The early versions and artistic debate
Midjourney released version 1 in February 2022. This early model was abstract and painterly with low coherency. The company released version 2 in April 2022 and version 3 in July 2022. Version 2 was creative, colorful, and painterly, while version 3 generated highly creative compositions with moderate coherency. In June 2022, The Economist used Midjourney for a magazine cover. In August 2022, writer Vanni Santoni used the tool to create a comic for Corriere della Sera. Charlie Warzel used Midjourney to generate images of Alex Jones for a newsletter in The Atlantic. Jason Allen won first place at the 2022 Colorado State Fair digital art competition using a Midjourney prompt. Two category judges were unaware that Midjourney used AI to generate images, though they later said they would have awarded the prize to Allen regardless. Many digital artists criticized this win because they felt the tool used artists’ work without consent. In December 2022, Ammaar Reeshi used Midjourney to generate images for an AI-generated children’s book titled Alice and Sparkle. This process drew criticism from artists who claimed the tool trained on their distinct styles without permission. The early models remained highly abstract, but the jump to version 4 in November 2022 introduced an entirely new AI architecture. This new system had more knowledge of objects, places, and creatures. Version 4 supported advanced functionality like image prompting and multi-prompts.
Discord and the subscription engine
Midjourney operates through a Discord bot rather than a dedicated web application or a polished user interface. This choice used existing communities to drive growth and provided a distribution engine. Every image stayed public and every prompt remained visible, which allowed new users to learn from the actions of others. This created a growth loop where curiosity triggered experimentation and new users joined the Discord server. The company monetizes through four subscription tiers based on GPU time. You already know the basic functionality of these tiers.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Fast GPU Time | Relax Mode | Stealth Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 | 3.3 hours | No | No |
| Standard | $30 | 15 hours | Yes | No |
| Pro | $60 | 30 hours | Yes | Yes |
| Mega | $120 | 60 hours | Yes | Yes |
The Basic plan provides roughly 200 image jobs per month. While the Basic plan provides 3.3 hours of Fast GPU time, the Standard plan increases this to 15 hours and adds unlimited Relax mode for users who prefer a lower priority queue instead of immediate processing. The Pro and Mega plans include Stealth mode to keep images off the public Explore page. Companies with gross revenue exceeding $1,000,000 per year must use a Pro or Mega plan to own their assets for commercial use. The company generates $200 million in revenue this year with a team of 40 members. This results in a revenue per employee of $5 million. Midjourney operates without venture capital funding. Users can also purchase extra Fast GPU time at a flat rate of $4 per hour. If a user exhausts their Fast hours, they can use Relax mode if they have a Standard plan or higher.
Reliability, competition, and hardware
Midjourney creates highly realistic images that spark controversy. In 2023, images of Pope Francis in a white puffer coat went viral. Users also generated images of Donald Trump in gladiator gear. Researchers found that Midjourney generates images based on national stereotypes and biased results regarding gender and skin color. A Frontiers journal paper in 2024 published gibberish figures from the model, which led to a retraction one day after the images went viral on Twitter. Midjourney is the leader in image generation quality. The company now hires for a hardware team in San Francisco to explore new form factors. Will hardware expansion change how the community interacts with the bot?
The product differs from DALL-E in several functional ways. DALL-E uses a conversational interface integrated into ChatGPT, whereas Midjourney relies on prompt parameters and Discord commands. While DALL-E often wins in natural language understanding and ease of use, Midjourney produces higher quality and more consistent artistic outputs. DALL-E offers a free tier through ChatGPT, but Midjourney requires a paid subscription for most regular use. Before May 2023, Midjourney used a moderation mechanism based on a banned word system. This system prohibited the language associated with sexual themes or religious figures like Allah. Since May 2023, the company transitioned to an AI-powered moderation system that allows for more nuanced interpretation of user prompts. This update allows users to prompt for figures like Xi Jinping, though the system still prevents the generation of contentious images of leaders in situations of arrest.
