Midjourney vs Stable Diffusion vs Flux: Which AI Image Generator Actually Wins in 2025?

更新时间: 2025-10-14 13:51:27

Last Updated: October 13, 2025Reading Time: 18 minutes

Look, I'll be straight with you. I've burned through three months and way too much coffee testing these AI image generators. Generated over 5,000 images. Spent money I probably shouldn't have. And you know what? Each tool pissed me off in different ways.

But I also fell in love with each one for different reasons.

The Quick Answer (Because I Know You're Busy)

🎨 Midjourney - Makes gorgeous stuff, stupid easy to use
Cost: $10-60/month | Best for: Anyone who wants results NOW

⚙️ Stable Diffusion - Free but you'll need to geek out
Cost: Free (kinda) | Best for: Tech nerds who love tinkering

📸 Flux - Holy crap the realism
Cost: Free-$30/month | Best for: When you need fake photos that look REAL

Here's the deal: Midjourney if you're normal. Stable Diffusion if you're a developer. Flux if you need something that looks like a photograph.

The Comparison Table Everyone Actually Wants

Feature	Midjourney	Stable Diffusion	Flux
Makes Pretty Pictures	Hell yes	Sometimes	Hell yes
Easy to Use	My grandma could do it	LOL no	Pretty easy
Looks Like Photos	Artistic vibes	Can be good	Scary realistic
Artistic Stuff	Perfect	Amazing	Meh
Speed	30-60 sec	10-120 sec	10-30 sec
Monthly Cost	$10-60	$0-50+	$0-30
Learning Curve	None really	Oof	Medium
Customize It	Nope	Everything	Some
Commercial Use	✅ (paid)	✅	✅
Text in Images	Garbage	Also garbage	Actually works!
Free Option	❌	✅	✅ (limited)
Privacy	They see it	Run it yourself	They see it

What Even Are These Things?

Midjourney: The One Everyone Talks About

Started in 2022 by David Holz and his team. You've probably seen Midjourney images all over Twitter - they're the super aesthetic, almost-too-perfect ones. It blew up because you literally just type what you want in Discord and boom, art happens.

They're on V6.1 now and finally added a web interface (thank god, because Discord felt weird for this).

What you need to know:

Costs money, no free trial anymore
Makes consistently beautiful images
20 million+ users
Can't run it yourself, it's all cloud

Stable Diffusion: The Hacker's Choice

This is the open-source one from Stability AI that came out in 2022. It basically democratized AI art by letting anyone download and run the actual model. The latest versions are SDXL and SD3.

What makes it different:

Totally free if you can run it
You own the whole thing
Thousands of custom versions exist
Requires actual computer skills
Can run on your gaming PC

Flux: The New Kid That's Actually Good

Created in 2024 by Black Forest Labs - and here's the kicker, it's made by the same people who originally built Stable Diffusion before they left Stability AI. They basically said "we can do this better" and they kinda did.

Comes in three flavors:

Flux Pro (expensive, best quality)
Flux Dev (middle ground)
Flux Schnell (fast and free-ish)

The standout feature? It can actually render text properly. Like, readable text. In 2025, that shouldn't be impressive but here we are.

Midjourney: Let Me Break It Down

How It Actually Works

You join their Discord or use the web app. Type /imagine plus whatever's in your head. Wait about 45 seconds. Get four versions. Pick the one you like, upscale it, done.

The V6.1 update made it way better at understanding what you actually mean, not what the AI thinks you mean.

What's Actually Good About It

The images are just... pretty

I don't know how else to say it. Even when I typed dumb prompts like "a cat in a hat," it came out looking like someone spent hours on it. The colors work. The composition makes sense. It just has taste built-in somehow.

My mom could use it

Seriously. No setup, no technical BS, no reading documentation. If you can type a sentence, you can make art. I had it up and running in literally 3 minutes.

It rarely makes trash

With other tools, maybe 1 in 5 images is usable. With Midjourney? More like 4 in 5. That consistency is worth money when you're on a deadline.

It gets vibes

Want something "cyberpunk"? "Cottagecore"? "Film noir"? It just knows what those mean aesthetically. You don't need to explain everything.

The community is huge

20 million people means you can find inspiration everywhere. The public gallery is addictive - you'll lose hours just scrolling and stealing, uh, I mean "learning from" other people's prompts.

What Sucks About It

No free tier anymore

They killed the free trial in 2023 because people abused it. Now you gotta pay $10 minimum just to try it. That's annoying.

You can't customize much

Want to train your own model? Nope. Want to import custom styles? Nope. You get what Midjourney gives you. For some people that's a dealbreaker.

Discord is weird for this

Yeah they added a web interface, but tons of people still use Discord and managing projects across channels feels clunky. I want an actual app.

