A
AMidjourney vs Stable Diffusion
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
M
Choose Midjourney if…
- you're in its core audience: digital artists, graphic designers
S
Choose Stable Diffusion if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you need an API to build on
- you work on Self-hosted
- you're in its core audience: developers, researchers
Side by side
Feature Midjourney Stable Diffusion
Pricing modelPaidFreemium
Starting price$8/mo—
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your content—Yes, unless you opt out
Data retention—Kept as long as reasonably necessary, including while account is active
PlatformsWebWeb, API, Self-hosted
CategoryImage GeneratorsImage Generators
CompanyMidjourney, Inc.Stability AI Ltd
Based in—United Kingdom
Founded——
Part of——
Key features
M Midjourney
- Text-prompt image generation
- Video generation
- Monthly Fast GPU time allowance
- Unlimited Relax Mode on Standard and above
- Stealth Mode for private images on Pro and Mega
- Monthly or yearly billing with 20% yearly discount
S Stable Diffusion
- Text-to-image with the Stable Diffusion 3.5 suite
- SD 3.5 Flash and Turbo variants for faster, cheaper generation
- SDXL 1.0 available from 0.9 credits per image
- Platform API with credit-based billing
- Self-hosted deployment under a license
- Custom model training on the Enterprise plan
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Midjourney
Basic$10/mo or $96/yr ($8/mo billed yearly)
Standard$30/mo or $288/yr
Pro$60/mo or $576/yr
Mega$120/mo or $1,152/yr
Stable Diffusion
Community LicenseFree
API credits$0.01 per credit
Enterprise LicenseCustom
Strengths and limitations
Midjourney
- Unlimited Relax Mode on Standard, Pro and Mega
- Yearly billing is 20% cheaper
- Four tiers from $10/mo
- No free plan listed
- Stealth Mode only on the $60+/mo plans
- Basic includes only 3.3 Fast GPU hours a month
Stable Diffusion
- Free Community License for organizations under $1M annual revenue
- 25 free API credits for new accounts
- Choice of model sizes at different per-image costs
- Organizations above $1M annual revenue need a custom-priced Enterprise License
- API is pay-per-credit, with no flat monthly plan listed
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy