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Midjourney vs Leonardo: which should you pick?

Midjourney is a paid look-first subscription with no free row on the chart. Leonardo is a web studio with a daily free token allowance, model training, and video.

Editorial scores, unchanged by this page: Midjourney 4.7 · Leonardo 4.3.

The tools

  • Midjourney

    4.7

    Image generator known for art direction, characters, and stylized key art.

    Visit

  • Leonardo

    4.3

    Leonardo is a web image studio with presets for characters, items, and icons. It is easier to start than a local node graph.

    Visit

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Comparison

What it is

Midjourney

An image and video subscription judged on look. You work in its product, on Basic through Mega.

Leonardo

A web image and video studio with presets, its own models, and third-party models on paid plans. The pricing page also lists an API.

Best for

Midjourney

People who will pay for a default look and do not need a free tier.

Leonardo

Game artists and designers who want a browser studio, a free daily allowance, and the option to train a style.

Pricing model

Midjourney

Paid. On 1 Nov 2026 the plans doc listed Basic at $10 a month or $96 a year, Standard at $30 or $288 a year, Pro at $60 or $576 a year, and Mega at $120 or $1,152 a year. Annual billing is 20% off, paid up front. Extra GPU time is $4 an hour.

Leonardo

Freemium. On 1 Nov 2026 the pricing page showed Free at $0, Essential at $12 a month, Premium at $30 a month, and Ultimate at $60 a month, excluding tax, next to a yearly toggle marked up to 20% off. The page did not print a second dollar amount for the other billing period. Team cards showed $24 a seat and $48 a seat.

Free tier

Midjourney

No. The chart starts at Basic for $10 a month. There is no free row.

Leonardo

Yes. Free is $0 a month with 150 fast tokens a day, auto model access, public creations, and basic quality. Tokens reset daily. Private generations start on Essential.

Platforms

Midjourney

Midjourney's own interface. The plans chart includes a Discord direct-message row and does not list iOS or Android.

Leonardo

Web, and the pricing page's software markup also names Android and iOS. Individual plan prices above are from the web pricing page.

Key strengths

Midjourney

Unlimited Relax images from Standard up, and unlimited Relax SD video plus Stealth mode on Pro and Mega. Fast GPU time is the scarce meter, from 3.3 hours a month on Basic to 60 on Mega.

Leonardo

A daily free allowance, then monthly fast tokens: 8,500 on Essential, 25,000 on Premium, and 60,000 on Ultimate. Premium and Ultimate add relaxed image generation on a listed set of models after tokens run out. Ultimate adds relaxed video on another listed set. Paid plans can train personal models.

Limitations

Midjourney

No free plan. Companies over $1,000,000 in gross revenue must use Pro or Mega. You do not train your own model on this chart. Stealth is limited to Pro and Mega.

Leonardo

Free generations are public, and the FAQ says Leonardo holds rights to free-tier images while granting you a license to use them commercially. Paid subscribers keep ownership. Relaxed unlimited generation covers only the models named on the page, not every third-party model.

Prices were checked against the sources below on Nov 1, 2026. They exclude tax unless a source says otherwise, and they change. Where a figure could not be pinned down, the cell says to check the site.

Pick one

  • Pick Midjourney if

    look is the reason you are here, and you will subscribe, with Basic at $10 a month as the bottom of the chart.

  • Pick Leonardo if

    you want to start free in a browser studio, train a style, or generate video without leaving the same account.

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Questions

Which one should I open first?
Midjourney if you already know you will pay for look. It is first on the image shortlist for that reason. Leonardo if you want a free daily allowance and a studio. It is sixth on that shortlist as the web-studio start. Scores stay 4.7 and 4.3.
Does Leonardo have a free plan?
Yes. On 1 Nov 2026 Free was $0 a month, excluding tax, with 150 fast tokens a day and public creations. Essential, the first paid individual plan shown, was $12 a month beside a yearly toggle of up to 20% off.
Does Midjourney have a free plan?
No. The plans doc lists Basic at $10 a month or $96 a year, then Standard, Pro, and Mega. It does not list a free plan.
Can I train my own model?
On Leonardo, yes, on paid plans. The pricing table lists a personal training limit of 10 a month on Essential, 20 on Premium, and 50 on Ultimate. Midjourney's plans chart does not offer that. It sells GPU time on its own models.
Who owns the images?
Midjourney's plans doc says a subscriber may use images and videos broadly, with Pro or Mega required for a company over $1,000,000 in gross revenue. Leonardo's FAQ says paid subscribers keep ownership, and free-tier users get a license while Leonardo holds rights to those images.

On VibeStack

Sources