Hey friend! I wanted to provide a thorough guide to break down Midjourney‘s pricing plans and features. Midjourney is that super cool AI system that creates stunning images from text prompts. But I know there‘s been some confusion around how much it costs.
So in this guide, I‘ll cover all the pricing tiers, subscription costs, what‘s included in each plan, and any limitations. My goal is to explain the key differences so you can figure out the best Midjourney plan based on your needs and budget. Let‘s dive in!
An Introduction to Midjourney
First, a quick intro if you‘re new to Midjourney:
- It was created in 2021 by researchers at Anthropic, an AI safety startup.
- The tech uses a machine learning model trained on millions of images and texts.
- You give it a text prompt, and it generates a custom image for you.
- The AI capabilities are seriously impressive. The images often look very realistic and creative.
This AI image generation is powered behind the scenes by GPUs (graphics processing units). And Midjourney charges based on how much GPU time you use.
Their pricing ranges from a free trial to $60/month subscriptions. There are also options to pay annually for a discount.
Now let‘s look at what exactly you get with each Midjourney subscription tier.
Midjourney‘s Free Trial
Midjourney offers a free trial for new users to test it out. Here are the key details:
- Completely free (no credit card required)
- Gives you 25 minutes of GPU time
- Allows approximately 25 image generations
- Provides 0.4 fast GPU hours
- Usage rights: CC BY-NC 4.0
The free trial isn‘t always available. But it‘s a nice way to experience Midjourney‘s capabilities first-hand without paying.
It‘s perfect if you just want to generate some fun images or get a feel for the system. But for serious usage, you‘ll need one of the paid plans.
Ideal for: Experimenting with Midjourney and creating up to 25 images.
Midjourney Basic Plan
The Basic plan is Midjourney‘s most affordable paid option at just $10/month. Here‘s what you get:
- $10 per month
- $96 per year (saves you $24/year)
- 200 image generations per month
- 3.3 fast GPU hours per month
- No relaxed GPU hours
- 3 concurrent jobs and 10 queued jobs
With 200 images monthly, the Basic plan is great for light to moderate usage. The fast GPU hours allow you to generate images rapidly without waiting.
It also unlocks access to the Midjourney member gallery where you can browse and get inspiration from other user creations.
You can purchase additional credits if you need more than 200 generations per month. And it provides general commercial usage rights for the AI images you create.
Ideal for: Users who want a low-cost entry point to Midjourney. Best for less than 200 generations per month.
Limitations: No access to relaxed mode. Additional costs if you exceed 200 images.
Midjourney Standard Plan
The Standard plan opens up more possibilities, for a still reasonable $30/month. Here‘s what‘s included:
- $30 per month
- $288 per year (saves you $96/year)
- 15 fast GPU hours per month
- Unlimited relaxed GPU hours
- Access to member gallery
- General commercial usage rights
The major benefit is unlimited relaxed generations. This means you can create an unlimited number of images by using the relaxed mode queue.
The downside is relaxed generations take longer than fast generations. The wait time increases as more users join the relaxed queue.
But it‘s an affordable way to get unlimited Midjourney access. And 15 fast GPU hours per month is generous for many use cases.
Ideal for: Moderate to heavy Midjourney users who want unlimited generations.
Limitations: Relaxed generations have longer wait times, only 15 fast hours.
Midjourney Pro Plan
This top-tier plan gives power Midjourney users the highest limits and additional features, at a premium $60/month price.
Here are the Pro plan benefits:
- $60 per month
- $576 per year (saves you $144/year)
- 30 fast GPU hours per month
- Unlimited relaxed GPU hours
- 12 concurrent fast jobs
- 3 concurrent relaxed jobs
- Access to member gallery
- Stealth mode to keep images private
- General commercial usage rights
With 30 fast GPU hours per month, you can create a huge number of images rapidly. The unlimited relaxed generations also give you unlimited capacity if you don‘t mind the wait times.
