With its booming popularity in the digital art and design community, the Midjourney AI art generator needs little introduction. Many artists, designers, and even marketing teams use Midjourney to generate inspiration and content for art projects. But the AI art generator world isn’t just limited to Midjourney. If you’re looking to switch things up, we have compiled a list of five of the best Midjourney alternatives for creating AI art.
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What is Midjourney?
Midjourney is an innovative tool that utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to create stunning art. It allows users to generate unique and visually captivating images with just a few clicks.
The AI art generator can create complex and intricate designs that would be difficult for a human artist to achieve manually. The tool is handy for creating rich environments with vibrant detail — especially fantasy and sci-fi scenes that resemble rendered concept art from video games.
Using the tool is straightforward. Just feed your text input into Midjourney’s AI model, and it will create a visual representation of your input within seconds. Combining the limitless creativity of AI with the artistic vision of human creators, the tool can unlock new forms of expression.
Why you might need Midjourney alternatives
Overall, Midjourney AI is a powerful tool with the potential to revolutionize the world of art and design. However, like most AI art generators, Midjourney also has some shortcomings.
For instance, Midjourney isn’t as easy to use as some of its alternatives. Users need to create a Discord account and join the Midjourney server to interact with and prompt the AI model. In comparison, other AI art generators, like DALL-E 2.0, have a more simple and more intuitive user interface.
Cost is another reason to look for Midjourney alternatives. While the basic plan is currently priced at a reasonable $10 per month (as of March 2023), users spend as much as $60 per month to access advanced features and benefit from greater privacy.
In contrast, some of the AI art generators discussed in this article offer simpler and more flexible payment options. These include pay-as-you-go options, wherein you only pay for the resources you use.
5 Best Midjourney alternatives
1. DALL-E 2
DALL-E 2 is the brainchild of Open AI, a US-based AI research lab that has made waves with its flagship AI chatbot, ChatGPT. With the ability to generate stunningly realistic images from mere text descriptions, DALL-E 2 is another promising creation by the boundary-pushing company.
Using DALL-E 2 is simple. Head to the official DALL-E 2 website and create an account (or login). Note that you may have to share your email and phone number for verification.
Once in, you can start creating art by feeding the tool a descriptive text prompt of up to 400 characters. DALL-E 2 operates based on its own comprehension of the subject matter, style, color palettes, and intended conceptual meaning. The more precise and detailed your prompts are, the better the results.
In fact, with a high-quality prompt, the AI model can deliver the level of quality that a painter or digital artist would take hours, if not days, to produce. In all, it is one of the best Midjourney alternatives on the market today.
Features and pricing
DALL-E 2 is available for free. Upon registration, you’ll receive 50 credits at no cost; from the second month onward, you’ll receive 15 complimentary credits. If you exhaust your free credits, you have the option to purchase additional ones. You can purchase 115 credits for $15 as of March 2023.
Some of the key DALL-E 2 features include:
- Realistic and high-quality images.
- Multiple iterations of an image per prompt.
- Built-in editing and retouching tool.
- High-resolution images.
- Built-in mechanism to curb misuse (the tool refuses to create pornography, hateful, violent, or other potentially harmful content).
2. Simplified
With Simplified, users can fine-tune prompts with specific details like color and style (e.g., post-apocalyptic or cyberpunk), resulting in fascinating artwork. Users can generate multiple variations of a single image just by tweaking the prompts.
In addition to generating AI art, Simplified’s AI model can assist with content writing, video production, and creating social media posts.
If you’re searching for a tool that can help you create highly detailed, surreal images and support copy and content creation, Simplified is a strong option.
Features and pricing
You can use Simplified to an extent as a free Midjourney alternative. However, like with Midjourney, there are certain caps beyond which you will have to upgrade to continue using the tool. In the case of the AI art generator, you get 25 free credits. After that, you could buy one of the paid packages starting at $15 for 100 images.
Key features include:
- Text-to-image AI art generator.
- Multiple iterations of an image per prompt.
- Built-in image editing tools.
- Built-in article writer, video creator, and social media tools.
- Social media campaign planning and analytics (upgrade to a paid plan required).
3. Stable Diffusion Online
Stable Diffusion works the same way as any other text-to-image art generator — it uses artificial intelligence technology to transform text prompts into visual images. Although it operates similarly to other tools in its category, there is a key difference. Stable Diffusion is an AI image algorithm rather than a standalone tool. As a result, users must access the technology through a website that provides it, such as Stable Diffusion Online. Alternatively, those with technical expertise may also choose to set up the algorithm on their computer.
