup, read November 8, 2026
• Autom8AI/Open-Higgsfield-AI on GitHub: fork details and README, read November 8, 2026
• wide-trace/open-higgsfield on GitHub: README and the src/generation code, read November 8, 2026
• Higgsfield API ("Open Higgsfield"): per-generation prices and authentication, checked November 8, 2026
• Higgsfield pricing: Starter plan, checked November 8, 2026
• MuAPI pricing: per-model generation prices
• Kensa credits: kensa.cc/pricing, from Kensa's billing configuration, November 8, 2026