June 11, 2026 · 6 min read
The core difference: score tags
Pony Diffusion was trained with a score_9…score_1 quality ladder, so Pony prompts lead with score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up. Illustrious dropped that system — you just use a short quality tag like masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic.
Pony prompt shape
score_9, score_8_up, score_7_up, source_anime, 1girl, solo, …
negative: score_4, score_5, score_6, worst quality, low quality
Illustrious prompt shape
masterpiece, best quality, very aesthetic, 1girl, solo, …
negative: worst quality, low quality, bad anatomy, jpeg artifacts
Which should you use?
- Choose Pony for its huge LoRA ecosystem, if you’re comfortable with the score ladder.
- Choose Illustrious for cleaner prompts, strong character/series knowledge and newer aesthetics.
- Many creators keep both and pick per project — the prompts are close enough to port.
Porting a prompt between them
Going Pony → Illustrious, strip the score tags and add a short quality tag; going the other way, add the score ladder. The danbooru character and style tags carry over directly.
Prompt Builder ships template packs for both, so you can switch models and keep your snippets.