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Midjourney vs FLUX: V8.2 against FLUX 3 and FLUX.2

Midjourney and FLUX are sold in opposite ways. Midjourney is a subscription from $10 a month: you type a prompt on its website or in Discord and its current model, V8.2, returns four images. FLUX is a family of models from Black Forest Labs that you pay for per image through an API, or download and run on your own graphics card. This page compares Midjourney's four plans with FLUX 3 Image, the FLUX.2 line and the open weights.

Reviewed against 36 sources. Prices, models, policies and terms change, so check the linked pages before you buy, build, publish or trade.

The short answer

This is a choice between a tool and a component. Midjourney is the better buy for one person making images by hand: $30 a month includes unlimited Relax generations and there is nothing to set up. FLUX is the only one with an API, downloadable weights and LoRA training, so anything automated, self-hosted or built into a product goes to FLUX.

Choose Midjourney if

  • You make a lot of images by hand. Standard is $30 a month with 15 Fast hours and unlimited Relax images.
  • You want one flat price and no credits, API keys or graphics card. Basic is $10 a month for 200 Fast minutes.
  • You want 2K images from a prompt box. V8.2 renders 2048 x 2048 in HD for about 1.3 minutes of GPU time per prompt.

Choose FLUX if

  • You need an API. Midjourney's guidelines say it does not provide one; FLUX 3 Image is $0.048 per 1K image.
  • You want to run the model yourself. FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is Apache 2.0 and fits in about 13GB of VRAM.
  • Your images must stay out of a public gallery. Midjourney is public by default below the $60 Pro plan.

The facts, side by side

Each row shows the date it was checked and numbered links to the pages it was read from.

marks the side the facts favour on that row. Rows without one are a draw or a matter of fit.

Swipe the table sideways to see FLUX.

Midjourney and FLUX compared, fact by fact
ComparedMidjourneySubscription image serviceFLUXBlack Forest Labs
Who makes it21620Midjourney, Inc. A hosted service you use on midjourney.com or in Discord.Black Forest Labs. A model family sold per image through the BFL API and Playground, with some weights free to download.
Current image models51916V8.2, the default since 24 July 2026. V8.1 came out on 14 April 2026.FLUX 3 Image, released 1 October 2026, and FLUX.2 [max], [pro], [flex], [klein] 9B and [klein] 4B. FLUX.1 Kontext and FLUX1.1 [pro] are listed as the previous generation.
API422219None. Midjourney's guidelines say it does not provide an API, and its terms ban automated tools.Advantage: Yes. The BFL API allows 24 concurrent requests on most endpoints, and an MCP server connects it to Claude, Cursor and Codex.
Running it yourself7253033Not offered. You buy time on Midjourney's GPUs, and its docs list no downloadable model.Advantage: Weights for FLUX.2 [klein], FLUX.2 [dev], FLUX.1 [dev], FLUX.1 [schnell] and FLUX.1 Kontext [dev] are on Hugging Face. The FLUX.2 weights load in ComfyUI and Diffusers.
Licence on each downloadable model25332721No downloadable modelApache 2.0: FLUX.2 [klein] 4B and FLUX.1 [schnell]. FLUX Non-Commercial License: FLUX.2 [klein] 9B, FLUX.2 [dev], FLUX.1 [dev], FLUX.1 Kontext [dev] and FLUX.1 Krea [dev]. FLUX 3 Image weights: a commercial licence arranged through sales.
Hardware to run it locally230313432None. A browser or Discord.FLUX.2 [klein] 4B: about 13GB of VRAM (RTX 3090 or 4070 and above). [klein] 9B: about 29GB. FLUX.2 [dev], 32 billion parameters: an H100-equivalent GPU, or a 4-bit quantized build on an RTX 4090.
Commercial use of the output23282524Paying subscribers own what they create. A company with more than $1,000,000 a year in gross revenue must be on Pro or Mega.API: you own the output and may use it commercially. Apache 2.0 weights: commercial use is free. Non-commercial weights: business use needs a paid licence.
Privacy211222924Public by default and open to remixing. Stealth mode hides images on the website, on Pro and Mega only. Midjourney keeps a perpetual licence to your prompts and images.API results reach you through links that expire after 10 minutes, and BFL may use API inputs and outputs to train its models. Open weights run on your own hardware.
Image size1251920V8.2 at 1:1: 1024 x 1024 in SD, 2048 x 2048 in HD. Aspect ratios up to 14:1, or 4:1 in HD.FLUX 3 Image: 768 x 768 up to 4K (about 16 megapixels) in 15 aspect ratios. FLUX.2: up to 4 megapixels.
Reference images and editing131920The Edit Model takes written instructions and up to 4 reference images, with inpainting and outpainting in the Editor.FLUX 3 Image takes up to 10 references and bounding boxes in the prompt. FLUX.2 [max], [pro] and [flex] take up to 8 by API; [klein] takes up to 4.
Your own style or character652319Personalization profiles built from the images you rate, moodboards and style references. No LoRA or fine-tuning feature is documented.Advantage: LoRA training and full fine-tuning on the FLUX.2 [klein] Base weights. Your LoRA can be served through the API on FLUX.2 [klein], in public beta since 23 April 2026.
Video14119165-second clips from a starting image. SD on every plan, HD on Standard, Pro and Mega.FLUX 3 Video: up to 20 seconds with synchronized audio, from text, images or a clip, billed per second.

