Midjourney
Midjourney generates distinctive AI images from text prompts, at $8-$30/month with no free plan. Ranked #10 on Solos Gems (6.7/10), it's best for marketing or hero images that need to look more original than Canva's templates.
Midjourney still makes some of the most distinctive AI images around, and still makes you do it through Discord like it's 2021. No free plan, so commit or don't.
- Value for price6/10
- Capability9/10
- Ease of use6/10
- Trial safety4.5/10
Midjourney generates images from text prompts, and its output style has become distinctive enough that it's a recognizable look in marketing content. For a solopreneur, it fills the gap Canva's templates can't, genuinely original imagery instead of stock-photo-adjacent assets.
Midjourney's public showcase gallery (a sample is above) is routinely cited for producing more painterly, art-directed default output than prompt-matched competitors, without heavy prompt engineering to get there.
Example from midjourney.com/showcase. Not independently tested by Solos Gems.Pricing breakdown
- Basic: $10/month, or $96/year (~$8/month); about 3.3 fast GPU hours/month
- Standard: $30/month, or $288/year (~$24/month); about 15 fast GPU hours/month, plus unlimited Relax Mode (slower generation)
- Pro: $60/month, or $576/year (~$48/month); about 30 fast GPU hours/month, stronger privacy options
- Mega: $120/month, or $1,152/year (~$96/month); about 60 fast GPU hours/month
There's no free plan, the only free trial option is a limited one through the Niji Journey mobile app.
Why Standard beats Basic for most solo use
Standard and higher plans include Relax Mode: unlimited image generation at slower speed once you've used your fast GPU hours. Basic doesn't include Relax Mode, so once its 3.3 fast hours run out mid-month, you're stuck waiting for the next billing cycle or buying more. For a solopreneur who isn't generating images under a same-day deadline, Standard's unlimited (if slower) generation is worth the extra $20/month over Basic.
Pros
- Image quality and style consistency are genuinely ahead of most competitors for stylized/artistic output
- Relax Mode on Standard+ removes the anxiety of running out of generations mid-project
- Annual billing knocks 20% off any tier
Cons
- No free plan means no real way to test fit before paying
- Basic's 3.3 GPU hours run out fast if you're iterating on prompts, which most first-time users do
- Commercial usage rights and content ownership rules have changed over time: confirm current terms before using output in paid client work