# CFG scale (classifier-free guidance)

**Source:** https://promtable.com/glossary/cfg-scale

> CFG scale controls how strongly a diffusion image model follows its text prompt — higher values stick closer to the prompt, lower values explore more.

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CFG scale controls how strongly a diffusion image model follows its text prompt — higher values stick closer to the prompt, lower values explore more.

Classifier-free guidance (CFG) is a sampling trick that interpolates between the conditional (prompt-driven) and unconditional model output. Typical settings: 7–9 for Stable Diffusion 1.5/SDXL, 3.5–5 for Flux, 2–4 for SD3. High CFG produces over-saturated, hyper-prompted images; low CFG drifts off-prompt but feels more natural. New flow-matching models (Flux, SD3) use much lower CFG than older diffusion models — copying old SDXL CFG values onto Flux ruins the result.

## When to use

- Tuning prompt adherence vs. naturalness on a per-model basis.

## Common mistakes

- Carrying old SDXL CFG settings (7–9) into Flux — far too high, saturates badly.
- Treating CFG as a quality knob — it's a prompt-adherence knob.

## Related terms

- [diffusion-model](https://promtable.com/glossary/diffusion-model)
- [seed](https://promtable.com/glossary/seed)
- [negative-prompt](https://promtable.com/glossary/negative-prompt)

*Last updated: 2026-06-01*
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Original page: https://promtable.com/glossary/cfg-scale
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