Where each one is stronger

Midjourney Subscription image service

  • Unlimited images for a flat fee

    From Standard at $30 a month, Relax mode has no monthly cap on images: jobs queue for 0 to 30 minutes and use no Fast time. Midjourney's terms keep the right to rate limit unlimited plans. 172

  • Nothing to set up

    You type a prompt on midjourney.com or in Discord and get four images; a standard prompt uses about 0.8 minutes of GPU time. There is no API key, credit balance or graphics card to manage. 87

  • A look you can steer without training

    Midjourney describes V8.2 as an update focused on aesthetics, image quality and personalization. Profiles learn from the images you rate, and moodboards and style references steer a single job. 65

FLUX Black Forest Labs

  • A real API

    FLUX 3 Image is one endpoint that generates and edits, with up to 10 reference images and bounding boxes in the prompt, at $0.048 per 1K image. Most endpoints accept 24 concurrent requests. 1922

  • Weights you can download and train

    FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is Apache 2.0, fits in about 13GB of VRAM and needs no licence from Black Forest Labs for commercial work. LoRA training on its Base weights starts at a 12GB graphics card. 302523

  • Measured by an independent panel

    Artificial Analysis places FLUX 3 Image eighth on its text-to-image leaderboard (AA-Image-T2I v2.0), with an Elo of 1116 from blind human preference votes. Midjourney V8.2 is not on that board; its newest Midjourney entry is v7 Alpha from April 2025, at 879. 35

Which to pick, by job

  • Concept art, moodboards and social images made by hand, most days

    Pick Midjourney

    Standard is $30 a month with unlimited Relax images and 15 Fast hours. On the FLUX API every image is billed, from $0.014 on FLUX.2 [klein] 4B to $0.048 on FLUX 3 Image at 1K. 116

  • Image generation inside an app, a bot or an automation

    Pick FLUX

    Midjourney's terms ban automated tools and its guidelines say there is no API. The BFL API bills per image, accepts 24 concurrent requests on most endpoints, and lets you and your end users use outputs commercially. 242228

  • Generating on your own graphics card with no per-image bill

    Pick FLUX

    FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is Apache 2.0 and fits in about 13GB of VRAM, which Black Forest Labs matches to an RTX 3090 or 4070 and above. Midjourney offers no download. 307

  • One character or brand style held across hundreds of images

    Pick FLUX

    You can train a LoRA on the FLUX.2 [klein] Base weights (12GB of VRAM for the 4B model) and serve it through the API, and FLUX 3 Image accepts up to 10 reference images. The Midjourney Edit Model accepts up to 4, and its docs describe no training. 231913

  • Trying AI images this month on a $10 budget

    Pick Midjourney

    Basic is $10 for 200 Fast minutes: about 250 standard prompts of four images each, at Midjourney's 0.8 minutes per prompt. $10 of BFL credits is 208 FLUX 3 Image generations at 1K, or 714 on FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, one image each. 1716

What it costs

List prices in US dollars, read from each vendor's own pages. Midjourney sells a monthly amount of GPU time; Black Forest Labs sells credits (1 credit is $0.01) and bills per image. The Midjourney per-image figures are arithmetic on its own numbers: about 0.8 minutes of GPU time for a standard prompt and 1.3 for an HD one, each returning four images. They assume you use the whole plan and want all four.

marks the side the facts favour on that row. Rows without one are a draw or a matter of fit.

