Midjourney
Stable Diffusion
Pricing
PricingPaid
PricingOpen Source
Free Plan
Free Plan
Free Plan
Side-by-side comparison based on pricing, features, and community data.
Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are both AI design tools. Midjourney is Paid; Stable Diffusion is Open Source. Midjourney wins for creators who want polished results immediately without technical setup—its aesthetic consistency and commercial rights are built in.
Midjourney wins for creators who want polished results immediately without technical setup—its aesthetic consistency and commercial rights are built in. Stable Diffusion wins for developers, studios, and cost-conscious teams willing to manage infrastructure; SDXL delivers comparable quality at zero per-image cost and integrates into custom pipelines. Choose Midjourney if you value speed and visual cohesion over control. Choose Stable Diffusion if you need cost efficiency, local deployment, or API integration into products.
Pick Midjourney if you're a designer or artist who wants publication-ready images in minutes without learning technical infrastructure.
Pick Stable Diffusion if you're a developer, agency, or studio building image generation into applications or need unlimited free generation.
| Feature | Midjourney | Stable Diffusion |
|---|---|---|
| Cost model | Paid ($8–$120/month) | Free (open-source) |
| Setup required | Discord account only | Requires local install or API key management |
| Commercial rights | ✓ Included in all tiers | ✓ Included (open license) |
| Image quality (consistency) | Exceptional across styles | Strong (SDXL), variable with model choice |
| Generation speed | 15–30 seconds (queued) | Depends on hardware (seconds to minutes) |
| API access | Limited (Zapier only) | ✓ Full native API + multiple UIs |
| Local deployment | — | ✓ Desktop/server |
| Fine-tuning (LoRA/custom models) | — | ✓ Supported |
Synthesized by AI from verified tool data · cached per pair
3.3 hours fast GPU time/month
15 hours fast GPU time/month, unlimited relaxed generations
30 hours fast GPU time/month, unlimited relaxed generations
Unlimited local generations, no API fees
Pay-per-generation model; starting around $0.01-0.05 per image depending on resolution
