DALL·E vs Midjourney – Which AI Art Tool Is Better?

Popular tech reviewers and social media users have made countless comparisons between DALL-E and Midjourney. The majority of them rank Midjourney as better than ChatGPT.

But has ChatGPT gotten any closer to Midjourney since the new GPT-Image 1 model update? While creating Ghibli art out of the blue has given ChatGPT much popularity, is it the best out there?

To test the newest image generation models, I compared them against four major types of images, and graded them for each test to help you invest in the best offering subscription.

Hang on and see how similar yet different the AI image generators are. 

Key Differences Between Dall-E and Midjourney

The key difference between DALL-E and Midjourney is the user experience and interface. 

Dall E is an integrated image model that works within the ChatGPT interface, while Midjourney operates on a separate website and app. 

Note: The long-standing favorite DALL-E 3 is now replaced with GPT Image 1, operational through GPT4o. It’s the same model that kick-started the Ghibli art trend. 

Here are more differences that set them apart: 

Parameters of Comparison	DALL E	Midjourney
Access platform	As API & with ChatGPT Plus	On the Midjourney website
Price	Starts from	Starts from $10/mo
AI Image model	DALL-E 3	V7
Editing Tools	Basic	Advanced
Licensing & Commercial Use	Complicated	Complicated

The image copyright and ownership of both tools are tricky, as you cannot claim ownership of your generated images, I feel. 

How I Compared DALL-E vs Midjourney? 

To arrive at a fair comparison between the two, I followed a creative approach of testing both the top AI image generators to generate images on: 

1. Portraits
2. Text integration
3. Landscape
4. Photorealism
5. Food

This helped me analyze these top AI image generators from different angles, and user use cases. 

I also referred to the popular art generations done on Midjourney, and kept them in mind while creating similar images on the new ChatGPT GPT-1 image generation model. 

What Is DALL-E 

DALL-E is a text-to-image generator that made its name by generating stunning AI images that could be easily generated. You could literally pen down your thoughts and imagination to transform them into AI art.

As an independent image model, DALL-E has been the home to many AI tools that have built their services using DALL-E with the API.

Pros and Cons of DALL-E

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of the DALL-E-3

How Has Dall-E Evolved?

While the AI image generation on ChatGPT is still spectacular, it is no longer powered by DALL-E 3 but by the new GPT-image 1 model. 

This new model understands the user prompts much better, generates images faster, and shares consistent outputs. 

What Is Midjourney

Midjourney is a dedicated AI image generator that’s quite a popular choice among tech enthusiasts. 

It surpassed 1 million users in just 6 months of its launch, without offering free access or any chatbot integration. Instead, Midjourney has a vast community of users based on Discord.

This is a more elaborate and complex tool to use than the OpenAI image generator. Compared to the Midjourney alternatives, it has a steep learning curve when used for the first time. 

Pros and Cons of Midjourney

How Has Midjourney Evolved?

Moving away from its Discord-only interface, users can now generate images right on the Midjourney website, limiting the complexities of generating AI images. 

With the new Midjourney V7, you will experience enhanced realism, faster rendering with Draft Mode, and default personalization that tailors outputs to user style.

DALL E 3 vs Midjourney Ease Of Use

Chalking out the critical user interface and ease of use differences between the two, DALL E 3 and the recent GPT-image 1 model offer a better experience. 

With ChatGPT, any user without much experience of AI image generation can insert a prompt and get desire images. 

But when it comes to Midjourney, and its new draft mode feature, it’s all the more easier to generate an image using a voice mode that works on generating images 10x faster.

However, without this, the average user needs to be aware of the different ways to prompt on the platform. 

How I Tested Both AI Models For Image Generation

Following our standard approach of comparing AI models, I tested DALL-E vs Midjourney by taking popular images created on Midjourney related to: 

1. Portraits
2. Text integration
3. Landscape
4. Photorealism
5. Food

Then, I ran the same prompt on ChatGPT to compare how the new GPT-Image 1 generates an image with the same prompt and assess the quality of the generation. 