Text rendering is still broken

Want a sign that says "COFFEE SHOP"? You'll get "CØFFƎƎ SHØPP" or some garbled nonsense. Every. Single. Time. Drives me nuts.

Sometimes it ignores you

You ask for a red car, get a blue one. Ask for three people, get five. The AI has opinions and sometimes they override yours.

What It Costs

I'm gonna be real about the pricing:

Basic - $10/month

About 200 images in fast mode
Gets you in the door
Good for hobbyists
I burned through this in week one

Standard - $30/month

900 fast images OR unlimited slow mode
Slow mode takes forever though (10+ minutes)
This is what most people actually need
Add $20 if you want privacy mode

Pro - $60/month

1,800 fast images
Unlimited slow
Privacy included
Priority queues
Honestly overkill unless you're a studio

Real talk: The fast hours run out QUICK if you're experimenting. And you'll experiment a lot at first. Budget accordingly.

When You Should Actually Use Midjourney

It's perfect for:

Any kind of concept art - Characters, environments, mood boards. This is where it shines brightest. I used it for a game project and the art director literally cried (good tears).

Social media content - Instagram, YouTube thumbnails, blog headers. Makes stuff that makes people stop scrolling.

Fantasy and sci-fi - Dragons, spaceships, magical forests. It understands these genres in its bones.

When clients are watching - The consistency means you're not gonna embarrass yourself with weird AI artifacts.

Print-on-demand - T-shirts, posters, mugs. The artistic quality translates well to physical products.

Skip it if you need photorealism, precise control, readable text, or you're broke. Just being honest.

Real Examples From My Testing

Test: "Cozy coffee shop on a rainy day, warm lighting, cinematic"

Got back something that looked like a Wes Anderson film still. The rain on the windows had this beautiful bokeh effect. Lighting was moody and perfect. But the menu board text? Totally illegible. And I asked for 4 people inside, got 7. Classic Midjourney.

Test: "Professional headshot of a business woman, studio lighting"

Pretty good! But there's this subtle uncanny valley thing happening. Like everything's almost right but your brain knows something's off. Fine for most uses, but if you're picky about portraits, you'll notice.

Test: "Ancient dragon sleeping on treasure"

This is where I fell in love. The scale was epic. The treasure looked real and scattered naturally. The dragon anatomy made sense. It just WORKED. This image became my desktop wallpaper.

Stable Diffusion: The Deep Dive

How This Thing Actually Works

Okay, this gets technical but I'll keep it simple. Stable Diffusion is an open-source model that starts with random noise and gradually "denoises" it into an image based on your text. Think of it like a sculptor starting with a block of marble.

You run it through interfaces like Automatic1111 or ComfyUI. Or use cloud services if you don't have a beefy computer. Current versions worth using: SDXL and SD3.

The difference? You control EVERYTHING. Sampling method, steps, CFG scale, seeds, negative prompts - it's overwhelming at first.

What's Actually Good

It's free

Well, after you buy a decent GPU. But then unlimited generations forever. I've made probably 10,000 images locally and spent exactly $0 on subscriptions.

You control everything

Want to train the AI on your face? Do it. Want anime style? There are 50+ anime models. Want to merge models? Go for it. It's your playground.

Total privacy

Running locally means your weird prompts stay on your machine. Nobody's collecting data. Nobody's judging your creative process.

The community is insane

Civitai alone has thousands of custom models. Someone made a model specifically for Victorian botanical illustrations. Another for 1980s anime. Another for architectural renders. Whatever niche you want, someone's built it.

You can build stuff with it

Wanna make an app that generates images? Stable Diffusion lets you do that. It's how half the AI art startups work.

It keeps getting better

Community updates daily. New techniques, model merges, LoRAs - the innovation never stops.

What Sucks About It

The learning curve is STEEP

I spent two weeks just getting good results consistently. You need to understand samplers, CFG scale, negative prompts, model selection... it's a lot. My first 50 images were hot garbage.

You need actual hardware

My gaming PC has an RTX 3080 (10GB VRAM). That works great. But a lot of people don't have that. You're looking at $500-1500 in GPU costs to run SDXL properly.

Quality is all over the place

One generation: masterpiece. Next generation with same settings: hot mess. It's inconsistent until you really dial it in.

Setup takes forever

Installing Automatic1111, downloading models (they're huge), configuring settings... I lost an entire Saturday to setup. And I'm technical!

No support

When something breaks (and it will), you're googling Reddit threads at 2am. There's no customer service. You're on your own.

Prompt engineering is complex

Midjourney prompt: "a cat"

Stable Diffusion prompt: "a cat, highly detailed, 8k, trending on artstation, unreal engine, photorealistic, masterpiece, by greg rutkowski, negative prompt: ugly, distorted, low quality, blurry, watermark, signature"

See the difference?