Stable Diffusion Online is a truly free alternative to Midjourney. Just visit the website and start experimenting with the AI art generator — no payment or sign-up is required. It is by far the easiest of all the AI image generators we have used.
Features and pricing
Stable Diffusion Online is available for free. Additionally, individuals with technical expertise can easily set up a private Stable Diffusion demo.
Key features include:
- High-quality, high-resolution images.
- Multiple images per prompt.
- Privacy friendly (Stable Diffusion Online claims not to collect any personal information, including your text prompts and images).
- Free to use
- No limitations on what you can use as your text prompt. Although, new updates to the Stable Diffusion algorithm make creating NSFW content and deep fakes difficult.
4. Dream by Wombo
Dream by Wombo is another popular Midjourney alternative that uses AI to let users easily create visual art. Whether you’re looking to spruce up your website, design a book cover, or create custom playlist art, this tool has something for every design need.
The user interface is simple in both the browser-based and mobile app versions (although the mobile app comes loaded with additional features).
To get started, enter a prompt describing what you want the app to draw. The clearer and more detailed your prompt, the better the output will be. Then, select a style from the available options (it offers a range of styles from mystical to baroque to fantasy art) or go rogue and choose “No style.” Hit “Create,” and voila! You’ve got a brand new work of art.
Of course, like any AI-powered tool, the results can sometimes be hit or miss. But if you take the time to feed it a well-written prompt, you’re more likely to get the desired quality than not. You can even turn your artwork into an NFT or purchase a print via the Dream web app.
Features and pricing
You can download and try Dream by Wombi for free, although the free version has some limitations. The paid version is available for approximately $5 per month or $150 for lifetime access (as of March 2023).
Key features include:
- More than 40 art styles, such as flora, meme, realistic, HDR, etc.
- You can feed the AI model with an input image for reference.
- Multiple text prompt options.
- Design and artwork are comparatively less repetitive.
- You can also turn your artwork into NFTs.
5. Lensa
Lensa provides users with an easy way to transform selfies into cool avatars. You can feed the AI model with a text description, and Lensa will create images from scratch.
The app also comes loaded with features that’ll make your pics pop. From glitch removal to background blurring and object removal — Lensa has tons of editing/enhancements features.
Lensa uses Stable Diffusion, the deep-learning, text-to-image AI model developed by Stability AI. The first stable release of the model came in December 2022. Stable Diffusion is open source and available for free. However, to run it, you’ll need a PC with a minimum configuration of a new-generation AMD/Intel processor. Plus, 16GB RAM, an NVIDIA RTX GPU (or equivalent) with 8GB memory, and 10GB of free storage space.
In contrast, Lensa is pretty lightweight and works on any relatively new smartphone. The app is available to download on the Android and Apple app stores.
Features and pricing
Lensa offers a range of subscription options to suit your needs. Prices vary from $3.49 to $139.99 depending on the level of access you require and the duration of the subscription.
Key features include:
- Multiple art styles: Lensa offers a whole range of styles to choose from, including retro, black and white, contemporary, cartoon, salty, dramatic, and landscape.
- Magic retouch: From drab to fab, the magic retouch feature lets you airbrush your selfies and other images to the point of perfection.
- Offers other editing features, such as blurred backgrounds and the ability to change hair color and backdrops and apply multiple filters.
- The ability to trim, change aspect ratios, and add music and filters to your videos.
Choosing the best Midjourney alternatives
All the Midjourney alternatives discussed in this piece come with their own strong points and shortcomings. The onus is on the user to find which one suits their needs. Choose your AI image generator by considering four important criteria: flexibility, affordability, range of features, and quality of output. Overall it’s clear that the AI image generator market is expanding rapidly. Consumers are already spoilt for choice, and we have a feeling there will be more to come!
Frequently asked questions
Is there an alternative to Midjourney free?
Yes, there are free alternatives to Midjourney. Some of these other AI art generators come with free trials, often with limited functionality. However, there are also completely free Midjourney alternatives such as Stable Diffusion Online that comes with no strings attached.
Which is better, Dall-E or Midjourney?
There is no definitive answer to this. Both Dall-E and Midjourney comes with their own fair share of advantages and limitations. We recommend trying both tools and evaluating which one better suits your needs.
Is Dall-E 2 free to use?
DALL-E 2 is available for free. Upon registration, you’ll receive 50 credits at no cost, and from the second month onward, you’ll receive 15 complimentary credits. If you exhaust your free credits, you have the option to purchase additional ones. At present, you can purchase 115 credits for $15, as of March 2023.
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