12 concurrent fast jobs means you can actively have 12 image prompts processing simultaneously. This is great for efficiency.
The stealth mode is also a nice perk. It prevents other Midjourney users from finding your images in the public gallery search. So you can keep your image creations private.
Ideal for: Power users who want maximum generation speeds and capacity. Also good for users who need privacy features.
Limitations: It‘s the most expensive plan. But no major limitations.
Midjourney Pricing Plans Comparison Table
Here‘s a quick overview of the key differences between the plans:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Yearly Cost | Fast GPU Hours | Relaxed GPU Hours | Concurrent Fast Jobs | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 | $96 | 3.3 hours | None | 3 | Light users |
| Standard | $30 | $288 | 15 hours | Unlimited | 3 | Moderate users |
| Pro | $60 | $576 | 30 hours | Unlimited | 12 | Power users |
This table summarizes the core benefits and tradeoffs. Use it as a quick reference to pick the right plan tier for your needs.
How to Subscribe and Pay for Midjourney
If you‘re ready to give Midjourney a try, subscribing is quick and easy:
- Go to the Midjourney website
- Click "Sign in with Discord" and log into your Discord account
- Click on "Manage Subs" in the left sidebar
- Choose your desired subscription plan
- Enter payment details and complete the transaction
You can pay with a credit card, PayPal, or cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. There are also options for paid invoices.
Once your payment goes through, you can start using Midjourney immediately!
Tips for Using Midjourney Affordably
Here are some tips to use Midjourney generously while still keeping costs down:
- Take advantage of the free trial if available
- Opt for the yearly subscription to save up to 20%
- Only upgrade to a higher plan if you consistently exceed the limits
- Use relaxed mode when you don‘t need fast results
- Pool subscriptions with friends and share the costs
- Set a monthly images budget for yourself as needed
With the right plan and habits, you can create tons of amazing AI art on a budget!
Should You Choose Midjourney or DALL-E 2?
DALL-E 2 is another popular AI image generation system by OpenAI. So how does it compare to Midjourney pricing wise?
DALL-E 2 doesn‘t offer set plans. Instead, you purchase credits. It costs $0.02 to generate each DALL-E image + a monthly platform fee.
There are pros and cons to each pricing model. With Midjourney you get unlimited relaxed generations on the higher tiers. But DALL-E may cost less if you just need a few images per month.
In terms of capabilities, DALL-E 2 can create more photorealistic images. But Midjourney offers much more creative freedom with no strict content guidelines.
My recommendation is to try both free trials. Then decide which pricing model better fits your needs.
Is Midjourney Worth the Money?
For most, Midjourney‘s capabilities are well worth the subscription cost. Even the lowest Basic plan is very affordable at just $10 per month.
Unlimited relaxed generations on the Standard and Pro plans make it easy to use Midjourney as much as you want.
The quality and creativity of images consistently impress. Having an advanced AI artist available 24/7 provides amazing value.
Of course, the value depends on how much you plan to use Midjourney. For light use, a free trial may suffice. But frequent users get more than their money‘s worth, especially with relaxed generations.
In summary – yes, Midjourney is absolutely worth the investment for serious hobbyists and professionals!
Midjourney Continues to Improve Over Time
It‘s also worth noting that Midjourney is continuously evolving and improving. The team frequently adds new features and capabilities.
Recent upgrades include better text-to-image coherence, higher resolution images, better compression, and user interface upgrades.
As Midjourney‘s AI model keeps getting refined, the quality and value improve as well. So you can expect your subscription to get better over time.
Conclusion
I hope this full overview gives you a clear sense of Midjourney‘s pricing tiers and what value you get from each plan.
To recap:
- The free trial lets anyone try it out at no cost
- Basic plan is great for light users on a budget
- Standard plan unlocks unlimited relaxed generations
- Pro plan provides maximum speed and capacity
- Yearly subscriptions offer nice savings
Take some time to consider your usage needs. Then pick the most suitable plan to start creating with this amazing AI system! Let me know if you have any other questions.
