Midjourney Subscription: the Complete Guide — Choosing Between Basic / Standard / Pro
The complete Midjourney subscription flow: signing in and subscribing on the website, plan comparison, linking a card to pay, and getting started with image generation.
Midjourney is one of the de facto standards of AI image generation, still ahead of most competitors in artistic quality and stylistic nuance. Midjourney has no free tier — every user needs a subscription to generate images. This tutorial takes you through the full subscription from 0 to 1.
1. Comparing Midjourney’s 4 Plans
| Plan | Monthly fee | Fast GPU time | Relax mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 | ~3.3 hours (~200 images) | Not supported |
| Standard | $30 | 15 hours (~900 images) | ✓ Unlimited |
| Pro | $60 | 30 hours | ✓ Unlimited |
| Mega | $120 | 60 hours | ✓ Unlimited |
Annual billing is 20% off (Standard $24/month ≈ $288 per year). Standard is recommended for beginners: Basic only has Fast — once you burn through it, generation stops and the experience is choppy; on Standard, after Fast runs out you can still generate unlimited images in slow Relax mode.
2. Prerequisites Before Subscribing
- Discord or Google account (to sign in at midjourney.com; the official main flow is now on the website, and Discord still works)
- US BIN virtual card: recommended RDVCC US card, and US BIN ranges hold up better with merchants like Midjourney
- US billing address
- Card balance ≥ the plan’s monthly fee × 1.3
Midjourney’s geo risk controls are less strict than OpenAI / Anthropic. A US IP is not a hard requirement at payment time, but the card BIN must be US (cards on other BINs are often declined).
3. The Full Subscription Flow
- Step 1: Sign in at midjourney.com
Open midjourney.com → Sign Up (existing users click Log In) → choose Continue with Discord or Continue with Google to authorize and sign in. If you generated images through Discord before August 2024, sign in with that original Discord account to keep your history.
- Step 2: Open the Manage Subscription page
After signing in, open the Manage Subscription page on midjourney.com and scroll down to the plans.
- Step 3: Switch between monthly and annual billing
The page defaults to annual billing (a full year paid up front); for monthly, click the Monthly Billing tab first, then pick a plan. If you prefer Discord, typing
/subscribethere also gets you a personal link straight to the subscription page. - Step 4: Pick a plan + fill in the card
Choose Standard monthly (recommended). On the Stripe payment page, fill in the card number and copy the cardholder name and billing address exactly as assigned on the card details page. Set the country to United States.
- Step 5: Complete 3DS verification (if prompted)
Charge + 3DS verification (if prompted). Only BIN ranges that support 3DS show it; the code appears in real time on the card details page and is also sent to your registered email — enter it within 5 minutes. Once the subscription succeeds, you can immediately generate images on the Create page at midjourney.com (the /imagine command in Discord works too).
4. How to Start Generating After Subscribing
After subscribing, just type your prompt into the Imagine box at the top of the Create page on midjourney.com; on Discord, type this in newbie-1 through newbie-10 or the general channel:
/imagine prompt: a cyberpunk city at sunset, neon lights, cinematic --ar 16:9 --v 8.2
--ar 16:9= 16:9 aspect ratio (default 1:1)--v 8.2= use the V8.2 model (the default since 2026-07-24, used even if you omit it)--style raw= less stylization (more photorealistic)- After 1 minute you get 4 thumbnails; press U1-U4 to upscale, V1-V4 for variations
For advanced prompt techniques, see Midjourney’s official docs.midjourney.com.
5. Troubleshooting Failed Subscriptions
- “Your card was declined”: switch to a US BIN card, check the card balance
- The subscription page does not appear after the Discord redirect: switch browsers or clear the cache and retry
- “This card is not supported”: Stripe does not support some HK-region / Chinese worldwide-pay cards, switch to a US BIN
- Payment succeeded but Midjourney is not unlocked: Discord server sync delay, wait 5 minutes and refresh
FAQ
Q: Is Basic enough?
Enough for light experimentation (200 images/month). But Basic has no Relax mode — when Fast runs out, generation stops and the flow is choppy. Regular users should get at least Standard ($30).
Q: Can I use the web version without Discord?
The Midjourney website (midjourney.com) is now the official main entry point; subscribers generate directly on the Create page. Discord still works, and both share the same subscription.
Q: Can Midjourney images be used commercially?
Paid subscribers own commercial rights to the images they generate (the Free trial does not). But copyright details shift with policy changes; before large-scale commercial use, check the latest docs.midjourney.com/page/terms-of-service.
Q: Can I upgrade / downgrade the plan?
Yes. midjourney.com/account → Manage Subscription, switch freely. Upgrades take effect immediately, downgrades take effect next billing cycle.
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