Midjourney 6: pricing, features, release date
Midjourney is one of the fastest evolving AI art technologies out there. When version 1 emerged in February 2022, it churned out pretty humdrum images. Within less than 18 months, we’re already on the cusp of Midjourney 6 — and there’s a lot of excitement about new features lined up for this next major release.
Gathering information released during Midjourney’s weekly “Office Hours” briefings – which reveal what’s happening with the generative AI art service – we can tell you what to expect from Midjourney 6 and future releases.
Whilst it’s always exciting to read about the future, we also suggest you read our guide on getting the best results out of Midjourney today. And to see what archrival Adobe can do, read how to get the best AI art from Adobe Firefly in Photoshop.
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Midjourney 6 release date
Midjourney 6 is expected to be released in July, although recent notes published from the Office Hours briefings suggest there has been a “pause” in development that could delay the launch.
The company last week released Midjourney 5.2, which added the ability to zoom out from images and other new features, so it’s not as if new features have to wait for a major release.
As you can see from the schedule below, Midjourney cranks out major new versions on a regular basis:
| Version no. | Release date |
|---|---|
| 1 | February 2022 |
| 2 | April 2022 |
| 3 | July 2022 |
| 4 | November 2022 |
| 5 | March 2023 |
| 6 | July 2023 (expected date) |
What new features will be included with Midjourney 6?
Here are the big new features that the company is working on for Midjourney 6:
High-resolution images
One of the biggest drawbacks of Midjourney currently is that the images produced are fairly low-resolution. The current default image size is 1,024 x 1,024 pixels. Other aspect ratios are available, but they don’t increase the resolution of 72ppi. A 16:9 image is delivered at 1,456 x 816 pixels, for example.
That resolution is normally fine for web publishing, but it’s insufficient for printing at any great size. That’s why one of the features tabled for Midjourney 6 is higher resolution images. The company hasn’t said what resolution it’s aiming for, but any improvement here will be welcomed by customers. Although there is speculation that the higher resolution images may only arrive with a more expensive subscription tier.
Better image composition
Improved image composition is on the slate for Midjourney 6. That would be a welcome enhancement, as even relatively simple prompts sometimes struggle with basic composition and getting objects in proportion.
Following this weekend’s Glastonbury festival, we asked Midjourney to produce a graffiti-style image of Elton John waving goodbye from behind a piano. As you can see, the composition of the some of the suggested images was found wanting…
Next-gen aesthetics
According to the notes from a recent Office Hours meeting, one of the features slated for Midjourney 6 is the “potential introduction of a next-generation aesthetics system which will bring more diversity in style”. The notes said that release 5.3 could potentially serve as a test run for this new system, although we’ve already seen tweaks to the system in 5.2.
Midjourney 5.2 has already expanded the range of the Stylize parameter, letting users determine how strongly they want to apply a particular style (such as Renaissance painting). New tools have also made it easier to create variations on an existing image. It will be fascinating to see what further refinements Midjourney can deliver here.
Better prompt understanding
This is something of a given – every new release of Midjourney gets better at understanding what you wanted when you entered a text prompt. However, it’s one of the stated new features for Midjourney 6, so you might have to spend less time refining prompts to get the image you desired in the first place.
Midjourney 7: what features are in the works?
The Midjourney team has repeatedly stated that it’s working on both 3D and video output, but those features likely won’t arrive until at least Midjourney 7.
The company is also looking to improve its web and mobile platforms. Currently, Midjourney image generation is only available via the Discord chat service, but the company is aware that some new users have to learn how to use both Discord and Midjourney simultaneously, and that becomes a barrier to adoption.
The company has stated an ambition to deliver image generation through a standalone website and maybe even a dedicated mobile app, although these are likely to arrive after the release of Midjourney 6.
Midjourney 6: frequently asked questions
How much does Midjourney 6 cost?
The cheapest Midjourney plan costs $10 per month (plus VAT, if you’re in the UK). That buys you 3.3 hours per month of ‘fast GPU time’. On average, it takes around 30 seconds to generate an image on the fast GPU, meaning you should get around 400 image generations per month.
The Standard plan ($30) raises that to 15 hours of fast GPU time, while the Pro plan ($60) increases that to 30 hours. On any plan, you can add an extra hour of fast GPU time for $4.
Who are Midjourney 6 main competitors?
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of startups in the generative AI art business at the moment. Among the most prominent is DALLE 2, the generative art service provided by OpenAI, the owners of ChatGPT. DALLE was arguably the service that brought generative AI art to mainstream public attention, but it hasn’t matured as quickly as Midjourney and its results now look comparatively rudimentary.
Other contenders include Adobe with its Firefly AI. Adobe recently introduced elements of the Firefly AI art generation into a beta of its industry-standard Photoshop software, which is hugely impressive and provides a glimpse of how AI could become part of professional artists’ workflows in the near future.
How many free images can you make on Midjourney 6?
Midjourney withdrew its free trial, reportedly over concerns that the service was being abused to create fake images of prominent public figures. It’s worth keeping an eye on Midjourney’s Twitter account, as the company does occasionally provide free access to the service for a weekend. Subscribers can also earn free fast GPU hours by rating other people’s Midjourney images.
UPDATED 8 AUGUST 2023 With link to guide to getting the most out of Adobe’s Firefly tool in Photoshop.
Barry Collins
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