Midjourney vs DALL-E 3: Best AI Image Generator Compared

Introduction

Midjourney and DALL-E 3 are the two most popular AI image generators in 2026. Both can create stunning images from text descriptions, but they have different strengths.

In this comparison, we'll help you decide which one is right for your needs.

Quick Comparison

| Feature | Midjourney | DALL-E 3 | |---------|-----------|----------| | Quality | Artistic, stylized | Photorealistic | | Ease of Use | Discord-based | ChatGPT integrated | | Price | $10-60/month | $20/month (ChatGPT+) | | Speed | Fast | Fast | | Best For | Art, concepts | Realistic images |

Image Quality & Style

Midjourney

Midjourney is known for its artistic, painterly style. Images often look like they were created by professional artists.

Strengths:

Beautiful default aesthetics

Great for fantasy and conceptual art

Consistent style

High detail

DALL-E 3

DALL-E 3 excels at creating realistic, accurate images. It follows prompts more literally than Midjourney.

Strengths:

Better text rendering

More accurate to prompts

Photorealistic capability

Seamless ChatGPT integration

Winner: Tie - depends on your style preference

Ease of Use

Midjourney

Midjourney works through Discord, which can be confusing for beginners. You type commands in a chat channel.

Pros:

Community feedback

Easy to see others' work

Version 6 has simplified commands

Cons:

Requires Discord

Public by default

Learning curve

DALL-E 3

DALL-E 3 is integrated into ChatGPT. Just describe what you want in natural language.

Pros:

Natural conversation

No learning curve

Private by default

Edit requests easily

Cons:

Need ChatGPT Plus ($20)

Slower iteration

Winner: DALL-E 3 - much easier for beginners

Pricing

Midjourney

Basic: $10/month (200 images)

Standard: $30/month (15 hours fast)

Pro: $60/month (30 hours fast)

DALL-E 3

Included with ChatGPT Plus: $20/month

API access: ~$0.04 per image

Winner: DALL-E 3 - better value for most users

Use Cases

Choose Midjourney for:

Concept art

Fantasy illustrations

Marketing materials

Artistic projects

Game assets

Choose DALL-E 3 for:

Realistic images

Text in images (logos, memes)

Quick mockups

Social media content

Product visualizations

Prompt Following

DALL-E 3 generally follows prompts more accurately. If you ask for "a red car driving on a mountain road at sunset," you'll get exactly that.

Midjourney tends to add its own artistic interpretation, which can be beautiful but less predictable.

Winner: DALL-E 3

Text Generation

This is DALL-E 3's superpower. It can generate readable text in images - perfect for:

Posters

Memes

Logos

Signs

Midjourney struggles with text and often produces gibberish.

Winner: DALL-E 3

Conclusion

Choose Midjourney if:

You want artistic, stylized images

You're comfortable with Discord

You need high-volume generation

Art style matters more than accuracy

Choose DALL-E 3 if:

You want ease of use

You need text in images

You prefer realistic images

You already use ChatGPT

Both are excellent tools. Many creators use both - Midjourney for artistic projects and DALL-E 3 for realistic needs.