If Midjourney’s price tag doesn’t appeal to you, delve into our lineup of free alternatives. Whether you’re looking for feature-rich image generators, or want to prioritize privacy and run a copy locally on your computer, there’s something for everyone.

Limit: Generate 15 images at fast server speed before it slows down. Replenishes daily.

What better alternative to Midjourney than its most well-known competitor: DALL-E? It’s no longer available for free through the developers’ website, but thanks to a partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft, you can use it entirely for free via Microsoft Designer.

The main restriction is the daily number of “boosts” used to generate images quickly. When they run out, you have to wait longer for your image to generate. Signing up for an account gives you 15 boosts each day.

Nothing like the ability to create higher-resolution images exists in Microsoft Designer. Nor the ability to change the aspect ratio like you can in Midjourney. However, you can click the Customize button and explore some image editing options in Microsoft Designer’s editing suite.

Removing background, blur background, adjust lighting, and add text or symbols are just some of the graphic design tools in the kit. Aimed towards creating social media posts or graphics to use in web design, newsletters, and other communications, this may or may not be your motive.

2 DreamStudio: Comparable to Midjourney

Limit: 25 free credits when you sign up. Does not replenish.

Counting the number of advanced settings, DreamStudio is one of the few free AI generators that holds a candle to Midjourney.

Ratio, seed, model type, style, prompt strength, and generation steps are features you can alter before prompting an image. This is the feature set you need if you want to craft an image instead of leaving it to randomization.

The model under the hood is called Stable Diffusion, and it’s one of the three big names in the AI world. We’ve made a comparison between DreamStudio, DALL-E, and Midjourney before, and ruled the Negative Prompt tool one of the stand-out features.

A Negative Prompt can help to refine an image by describing what you don’t want in an image. Midjourney does have this feature, but unless you know of it, it is likely to go unnoticed. In DreamStudio, it sits directly beneath the prompt box, making it a main part of the process.

The editing suite and option to upscale your image when downloading make this a well-rounded AI generator. You’ve got 25 free credits to use, so make the most of it.

Limit: None.

Of all the AI generators on this list, DiffusionBee takes the top spot for privacy and comes with no limit to the number of images you can create.

The reason for this is that the app is downloaded and run locally on your computer. It’s not connected to the internet and doesn’t require you to sign up for an account.

The downside? It’s only available for Mac computers running an OS 12.5.1 or higher, and if you’re running an older Mac, it takes much longer to generate an image than any AI generator online. If you’re lucky to own an M1 or M2 MacBook, then your wait time is drastically reduced from around four minutes to around 30 seconds.

On first impressions, the results aren’t instantly beautiful in the way that Midjourney images are. But setting aside some time to explore the community of users, you will see that you can create some fantastic AI images.

Inpainting, outpainting, and the option to upload an image as a source completes the software. Our guide to generating images with DiffusionBee will show you just how easy the setup process is too.

4 ImageFX: A Simple Web App

Limit: Google hasn’t disclosed how many images you can create every day. But worry not as it replenishes daily.

Google appeared late to the scene of AI image generators with its free-to-use product, ImageFX. If you want to avoid all the extra bells and whistles attached to tools like Midjourney—learning parameters and commands, for example, takes a few sessions to get used to—then open ImageFX on your browser and start typing.

The number of images you can create daily is mysteriously kept a secret. But until you reach your limit, have fun by clicking on “Expressive Chips”, which Google calls the highlighted keywords that can be swapped out to create new variations.

Find out more about how to use Google’s free AI Generator which, all-in-all, takes less than 10 minutes to get started with.

5 Dream by WOMBO: Generate AI Images on Your Phone

Limit: Generate single images at a time with no limit to how many you make.

Aiming to be the fun and whimsical AI image generator among the serious contenders, WOMBO has created an app for Android and iOS that does just that. One area that it delivers on is making custom AI wallpapers, a task that Midjourney is often put to as well.

In the free version of the app, you can generate one image at a time, with the option available to regenerate the result. For more freedom, like creating variations or generating multiple images at once, you’ll have to pay for a subscription.

There’s also a web version of Dream by Wombo that has long been part of round-up lists of the best AI image generators.

Our picks for Midjourney alternatives are well worth exploring and will leave you with a folder full of great AI art during the process. It’s safe to say that Midjourney isn’t the only capable AI image generator around.