Is Midjourney free? What to know now (a 2026 update)

Midjourney—the text-to-image generator that exploded in popularity in the early 2020s—remains one of the most talked-about tools in creative technology. But the single question on many creators' minds is simple: is Midjourney free? The short answer is no—Midjourney no longer offers a general free plan or free trial for new users on its primary channels. However, it does offer discounts through CometAPI, allowing users to access it at a reduced price.

Is Midjourney Free in 2026?

The direct answer to this frequently asked question is that Midjourney does not currently offer a permanent free tier.

In the platform's early days, new users were greeted with a generous free trial of approximately 25 image generations. This strategy was instrumental in building its initial user base. However, citing "extraordinary demand and trial abuse," Midjourney indefinitely suspended this program in April 2023.

The Current State of Access

As of January 2026, access to Midjourney is strictly behind a paywall. When a user joins the official Discord server or logs into the newly polished web interface, they can view public galleries and interact with the community, but the core functionality—the /imagine command—is disabled until a subscription is active.

Can I integrate Midjourney into my app?

As of early 2026, Midjourney does not offer an official developer API, REST endpoint, SDK, webhook interface, or documented API key system that you can obtain directly from Midjourney for programmatic use. The main official access method remains its Discord bot and web interface., and CometAPI have offered unofficial wrappers: Midjourney API.

How to Use Midjourney via CometAPI

CometAPI is an API-aggregation platform that exposes hundreds of different AI models (text, image, audio, video, embeddings) through a single, OpenAI-style REST surface. Instead of writing and maintaining provider-specific client code for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Midjourney, Runway, etc., you call the CometAPI endpoint and choose the model you want via a model string. That simplification is powerful for experimentation, cost/failover routing, and centralizing billing and observability.

There are limited exceptions (for example, CometAPI provides a Midjourney API, helping users access it at a very cost-effective price).

Amateur developers who want to experiment, and those who don't want to subscribe to Midjourney, can use the Midjourney API through CometAPI. Currently, the Midjourney API wrapped by CometAPI can be used to generate images using V7 and videos using V1.

The 4 Core APIs

The MidJourney API simulates Discord button interactions. Unlike typical REST APIs, it works as a state machine where each operation returns new buttons for the next step.

How to use midjourney

1. Submit Task - Call API to create generation task
2. Get Task ID - Receive the returned task_id
3. Query Status - Track task progress in real-time using query interface

Include image URL in prompt and add parameters:
--motion [low/high] --video 1

What Are the Current Midjourney Pricing Plans?

For professionals looking to integrate Midjourney into their workflow, understanding the tiered pricing structure is essential. Midjourney operates on a subscription model that renews monthly or annually (with a ~20% discount for annual commitments).

The Breakdown of Subscription Tiers

Understanding "Fast" vs. "Relax" Mode

One of the most critical distinctions in these plans is the GPU time allocation.

• Fast Mode: Images are generated instantly as top-priority jobs. The Basic plan only offers this mode.
• Relax Mode: Available in Standard plans and above, this allows unlimited image generation. The trade-off is speed; jobs are placed in a dynamic queue and can take anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes depending on server load. For users creating thousands of images for SEO content or experimental art, the Standard plan’s "Relax" mode is often the most cost-effective choice.

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Why Is There No Official Free Tier Anymore?

The decision to eliminate free access was driven by both economic and technical necessities.

The Cost of Compute

Unlike text-based LLMs, diffusion models require massive GPU VRAM resources. Generating a single high-definition upscaled image on Midjourney V6 or the newer V7 alpha requires significant compute time on NVIDIA H100 or A100 clusters. Providing this for free to millions of users became financially unsustainable.

Deepfakes and Safety

Another contributing factor was the proliferation of deepfakes. During free trial periods, bad actors could create disposable accounts to generate controversial or harmful content without financial traceability. By requiring a payment method, Midjourney added a layer of accountability that drastically reduced the misuse of their platform for disinformation.

Practical guide: how to access each option (step-by-step)

If you want the official Midjourney experience (paid)

1. Create or log in to an account on Midjourney (midjourney.com) and select a plan on the Manage Subscription page. Midjourney’s own documentation explains plan features and billing.
2. Join Midjourney’s Discord and use the bot or the web interface to generate images; pay attention to “fast” vs “relaxed” modes and any limits on concurrent jobs.

If you want to experiment without paying Midjourney

1. Try Meta AI’s Create experience at meta.ai — it offers free image generation to users in many regions and is where Midjourney-licensed models may appear for public use. Follow Meta’s help center steps (open the app or website, tap “Create,” enter a prompt).
2. Be mindful: the output might look similar to Midjourney’s style, but it may lack exact upscalers, parameter flags, or commercial guarantees you would obtain on Midjourney.