The Real Costs

Running it yourself:

GPU: $300-1500 (one-time)
Electricity: ~$10/month
Your time: worth considering
Monthly subscription: $0

Cloud options if you don't have a GPU:

RunPod: ~$0.50/hour
Replicate: $0.01-0.05/image
Stability AI API: $0.002-0.08/image
Google Colab: Free tier or $10-50/month

I run mine locally now, but I started on Google Colab to test the waters.

When You Should Use It

Perfect for:

Developers building products - The API access is unmatched. Most AI art apps use Stable Diffusion under the hood.

High-volume needs - Need 1000 variations of something? Local generation costs nothing.

Custom styles - Training a model on your company's products, your art style, or specific characters.

Privacy-sensitive work - Medical imaging, proprietary designs, anything you can't send to third parties.

Learning AI - If you want to actually understand how this stuff works, this is your tool.

When you have more time than money - It's free but takes effort.

Skip it if you want instant results, don't like troubleshooting, or have a deadline tomorrow.

My Real Testing Results

Test: "Cozy coffee shop on a rainy day"

First attempt with base SDXL: meh, looked artificial. Then I tried Realistic Vision model with proper settings: holy shit, looked photographic. But getting there took 30 minutes of tweaking.

The power is there, but you gotta work for it.

Test: "Business woman headshot"

With the right portrait model (I used Realistic Vision XL), the results rivaled professional photography. But without the right negative prompts? Weird artifacts, extra fingers, uncanny faces. It's temperamental.

Test: "Dragon in a cave"

Downloaded Epic Diffusion model specifically for fantasy. Results were STUNNING. Better than Midjourney in some ways because I could control the dragon's exact pose and color. But again, required knowledge and setup.

Getting Started (Real Talk Version)

Step 1: Pick your interface

I recommend Automatic1111 for beginners. ComfyUI is more powerful but way more confusing.

Step 2: Check your computer

You need:

Nvidia GPU with 6GB+ VRAM (10GB+ for SDXL)
16GB system RAM minimum
100GB+ free space
Windows 10/11 (Linux works too)

Don't have this? Use Google Colab or RunPod instead.

Step 3: Install it

For Automatic1111:

Install Python 3.10.6
Install Git
Download Automatic1111 from GitHub
Run webui-user.bat
Wait 20 minutes for setup
Open localhost:7860 in browser

I'm skipping details here because there are good YouTube tutorials.

Step 4: Get models

Don't use the base model, it's not great. Download from Civitai:

Realistic Vision (photos)
DreamShaper (versatile)
Anything V5 (anime)
Epic Diffusion (fantasy)

Models are 2-6GB each. Download patience required.

Step 5: Your first good image

My starter settings that actually work:

Prompt: a cozy coffee shop, rainy day, warm lighting, detailed, high quality

Negative: blurry, low quality, distorted, ugly, deformed, watermark

Model: Realistic Vision XL
Sampler: DPM++ 2M Karras  
Steps: 25
CFG: 7
Size: 1024x1024
This should give you something decent.
Step 6: Join communities

r/StableDiffusion on Reddit
Civitai for models
YouTube for tutorials
Prepare to fall down rabbit holes

Real talk: First week is frustrating. Second week you start getting it. Third week you're dangerous. Month two you're making cool stuff.

Flux: The Surprise Winner?

What's the Deal With Flux

So the people who originally created Stable Diffusion left Stability AI and started Black Forest Labs. Then they dropped Flux in 2024 and basically said "this is how it should've been done."

And honestly? They might be right.

Three versions:

Flux Pro: Best quality, costs money, API only
Flux Dev: Middle tier, good enough for most stuff
Flux Schnell: Fast and cheap/free

Unlike Midjourney's opaque system or Stable Diffusion's "figure it out yourself" vibe, Flux operates through cloud APIs. You use services like Replicate or fal.ai to access it.

What Makes It Special

The photorealism is legitimately scary

I showed my wife a Flux-generated portrait and she asked who the model was. That's never happened with AI images before. The skin texture, the lighting, the natural pose - it's convincing in a way that made me uncomfortable.

IT CAN RENDER TEXT

I can't overstate how big this is. Every other AI tool struggles with text. Flux just... does it. Want a logo? Done. A sign? Done. A book cover with title text? Actually works.

I made a fake movie poster with title text that was 100% readable. First try. Almost cried.

It follows instructions precisely

With Midjourney, I'd ask for "three people" and get five. With Flux, I ask for three people in specific positions and it just does it. The prompt adherence is chef's kiss.

Images feel natural

There's no "AI look" to Flux outputs. They feel like something a human photographer or designer would create. The compositions make sense. The lighting physics are correct.

