Pricing

Verified pricing (Midjourney Docs, FluxNote):

All plans include commercial usage rights. There is no free tier. Annual billing saves approximately 20%.

Which plan to start with: Basic ($10/month) gives you roughly 200 images to learn prompting. Upgrade to Standard ($30/month) when you need more generations or want unlimited Relax mode (slower but unlimited).

Setup

1. Go to midjourney.com and create an account
2. Subscribe to a plan (Basic minimum)
3. Access via Discord (traditional) or the Midjourney web interface (recommended in 2026)
4. Type /imagine followed by your prompt to generate images

Prompting Basics

Midjourney prompts follow a structure: subject + style + composition + parameters

Basic Prompt

a golden retriever running on a beach at sunset, warm lighting,
shallow depth of field, film photography style

This produces a solid result. But you can improve it with more specific direction.

Improved Prompt

a golden retriever running through shallow waves on a sandy
beach, golden hour lighting, lens flare, shot on Kodak Portra
400, 85mm lens, shallow depth of field, warm color palette,
cinematic composition --ar 16:9 --v 6.1

The second prompt specifies lens type, film stock, composition, and aspect ratio. This level of detail produces significantly better results.

Key Parameters

Parameters control how Midjourney generates your image. They go at the end of your prompt.

Aspect Ratio: --ar

--ar 16:9    (landscape, good for YouTube thumbnails)
--ar 9:16    (portrait, good for Instagram Stories)
--ar 1:1     (square, good for profile images)
--ar 21:9    (ultra-wide, cinematic)

Stylize: --s

Controls how much artistic interpretation Midjourney applies.

--s 0        (most literal, least artistic)
--s 100      (default)
--s 250      (moderately artistic)
--s 750      (very artistic, less literal)

Quality: --q

Controls rendering quality (and GPU time).

--q 0.25     (fast, lower quality)
--q 0.5      (balanced)
--q 1        (default quality)

Chaos: --c

Controls variation between the four generated images.

--c 0        (consistent, similar results)
--c 50       (moderate variation)
--c 100      (maximum variation)

Negative Prompt: --no

Exclude elements from the generation.

--no blur, text, watermark

Model Version: --v

--v 6.1      (current default, best quality)
--v 6        (previous version)
--niji 6     (anime/manga style)

Prompt Examples by Use Case

Product Photography

minimalist product photography of a ceramic coffee mug on
a white marble surface, soft studio lighting, clean
background, commercial photography style, sharp focus,
professional color grading --ar 4:3 --s 150 --v 6.1

Portrait

environmental portrait of a woman in her 30s, natural
lighting, looking slightly off-camera, urban background
with bokeh, shot on Hasselblad, warm skin tones, magazine
editorial style --ar 3:4 --s 200 --v 6.1

Landscape

aerial view of a winding river through autumn forest,
vibrant orange and red foliage, misty morning, dramatic
lighting, National Geographic style, ultra high detail,
photorealistic --ar 16:9 --s 300 --v 6.1

Logo Concept

minimalist logo design for a tech startup, geometric fox
icon, clean lines, flat design, white background, modern
and professional, vector style --ar 1:1 --s 100 --v 6.1

Architecture

modern sustainable house with floor-to-ceiling windows,
integrated into a hillside landscape, golden hour, warm
interior lighting visible through glass, architectural
photography by Iwan Baan --ar 16:9 --s 200 --v 6.1

Practical Tips

1. Be specific about camera and lens. Mentioning “shot on Hasselblad” or “85mm lens” or “Kodak Portra 400” produces more photographic results because Midjourney was trained on images with these EXIF tags.

2. Reference artistic styles. “In the style of Studio Ghibli” or " Wes Anderson color palette" produces more distinctive results than generic descriptions.

3. Use negative prompts for cleanup. --no text, watermark, blur, deformed helps avoid common AI image artifacts.

4. Iterate on good results. Use the Vary (Strong) and Vary (Subtle) buttons to refine images that are close to what you want. This is more efficient than re-generating from scratch.

5. Upscale before using. Always upscale your final selection before downloading. Midjourney’s upscalers produce sharper, more detailed output.

What Midjourney Cannot Do

• Consistent text rendering. Midjourney struggles with readable text in images. For text-heavy designs, use Canva or Photoshop after generating the base image.
• Exact reproducibility. The same prompt produces different results each time. If you need exact control, Midjourney is not the right tool.
• Real people. Midjourney restricts generation of real public figures. For portraits, use generic descriptions.
• Precise layouts. You cannot specify exact positioning of elements. Describe the composition and accept Midjourney’s interpretation.

Sources

• Midjourney Plan Comparison
• Midjourney Pricing Guide 2026 — FluxNote

Related Articles

• Best AI Image Generators Compared
• AI Photo Editing Tools Compared
• AI Tools for Content Creators

Bottom Line

Start with Basic ($10/month) to learn prompting. Upgrade to Standard ($30/month) when you need more generations. Spend time learning specific prompts for your use case — the difference between a basic prompt and a detailed one is dramatic. Midjourney rewards specificity with quality.