Midjourney Cost Guide: Developers & Designers True Price

Midjourney Cost Guide: Developers & Designers True Price

This guide breaks down every Midjourney plan and uncovers the hidden API costs to help you determine the true price for your creative or development projects.

Midjourney Pricing at a Glance: Quick Comparison Table (2024)

For those who need a quick answer, here is a direct comparison of Midjourney’s current subscription plans. Prices shown are for monthly billing; annual billing offers a 20% discount.

Feature	Basic Plan	Standard Plan	Pro Plan	Mega Plan
Monthly Price	$10	$30	$60	$120
Annual Price	$96 ($8/mo)	$288 ($24/mo)	$576 ($48/mo)	$1152 ($96/mo)
Fast GPU Time	3.3 hr/mo	15 hr/mo	30 hr/mo	60 hr/mo
Relax GPU Time	No	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Stealth Mode	No	No	Yes	Yes
Max Concurrent Jobs	3	3	12	12
Commercial Use	Yes*	Yes*	Yes*	Yes*

*Subject to Midjourney's General Commercial Terms. Always review the latest terms of service.

Is Midjourney Free? The End of the Free Trial Explained

One of the most common questions is whether Midjourney offers a free version. The short answer is no, not anymore.

Previously, Midjourney provided a free trial that allowed new users to generate a limited number of images (around 25). However, due to extraordinary demand and misuse of the service, the free trial was paused in early 2023. As of now, to use the Midjourney bot on Discord, you must have an active, paid subscription. There is currently no indication that the free trial will be returning.

A Detailed Breakdown of Official Midjourney Subscription Plans

Choosing the right plan depends entirely on your usage patterns, professional needs, and budget. Let's explore who each plan is built for.

Basic Plan ($10/month) - Who Is It For?

The Basic Plan is the entry point into the Midjourney ecosystem. For $10 per month, you get 3.3 hours of "Fast GPU time," which translates to approximately 200 image generations.

• Best for: Hobbyists, casual users, or professionals who want to test the platform's capabilities before committing to a higher-tier plan.
• Key Limitation: Once your Fast GPU hours are depleted for the month, you cannot generate any more images until your subscription renews. There is no access to the unlimited "Relax Mode" on this plan.

Standard Plan ($30/month) - The Best Value for Most Users

The Standard Plan is arguably the most popular and offers the best overall value. At $30 per month, it provides a generous 15 hours of Fast GPU time and, most importantly, unlimited Relax Mode generations.

• Best for: Freelance designers, artists, content creators, and developers who need a reliable stream of images without worrying about hitting a hard limit.
• Key Feature: Unlimited Relax Mode is a game-changer. While these generations are placed in a queue and can take longer than Fast Mode (typically 1-10 minutes per job), it allows for endless experimentation, refinement, and creative exploration. This makes it the cheapest way to use Midjourney for designers who value iteration over immediate speed.

Pro Plan ($60/month) - For Power Users & Professionals

The Pro Plan doubles the Fast GPU time to 30 hours per month and introduces a critical feature for professional use: Stealth Mode. By default, all images you generate with Midjourney are public on the Midjourney website. Stealth Mode makes your generations private by default, a crucial feature for client work or proprietary projects.

• Best for: Professional designers, agencies, and developers working on confidential projects. The ability to run up to 12 concurrent fast jobs also significantly boosts productivity.
• Key Feature: Stealth Mode is the primary reason to upgrade to the Pro Plan. If you are creating assets for clients or developing a commercial product, keeping your work private is non-negotiable.

Mega Plan ($120/month) - For Heavy-Duty Commercial Use

The Mega Plan is designed for enterprises and power users who require massive image generation capacity. It includes 60 hours of Fast GPU time, Stealth Mode, and the same high concurrency as the Pro Plan.

• Best for: Large agencies, AI application developers, and businesses with high-volume image generation needs.
• Key Feature: The sheer volume of Fast GPU time. This plan ensures that high-priority, commercial-scale jobs can be processed without delay.

Understanding Key Features: Fast Hours, Relax Mode & Commercial Use

The value of each Midjourney plan is defined by a few core concepts.

• Fast Hours vs. Relax Mode: "Fast GPU time" is a credit system. Each time you generate an image, you use a small amount of this time (about one minute per standard job). Fast jobs are processed instantly by Midjourney's GPUs. "Relax Mode," available on Standard plans and above, allows for unlimited generations but places your jobs in a queue to be processed as GPUs become available. This trade-off between speed and volume is central to the midjourney cost structure.