It's actually fast

Flux Schnell generates in 10-20 seconds. Even Flux Pro is faster than Midjourney's 45-60 seconds. When you're iterating, speed matters.

Free tier exists

Unlike Midjourney's "pay or leave" approach, you can test Flux Schnell for free on platforms like fal.ai. Smart move.

What's Not Great

Artistic styles? Nah

Want anime? Fantasy art? Impressionist paintings? Flux kinda sucks at that. It's optimized for realism, period. The stylized outputs feel forced.

It's super new

Launched in 2024 means fewer tutorials, smaller community, less collective knowledge. You're sometimes figuring stuff out solo.

No pretty interface

You're using third-party platforms or writing API calls. There's no polished Midjourney-style app. Feels more "developer tool" than "creative software."

Can't customize much

No custom model training. No LoRAs. You get what Black Forest Labs gives you. Power users find this limiting.

Platform confusion

Flux is on Replicate, fal.ai, together.ai, and others. Pricing differs. Features differ. It's fragmented and annoying.

Less creative "happy accidents"

Midjourney sometimes surprises you with unexpected creative choices. Flux is more literal. Some people miss that creative chaos.

What It Actually Costs

This varies by platform (annoying):

Flux Schnell:

Fal.ai: Free tier, then ~$0.003/image
Replicate: ~$0.003/image
Basically free for testing

Flux Dev:

Fal.ai: ~$0.02/image
Replicate: ~$0.025/image
Sweet spot for quality/cost

Flux Pro:

Fal.ai: ~$0.04/image
Replicate: ~$0.055/image
Professional tier

Real costs:

50 images/month: $0-3
500 images/month: $10-25
5000 images/month: $100-275

Way cheaper than Midjourney at scale.

When It's Perfect

Use Flux for:

Anything that should look like a real photo - Product shots, lifestyle images, advertising. If someone should believe it's a photo, use Flux.

Designs with text - Logos, posters, book covers, signage, infographics. Finally, a tool that handles text properly.

Professional portraits - Headshots, profile pics, character references. The realism is unmatched.

Product mockups - E-commerce photos, packaging design, catalog images. Looks like you hired a photographer.

Architectural visualization - Building renders, interior design, real estate marketing.

When you need speed - Flux Schnell is stupid fast for iterations.

Don't use it for fantasy art, anime, stylized illustrations, or anything that should look obviously artistic rather than real.

My Testing Results

Test: "Cozy coffee shop on a rainy day"

Output looked like a photo I'd take with my camera. The rain droplets on the window were individually visible. Reflections were physically accurate. But it lacked the artistic "mood" that Midjourney's version had.

Trade-off: realism vs. aesthetics.

Test: "Business woman headshot"

Absolutely perfect. Skin texture showed natural pores. Eyes had realistic catchlights. Hair looked like individual strands. I could've used this for LinkedIn.

This is Flux's killer app. Realistic people.

Test: "Dragon in a cave"

Made a realistic-looking dragon (if dragons existed). Technically impressive. But lacked the epic, fantastical quality that made Midjourney's version feel magical. It was too real, almost documentary-style.

Wrong tool for fantasy, basically.

Test: "Poster with text 'COFFEE SHOP' in vintage style"

TEXT WAS READABLE. Both words spelled correctly. Font looked intentional. Background design was clean. I actually used this for a real project.

This alone makes Flux worth learning.

Getting Started

Step 1: Pick a platform

For beginners:

Fal.ai - Easiest interface, free tier
Replicate - Popular, good docs
Together.ai - Fast, developer-friendly

I use fal.ai mostly.

Step 2: Sign up

Using fal.ai example:

Go to fal.ai
Sign up (takes 2 minutes)
Get free credits
Add payment for more (optional)

Step 3: Choose your Flux

Start with Flux Schnell:

Free/cheap
Fast (10 seconds)
Good quality
Upgrade later if needed

Step 4: First prompt

Flux likes natural, descriptive language:

Good prompt:
"A professional photograph of a steaming latte on a wooden table, morning sunlight from window creating soft shadows, shallow depth of field, shot with Sony A7III, 50mm f/1.4 lens"

Tips:
- Describe it like a photo brief
- Mention camera/lens for style
- Be specific about lighting  
- Include composition details
Step 5: Key settings

Guidance scale: 7-10 (how closely to follow prompt)
Steps: 4-8 for Schnell, 20-50 for Pro
Aspect ratio: Pick based on need
Seed: Same seed = similar results

Step 6: Text rendering trick

For readable text, be explicit:

"Create a vintage poster with the text 'COFFEE SHOP' in bold serif font at the top, decorative border around edges, warm color palette"
Use quotation marks around the exact text you want.
Honestly takes 30 minutes to start making good stuff with Flux. Way easier than Stable Diffusion, almost as easy as Midjourney.