Swipe the table sideways to see FLUX.

Midjourney and FLUX prices
ComparedMidjourneySubscription image serviceFLUXBlack Forest Labs
Free option91725No free trial on the website or in Discord. A limited trial exists only in the niji journey mobile app.Free API credits: Not published. The open weights are free to download, and FLUX.2 [klein] 4B is free for commercial use.
Entry plan11716Basic: $10 a month, or $96 a year. 200 Fast minutes and no Relax mode.No subscription and no seat fee. You buy credits and pay for each image.
Plan with unlimited images117Advantage: Standard: $30 a month, or $288 a year. 15 Fast hours plus unlimited Relax images.None. Every API image is billed.
Top plans117Pro: $60 a month ($576 a year), 30 Fast hours, Stealth mode. Mega: $120 a month ($1,152 a year), 60 Fast hours.Enterprise: custom pricing and volume discounts through sales.
Buying more1101829$4 per extra Fast hour. Bought hours expire after 60 days and are not refunded.Add credits at any time. Credit purchases are non-refundable.
Cost of a standard image (about 1 megapixel)17816About $0.01 on Basic: a standard prompt uses about 0.8 of the plan's 200 minutes and returns four images.FLUX 3 Image at 1K: $0.048. FLUX.2 [pro]: from $0.03. FLUX.2 [klein] 4B: from $0.014.
Cost of a 2K image (about 4 megapixels)151216About $0.016 on Basic: an HD prompt uses about 1.3 minutes for four 2048 x 2048 images.FLUX 3 Image at 2K: $0.100. At 4K, about 16 megapixels: $0.607.
Cost of an edit716An Edit Model prompt uses about 1 minute of GPU time in SD and 2.3 minutes in HD.FLUX.2 [pro] editing: from $0.045. FLUX.2 [max]: from $0.07. FLUX.1 Kontext [pro]: $0.04.
Video716A batch of four SD videos uses about 8 minutes of GPU time; four HD videos use 26.FLUX 3 Video: $0.17 a second at HD and $0.29 at FHD. Drafts: $0.06 a second.
Licence to self-host commercially2426Not offeredBuilder: FLUX.2 [klein] models, 10K images a month, 1 domain, billed monthly. Platform and Professional: 100K images a month. Prices: Not published.

What changed recently

  1. Midjourney began testing Thinking Mode on its Alpha website: it reruns a V8.2 job after checking where the image missed the prompt. 15

  2. Black Forest Labs released FLUX 3 Image at $0.041 to $0.607 per image, with up to ten references and 4K output. 19

  3. Midjourney made V8.2 its default version and added the Edit Model, which replaces Omni Reference and Character Reference. 5

  4. The current Midjourney Terms of Service took effect. 2

  5. Black Forest Labs opened LoRA inference on FLUX.2 [klein] through its API as a public beta. 19

  6. Black Forest Labs launched FLUX.2 [klein]: the 4B model under Apache 2.0, the 9B under the FLUX Non-Commercial License. 19

Questions people ask

Does Midjourney have an API?

No. The Midjourney community guidelines say it does not provide an API, apart from rare exceptions it grants explicitly, and its terms forbid automated tools. FLUX has one: Black Forest Labs bills per image, from $0.014 for FLUX.2 [klein] 4B to $0.048 for FLUX 3 Image at 1K. 4216

Can I use Midjourney and FLUX images commercially?

Yes on both, with conditions. Midjourney subscribers own what they create, but a company with more than $1,000,000 a year in gross revenue must be on Pro or Mega. On the FLUX API you own the output and may use it commercially. With downloaded weights the licence decides: [klein] 4B and FLUX.1 [schnell] are Apache 2.0, while [klein] 9B and the [dev] models need a paid licence for business use. Neither company warrants that outputs are free of other people's rights. 23282524

Is FLUX free?

