Tool profile
Midjourney: what it is, what it costs, where it breaks
Midjourney is a subscription image and video generation service made by Midjourney, Inc. that turns text prompts into artwork through a web app and Discord. It is sold in four monthly tiers measured in fast GPU time, and it has no general public API.
What to know first
Midjourney charges by GPU time rather than by image, so the plan you need depends on how many fast generations you run and whether you want Relax Mode, which makes standard image jobs unlimited from the Standard tier up. There is no free trial on the web app, and Stealth Mode, which keeps images out of the public gallery, starts at the Pro tier. Companies earning over $1,000,000 a year must be on Pro or Mega.
Midjourney at a glance
| Maker | Midjourney, Inc., United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | No |
| Entry price | $10 per month |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Image Generators in 2026, rank 1 of 8 |
| Website | midjourney.com |
Who Midjourney is best for
Independent illustrators and concept artists
Standard at $30 per month gives unlimited Relax images, so exploring dozens of directions for a single brief does not burn through a fixed credit allowance.
Small agencies producing client visuals
Pro adds Stealth Mode and higher concurrency, which matters when client work must stay out of a public gallery and several jobs run in parallel.
Marketers who need moodboard-style exploration
The web app has personalization and moodboard features that steer results toward a reference look, useful when no designer is available to brief.
Hobbyists on a tight budget
Basic costs $10 per month, or $8 per month billed annually, for about 200 minutes of fast generation, which is enough for casual use.
Midjourney plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 per month ($96 per year) | About 3.3 fast GPU hours per month, 3 concurrent fast images, SD video, extra GPU time at $4 per hour. No Relax Mode listed. |
| Standard | $30 per month ($288 per year) | 15 fast GPU hours per month, unlimited Relax image generations, 3 concurrent jobs, repeat and permutation size up to 10 jobs. |
| Pro | $60 per month ($576 per year) | 30 fast GPU hours per month, unlimited Relax images and SD video, Stealth Mode, up to 12 concurrent fast images, SD and HD video. |
| Mega | $120 per month ($1,152 per year) | 60 fast GPU hours per month, the same Relax and Stealth rights as Pro, up to 12 concurrent video jobs, and HD video. |
Prices as of October 2026; vendors change plans often, so confirm on the vendor's pricing page.
What Midjourney does
- Fast and Relax modes
- Fast mode uses your monthly GPU hours for quick results, while Relax Mode queues jobs at lower priority without consuming hours. Relax covers unlimited images from Standard, and unlimited SD video from Pro.
- Image editor
- The web editor lets you modify a region or extend an image, and the terms of service treat the Image Editor as a distinct tool that falls under the same agreement as the rest of the service.
- Video model
- Midjourney generates short videos from images, in SD on every plan and HD on Standard and above, with Relax video on Pro and Mega only.
- Personalization and moodboards
- Personalization and Moodboards, listed in the web app's aesthetics menu, bias outputs toward a taste profile or a set of reference images so repeated prompts stay on a look.
- Stealth Mode
- Stealth Mode keeps your jobs out of the public gallery. Midjourney's terms say it will make best efforts not to publish assets made in stealth, except in shared Discord spaces.
How Midjourney handles your data
Midjourney's terms state that you own the assets you create, subject to third-party rights and a plan requirement for companies above $1,000,000 in annual revenue, who must hold Pro or Mega. In return you grant Midjourney a perpetual, sublicensable license to reproduce, display and distribute your inputs and assets. Content is public by default, and only Stealth Mode, on Pro or Mega, changes that. You also indemnify Midjourney against third-party claims arising from your use. The privacy policy's treatment of model training was not checked for this page.
Where Midjourney falls short in practice
- No API for automation. Midjourney's community guidelines say it provides no API outside rare explicit exceptions, and automated interaction is prohibited. Pipelines that need programmatic generation cannot be built on a standard account.
- Public by default. Every image is visible in the community unless Stealth Mode is on, and that mode costs $60 per month or more. Prompts for unreleased products leak into the gallery on cheaper tiers.
- No free trial on web or Discord. The documentation says no trial is available on midjourney.com or Discord, apart from a limited trial in the niji journey mobile app, so evaluation costs at least $10.
- One account per person. The terms limit use to one user per registered account and one account per user, so a team needs one subscription for every member who generates images.
Works with
Alternatives to Midjourney
Midjourney: common questions
How much does Midjourney cost per month?
As of October 2026 Midjourney lists Basic at $10, Standard at $30, Pro at $60 and Mega at $120 per month. Annual billing is 20 percent cheaper and paid upfront, so Standard becomes $288 per year. Extra fast GPU time can be bought at $4 per hour on every plan.
Can I use Midjourney images commercially?
Yes. Midjourney's terms say you own the assets you create to the extent the law allows, including after you cancel. A company above $1,000,000 in annual gross revenue must hold the Pro or Mega plan to own its assets. The assets come with no warranty and you carry the third-party risk.
Does Midjourney keep my images private?
Not by default. Images are visible to the community and can be remixed by others. Stealth Mode hides them from the public gallery, and it is available only on Pro and Mega. Anything generated in a shared Discord channel is visible to others in that channel regardless of the setting.
Is there a free trial for Midjourney?
Not on the website or in Discord. The documentation states a limited trial exists only in the niji journey app for iOS and Android. Everyone else pays for at least the Basic plan, which is $10 per month or $96 for the year as of October 2026.
How do Midjourney's fast hours work?
Fast GPU time is allotted each billing cycle: about 3.3 hours on Basic, 15 on Standard, 30 on Pro and 60 on Mega. Midjourney's comparison table lists extra time at $4 per hour on every plan. Jobs that exceed the fast allotment can still run in Relax Mode on Standard and above, which does not consume hours but queues at lower priority.