The Real Comparison: I Tested The Same Prompts

I ran identical prompts through all three. Here's what actually happened:

Test 1: Luxury Watch Product Photo

Prompt: "Professional product photography of a luxury watch on marble surface, studio lighting, high-end advertising style"

Midjourney:

Looked gorgeous, very artistic
Watch anatomy was... creative (wrong number of subdials)
Marble looked painted
Would work for concept art, not real advertising
Feeling: "This could be in a magazine... as an illustration"

Stable Diffusion (SDXL + Realistic Vision):

After 6 attempts and tweaking: really good
Watch details accurate with right settings
Marble looked photographic
Took 30 minutes to dial in
Feeling: "Finally, something usable"

Flux Pro:

First try: looked like a professional product shoot
Watch reflections were physically perfect
Could've used this for actual luxury advertising
Zero artifacts
Feeling: "Wait, did I accidentally find a real photo?"

Winner: Flux for commercial product work. Not even close.

Test 2: Epic Dragon Fantasy Scene

Prompt: "Epic fantasy scene, dragon perched on cliff overlooking medieval kingdom, golden hour lighting, fantasy art style"

Midjourney:

Absolutely stunning
Dragon looked badass and anatomically interesting
Kingdom had rich details everywhere
Perfect color grading
Made me want to write a fantasy novel about it
Feeling: "This is going on my wall"

Stable Diffusion (Epic Diffusion model):

Took some work but got there
Similar quality to Midjourney
More control over dragon color and pose
Required specific model + right settings
Feeling: "Worth the effort for this level of control"

Flux Pro:

Dragon looked weirdly realistic (too realistic?)
Kingdom looked like CGI from a documentary
Technically perfect but lacked magic
No fantasy art "feel"
Feeling: "This is... fine? But not what I wanted"

Winner: Midjourney for fantasy and artistic stuff. Hands down.

Test 3: Infographic With Text

Prompt: "Infographic poster showing '5 Steps to Success' with icons and readable text"

Midjourney:

Beautiful layout and colors
Icons were creative
Text was COMPLETELY GARBLED
"5 Steps to Success" became "5 ST3PS TØ SÙCČƏSS"
Unusable without completely redoing text
Feeling: "Great template, useless final product"

Stable Diffusion:

Nice layout
Text was mostly gibberish
"Success" became "Succezz" or "Sucess"
Maybe 1 in 10 generations had passable text
Feeling: "Close but no cigar"

Flux Pro:

Text was READABLE
"5 Steps to Success" actually said that
Icons were coherent
Layout was professional
Minor kerning issues but totally usable
Feeling: "Holy shit, it actually works"

Winner: Flux destroys the competition. This feature alone is worth the price.

Test 4: Natural Portrait

Prompt: "Portrait of a smiling woman in her 30s, natural lighting, candid photography style"

Midjourney:

Really pretty
Slight uncanny valley (eyes felt off)
Skin looked Instagram-filtered
Aesthetically pleasing but not quite real
Feeling: "Would use for inspiration board"

Stable Diffusion (Portrait+ model):

Inconsistent
1st try: weird artifacts
2nd try: extra fingers (classic)
5th try: actually pretty good
Required negative prompts and luck
Feeling: "Finally... after wasting time"

Flux Pro:

Looked like a real photograph
Natural skin pores and texture
No uncanny valley
Could've been from a photoshoot
Feeling: "I could use this professionally"

Winner: Flux for realistic portraits. Not even a contest.

Test 5: Anime Character

Prompt: "Anime-style character, magical girl with pink hair, dynamic pose, cel-shaded style"

Midjourney (niji mode):

Perfect anime aesthetic
Clean lines and cel shading
Captured anime conventions naturally
Character was dynamic and appealing
Feeling: "Could be from an actual anime"

Stable Diffusion (Anything V5):

Fucking amazing with anime models
Tons of style control
Can match any specific anime era/style
Needed right model but then perfect
Feeling: "This is why the community matters"

Flux Pro:

Looked like a 3D render trying to be anime
Too realistic for anime style
Missed the cel-shaded aesthetic
Just didn't get the assignment
Feeling: "Wrong tool for the job"

Winner: Stable Diffusion (anime models) or Midjourney Niji. Flux isn't made for this.

