How Much Does Midjourney Cost Per Month?
Midjourney offers four subscription tiers in 2026, from $10/month (Basic) to $120/month (Mega). The core thing you buy is fast GPU hours — fast mode queues your job almost instantly, while relax mode (Standard and up) lets you generate unlimited images at slower 1–10 minute queue times for zero fast hours. Stealth mode, which keeps your images out of the public gallery, is exclusive to Pro and Mega. Pick a plan below to see exactly what it costs and what you get, so you can choose without second-guessing.
Midjourney has four monthly plans in 2026: Basic $10 (~3.3 fast GPU hours, no relax mode), Standard $30 (15 fast GPU hours + unlimited relax), Pro $60 (30 fast GPU hours + relax + stealth mode), and Mega $120 (60 fast GPU hours + stealth). Annual billing cuts 20% off, and extra fast GPU hours cost $4/hour on any plan. There is no free trial. Standard ($30/mo) is the best value for most creators.
When to use this calculator
- Freelance designers deciding whether Standard or Pro covers their monthly client workload
- Creative agencies comparing the cost of Mega vs. buying extra GPU hours on a lower plan
- Developers and researchers who need stealth mode to keep generated assets private before launch
- Individuals weighing whether the jump from Basic ($10) to Standard ($30) is worth it for unlimited relax mode
Example: Choosing the Standard Plan
- Selected plan: Standard ($30/month)
- Fast GPU hours included: 15 hours (~900 images at default quality)
- Relax mode: Yes — unlimited slow-queue generations when fast hours run out
- Stealth mode: No — images appear in the public Midjourney gallery
- Annual cost if billed yearly: $288 (vs $360 monthly) — saving $72/year
How it works
2 min readHow Much Does Midjourney Cost? (2026 Pricing Table)
Midjourney charges by subscription tier, not per image. The core resource you buy is fast GPU time, measured in hours, which determines how fast your generation jobs are queued and processed. Here is every plan, side by side:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Fast GPU Hours | Relax Mode | Stealth Mode | Parallel Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 | $8 | ~3.3 h (≈200 img) | ❌ No | ❌ No | 3 |
| Standard | $30 | $24 | 15 h | ✅ Unlimited | ❌ No | 3 |
| Pro | $60 | $48 | 30 h | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ Yes | 12 |
| Mega | $120 | $96 | 60 h | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ Yes | 12 |
Fast Mode vs. Relax Mode
Fast mode submits your job to the priority queue — typical wait is under a minute, and it spends your monthly fast GPU hours. Relax mode (Standard and up) uses a shared queue with 1–10 minute wait times but costs zero fast hours, so total image volume is effectively unlimited if you can wait.
How Many Images Per Month?
A standard job (4 images, default quality) burns roughly 0.7 minutes of GPU. That works out to about 200 images on Basic, ~900 fast images on Standard, ~1,800 on Pro, and ~3,600 on Mega — and unlimited beyond that in relax mode (Standard+).
Extra GPU Hours
On any plan you can buy additional fast GPU time at $4/hour. Useful for occasional project spikes without permanently upgrading your base plan. Unused fast hours do not roll over — they expire each billing cycle.
Annual Discount
All four plans offer a 20% discount on annual billing: Basic $8/mo, Standard $24/mo, Pro $48/mo, Mega $96/mo when paid upfront for the year.
Commercial Use Rights & Stealth Mode
All paid plans include commercial use rights. The exception: companies with more than $1,000,000 in gross annual revenue must be on Pro or Mega. Stealth mode (Pro+) keeps your generations out of Midjourney's public community feed — important for client work, unreleased products, or proprietary visual assets. There is no free trial in 2026; the entry point is Basic at $10/month.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Midjourney cost per month in 2026?
Midjourney has four monthly plans: Basic $10, Standard $30, Pro $60, and Mega $120. Annual billing applies a 20% discount, bringing the effective monthly cost to $8, $24, $48, and $96 respectively. There is no free tier — you must pick a paid plan to generate images.
What does Midjourney Basic actually include for $10/month?
Basic gives you approximately 3.3 fast GPU hours per month, roughly 200 images at standard quality. There is no relax mode fallback — once your fast hours are used up, you must buy extra time at $4/hour or wait until the next billing cycle. It is best for light, occasional use (under ~10 prompts a day).
What is the difference between fast mode and relax mode?
Fast mode queues your generation at the front of Midjourney's GPU pool — typical wait is under a minute — and spends your fast GPU hours. Relax mode (Standard, Pro, and Mega) uses a shared slower queue with 1–10 minute wait times but does not consume any fast GPU hours, so your total image count is effectively unlimited. For casual exploration, relax mode is often enough.
Is the Standard plan ($30/month) enough for a freelance designer?
For most freelancers, yes. 15 fast GPU hours produces roughly 900 fast images, and unlimited relax mode covers exploratory work without burning hours. The main reasons to step up to Pro ($60) are needing stealth mode to keep work private before delivery, or needing 12 parallel jobs for batch production.
Which Midjourney plans include stealth mode?
Only Pro ($60/month) and Mega ($120/month). Stealth mode keeps your generated images out of Midjourney's public community gallery — essential for client work, unreleased brand assets, or confidential projects. Basic and Standard generations are always publicly visible.
Do all Midjourney plans include commercial rights?
Yes — all four paid plans (Basic, Standard, Pro, Mega) include commercial use rights for individual creators and most businesses. However, companies with over $1,000,000 in gross annual revenue are required to be on Pro or Mega to retain commercial license rights.
How much is Midjourney per year if I pay annually?
Annual billing gives a 20% discount across all plans. Basic becomes $96/year ($8/mo), Standard $288/year ($24/mo), Pro $576/year ($48/mo), and Mega $1,152/year ($96/mo). You pay the full year upfront.
Can I buy extra fast GPU hours without upgrading my plan?
Yes. Midjourney charges $4 per additional fast GPU hour on any plan. This helps with project spikes — for example, if you're on Standard and exhaust your 15 hours mid-month on a large client batch, you can buy 5 extra hours for $20 rather than upgrading to Pro. Note that unused hours do not carry over to the next month.
When should I upgrade from Standard to Pro?
Upgrade to Pro ($60/month) when: (1) you consistently burn through 15 fast GPU hours before month end, (2) you need stealth mode to keep client or unreleased work private, (3) you want 12 parallel jobs instead of 3, or (4) your business earns over $1M/year (commercial license requirement). If your only issue is occasional extra volume, buying GPU hours at $4/hour is usually cheaper than upgrading.
Is there a free tier or free trial in 2026?
No. Midjourney removed its free trial in late 2024 and has not reinstated it. You must subscribe to a paid plan to generate images. The cheapest entry point is Basic at $10/month (or $8/month effective on annual billing).
How does Midjourney compare to Stable Diffusion in cost?
Stable Diffusion is open-source and free to run locally on your own GPU. Cloud Stable Diffusion via APIs (e.g., Replicate) charges per image — typically $0.002–$0.01 per generation — which can be cheaper for very high volumes but needs more technical setup. Midjourney's advantage is a far more polished interface, consistent high quality, and zero infrastructure to manage.