Midjourney is currently one of the best text-to-image AI models. The team behind the product has proven time and time again that they're able to innovate and make the generative AI experience exciting for people across the globe.
The service that the team provides requires a lot of computing power. This means that users need to pay a monthly subscription to keep the project going, as well as ensure the company works on making the product better over time.
Today, I'm going to dive deep into the available subscription plans and guide you on how to choose the best tier depending on your needs. Consider this a guide on how to find the best plan without having to purchase extra GPU time or end up with a lot of unused GPU hours at the end of the month.
Before I start analyzing the subscription plans, I want to note one thing. Any unused GPU hours don't roll over to the next month. In other words, you can't stack your GPU time and go berzerk during a certain month. That's one of the reasons why you should carefully consider which plan to choose.
Is Midjourney Free?
Whenever I introduce my friends in real life or like-minded people in online communities to Midjourney, the first thing they ask is whether it's free to use.
The short answer is that Midjourney is not free.
The long answer is that there was a time when Midjourney was free. When I first started experimenting with this generative AI model, I had the option to create a lot of images for free before I was asked to subscribe.
In fact, some of my friends started using Midjourney a few months after I started and they were still able to use it for free for a limited time. Since then, the policy has changed because many people kept making new Discord accounts every time their trial period ended so they can keep using the platform for free.
The Midjourney team took a firm stand in June 2023 when they announced that the free trial has ended and only paid users can have access to the AI model.
Midjourney Pricing & Plans Explained
There are four different subscription tiers available on Midjourney. Users have the option to pay either a monthly or an annual fee. If you decide to pay annually, you will get a 20% discount regardless of which plan you choose.
If you only want a quick overview of the available plans, you can check out this table released by the official Midjourney team. However, I will dive deep into each subscription plan and help you decide what to choose in the following sections of the article.
Each subscription plan comes with certain perks. There are some perks that are available for every subscription plan, including:
- Access to the Midjourney Bot
- General commercial terms
- The option to rate images to earn free GPU time
- Specified amount of fast GPU time
The biggest differentiator among the Midjourney subscription plans is the amount of fast GPU time you get. That's also the biggest cost that comes with running a company like Midjourney. To keep their service running smoothly, the company needs to constantly secure access to additional computing power.
Now, let's break down each subscription tier.
The Midjourney Basic Plan ($10/month)
The Midjourney basic plan will set you back $10 if you pay for a monthly subscription. But remember that you get a 20% discount if you pay annually. You also have the option to upgrade your plan at any given time.
For the $10 monthly fee you pay for the basic plan, you get 3.3 hours of fast GPU time per month as well as the option to purchase additional GPU hours at a rate of $4 per hour.
The fast GPU time is a metric used to measure how much computing power it takes to complete a certain job. Generating one set of four images takes roughly one minute of fast GPU time. Upscaling, making variations, and using other advanced options also consume your GPU time.
I feel like the basic plan is absolutely perfect for either beginners or people who only plan to use Midjourney several days per month.
If you're new to Midjourney, I advise that you start with the basic plan until you see how much you'll be needing this model.
When you first start using Midjourney, it may seem like you'll have the energy to create images all day long. However, most people lose motivation after a month or two and only the enthusiasts remain. That's why I advise you to stay on the basic plan at least for the first month to see how much you'll want to use the model.
The Midjourney Standard Plan ($30/month)
I use the standard plan because I think it's perfect for my needs. I get 15 hours of fast GPU time each month. What differentiates this plan from the basic plan is that you also get unlimited relax GPU time. In other words, you can create as many images as you want but as soon as you spend all your fast GPU time, it'll start taking 10-15 minutes to generate a single image.
Relax GPU time can be frustrating if you get used to near-instant results, but it can be great if you want to do concurrent jobs and then check back on the results in an hour.
There are months when I easily spend 15 hours of fast GPU time in the first two weeks of the month. And there are months when I barely spend a few hours. It all depends on my needs each month.
I know quite a few people from the Midjourney community who think 15 hours per month is not nearly enough for what they want to do. Some have to purchase additional hours every single month despite having the highest-tier subscription plan.