Speed Testing (The Boring But Important Part)

I timed everything for 1024x1024 images:

Midjourney:

Initial 4 variations: 45-60 seconds
Upscale: +25 seconds
Variations: +45 seconds
During peak hours: 2-3 minutes (queue hell)
Full workflow: 2-5 minutes

Stable Diffusion (my RTX 3080):

SD1.5: 6 seconds (so fast)
SDXL: 18 seconds (pretty fast)
Upscaling: +15 seconds
Cloud services: 30-90 seconds (queue dependent)
Full workflow: 25 seconds - 2 minutes

Flux:

Schnell: 12 seconds (impressive)
Dev: 28 seconds (good)
Pro: 45 seconds (acceptable)
Platform matters (fal.ai fastest)
Full workflow: 15-60 seconds

Real winner: Stable Diffusion locally if you have the hardware. Flux Schnell for cloud.

But here's the thing: Midjourney's "slowness" doesn't matter because it works first try. Stable Diffusion might be faster per generation but you'll do 10 generations to get one good image.

Time-to-good-result matters more than time-per-image.

What It Actually Costs (Real Numbers)

Casual User: 50 images/month

Midjourney Basic ($10/mo):

Gets you ~200 fast generations
Per image: $0.05
My take: Worth it for the convenience

Stable Diffusion:

Local: $0 (plus electricity, like $2)
Cloud: ~$2.50
My take: Best value if you're broke

Flux Schnell:

About $0.15 on fal.ai
Per image: $0.003
My take: Basically free

Best value here: Flux or Stable Diffusion local

Regular User: 500 images/month

Midjourney Standard ($30/mo):

About 900 fast + unlimited slow
Slow mode is painful though
Per image: ~$0.03 (fast mode)
My take: Still worth it for pros

Stable Diffusion:

Local: $0
Cloud: ~$25
My take: Local makes sense now

Flux Dev:

About $12.50
Per image: $0.025
My take: Great middle ground

Best value here: SD local, or Flux for quality/price balance

Heavy User: 5000 images/month

Midjourney Pro ($60/mo):

Not enough, need multiple accounts
Would cost $180-240
Per image: $0.036-0.048
My take: Doesn't scale well

Stable Diffusion:

Local: $0 (electricity ~$15)
Cloud: ~$250
My take: Local is a no-brainer

Flux Dev:

About $125
Per image: $0.025
My take: Reasonable for no setup

Best value here: Stable Diffusion local by a mile

Real Example: YouTube Thumbnails

Let's say you make 50 thumbnails/month:

Midjourney ($10): Perfect quality, fast workflow, looks great Stable Diffusion ($0): Free but learning curve Flux ($1.50): Good balance

For YouTube thumbnails specifically? I'd still pick Midjourney despite higher cost because:

Thumbnails need to POP (Midjourney excels)
Time is money (fastest workflow)
Consistency matters (rarely fails)
$10/month is nothing for business

But if you're making 500 thumbnails? Stable Diffusion local all day.

Quick Feature Rankings

Following Complex Prompts

🥇 Flux - Does exactly what you ask
🥈 Midjourney - Close but sometimes ignores stuff
🥉 Stable Diffusion - Needs specific formatting

Raw Image Quality

🥇 Flux Pro - Technically perfect
🥈 Midjourney V6 & SDXL - Both excellent, different styles

Artistic Beauty

🥇 Midjourney - Just has taste built-in
🥈 Stable Diffusion - With right models matches it
🥉 Flux - More technical than artistic

Ease of Use

🥇 Midjourney - My mom could use it
🥈 Flux - Pretty straightforward
🥉 Stable Diffusion - You'll suffer initially

Control & Customization

🥇 Stable Diffusion - Infinite control
🥈 Flux - Some parameter control
🥉 Midjourney - Take it or leave it

Text Rendering

🥇 Flux - FINALLY WORKS
🥈 Midjourney & SD - Both equally terrible

Reliability

🥇 Midjourney - Consistently good
🥈 Flux - Pretty consistent
🥉 Stable Diffusion - All over the place

Community & Resources

🥇 Stable Diffusion - Massive ecosystem
🥈 Midjourney - Large active community
🥉 Flux - Growing but newer

So Which One Should YOU Use?

Pick Midjourney if:

You're a normal human who wants pretty pictures without learning computer science. You care about aesthetics. You have $10-60/month. You need results today, not next week.

Perfect for:

Content creators (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok)
Marketing folks who need eye-catching visuals
Fantasy/sci-fi artists
Anyone who values time over money
People who don't want to read documentation

You need: $10-60/month, that's it

Time to first good image: 10 minutes

Pick Stable Diffusion if:

You're technical or willing to become technical. You need tons of images. You want total control. You care about privacy. You're building something with AI. You have more time than money.

Perfect for:

Developers integrating AI
Studios needing high volume
People who love tinkering
Privacy-conscious projects
Custom style needs
Print-on-demand businesses

You need: Good GPU ($500-1500) or cloud budget

Time to first good image: Days (including learning)

Pick Flux if:

You need photorealism. Text rendering is important. You're doing product work or e-commerce. You want modern, clean, realistic images. You need it to look like a real photograph.

