Is Midjourney Worth It? [Read This Review Before Using]
Midjourney AI art generator has remained in the news since its launch in July 2022 primarily for hyperrealistic images. The AI image of Pope Francis in a Balenciaga fit and most recently, AI-generated images of cheating politicians have caused more than just a stir. You might be wondering if it’s worth a try.
Yes, Midjourney is definitely worth it if your preference is highly realistic images. It is easy to use and comes with a community of artists to provide inspiration for your next art project.
I have reviewed Midjourney’s offerings, its usability, and the possibility of commercial use in this article. Read on to find out what I discovered.
Is It Worth It to Subscribe to Midjourney?
Midjourney is a generative AI program that creates images from descriptions inputted by users. It can generate images in a variety of styles, from realistic to abstract. It is also capable of generating images that are both creative and original. This has made Midjourney a popular tool for artists, designers, and other creatives.
Midjourney is used for several art-related tasks including generating concept art, creating illustrations, designing logos and ad campaign posters, and creating personal artwork.
Subscription Plans
Midjourney is no longer free to use. It was for months after its launch. However, right now there are four subscription plans available. While on a monthly basis, you can also get a yearly subscription for any of the plans at a 20% discount.
The basic plan costs $10 per month and gives you 198 minutes of GPU time per month. The standard plan requires a subscription fee of $30 per month and gives you 15 hours of fast GPU time per month and unlimited relaxed GPU time.
The pro subscription package costs $60 per month and entitles you to 30 hours of fast GPU time per month. There is also the mega plan that costs $120 per month and entitles you to 60 hours of fast GPU time per month
You would notice that the value of your subscription is based on GPU time instead of the number of images generated. GPU time is the amount of time that Midjourney’s graphics processing unit (GPU) spends generating an image.
The more complex the image, the more GPU time it will take to generate. For example, the basic plan gives you 200 minutes of GPU time per month. This means that you can generate up to 200 images per month, assuming that each image takes one minute to generate.
The subscription also gives you access to the Midjourney member gallery, and the official Discord channel, and allows you to use the images generated commercially.
How Midjourney Works
In case you’re wondering how Midjourney works, all you need to do is give a detailed text description and Midjourney generates an image based on that.
It works its way from a noisy image and refines it to match your prompt. The more detailed the text description, the more likely Midjourney is to generate an accurate and realistic image.
For example, if you want Midjourney to create an image of a cat sitting on a couch, you would need to provide a text description that includes details such as the cat’s breed, color, and pose, as well as the couch’s color and style.
Midjourney is certainly known for creating realistic and creative images. It is also relatively easy to use. You can generate images by simply providing a text description of the image you have in mind.
Why I Loved Using Midjourney
Apart from other features I’ve already described, Midjourney’s affordability is also a point in its favor as the basic subscription plan is only $10 per month. The other plans might be on the steep side if you’re only using Midjourney for fun.
It however rewards your time and investment by allowing you to commercialize images it generates so long as your use is in line with its terms of service.
It might also interest you to know that Midjourney has a large community of users who share their images and tips. This can be a great resource for learning how to use Midjourney and getting inspiration for your own images.
Some Disadvantages
On the flip side, images generated by Midjourney might not always be accurate. This is especially true for complex images or images with specific details. This is because it is still under development.
Also, bear in mind that it can be biased. It is trained on a dataset of images that were created by humans. This means that Midjourney may be biased towards certain styles or genres of art. It can also be slow to generate especially complex images.
Overall, Midjourney is a great art generation tool and several of its output have gone viral in recent times garnering praise for how realistic and detailed they are. However, it is crucial to be mindful of its shortcomings.
What Is the Limit of Midjourney Free?
Midjourney knows some users might want to simply test the waters before committing to a paid plan. For such users, a previously available free trial gave you 25 minutes of GPU time. GPU time includes time used for upscaling an image, creating grid images, or generating image variations.
The free trial capabilities suffered from a number of limitations. For instance, you could only generate images with a maximum resolution of 1024×1024 pixels. Also, you could not save your images to your computer. Neither could you share your images with others.
However, on 28th March 2023, Midjourney announced that it was disabling its free trial temporarily citing high demand and abuse of the free trial feature. The free trial unfortunately remains disabled. My attempt to generate an image on my free plan brought up this error message:
Thus, to use Midjourney currently, you have to subscribe to any of its paid plans.
Is Midjourney the Best AI Image Generator?
Midjourney is a powerful AI image generator, but it is not the only one. There are a number of other AI image generators available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
Some of these are:
DALL-E 2
DALL-E 2 is an AI image generator developed by OpenAI. It is known for its ability to generate realistic and creative images from text descriptions.
Dream by WOMBO
Dream by WOMBO is an AI image generator developed by WOMBO Dream. It is known for its ability to generate abstract and surreal images from text descriptions.
Criayon
Craiyon is an AI image generator developed by Google AI. It is known for its ability to generate images in a variety of styles, from realistic to cartoony.
Artbreeder
Artbreeder is an AI image generator that allows users to create and modify images. It is known for its ability to generate realistic and detailed images.
Bing Image Creator
Developed by Microsoft and powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E technology, it can generate high-quality images in a matter of seconds.
Ultimately, the best AI image generator for you will depend on your individual needs and preferences. If you are looking for an AI image generator that can generate abstract or surreal images, then Dream by WOMBO or Craiyon are good options.
However, if you are looking for an AI image generator that can generate realistic and creative images, then Midjourney is a better option. Users are full of praise for the quality of the images generated. Here are some reviews from ProductHunt:
Other users, however, have complained of the absence of a free trial and unresponsive customer care. These remain a turnoff.
Can I Sell Midjourney Art?
Yes, you can sell Midjourney art since you generally own them anyway. Midjourney’s Terms of Service grants you ownership of generated work as a paid user except where the images generated are really an upscaling of another person’s work.
Also, if you use Midjourney as an employee or owner of a company grossing above $1,000,000 a year, you only own the images if you are subscribed to a paid plan.
However, it is important to note that Midjourney may change its Terms of Service in the future, so it is always best to check the latest version before using Midjourney for commercial purposes.
Can You Use Midjourney for NSFW?
No, you cannot. Midjourney has a policy against generating NSFW content. This means that you cannot use Midjourney to generate images that are sexually explicit or violent. If you try to generate NSFW content, Midjourney will block you.
There are a few reasons why Midjourney has this policy. First, Midjourney is a tool that is designed to be used by everyone, including children. Second, Midjourney’s developers believe that NSFW content can be harmful and offensive to some people.
If you are looking for a tool to generate NSFW content, there are other options available. However, be conscious of the risks associated with using these tools. NSFW content can be illegal in some countries, and it can also be used to harass or exploit people.
In all, if you are on the lookout for a creative and realistic art generator for your personal or work art project, Midjourney is definitely worth a shot.
Related Posts:
Using Midjourney Without Discord: What You Should Know
Can You Use Midjourney to Create NSFW Images?