I’ve further rated both the photos from Midjourney and ChatGPT for their:

• Image quality
• Prompt following
• Creativity

Based on all these factors, I’ve rated the AI image generators out of 5. 

Portraits

Prompt Used: generate an image of a girl’s face in saturated shades, a girl’s face with moist, radiant skin, inconspicuous makeup, careless hair and an athletic body. Accents on the image of fruits, drops of water.

By: avenklich_86406

ChatGPT portrait image:

Getting the right intent for a portrait is often not easy. As someone who hasn’t had any experience with AI image generators, I would rate the above image 5/5 for all parameters. 

But given the many AI image generators we’ve tested, the subtle ways with which AI can hit and miss are easily recognizable. 

For example, here, ChatGPT accurately follows the prompt but lacks creativity in terms of co-relating the fruit part that’s added in the prompt. 

Image quality	4.5
Prompt following	4.4
Creativity	4.3

Midjourney portrait image:  

When I shared the prompt, I was already impressed by the Midjourney generation, where if I did not know about the image being an AI generation, I’d have believed it to be shot by a professional photographer

Midjourney accurately captured the correlation that ChatGPT seemed to have missed, turning the prompt into a stunning billboard-worthy portrait.

Image quality	4.5
Prompt following	4.6
Creativity	4.6

Text Integration

Prompt used: A vibrant magazine cover reads’ Spring in the Sun, Romantic Date in Spring ‘. Under the clear blue sky, an elegant butterfly made of glass and crystal inhabits the grass, surrounded by blooming flowers. The title appears above the scene with large and stylish text, and the brand name is “BEAUTY”. The butterfly faces the camera sideways, with transparent cherry blossom pink glass wings, white petals, and sunlight. –ar 3:4 –v 7

By: bethpeyton118608

ChatGPT text integrated image:

To be honest, my experience with ChatGPT and text integration in their AI-generated images has not been great. Somehow, it does not understand the font, alignment, and typography required. 

The main intention of looking like a magazine cover has not been served here, even when the overall image quality is good. As an image, it looks better, but needs proper text alignment understanding. 

Image quality	4.7
Prompt following	4.4
Creativity	4.5

Midjourney text-integrated image:  

Compared to the ChatGPT image and the prompt, the Midjourney text-integrated image is okay. It clearly understands how the text for a magazine cover should look with proper alignment and typography. Although it missed the name of the brand, “Beauty.”

Upon closer examination, it also failed to accurately depict flowers, adding correctly spelled text, and language. Bonus points to understand the structure but less for the prompt depiction.

Image quality	4.6
Prompt following	4.3
Creativity	4.5

Landscape

Prompt Used: A stunning beach with crystal-clear turquoise waters and white sand, surrounded by lush palm trees under the bright blue sky. The sunlight reflects off the water, creating ripples on its surface as gentle waves caress the shore. In front is an empty bench on which to relax or take photos. This picturesque scene captures nature’s beauty at its best. A perfect spot for relaxation, adventure, romantic ambiance, sunbathing, fishing, or swimming. The beauty of a tropical island. –ar 16:9 –stylize 750

By: anconsx09

ChatGPT text Landscape image:

Following the prompt and its elements correctly, ChatGPT with GPT-image 1 generated a realistic-looking image with accurate landscape, shadow, and light depiction.

Yet, the image generation in terms of understanding the aspect ratio and placement of objects needs improvement. 

Image quality	4.7
Prompt following	4.6
Creativity	4.5

Midjourney Landscape image:  

Midjourney’s understanding of what might look good is incredible. If you are aware of the golden ratio, you can see that Midjourney is also well aware of it from the way this test is moving ahead. 

The image is postcard-worthy and does much better justice as a landscape image. 