I'm constantly learning about AI and trying out different models so I can't really spend so much time on a single service each month, but I salute any individual who spends more than 15 hours of fast GPU time in Midjourney.
The Midjourney Pro Plan ($60/month)
The Midjourney pro plan is perfect if you want to use the AI model almost every day. And I'm talking about using it for at least a few hours almost every day. It comes with 30 hours of fast GPU time and greatly increases the number of concurrent jobs you can do.
While the standard plan gives you the option for 3 concurrent jobs, you can do 12 fast + 3 relax concurrent jobs if you have the pro plan subscription. This is ideal for prompters who have become truly great at creating AI-generated images.
You have to learn a lot about art styles, aesthetics, and keywords to become comfortable with writing prompts at a pace where you need to have the option to do at least 12 concurrent image generations.
As the name of the plan suggests, this one is dedicated to all the Midjourney pros.
The Midjourney Mega Plan ($120/month)
The Midjourney mega subscription plan costs twice as much as the pro plan and gives you twice as much fast GPU time. That's the only difference between these two plans. But if you need fast GPU time, you should choose this plan because the alternative is buying more time by the hour (and that comes at a higher price).
There are certain individuals who comfortably use 60 hours of fast GPU time each month. In my opinion, you should use this plan only if you find out for certain that 30 hours of fast GPU time is not enough for your needs.
Apart from the individuals that subscribe to this plan, it's mostly popular among companies. Companies across various industries use this plan.
In fact, as per the Midjourney terms of service, if a company decides to use Midjourney in any way and make more than a million dollars in gross revenue per year, they are obligated to purchase either the pro or the mega plan.
How to Subscribe to Midjourney?
It's incredibly simple to subscribe to Midjourney. The whole process will take only a few minutes. There is a command that you can type in Discord to begin the subscription process.
The command in question is /subscribe and can be typed in either the public Midjourney Discord server or your direct messages with the Midjourney Bot.
If you don't have any message history with the Midjourney Bot, all you have to do is visit the official Midjourney Discord server and check out the member list on the right side. There you'll find the Midjourney Bot.
Right click on the name and you will be given the option to send a direct message. Send any message to open a conversation with the bot.
As soon as you type /subscribe and press enter, a link only visible to you will appear.
When you press the link, you'll be taken to a page where you can select the plan that you want and proceed to payment. You can use a debit/credit card issued by American Express, Visa, and Mastercard to pay for the subscription.
Additional payment methods like Google Pay, Cash App Pay, and Apple Pay are available in some countries.
How to Cancel Midjourney Subscription?
If at any time you feel like the services provided by Midjourney are not up to your standards or if you don't need this product anymore, you can cancel your subscription within a few minutes.
All you have to do is sign-in on the official Midjourney website and navigate to your account page. As soon as you enter the page, you'll see the option to cancel the subscription at the top of the page.
Press on the 'Cancel Plan' button shown in the image above and you'll start the cancellation process. Note that you're able to cancel the subscription whenever you want, but it will be effective only at the end of the current billing cycle.
My Thoughts on Midjourney Pricing & Plans
Some say that Midjourney is too expensive, but I'd beg to differ. Here are some of the top reasons why I personally don't believe that Midjourney is expensive:
- The lowest subscription tier costs only $10 per month ($8 if you pay annually) and gives you the ability to create hundreds of images monthly.
- You can make money with Midjourney to recoup your investment and even have a considerable amount of cash left over by the end of each month, depending on your skills.
- You can use Midjourney to complete a lot of tasks for your business that would otherwise require hiring freelancers or full-time employees.
- You get access to a model that provides a unique interactive learning experience if you use it right.
I'm aware that there are cheaper alternatives when it comes to text-to-image AI models. However, I believe that the product quality provided by the Midjourney team is ahead of the competition.
If you're not sure whether you are comfortable with spending money on a Pro or Mega plan, I advise that you start with the Basic plan for at least a month or two and see whether you're happy with the product.
In most cases, people are more than happy after they try out the model for a few weeks.