• Commercial Use: All paid Midjourney plans include a license for midjourney pricing for commercial use. This allows you to use the images you create for business purposes. However, it's essential to read the official Terms of Service, as there are stipulations, especially for large companies.

• Stealth Mode: Available only on the Pro and Mega plans, this feature prevents your images from appearing on the public Midjourney community feed. It's a must-have for any work that requires confidentiality.

Midjourney Cost for Developers: The API Question

For developers looking to integrate Midjourney into their applications, the cost structure has an additional layer of complexity.

Does Midjourney Have an Official API?

As of late 2024, Midjourney does not offer an official, public API. This is a critical point that is often misunderstood. The only official way to interact with Midjourney is through their Discord bot.

The Cost of Unofficial APIs (A Look at the Market)

Because there is no official API, a market of third-party services has emerged to fill the gap. These services provide API access to Midjourney by essentially automating the Discord bot on the backend. They typically charge their own fees, which can be structured as:

• A flat monthly subscription.
• A per-image or per-API-call fee.
• A tiered system based on usage volume.

Calculating Your True Total Cost: API Fee + Subscription Plan

This is the most important calculation for any developer. To use a third-party Midjourney API, you must pay for two separate services:

1. Your Midjourney Subscription: The third-party API uses your Midjourney account to generate images. You must have an active subscription (Standard or higher is recommended) to handle the generation volume.
2. The Third-Party API Provider Fee: This is the fee you pay the service for providing the API endpoint and managing the automation.

Let's look at a simple example formula to calculate your total monthly midjourney cost:

Total Monthly Cost = (Your Midjourney Plan Cost) + (Third-Party API Provider Cost)

For instance, if you choose the Midjourney Standard Plan and an API provider that charges $20/month for their service, your true cost is:

$30/month (Midjourney Standard) + $20/month (API Service) = $50/month (True Total Cost)

Platforms like ImaginePro.ai offer structured access through their own Midjourney API, simplifying this integration process for developers building applications that need reliable, programmatic image generation.

Which Midjourney Plan is Right for You?

Let's tailor the recommendations for our target audience.

The Best Plan for Graphic Designers & Artists

Recommendation: Standard Plan ($30/mo)

For the vast majority of creative professionals, the Standard Plan hits the sweet spot. The 15 hours of Fast GPU time is ample for most client work and high-priority tasks. More importantly, the unlimited Relax Mode provides a worry-free sandbox for experimentation, mood-boarding, and exploring creative directions without burning through your budget.

The Best Plan for Developers & Prototyping

Recommendation: Standard Plan or Pro Plan

This is the best midjourney plan for a developer starting out. The Standard Plan provides the necessary foundation with unlimited Relax Mode for testing and 15 Fast Hours for more intensive jobs via an API. However, if your application requires high-speed, concurrent generations for multiple users, upgrading to the Pro Plan for its 30 Fast Hours and 12 concurrent jobs is a wise investment to ensure a smooth user experience.

The Best Plan for Small Businesses & Agencies

Recommendation: Pro Plan or Mega Plan

For any business handling client work, the Pro Plan is the minimum requirement. The inclusion of Stealth Mode is non-negotiable for maintaining client confidentiality. The increased Fast Hours and concurrency also ensure that you can meet deadlines and handle a higher volume of work efficiently. The Mega Plan becomes necessary when image generation is a core, high-volume part of your daily operations.

Frequently Asked Questions about Midjourney Costs

1. How much does Midjourney cost per month? Midjourney offers four main plans billed monthly: Basic ($10), Standard ($30), Pro ($60), and Mega ($120). Opting for an annual subscription provides a 20% discount on these prices.

2. Is Midjourney free to use anymore? No. The free trial was discontinued in early 2023. Access to Midjourney now requires a paid subscription.

3. What is the difference between Midjourney's Basic, Standard, and Pro plans? The main differences are GPU time, features, and privacy. The Basic plan offers limited Fast GPU time. The Standard plan adds unlimited Relax Mode. The Pro plan adds more Fast GPU time and crucial "Stealth Mode" for private generations.

4. How can developers get API access to Midjourney? Since there is no official API, developers must use a third-party API service. This requires paying for both the API service and maintaining a separate, active Midjourney subscription (Standard or higher is recommended).

5. Is the Midjourney Pro Plan worth the cost for a professional designer? It depends on your needs. If you require your generations to be private by default for client work, then yes, the Pro Plan is absolutely worth the cost for Stealth Mode alone. If privacy is not a concern and you are comfortable with the generation speeds of Relax Mode, the Standard Plan offers better value.