The weights are free to download, and free to use within their licence. FLUX.2 [klein] 4B and FLUX.1 [schnell] are Apache 2.0, so commercial use costs nothing. FLUX.2 [dev], FLUX.2 [klein] 9B, FLUX.1 [dev] and FLUX.1 Kontext [dev] are under the FLUX Non-Commercial License: its text lets you use outputs commercially but only run the model for non-commercial purposes, and Black Forest Labs says images made for clients or for products you charge for need a commercial licence. The hosted API is paid per image. 2533272417

What do I need to run FLUX locally?

A graphics card with enough memory for the model. Black Forest Labs says FLUX.2 [klein] 4B fits in about 13GB of VRAM (RTX 3090 or 4070 and above) and [klein] 9B in about 29GB. FLUX.2 [dev], at 32 billion parameters, needs an H100-equivalent GPU with the standard script; a 4-bit quantized version runs on an RTX 4090 with a remote text encoder. The FLUX.2 weights load in ComfyUI or Diffusers. 30313432

How much does Midjourney cost in 2026?

Four plans: Basic at $10 a month, Standard at $30, Pro at $60 and Mega at $120. Paying yearly takes 20% off: $96, $288, $576 and $1,152 a year. Fast GPU time is 200 minutes on Basic, then 15, 30 and 60 hours. Extra Fast time is $4 an hour, and there is no free trial on the website or in Discord. 19

Which makes better images, Midjourney or FLUX?

No independent test compares the current versions. Artificial Analysis ranks FLUX 3 Image eighth on its text-to-image leaderboard with an Elo of 1116, and the Arena leaderboard of 7 October 2026 places FLUX.2 [max] 29th with a score of 1162. Neither lists Midjourney V8.2, which has no API to test through; the newest Midjourney entry at Artificial Analysis is v7 Alpha from April 2025. Test both on your own prompts. 3536

Sources

Each page was read on the date beside it. The links open the current version, which may have changed since.

  1. 1Midjourney: comparing Midjourney plans
  2. 2Midjourney: Terms of Service
  3. 3Midjourney: using images and videos commercially
  4. 4Midjourney: community guidelines
  5. 5Midjourney: version
  6. 6Midjourney: Version 8.2 announcement
  7. 7Midjourney: GPU speed (Fast, Relax, Turbo)
  8. 8Midjourney: getting started guide
  9. 9Midjourney: free trials
  10. 10Midjourney: purchasing extra Fast time
  11. 11Midjourney: keeping your creations private
  12. 12Midjourney: image size and resolution
  13. 13Midjourney: Edit Model
  14. 14Midjourney: video
  15. 15Midjourney: Alpha changelog of 7 October 2026
  16. 16Black Forest Labs: API pricing
  17. 17Black Forest Labs: pricing
  18. 18Black Forest Labs: credits and billing
  19. 19Black Forest Labs: release notes
  20. 20Black Forest Labs: FLUX.2 overview
  21. 21Black Forest Labs: FLUX 3 Image
  22. 22Black Forest Labs: API integration guide
  23. 23Black Forest Labs: FLUX.2 [klein] training
  24. 24Black Forest Labs: open weights licensing
  25. 25Black Forest Labs: how FLUX licensing works
  26. 26Black Forest Labs: licensing billing and payment
  27. 27Black Forest Labs: FLUX [dev] Non-Commercial License v2.0
  28. 28Black Forest Labs: Developer Terms of Service
  29. 29Black Forest Labs: FLUX API Service Terms
  30. 30Black Forest Labs: FLUX.2 [klein] 4B model card on Hugging Face
  31. 31Black Forest Labs: FLUX.2 [klein] 9B model card on Hugging Face
  32. 32Black Forest Labs: FLUX.2 [dev] model card on Hugging Face
  33. 33Black Forest Labs: FLUX.1 [schnell] model card on Hugging Face
  34. 34Black Forest Labs: flux2 repository README on GitHub
  35. 35Artificial Analysis: text-to-image leaderboard
  36. 36Arena: text-to-image leaderboard

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