Image quality	4.9
Prompt following	4.9
Creativity	4.9

Food 

Prompt used: slightly smoky Chef burger on a piece of wrapping paper, ingredients: sweet chili sauce, iceberg lettuce, beef patty, cheddar, tomato confit, caramelized onion, parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing, egg, GENRE: gourmet burger | EMOTION: Seductive | TAGS: High quality food photography, dramatic lighting, luxurious, elegant, appetizing, tempting, gourmet, COMPOSITION: Centered | LIGHTING: Soft, directional | PRODUCTION: Food stylist | TIME: Evening, POV, Flat Lay 25mm Canon EOS RP, Canon RF 25mm F1.2 MACRO IS STM, 1/125 sec, f/1.8 and ISO 800 

By: avenklich_86406

ChatGPT food image: 

The ChatGPT-generated burger looks good, and even like an actual burger, but does not closely follow the inserted prompt. Like the part where the prompt suggests the burger to be appetizing, the generated image does not look like it much.

A few things off about the image generated is the missing realism inside the layers containing cheese slices, mayo flowing weirdly, and the patty looking uncooked.

Image quality	4.7
Prompt following	4.4
Creativity	4.4

Midjourney food image: 

Following the same prompt Midjourney has captured the intent of this prompt very well where the burger image indeed looks very gourmet. 

To highlight the ups, the prompt had details about the burger having a caesar dressing, Midjourney has correctly added very minute details that were expected.

Image quality	4.5
Prompt following	4.5
Creativity	4.7

DALL-E vs Midjourney Pricing Comparison

The pricing is another significant difference between DALL-E and Midjourney, with one being $10 cheaper.

DALL E pricing (with ChatGPT Plus)

Feature	Details
Access Method	Included with a ChatGPT Plus subscription
Price	$20/month (USD)
Resolution	Moderate (usually optimized for web, not full HD by default)

Given the immense demand for efficiently operating an AI image generator, ChatGPT limits the use of its image generation model even for Plus users. 

This can be a hindrance for someone who’s using the tool solely for image generation and editing. But also, since it has over 800 million weekly active users, the load on the servers can make it act that way. 

Midjourney Pricing:

Feature	Details
Access Method	Midjourney website & app via commands
Price Tiers	Basic Plan: starts from $10/month (3.3 hr/month GPU time Standard Plan: $30/month (15 hr/month GPU time + relaxed mode) Pro Plan: $60/month (30 hr/month GPU time + stealth mode)
Image Editing	No native inpainting; rerolls/variations instead
Resolution	Higher-res images (1792×1024 or upscale to ~2048px+)

Midjourney has been the popular choice for many digital creators, designers, and tech enthusiasts. Its monthly fee is $10, which can be reduced to $8/mo when subscribed for an entire year. 

This also offers a high-tier plan where you can use a stealth mode that does not post your generated images on the community feed. 

Note: Check out these popular Midjourney alternatives if you want to explore more options. 

Commercial Usage Of Images

Without comparing the two here, the commercial usage of the images generated by both AI image generators. 

For example, the Midjourney terms and conditions mention “Do not distribute or publicly repost the creations of others without their permission,” but they display these images on their Explore feed, where an option to copy and download the image is available. 

Conversely, ChatGPT’s usage policies state that users own the AI image they generated and are free to use it.

Since the prompt and ideas can emerge from two people, the generations depend on the AI model. Hence, having complete ownership of the generated image does not make sense. 

Can Dall-E And Midjourney Improve?

As any tool evolves, there is always room for improvement. Subtle aspects you don’t realize while using the tools for the initial few days, but only after using them for a prolonged period, can be improved. 

DALL-E in ChatGPT can be improved in terms of creativity and text integration. Maybe constant prompting can improve the generated image over time, but I did not like ChatGPT’s first image output in this test.

Midjourney, on the other hand, can improve in its image generation speed, and the community image feature should be up to the user to submit 

Conclusion: Midjourney Is A Better AI Image Generator Than DALL-E

If your needs heavily depend on high-quality and purpose-oriented marketing, you should go ahead with Midjourney. 

Midjourney needs a little prompt engineering knowledge for sure, but the output is worth it. ChatGPT is good for quick ideation and is a great tool as a personal AI assistant. But as an image generator, it may not serve professionals as well as Midjourney can. 

If I’m putting money out of my wallet for an AI image generator, I am surely spending it on Midjourney, what about?

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