Leonardo vs Midjourney
The honest split is aesthetic ceiling vs free-tier value. Midjourney: Basic $10/mo ($8 annual, 3.3 Fast GPU hrs, no Relax), Standard $30/mo ($24 annual, 15 hrs + unlimited Relax images), Pro $60/mo ($48 annual, 30 hrs + Stealth privacy), Mega $120/mo ($96 annual, 60 hrs); no free tier, commercial rights on paid plans, companies over $1M revenue must use Pro+. Leonardo: Free (150 fast tokens/day, public generations), Essential $12/mo ($10 annual, 8,500 tokens), Premium $30/mo ($24 annual, 25,000 + relaxed), Ultimate $60/mo ($48 annual, 60,000); private generations from Essential, custom model training, API billed separately. Midjourney remains the aesthetic benchmark for art and photorealism; Leonardo's free tier lets you generate indefinitely at $0 and its token system covers video, upscaling, and training. For privacy, Midjourney's Stealth starts at Pro; Leonardo's privacy starts at Essential $12. There is no measured quality winner in this review.
| Decision point | Leonardo | Midjourney |
|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Building prompt-based visual concepts, iterating with reference images, and organizing model-assisted design work. | Exploring visual directions, styles, and image variants from detailed prompts. |
| Plans and cost | Free includes 150 daily fast tokens. With Pay Yearly selected, the pricing page displays monthly equivalents of $12 (Essential), $30 (Premium), and $60 (Ultimate). Annual billing is distinct from paying monthly; confirm the full-year charge and billing currency before subscribing. | Prices are in USD: Basic $10/month or $96/year; Standard $30/month or $288/year; Pro $60/month or $576/year; Mega $120/month or $1,152/year. Annual plans are prepaid for the full year; Fast and Relax allowances vary by tier. |
| Limitations | Token costs vary by model, resolution, references, and output count; the free tier’s creations are public, while paid tiers show private creations. Check the current token cost before each run. | Fast GPU time is capped by plan; private generations require Pro or Mega, and commercial use by a business earning over US$1 million a year requires Pro or Mega under Midjourney’s published guidance. |
Use the same input
Generate the same 10 prompts (portrait, product shot, poster, illustration, anime) on both platforms. Compare output quality, then check commercial-use terms on each plan.
What a successful result must preserve
The same 10 prompts (portrait, product shot, poster, illustration, anime) must be generated on both platforms, with the images commercially usable under the plans' terms.
Evidence and test status
Pricing and feature comparison based on publicly available information. Plan prices and allowances come from Midjourney's and Leonardo's official pricing pages as reported and re-checked by multiple independent pricing verifiers in October 2026. We did not run a scored image-quality benchmark; no quality ranking is claimed.
- Leonardo — Official individual and team pricing ↗ (reviewed 2026-10-15), Official token usage FAQ ↗ (reviewed 2026-10-15)
- Midjourney — Official plan comparison ↗ (reviewed 2026-10-15), Official commercial-use guidance ↗ (reviewed 2026-10-15), Midjourney payment currency ↗ (reviewed 2026-10-15)