Deploy ComfyUI on Alibaba Cloud Function Compute for Low‑Cost AI Image Generation

Background

ComfyUI is a node‑based UI for Stable Diffusion that enables highly customizable image‑generation workflows. It is used for e‑commerce posters, anime‑to‑real conversion, photo restoration, portrait customization, stylized filters, and video generation, but requires a powerful GPU for local deployment.

Why Deploy on Alibaba Cloud Function Compute (FC)

Deploying ComfyUI on FC provides scalable GPU resources, reduces hardware costs, and simplifies setup through a serverless, pay‑as‑you‑go model.

One‑Click Deployment Procedure

Open the Function Compute console and go to the Application Center (FC 3.0).

Create a new application under the Artificial Intelligence category, selecting the template “Workflow AI Image Generation – ComfyUI”.

Select a region (Hangzhou or Shanghai) and keep the default options.

Confirm and deploy ; the environment is provisioned in about one minute.

After deployment, click the provided WebUI domain to access ComfyUI. Keep the domain private to avoid unexpected charges.

Initial Workflow Test

Open the WebUI, wait up to 10 seconds if the page initially fails to load, then click Queue Prompt . The first image generation may take ~30 seconds due to a cold start; subsequent generations typically finish in 2‑5 seconds.

Loading the “Clay Filter” Workflow

Download the preset clay workflow.zip from

https://labfileapp.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/函数计算/基于函数计算部署ComfyUI绘图平台/clay%20workflow.zip

and unzip.

In ComfyUI, click Load and import the JSON file.

Upload the source image via Load Image → Choose File .

Press Queue Prompt to generate the stylized output. Portrait images give the best results.

NAS Integration for Model Persistence

Mount a File Storage NAS to persist models and workflow files. Set the local directory to /mnt/auto or /mnt/auto/comfyui. Use a high‑performance NAS instance for large model I/O.

Installing Custom Nodes

Use the ComfyUI‑Manager to install additional nodes, e.g., the Chinese translation plugin AIGODLIKE-COMFYUI-TRANSLATION. Search for the node name, click Install , then Restart and refresh the page.

Accelerating Python Dependency Installation

Edit /mnt/auto/comfyui/root/.pip/pip.conf to use Alibaba Cloud’s PyPI mirror:

[global]
index-url = http://mirrors.aliyun.com/pypi/simple/
[install]
trusted-host = https://mirrors.aliyun.com

Handling Missing Nodes

If a workflow references unavailable nodes, install them via the manager or refer to the ComfyUI Guides (https://comfyui-guides.runcomfy.com/) for troubleshooting.

ControlNet Example

The guide includes a ControlNet workflow JSON and model download instructions to demonstrate the visual difference between using ControlNet and direct generation.

Resource Cleanup

When ComfyUI is no longer needed, delete the Function Compute application (no further charges) and detach or delete the NAS file system (storage fees persist while data remains).

References

Function Compute console: https://account.aliyun.com/login/login.htm?oauth_callback=https%3A%2F%2Ffcnext.console.aliyun.com%2Foverview

ComfyUI‑Translation plugin repository: https://github.com/AIGODLIKE/AIGODLIKE-COMFYUI-TRANSLATION

ComfyUI Guides: https://comfyui-guides.runcomfy.com/