Cheaper Midjourney Alternatives in 2026: Private Images for Less
Midjourney makes some of the best-looking AI images, but your images are public unless you pay for Pro at $60 a month. Here are the alternatives that cost less, which of them keep your images private, and what each plan really includes.
Today's prices
Checked automatically · 2026-11-10 23:24| Tool | Plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Basic | $10 | $8 | 200 minutes |
| Ideogram | Plus | $20 | $15 | 2,400 credits |
| Leonardo | Essential | $12 | $9.60 | 8,500 tokens |
| Recraft | Basic | $12 | $10 | 1,000 credits |
| Adobe Firefly | Firefly Standard | $9.99 | – | 2,000 credits |
| OpenArt | Starter | $14 | $13 | 4,000 credits |
Cheapest paid plan per tool, in US dollars, read from each tool's official pricing page. Prices in tables below update too; some figures in the running text were written when this article was published. Compare these tools side by side →
Cheapest alternative: Adobe Firefly Standard at $9.99 a month, with images Adobe says are safe for commercial use.
Cheapest private images: Recraft Basic and Leonardo Essential, from about $10 a month paid yearly.
Closest to Midjourney's "unlimited": Ideogram Plus, with an unlimited slow queue from $15 a month paid yearly.
Last checked: 2026-11-10
What Midjourney costs
| Plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly | Fast GPU time | Unlimited Relax mode | Private images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10/mo | $8/mo | 200 minutes | No | No |
| Standard | $30/mo | $24/mo | 15 hours | Yes | No |
| Pro | $60/mo | $48/mo | 30 hours | Yes | Yes (Stealth Mode) |
| Mega | $120/mo | $96/mo | 60 hours | Yes | Yes (Stealth Mode) |
From Midjourney's own plan comparison. Midjourney has no free plan, and companies earning over $1M a year must use Pro or Mega.
The alternatives side by side
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly | Private images on that plan | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Standard | $9.99/mo | – | – | Yes, daily generations |
| Recraft | Basic | $12/mo | $10/mo | Yes | Yes, public images |
| Leonardo | Essential | $12/mo | $9.60/mo | Yes | Yes, public images |
| OpenArt | Starter | $14/mo | $13/mo | – | You can start for free |
| Ideogram | Plus | $20/mo | $15/mo | Yes | Yes, 30 credits a week |
| Freepik | Premium | $20/mo | $14.50/mo | – | – |
Prices update automatically every morning. "–" means the pricing page doesn't say. Leonardo's prices come from CostBench (checked 2026-11-05), because Leonardo blocks automatic reading.
Which alternative should you pick?
Adobe Firefly: cheapest, and safe for commercial work
Firefly Standard costs $9.99 a month for 2,000 generative credits. Adobe trains its own Firefly models on licensed content and says their images can be used commercially, which matters for client work. Credits reset each month.
Recraft: private images and vector art from $10
Recraft Basic ($12, or $10 a month paid yearly) gives 1,000 credits, private images, commercial rights and access to other models such as Flux and GPT Image. It is the best pick for logos, icons and anything you need as SVG.
Leonardo: private images and consistent styles
Leonardo Essential ($12, or $9.60 paid yearly) gives 8,500 tokens a month and private images. Unused tokens build up in a bank, up to a cap, so a quiet month isn't wasted.
Ideogram: the closest thing to Midjourney Standard
Midjourney's unlimited Relax mode starts at $30 a month. Ideogram Plus costs $20 ($15 paid yearly) and, once your 2,400 monthly credits run out, lets you keep making images with Ideogram's own models in a slower queue with no limit. Your images stay private, and Ideogram is known for clean text inside images.
OpenArt and Freepik: many models in one account
OpenArt and Freepik both give you many image models, including some Midjourney-style ones, under one subscription. OpenArt Starter includes no commercial use rights; Freepik's credits are given per year.
When Midjourney is still worth it
If image quality and style matter more than anything else, Midjourney Standard at $30 a month with unlimited Relax mode is still hard to beat for volume. Just remember that your images are public below Pro.
Watch out
- Free plans make public images on Ideogram, Recraft and Leonardo.
- Recraft: commercial rights only while you subscribe.
- OpenArt: no commercial use on Starter.
- Midjourney: companies earning over $1M a year must use Pro or Mega.
See every plan on the AI image price list, read the Midjourney vs Ideogram pricing comparison, or the guide to the cheapest AI image generators.
Sources: the official pricing pages of Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Recraft, Ideogram, OpenArt and Freepik, and CostBench for Leonardo, read 2026-11-08. Prices change often. Always confirm on the official sites.