ClosedMidjourney, Inc. (independent lab)/10 trustMetrics-checked

Midjourney

Name: Midjourney
Rating: 7

The aesthetic-first image generator: V8.x, web + Discord, subscription-only.

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About

Midjourney is the independent research lab's image-generation service that became the aesthetic benchmark for AI art: cinematic lighting, editorial polish, and strong "first-try wow" in independent 2026 comparisons against Flux and Imagen. It runs through a web app (Discord still supported) with fine-grained controls — aspect ratios, style/character references (--sref/--cref), personalization profiles, upscaling — and now an HD video model. V8.1 is the default model as of June 2026 (V7 Apr 2025, V8 Mar 2026) with native 2K output. No official API and no free tier: subscriptions from $10/mo (Basic) to $120/mo (Mega); commercial-use terms tighten at higher tiers.

Specs

Context window

N/A (image model)

Pricing

Subscription only, no free tier (per Oct 2026 third-party comparison — verify live): Basic $10/mo, Standard $30/mo ($24 annual) with unlimited relax generations, Pro $60/mo (stealth mode), Mega $120/mo. No official API.

Free quota

None — no free tier and no trial.

API access

Web app + Discord bot only. No official API; no self-host.

Weights

Closed — API only

Released

Not disclosed

Benchmarks

No standard benchmarks. Independent 2026 comparisons (e.g. vs Flux.2): Midjourney wins on pure aesthetics/portraits/editorial; Flux wins on photorealism, prompt adherence, and text rendering. Strengths/weaknesses are qualitative — test against your own briefs.

Provider-reported unless a source says otherwise. Benchmarks are marketing-adjacent by nature — treat them as directional.

Use cases

image generationconcept artmarketingeditorial

Trust score — 7/10

/10 trustMetrics-checked

Scored 7/10 (metrics tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: provider-tier estimate — thinner evidence (no public adoption metric); no release date — neutral maintenance score. Manual review: aesthetic benchmark for AI art; V8.1 default (Jun 2026); no official API, no free tier ($10-$120/mo); version/pricing from third-party comparison — verify live. License: Proprietary — closed service.

How the trust score is built

Full methodology →

Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers: 8.0/10
Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load: 5.0/10
Openness · license + docs: 4.4/10
Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check: 8.0/10

· provider-tier estimate — thinner evidence (no public adoption metric)
· no release date — neutral maintenance score
· manual review: aesthetic benchmark for AI art; V8.1 default (Jun 2026); no official API, no free tier ($10-$120/mo); version/pricing from third-party comparison — verify live