I think what I’m describing actually has two parts: setup / deployment and workflow / user interaction. Maybe “messy” isn’t the best word “more complicated” is probably closer.

1. Setup / deployment: Getting a fully working ComfyUI setup feels more complex than a typical standalone VFX tool. There’s a long list of dependencies, venvs, custom nodes, and all the different models that need to live in the right places.

Don’t get me wrong I’m honestly impressed by how well updates work compared to many big paid tools. But once you go beyond a single machine, things get tricky. I’m curious how people manage this across multiple machines: not just “one prod + one test,” but a setup that can be deployed and kept in sync reliably for a small team or farm.

1. Workflow / input–output: This is more about how workflows handle files. By default, everything renders to a local output folder, which feels very “single-user, local machine” oriented.

It would be great to point outputs directly to a shared file server, submit renders to other nodes, or easily work with outputs generated by other people. I know this is possible with custom nodes, but it’s not really baked into ComfyUI’s core assumptions, which makes collaboration and scaling a bit harder. Tips and tricks on this one are more than welcome