Is there a free version of Midjourney?

No. Midjourney discontinued its free trial in 2023. The entry-level Basic plan starts at $10/month, with a 20% discount for annual billing. If you want to practice prompting for free, consider using the free tiers offered by Leonardo AI or Ideogram.

Can I use Chinese prompts in Midjourney?

Yes, the V7 model has a solid understanding of Chinese. However, for precise control over style and technical photography terms (e.g., "cinematic lighting"), English remains more effective. We recommend a hybrid approach: describe your subject in Chinese and use English for stylistic keywords.

Can I use images generated by Midjourney for commercial purposes?

Yes, paid subscribers own the commercial rights to their images per official terms. Companies with over $1 million in annual revenue must subscribe to the Pro plan or higher. Note that in many jurisdictions, purely AI-generated content may not be eligible for copyright protection, so we recommend adding human creative input for critical business assets.

What is the difference between the Basic and Standard plans?

The Basic plan ($10/month) provides roughly 200 fast generation credits per month, which stop once exhausted. The Standard plan ($30/month) includes unlimited "Relax" mode generations, making it the preferred choice for power users who need an effectively infinite supply of images.

The Complete Midjourney Guide: From Your First Image to Advanced Parameters (2026 Edition)

Midjourney has evolved from a Discord-based tool into a full-featured web creation platform. This guide covers everything from registration and subscription plans to prompt engineering, --sref style references, and the web editor.

It’s 1:00 AM, and a freelance designer in Taipei is still tweaking a client’s visual proposal. She types "Japanese magazine style, creamy color palette, hand-drawn texture, coffee shop opening poster" into Midjourney, and 90 seconds later, she has four images ready for the pitch. This efficiency isn't magic; it’s the payoff from two weeks spent mastering the tool. This guide is designed to condense those two weeks into a single afternoon.

What is Midjourney?

Midjourney is widely recognized as one of the top AI image generation services for aesthetic quality. Starting as a Discord bot in 2022, its primary hub has shifted to the web interface at midjourney.com. As of this writing, the flagship model is the V7 generation—known for its signature "Omni Reference" for character consistency and advanced personalization settings. The company continues to roll out new model versions regularly. Note: Midjourney does not offer a free plan; you must subscribe to use it.

What Can It Do?

Text-to-Image: Generate four high-quality images from a single prompt, excelling in lighting, texture, and compositional aesthetics.
Image-to-Image & Style Reference: Upload reference images to control style (--sref) or characters (Omni Reference).
Web Editor: Features include Inpaint (to fix hands or specific areas), Outpaint (to expand the canvas), and Retexture (to change materials).
Upscaling & Variations: Select your favorite image to upscale details or generate variations.

How to Get Started (Steps)

Register & Subscribe: Log in to the official website using your Google or Discord account and select a plan. Options include Basic ($10/month, ~200 images), Standard ($30/month, unlimited "Relax" mode, the most popular choice), Pro ($60/month, includes Stealth mode), and Mega ($120/month). Annual billing offers a 20% discount.
Enter Your First Prompt: Input your description in the "Create" section of the web interface. A recommended structure is "Subject + Scene + Style + Lighting + Composition." For example: a cozy Taiwanese breakfast shop, morning light, film photography style, 35mm.
Fine-tune with Parameters: Add parameters after your prompt—use --ar 16:9 for aspect ratio, --stylize to adjust aesthetic intensity (default is 100; higher values result in a more "Midjourney" look), and --chaos to increase variation.
Finish in the Editor: Select an image to open in the editor. Use Inpaint to mask and redraw awkward hands, or use Outpaint to expand a portrait image into a landscape banner, then upscale and download.

Advanced Tips

--sref Style Reference: Paste an image URL or a style code to ensure a consistent visual tone across a batch of images—a must-know for creating series.
Personalization: After rating images, enable "Personalization." The AI will learn your preferences, and future generations will increasingly align with your taste.
Bilingual Strategy: While Chinese prompts work, English aesthetic terminology (e.g., cinematic lighting, editorial photography) offers much tighter control. We recommend conceptualizing your subject in Chinese but writing your style descriptors in English.
Leverage "Describe": When you see an image you like, use the "Describe" feature to reverse-engineer the prompt. It’s the fastest way to learn.

Important Considerations

Public by Default: Images generated on Basic and Standard plans are visible to everyone in the community gallery. You need the Pro plan for "Stealth" mode. Keep this in mind if you are working on unreleased client projects.
Commercial Rights: Paid members own the images they create. However, companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 million require a Pro plan or higher. Always check the official Terms of Service for the latest details.
Copyright Uncertainty: In many jurisdictions (including Taiwan), purely AI-generated content is difficult to copyright. For critical commercial assets, we recommend incorporating a significant amount of human-created work.

TheAI Academy Summary & Verdict

Midjourney has a steeper learning curve than template-based tools like Canva, but its ceiling is significantly higher. If your work relies on visual quality—design, advertising, or social media—it is currently the most worthwhile image generation tool to invest time in. If you are just looking for casual entertainment, you might want to start with the free Leonardo AI or Ideogram to get a feel for the process. To dive deeper into parameters, check out our Midjourney Advanced Tips and find more inspiration in our Prompt Template Library.

Verdict in a nutshell: The image generator with the highest aesthetic ceiling. It’s worth spending an afternoon to master, and the payoff is the quality of every image you create from then on.

Sources

Midjourney official documentation and subscription page, supplemented by editorial testing. Plan pricing is subject to the official website.