Updated November 2026. Midjourney is an AI image generator that turns a text description into four candidate images, and can now animate images into short videos. This guide covers what you need to get started in 2026: where to use it, what the plans cost, how to write prompts that work, the parameters worth learning, and the rules for using what you make commercially.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- V7 arrived in April 2025, followed by the V8 series from March 2026 (V8, V8.1 and later updates, released first as alphas). Check the version selector in settings to see which model is your default.
- Video: since June 2025 you can animate any image into short clips with the Animate button on the website.
- Niji 7, the anime-focused model, launched in January 2026.
- The website is now the main way to use Midjourney. Discord still works, but the web app has the editor, video and organization tools.
How to get started
- Go to midjourney.com and sign in (a Discord or Google account works).
- Choose a plan. Midjourney has no free trial, so you need a subscription to generate.
- Type a prompt in the Imagine bar at the top and press Enter. You get four images.
- Click an image to open it, then use Vary (subtle or strong) to explore versions of it, or Upscale to get a larger, cleaner file.
- Use Editor to change part of an image, extend the canvas, or fix a detail.
Midjourney plans and prices
All plans are billed in US dollars, so Canadian cardholders pay the converted amount plus any foreign transaction fee their bank charges.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Fast GPU time | Relax mode | Stealth mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 USD | $96 USD ($8/mo) | About 3.3 hours | No | No |
| Standard | $30 USD | $288 USD ($24/mo) | 15 hours | Unlimited images | No |
| Pro | $60 USD | $576 USD ($48/mo) | 30 hours | Unlimited images and SD video | Yes |
| Mega | $120 USD | $1,152 USD ($96/mo) | 60 hours | Unlimited images and SD video | Yes |
- Fast vs Relax: Fast jobs use your monthly GPU time. Relax jobs are free but queue behind others, so they can take a few minutes.
- Stealth mode keeps your images out of the public gallery. Only Pro and Mega have it, which matters if you are working on client or unreleased material.
- Which plan? Basic is enough to learn on. Standard is the practical choice for regular use because Relax mode removes the monthly cap on images. Pro makes sense for business work that needs privacy.
Writing prompts that work
Midjourney responds best to a clear description of what you want to see, not instructions. A useful structure is subject + setting + style + light + composition:
a red canoe on a misty lake in Algonquin Park at sunrise, documentary photograph, soft backlight, wide shot --ar 16:9- Be concrete. “Golden retriever puppy asleep on a wool blanket” beats “cute dog”.
- Name the medium. Photograph, watercolour, 3D render, ink sketch and so on change the result more than adjectives.
- Describe light and camera. “Overcast light”, “close-up” or “aerial view” give you control over the look.
- Keep it short. Long lists of keywords dilute each other. If a word is not doing something, remove it.
- Iterate. Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.
The parameters worth learning
Parameters go at the end of the prompt, each starting with two dashes.
| Parameter | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
--ar | Aspect ratio of the image | --ar 16:9 for banners, --ar 4:5 for Instagram, --ar 9:16 for Stories |
--stylize / --s | How strongly Midjourney applies its own aesthetic (0–1000) | --s 50 for literal results, --s 750 for more artistic ones |
--chaos / --c | How different the four images are from each other (0–100) | --c 40 when you want options |
--raw | Turns down the default “Midjourney look” | Useful for realistic photos |
--no | Things to leave out | --no text, people |
--seed | Reuses the same starting noise, so results are more repeatable | --seed 1234 |
Animating images into video
Open any image and choose Animate. You can also upload your own image as a start frame.
- Auto lets Midjourney decide the motion; Manual lets you describe it (“camera slowly pushes in, steam rising from the cup”).
- Low motion keeps the camera steady and suits subtle movement; high motion moves the camera and subject more, but is more likely to distort.
- Each job makes four clips of about five seconds, and each can be extended by about four seconds at a time, up to four times.
- A video job costs roughly eight times an image job, so test motion with short clips before extending.
Personalization, mood boards and references
- Personalization: rate pairs of images and Midjourney learns your taste. Turn it on to bias results toward the styles you picked.
- Mood boards: upload a set of reference images to define a look you can reuse across projects.
- Image prompts and style references: drag an image into the Imagine bar to use it as a starting point, a style reference or a character reference. This is the best way to keep a character or brand look consistent across images.
Fixing common problems
- Hands, faces or objects look wrong: use Vary Region in the editor to regenerate only that area.
- Garbled text in the image: put the exact words in quotation marks and keep them short, or add the text afterwards in a design tool.
- Everything looks the same “Midjourney style”: lower
--stylizeor add--raw. - Character changes between images: use a character reference and keep the description identical.
Commercial use and copyright
Every paid plan includes Midjourney’s commercial terms, so you can use what you create in client work, marketing and products. One exception: businesses with more than $1 million USD in annual gross revenue must be on the Pro or Mega plan.
Be careful with recognizable characters, logos and real people. Since 2025, Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery have sued Midjourney over copyrighted characters, and creating images of someone else’s intellectual property can expose you to the same claims, no matter which plan you have. Copyright protection for purely AI-generated images also varies by country, including in Canada, so if you need to own the result outright, get legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is Midjourney free? No. A paid plan is required; Basic starts at $10 USD a month.
Do I need Discord? No. The website does everything Discord does, plus the editor and video.
Can I use Midjourney images for my business? Yes, on any paid plan. Companies with over $1 million USD in annual revenue need Pro or Mega.
Can other people see my images? Yes, by default they appear in the public gallery. Pro and Mega include Stealth mode to hide them.
Plan details are from Midjourney’s official plan comparison page. Midjourney changes features often, so check its documentation for the latest details.