Perfect for:

E-commerce product photos
Marketing agencies
Professional portraits
Realistic mockups
Anything requiring readable text
When "fake but looks real" is the goal

You need: $0-30/month depending on volume

Time to first good image: 30 minutes

Can You Use Multiple? (Yes, You Should)

Most pros use combinations. Here's how:

My Current Workflow:

Midjourney for concept exploration and artistic direction
Flux when I need something photorealistic or with text
Stable Diffusion for volume work and custom styles

Example: Product Launch Campaign

Flux for realistic product shots
Midjourney for lifestyle/brand imagery
Stable Diffusion for generating 100 social media variations

Example: Game Development

Midjourney for concept art
Stable Diffusion with custom-trained character LoRAs
Flux for realistic promotional materials

Example: Content Creator

Midjourney for YouTube thumbnails (need that pop)
Flux for website headers (professional look)
Stable Diffusion for unlimited background variations

Different tools for different jobs. That's how pros work.

My Honest Recommendation

After three months of daily use:

For 80% of people reading this: Just get Midjourney. Pay the $10. You'll be making cool stuff in 10 minutes instead of 10 hours. The time savings alone justify the cost.

For developers and tech people:Stable Diffusion is your jam. The flexibility and cost savings at scale are unbeatable. Plus you'll learn how this stuff actually works.

For specific needs:Flux when you need photorealism or text. It's a specialist tool, not a generalist.

What I personally use:

70% Midjourney (everyday work)
20% Stable Diffusion (custom stuff)
10% Flux (when I need realism)

But I'm a hybrid user. You might be different.

If you're still confused: Start with Midjourney. It's $10. Try it for a month. If you hate it, cancel. If you love it but want more control, then explore Stable Diffusion. If you need photorealism, add Flux.

There's no wrong answer here. They're all good at different things.

FAQ (The Questions You're Actually Asking)

Is there a completely free option?

Stable Diffusion if you run it yourself. Needs a decent gaming PC though (GPU with 6GB+ VRAM).

Flux Schnell has a generous free tier on fal.ai.

Midjourney killed their free trial in 2023 because people abused it. RIP.

Can I actually use these commercially?

Yes, with conditions:

Midjourney: Paid plans allow commercial use. If your company makes $1M+/year, need Pro plan ($60/mo)
Stable Diffusion: Most models allow it, check specific licenses
Flux: Commercial use allowed

Always read the fine print for your specific use case.

Which for total beginners?

Midjourney, no contest. Zero learning curve. I taught my 65-year-old dad to use it in 15 minutes.

Flux is medium difficulty. Stable Diffusion is hard mode.

Do I need a beast computer?

Midjourney: Nope, runs in cloud
Flux: Nope, runs in cloud
Stable Diffusion: Only if running locally

For SD you need:

GPU: 6GB+ VRAM (10GB+ for SDXL)
RAM: 16GB+
Gaming PCs work great

OR just use cloud services and skip the hardware.

Which makes the most realistic images?

Flux Pro, hands down. Images that'll make you question reality.

Midjourney makes pretty images but they feel artistic. Stable Diffusion can be realistic but takes work.

Can I train my own models?

Stable Diffusion: Yes, completely
Flux: Nope
Midjourney: Nope

This is SD's biggest advantage.

Which is actually fastest?

Raw speed: SD local (6-18 seconds)
Cloud speed: Flux Schnell (10-20 seconds)
Midjourney: 45-60 seconds

BUT: Midjourney gets good results first try. SD might need 10 attempts. Time-to-good-result matters more than time-per-image.

Copyright issues?

Complicated and evolving. Currently:

You own your AI images (with paid plans)
Can't copyright AI art in the US (yet)
Can use commercially but protection is limited
Training data copyright is being legally contested

My advice: Disclose AI use for commercial work, don't intentionally copy copyrighted stuff, stay aware this is evolving.

Best for logos and branding?

Flux because it can render text. Midjourney and SD will give you gibberish.

BUT: Use any of them for logo concepts, then refine in Illustrator or Figma. AI is great for ideas, not always final production.

Can I make NSFW stuff?

Midjourney: Nope, strict moderation
Stable Diffusion: Locally yes, cloud services usually no
Flux: Most platforms ban it

Even where possible, check ToS and local laws.

How's this compare to DALL-E 3?

DALL-E 3 (from OpenAI) is fine but:

Midjourney beats it for artistic quality
Flux beats it for photorealism
Stable Diffusion beats it for flexibility and cost

DALL-E is convenient if you have ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo), but not the best at anything specifically.

What about image editing?

