A side-by-side look at a hosted artistic image service and an open-weight image model family, drawn from their index records.
Compare selectedUp to four tools can be compared at once. Remove one to add another.
At a glance
Midjourney is a paid hosted service known for a distinctive artistic look via web and Discord. FLUX is Black Forest Labs' image model family with open-weight variants you can run or host, plus stronger Pro variants on APIs. They overlap on text-to-image; they differ in distribution (subscription vs weights) and how much you operate yourself.
Hosted subscription Source ↗ From the product record
Open weights + hosted Pro APIs Source ↗ From the product record
Typical workflow
Web app and Discord Not independently verified — Editorial characterisation written to compare the products; no single vendor page states it in these words.
Local UI, ComfyUI, or API Not independently verified — Editorial characterisation written to compare the products; no single vendor page states it in these words.
Control vs convenience
Less setup, less self-host Not independently verified — Editorial characterisation written to compare the products; no single vendor page states it in these words.
Max control, more ops Not independently verified — Editorial characterisation written to compare the products; no single vendor page states it in these words.
Entry paid plan
Not readable Not independently verified — midjourney.com answered 403 to this fetcher on 2026-10-10, so its subscription price could not be read.
Not applicable — hosted only Not independently verified — Midjourney is a hosted service with no model weights published; the account page returned 403 on 2026-10-10, so the distribution terms could not be re-read from the vendor.
Apache-2.0 for the code repository Source ↗ Verified 2026-10-10
Updated
2026-10-12
2026-10-10
Fields taken from the product records use the record dates shown. Sourced claims are labelled per product: verified against the linked page on the date shown, taken from the product record without re-checking, or not independently verified.
Quick answer
FLUX can be used free of charge to start.
Where they differ — the rows worth reading first: Business model, Licence, Where it runs, Works offline, Runs on, Launched.
When to choose each
Midjourney — When you want a hosted artistic workflow (web/Discord) and accept a subscription, with less self-hosting.
FLUX — When you need open weights, local or self-hosted generation, or API access to FLUX variants, including non-commercial vs commercial licenses.
Midjourney is made by Midjourney, Inc.. The record lists it as Paid, first recorded in 2022, and fit for Image generation. Its values below carry their own source and date.
Midjourney is listed under Image Generation: Text-to-image models and image creation services.
Company
Midjourney, Inc.
Category
Image Generation
Business model
Paid
Licence
proprietary
Launched
2022-07
Availability
Global
Tasks it fits
Image generation
How you use it
Web app
Runs on
Web
Where it runs
Vendor cloud
Works offline
Not recorded
Commercial use
Not recorded
Pricing on the record: Midjourney is subscription-only; tiers differ in generation speed, concurrency, and usage rights.
Sources on the record: Official website, Midjourney (Wikipedia), Documentation.
Not recorded for Midjourney: Works offline, Public API, Commercial use. An empty field is reported as unknown rather than guessed.
FLUX is made by Black Forest Labs. The record lists it as Open (open weights/source), first recorded in 2024, and fit for Image generation. Its values below carry their own source and date.
FLUX is listed under Image Generation: Text-to-image models and image creation services.
Company
Black Forest Labs
Category
Image Generation
Business model
Open (open weights/source)
Licence
Apache-2.0 (schnell) / FLUX.1-dev Non-Commercial
Launched
2024-08
Availability
Global
Tasks it fits
Image generation
How you use it
Model weights
Runs on
Not recorded
Where it runs
Local machine
Works offline
Partly
Commercial use
Permitted
Pricing on the record: Open-weight models are downloadable under their licenses; hosted API access and enterprise licensing are paid.
Sources on the record: Official website, Source code (GitHub), Official pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Which of these has been available longest?
Midjourney — first recorded in 2022.
Which of these can I start using for free?
Free to start: FLUX.
Which of these is open source?
None of these is open source; every tool in this comparison is proprietary.
Which of these works offline?
None of these is recorded as working offline.
Which of these has a public API?
A public API is recorded for FLUX.
Which of these can be used commercially?
Commercial use is recorded as allowed for FLUX.
Which platforms do these run on?
Recorded platforms — Midjourney: Web · FLUX: Not recorded.
Can any of these be self-hosted or run locally?
Recorded as self-hosted or local: FLUX.
Is FLUX a drop-in Midjourney replacement?
No. Midjourney is a product with an app and subscription. FLUX is a model family you run, host, or call via API. Quality and style are not ranked here.
Can I use both commercially?
Terms differ. Midjourney rights follow its subscription plans. FLUX variants have different licenses (including non-commercial on some weights). Read each vendor's license.
Does the Apache-2.0 licence cover the FLUX weights?
No. The GitHub licence endpoint returns Apache-2.0 for the code repository. The model weights carry their own terms, which this index records separately on the FLUX product page; the repository licence is not evidence about the weights.
How to use a comparison
Start from the task, not the brand: filter the index by what you need to get done.
Check the evidence: a value marked “verified” names the source page and the date it was checked.
Prefer the vendor’s own page for the final decision: prices and limits change without notice.