Midjourney
Prompt-to-image generator known for its aesthetics, now on V8.2
Overview
Midjourney is a text-to-image and image-to-video generator from San Francisco lab Midjourney, Inc., used through its website and Discord. V8.2 has been the default model since July 2026, with an instruction-based edit model added in August. Subscriptions run from $10 to $120 a month; there is no free plan and no public API.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 19 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- 3.3 hours (200 minutes) of fast GPU time a month
- SD video
- Up to 3 concurrent fast image jobs
- Extra GPU time $4/hour
- 15 hours of fast GPU time a month
- Unlimited Relax-mode images
- SD and HD video
- 30 hours of fast GPU time a month
- Unlimited Relax-mode images and SD video
- Stealth Mode
- Up to 12 concurrent fast image jobs
- 60 hours of fast GPU time a month
- Unlimited Relax-mode images and SD video
- Stealth Mode
- Up to 12 concurrent fast image jobs
Use cases
What you can produce with Midjourney
- Four-image sets from a text prompt on V8.2, in standard or 2K HD resolution
- Instruction-based edits, inpainting and outpainting with up to four reference images
- A consistent look through personalisation profiles, moodboards and style references
- Short videos animated from images, in SD on every plan and HD from Standard up
- Private generations kept off the public gallery with Stealth Mode (Pro and Mega)
- Shared folders where invited collaborators generate into one project (alpha site)
- A free check of whether an original image file was made by Midjourney
Midjourney is still the tool designers reach for when the look of an image matters most. V8.2 sharpened aesthetics and personalisation, the new edit model handles instructions, references, inpainting and outpainting, and the web app has made Discord optional. Plans are clearly published, and every tier carries commercial-use rights.
The limits are structural: no free plan, a refund window that closes after 20 GPU minutes of lifetime use, a weak Trustpilot record on billing, unresolved studio copyright suits, and no API for automated pipelines. Choose it for hand-crafted creative work, not for developer integration.
What we found
Midjourney is the image generator from Midjourney, Inc., a San Francisco research lab led by David Holz. Its Discord server opened in March 2022 and an open beta followed that July; the web app, which now carries an editor, moodboards and folders beside Discord, arrived in August 2024. Generation runs on the V8 family. V8.1 became the default on 11 June 2026, and V8.2, tuned for aesthetics, image quality and personalisation, replaced it on 24 July. In late August an instruction-based V8.2 edit model followed, taking up to four reference images and handling inpainting and outpainting. In October Midjourney began testing a "thinking" rerun on its alpha site that checks an image against the prompt and regenerates where it missed.
The company is also branching out. In June 2026 it unveiled Midjourney Medical and a full-body ultrasound scanner prototype, which Butterfly Network says uses 40 of its Ultrasound-on-Chip modules under a deal worth up to $74 million over five years. In July it made its first acquisition, the astrology app Co–Star.
Plans are published plainly. Basic costs $10 a month with 3.3 hours of fast GPU time, Standard $30 with 15 hours and unlimited relaxed images, and Pro $60 and Mega $120 add Stealth Mode and unlimited relaxed SD video; annual billing takes 20% off. GPU time is the currency: an SD job costs 0.8 minutes and an HD job 1.3. There is no free plan, only a limited trial in the niji·journey mobile app, and refunds apply only if an account has used under 20 GPU minutes in its lifetime.
Two caveats persist. Midjourney provides no API beyond rare, explicitly granted exceptions, and its rules ban automation. And paying customers rate the experience poorly: Trustpilot showed 1.7 from 374 reviews when read on 19 October 2026, with complaints about auto-renewal and support. Disney and Universal sued over copyright in June 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery that September; no ruling on the merits was found.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
Notable facts
- Midjourney generated an image that won first place at the Colorado State Fair fine arts competition in 2022, sparking a global debate about AI art and creative authorship.
- The company is entirely self-funded and profitable — founder David Holz has declined all outside investment, making Midjourney unique among AI unicorns.
- Midjourney's first public beta had just 2,800 alpha users; within 6 months, over 1 million Discord accounts had generated images with the tool.
Frequently asked questions
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Midjourney's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Midjourney unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
For the latest details, please refer to Midjourney directly →
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