Midjourney
An AI image generator famous for artistic, cinematic and highly stylised pictures, with a web editor and video.
- Category
- Images
- Free version
- No, it's a paid subscription
- Platforms
- Web, Discord
- Website
- midjourney.com
Best for
- Concept art, mood boards and illustration
- Striking social media and campaign visuals
- Designers exploring many visual directions fast
- Consistent styles across a series of images
Pros
- Distinctive, high-quality aesthetic out of the box
- Powerful style and character references
- Web editor for extending and repainting parts of images
- Can animate images into short video clips
Cons
- No permanent free plan
- Less precise with long text inside images than some rivals
- Images are public by default on lower plans
What is Midjourney?
Midjourney is an independent research lab and one of the best-known AI image generators. You describe an image in words and it creates several variations in seconds. Where many generators aim for photographic realism by default, Midjourney has become the favourite of artists, designers and marketers for its rich, cinematic and often painterly look. Today it runs in a full web app with an editor, organisation tools and short video generation.
Key features
- Text to image. Write a prompt and get four variations to choose from, then upscale or vary the one you like.
- Style references. Upload an image or use a style code to make new images follow the same look.
- Character and object references. Keep a person, mascot or product consistent across scenes.
- Editor. Repaint a region, extend the canvas, change the aspect ratio or retexture an image.
- Personalisation. Rate images to train a personal style profile that shapes your results.
- Video. Animate still images into short clips.
- Parameters. Control aspect ratio, stylisation, variety and more with simple options.
How to get started
- Go to midjourney.com and sign in.
- Choose a subscription plan.
- Type a descriptive prompt, for example: “cosy home office by a rainy window, warm lamp light, film photography”.
- Pick the best of the four results and upscale it, or create variations.
- Save good results to folders and reuse their style with a reference.
Who Midjourney is for
Graphic designers and illustrators exploring concepts, marketers creating campaign visuals, game and film teams building mood boards, authors designing book cover ideas and content creators who want scroll-stopping imagery. If the look of an image matters more than pixel-perfect accuracy of text or product details, Midjourney is hard to beat.
Tips for better Midjourney images
- Describe light, lens and mood, not only the subject.
- Set the aspect ratio up front, for example 16:9 for YouTube thumbnails or 4:5 for Instagram.
- Build a style library with saved references for brand consistency.
- Resize for each platform with the free image resizer, then shrink the file with the image compressor before uploading to your site.
- Pull brand colours from your best image with the color palette generator.
Midjourney vs alternatives
Ideogram is the better pick when the image must include readable text, like posters or logos. Adobe Firefly is designed to be safe for commercial use and fits into Photoshop. Leonardo.Ai offers more free credits and fine control for game-style assets. Recraft generates vector graphics and icons.
Is Midjourney worth it?
If you create visuals regularly and care about aesthetic quality, Midjourney is one of the best investments in AI image generation. People who only need an occasional image, or images with lots of text, may be better served by tools with a free plan. Try it for a month on a real project, such as a campaign or a content calendar, to see how much time it saves.
Make your generated images web-ready with Holsha’s free image tools, and compare generators in the AI tools catalog.
Midjourney alternatives
- IdeogramImage generation that gets text inside pictures right.
- Leonardo.AiImages and game-style assets with fine control.
- Adobe FireflyAdobe's image and video generation, safe for commercial use.
- RecraftVector illustrations, icons and brand-consistent images.
- KreaReal-time image generation and upscaling.
- Freepik AIImage and video generation next to a huge stock library.
Free Holsha tools that help
Midjourney: common questions
Is Midjourney free?
No. Midjourney requires a paid subscription. There is no ongoing free plan, though the company has occasionally run limited trials.
Do I still need Discord to use Midjourney?
No. You can create, edit and organise images in the Midjourney web app. Discord remains available for people who prefer it.
Can I use Midjourney images commercially?
Paid subscribers can generally use their images commercially, with extra conditions for larger companies. Check Midjourney's current terms of service for the details that apply to you.
How do I keep the same character across images?
Use a character or omni reference image. Midjourney then keeps the person's or object's appearance consistent in new scenes.
Can Midjourney make videos?
Yes. Midjourney can animate an image into a short video clip, either automatically or with a text description of the motion.