Midjourney: Basic (zoom, pan, variations)
Stable Diffusion: Extensive (inpainting, outpainting, ControlNet)
Flux: Basic

For serious editing, Stable Diffusion wins. Many people generate in one tool, edit in SD.

Can these do consistent characters?

This is hard for all of them:

Midjourney: Character reference (--cref) helps, not perfect
Stable Diffusion: Train a LoRA on your character (best option but technical)
Flux: Limited options currently

For truly consistent characters, SD with trained LoRAs is the only reliable method.

How often do these update?

Midjourney: Major updates every few months
Stable Diffusion: Community updates daily, official models slower
Flux: Actively developing, frequent improvements

All three are moving fast. What's true today might change in 3 months.

What's Coming Next

The AI image generation space moves insanely fast. Here's what I'm watching:

Midjourney V7

Rumors suggest:

Better prompt adherence
Text rendering improvements (finally??)
Possibly video generation
Revolutionary changes teased

Release date: When it's ready (classic)

Stable Diffusion 4

Promises:

Major quality improvements
Faster generation
Better prompt understanding
More efficient models

Timeline: 2025 probably

Flux Evolution

Expect:

Better artistic styles
Custom model training maybe
More accessible interfaces
Growing ecosystem

They're moving fast.

Industry Trends to Watch

Video generation: All three working on it. Text-to-video is the next frontier.

3D models: The line between 2D and 3D generation is blurring. Text-to-3D is coming.

Real-time generation: Speed improvements mean interactive image generation for gaming and AR.

Better control: Future tools will offer precise control without sacrificing ease of use.

Ethics & compensation: Expect artist compensation models, opt-out mechanisms, transparent training data.

What This Means for You

Don't get locked in: The best tool today might not be best in 6 months. Stay flexible.

Learn fundamentals: Prompt engineering and design principles transfer across tools.

Expect feature copying: When one tool nails something (like Flux's text), others will copy it.

Prepare for integration: AI generation will be built into Photoshop, Figma, and everything else.

The pace of change is wild. What I wrote here might be outdated in 3 months. That's the space we're in.

Final Thoughts

Look, after three months of obsessive testing, here's what I actually think:

There's no "best" tool. Only the best tool for your specific situation.

If someone asks me "which should I use?" without context, I'll say Midjourney because it works for most people. But that's a cop-out answer.

The real answer depends on:

What you're making
Your technical skill
Your budget
How much time you have
Whether you need control or just results

What I'd Do If Starting Today

Week 1: Try Midjourney ($10). See what AI can do. Get excited about possibilities. Make some cool stuff.

Week 2: Test Flux Schnell (free on fal.ai). See how photorealism differs. Takes 30 minutes.

Month 2: If you're hooked, invest time learning Stable Diffusion. The learning curve sucks but long-term benefits are huge.

The Real Winner

Honestly? You are.

We're living in a weird, amazing time where anyone can type words and get professional-quality images back. Five years ago this was science fiction. Now it's $10/month.

Whether you pick Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Flux, or all three, you have access to tools that would've seemed like magic not long ago.

My Actual Current Setup

Since people always ask:

Midjourney Standard ($30/mo) - 70% of my work
Stable Diffusion (local on RTX 3080) - 20% custom stuff
Flux Dev (via fal.ai) - 10% when I need realism

Total monthly cost: ~$40

Total monthly value: Way more than that

But I'm a professional. Your needs are probably different.

Just Start

The best AI image generator is the one you actually use.

Pick one based on this guide. Start making stuff. Learn as you go. Experiment. Fail. Improve.

Don't overthink it. Just start.

Resources That Don't Suck

Official Docs

Midjourney: docs.midjourney.com
Stable Diffusion: stability.ai
Flux: blackforestlabs.ai

Communities

r/midjourney (Reddit)
r/StableDiffusion (Reddit)
r/FluxAI (Reddit)
Midjourney Discord
SD Discord servers

YouTube Channels

Search "[tool name] tutorial" - there are hundreds of good ones

Tools

Civitai: SD models and LoRAs
Automatic1111: SD interface
ComfyUI: Advanced SD UI
Replicate/fal.ai: Flux access

Learning

PromptHero: Prompt examples
Lexica: SD prompt search
MidLibrary: Midjourney techniques

About Me: I've been testing AI image generators daily since 2023. Built several products using these tools. Wasted money so you don't have to. Still learning new stuff every week because this space moves ridiculously fast.

Last Updated: October 13, 2025
Next Update: I update this monthly as tools evolve

Disclosure: This article contains my honest opinions based on actual testing. Some links might earn me coffee money but I only recommend stuff I actually use.

Got questions? Comments? Think I'm wrong about something? Drop a comment below. I actually read and respond to them.

What are you planning to make first? I'm genuinely curious.

Now go make some cool stuff.