How Neurons and generation work
Neurons are the compute credits that power every generation on Latent Realms. Here's what a Neuron is, what a generation costs, how the job pipeline runs, and how bringing your own GPU earns free generations.
Every image you make on Latent Realms is a real compute job running on a real GPU somewhere. Neurons are how we meter that fairly without making you think about instances, VRAM, or hourly rentals.
What a Neuron is
A Neuron is a unit of generation credit. Your account carries a Neuron balance, shown in the top bar. When you run a workflow, the estimated cost is deducted; when it finishes, the actual cost is settled against your balance. You always see an estimate before you commit.
What a generation costs
Cost tracks how much work the GPU actually does — not a flat per-image fee. The main drivers are:
- Resolution. A 1024×1024 image is cheaper than a 2048×2048 hi-res pass.
- Steps and sampler. More sampling steps mean more compute.
- Model size and architecture. A large modern checkpoint costs more per step than a lean SD1.5 model.
- Extras. Hi-res fix, face detailing, ControlNet passes and upscalers each add work.
Because the estimate is computed from the real graph, turning off a hi-res pass or dropping steps visibly lowers the price before you run.
The job pipeline
When you hit run, this is what happens:
- Your graph is validated and normalized into an execution plan.
- The plan is dispatched to an available GPU worker.
- The worker loads the required model weights (cached when possible), then samples.
- Live progress streams back to your browser — steps, previews, and peak VRAM.
- The finished image lands in your gallery with its complete recipe attached.
If a model isn't downloaded yet, the worker fetches it from the origin first; that one-time load is why the first generation with a fresh model is slower than the rest.
Bring your own GPU
Latent Realms is also a compute network. Connect your own machine as a worker and your own jobs run free — you're spending your silicon, not our Neurons. Contribute spare capacity to the shared pool and you earn Neurons back when others use it. It's opt-in, and your own work always takes priority on your own hardware.
That's the whole model: predictable credits for cloud generation, free generation on hardware you own, and a way to earn credits by sharing. No subscriptions required to start.