| Last Updated | Changes |
| 8/15/2024 | First Version |
What is Early Access?
Early Access (EA for short) is a significant step in helping the creator community monetize in a way that’s fair to the open-source ecosystem.
Models placed into EA require a Buzz payment to become accessible. However, resources can only be in EA for a set amount of time; once that time has elapsed, the resource goes back into the model feed and is available for everyone.
The Civitai’s Guide to Early Access will bring you up to speed on everything you need to know about Civitai’s EA implementation!
Early Access for Creators
We’ve made no secret that helping creators monetize is one of our core goals, and this is a step towards doing so while ensuring models will become available for everyone.
Creators receive 100% of the Buzz spent on their resource. As previously stated, we’ll be opening the creator program soon to allow users to sell their Buzz back to Civitai for real money.
We wanted to get EA out first since there is required functionality needed that will be used in the creator program itself.
Early Access Options
When Posting a new Resource
A resource can be in EA in three different ways:
- Downloading: The price the creator has designated must be paid before the option to download a model can be unlocked.
- Generating: The price the creator has designated must be paid before the option to generate with a model on-site can be unlocked.
- Donation Goal: Like Kickstarter, the creator has set a goal number to reach that, when hit, will bring the resource out of EA. If the goal isn’t hit, the resource will still come out of EA once the time has elapsed.
A resource isn’t limited to utilizing just one method of EA; all three EA options could be enabled at once.
When using a Resource
Upon opening a Resource with Early Access enabled, you will see some additional information panels, depending on the nature of the EA type enabled.
When a resource has a value set for Generation or Download, the value required to “unlock” that option is displayed.
If an Early Access Donation Goal is enabled, a progress bar will show the amount required before the goal is met, and a field will be present to specify a donation amount which will apply to the set Goal.
The time at which the LoRA will unlock (regardless of the Donation Goal progress) is shown below. You can choose to be notified when an Early Access resource becomes available for general access.
If Generation and Download Early Access values have been set, attempting to Generate or Download will present an informational dialogue:
Who can use Early Access?
Early Access is not available to everyone!
To qualify, you’ll need to have proven you’re a good actor within the open-source community. As a base requirement, you’ll need to have posted at least one resource previously, met account lifetime requirements, and have had enough positive interactions on the site.
The more trustworthy your account, the more resources you can have in EA and the longer they can remain there. We’re keeping the formula for this secret right now to prevent bad actors from gaming the system, but generally speaking, it is based upon genuine community engagement.
Preventing Abuse
Anytime a monetary value is attached to something it’s ripe for potential abuse! Early Access has strict requirements and limitations to ensure it isn’t being taken advantage of.
For example, putting a resource into EA just to unpublish it and put it back into EA when the term expires will result in the immediate loss of EA privileges. We’re actively monitoring use of EA!
I need more help!
If you’re experiencing issues with the Early Access system and a solution isn’t mentioned on this page, please reach out to a Community Manager at [email protected], or via the Civitai Feedback System.