If you need programmatic access at scale

Use providers that expose Midjourney API such as CometAPI. If you need Midjourney-style output programmatically, or wait for any enterprise/API announcements from Midjourney.

What Are the Best Free Alternatives to Midjourney?

If the subscription cost is a barrier, 2026 offers several high-quality alternatives that approach Midjourney's quality for free.

FLUX.2 (Black Forest Labs)

Released in late 2025, Flux.2 is the successor to the widely acclaimed Flux.1. It has quickly become the favorite for open-source purists and developers who need granular control.

Key Features:

• The "Klein" Variant: A lightweight version designed for sub-second generation on consumer GPUs, making it arguably the fastest high-fidelity model on the market.
• Typography: Flux.2 solves the "text problem" better than almost any other model, rendering clear, legible text on signs, posters, and logos without the gibberish often seen in older diffusion models.
• Photorealism: It leans heavily into a "raw photography" aesthetic, avoiding the overly glossy, plastic look that plagues some competitors.

Why it's a top pick: It can be run locally for free if you have a powerful GPU.

Free Access: CometAPI and various specialized AI playgrounds often host FLUX for free or low-cost credits.

Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)

"Nano Banana" is the community and developer code name for Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash Image model. It is engineered for speed and superior visual reasoning.

Key Features:

• Character Consistency: Nano Banana excels at retaining subject identity. You can generate a character in one image and place them in an entirely different setting in the next without their face morphing—a "holy grail" feature for storytellers and comic creators.
• Contextual Editing: Its "Smart Object Replacement" allows users to highlight a specific item (like a pair of shoes) and replace it using a text prompt while keeping the lighting and perspective of the original image intact.
• Speed: True to its name, it is optimized for high-throughput applications, making it ideal for apps that need to generate images on the fly.

GPT Image 1.5 (OpenAI)

OpenAI's GPT Image 1.5 is the refined, faster evolution of the DALL-E 3 architecture. It addresses the main complaints of its predecessor: speed and precision.

Key Features:

• Prompt Adherence: If you ask for "a clock showing 3:15 PM" or "a wine glass filled exactly halfway," GPT Image 1.5 executes these logical constraints with near-perfect accuracy, reducing hallucinations.
• Editing Precision: It introduces robust "inpainting" capabilities that allow for pixel-perfect edits, such as changing a background without disturbing the foreground subject.
• Efficiency: It runs up to 4x faster than the previous generation, significantly lowering the compute cost per image.

Accessing these top-tier models individually often requires managing three different subscriptions, API keys, and documentation standards. CometAPI simplifies this by aggregating Flux.2, Nano Banana, and GPT Image 1.5 into one standardized interface. CometAPI provides these APIs, and discounts.

What is CometAPI?

CometAPI is a unified API gateway that aggregates hundreds of AI models (LLMs, image, video) so you can call many providers from a single OpenAI-style endpoint. This simplifies integration (one key, one billing stream) and they advertise cost-savings (often 20%+ compared to official direct prices) and periodic model-specific discounts (e.g., “Nano Banana & Nano Banana Pro — 22% OFF” or price reductions posted in their changelog).

Below is a practical, safe example that shows how to call a CometAPI OpenAI-compatible endpoint to generate an image with a model such as gpt-image-1.5, This example assumes you have a CometAPI API key from your dashboard (they usually use an sk- token format). See CometAPI docs for exact param names and model strings.

Curl (quick) example

curl -X POST "https://api.cometapi.com/v1/images/generate" \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-XXXXX" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"model":"gpt-image-1.5","prompt":"A cosy cabin interior, golden hour, photorealistic","size":"1024x1024"}'

Note: the endpoint path and response fields can vary; always check CometAPI’s /doc or model page for the exact request/response schema and the current model id to use.

Conclusion: The Verdict on Value

So, is Midjourney free? No. Is it worth the price? For professionals, the consensus is a resounding yes. The $30/month Standard plan effectively provides "unlimited" high-quality stock photography, creative assets, and concept art, which would cost thousands of dollars to commission or purchase from traditional stock sites.

For developers building applications, the lack of an official API forces a pivot to alternatives like platforms provides Midjourney API such as CometAPI.

Developers can access MIdjourney Video API  and Midjourney API through CometAPI. To begin, explore the model capabilities of CometAPI in the Playground and consult the API guide for detailed instructions. Before accessing, please make sure you have logged in to CometAPI and obtained the API key. CometAPI offer a price far lower than the official price to help you integrate.

Ready to Go?→ Free trial of Midjourney!