AI images: which tool actually works?
I needed images for blog posts, social media, and thumbnails. Stock photos look like stock photos. Hiring a designer costs $50-200 per image.
So I tested 5 AI image generators with the exact same prompts. Here’s what actually happened.
Midjourney V7 — the artist
What it is: Midjourney. The OG of AI image generation. Started in Discord, now has a web app.
What it made: Stunning. Every single time. Midjourney understands composition, lighting, and mood better than anything else I tested. The images look designed, not generated.
What it’s good for:
- Blog headers and hero images
- Social media visuals
- Concept art and mood boards
- Anything where you need it to look professional
What it’s NOT good for:
- Text rendering (it still struggles with words)
- Photorealistic people (good but not perfect)
- Quick iterations (web app is slower than DALL-E)
Honest take: If you need images that look like a human designer made them, Midjourney is the answer. Nothing else comes close for aesthetics.
Price: $10/month (Basic), $30/month (Standard), $60/month (Pro). Try Midjourney.
DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT) — the quick one
What it is: OpenAI’s DALL-E. Built into ChatGPT.
What it made: Clean, accurate, literal. If you describe a scene, DALL-E gives you exactly that scene. No artistic interpretation — which is sometimes what you want, and sometimes not.
What it’s good for:
- Quick concept images
- Product mockups
- Diagrams and illustrations
- When you need exact text in images (DALL-E handles text best)
What it’s NOT good for:
- Artistic or moody images (too literal)
- Consistent style across multiple images
- High-resolution output (max 1024x1024)
Honest take: DALL-E is the “good enough” option. It’s fast, it’s accurate, but the images lack personality. Great for internal use, not great for public-facing content.
Price: Included with ChatGPT Plus ($20/month). Try DALL-E.
Flux (via Replicate/ComfyUI) — the open-source one
What it is: Flux by Black Forest Labs. Open-source, runs locally or via API.
What it made: Surprisingly good. Flux nails photorealism — people, faces, hands (finally). It also handles text better than most competitors. The quality gap between Flux and Midjourney has narrowed significantly.
What it’s good for:
- Photorealistic images
- Product photography style
- Running locally (no subscription needed if you have a GPU)
- API integration for automation
What it’s NOT good for:
- Artistic/illustrated styles (Midjourney is better)
- Beginner-friendly (requires technical setup)
Honest take: If you’re technical and want to automate image generation (like for a blog pipeline), Flux is the answer. It’s what I use behind the scenes.
Price: Free (local), or pay-per-use via Replicate (~$0.03-0.05/image).
Ideogram — the text master
What it is: Ideogram. Specializes in images with readable text.
What it made: The text rendering is noticeably better than everything else. If your image needs words in it — logos, quotes, posters — Ideogram wins.
What it’s good for:
- Images with text overlays
- Logo concepts
- Social media quotes
- Posters and flyers
What it’s NOT good for:
- Photorealism (Flux and Midjourney are better)
- Artistic styles (Midjourney is better)
- Free tier is limited
Honest take: Niche but valuable. If your work involves images WITH TEXT, Ideogram is the only one that reliably gets it right.
Price: Free (10 images/day), $8/month (Basic), $20/month (Plus). Try Ideogram.
Stable Diffusion 3.5 — the tinkerer’s choice
What it is: Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion. Fully open-source, runs on your own hardware.
What it made: Decent, but requires work. Unlike Midjourney (which just works), Stable Diffusion needs prompt engineering, LoRA models, and ControlNet to get great results. When it works, it works well. When it doesn’t, you’re debugging at 2am.
What it’s good for:
- Full control over every parameter
- Running completely offline (no API, no subscription)
- Training custom models on your style
- Community ecosystem (thousands of models on Civitai)
What it’s NOT good for:
- Beginners (steep learning curve)
- Quick results (setup takes time)
- Consistent quality without tuning
Honest take: Stable Diffusion is a hobby, not a tool. If you enjoy tinkering, it’s incredible. If you just need images, use Midjourney or Flux.
Price: Free (open-source). Download Stable Diffusion.
The quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Ease | Price | Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Beautiful images | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | $10-60/mo | ❌ |
| DALL-E | Quick & accurate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | $20/mo (ChatGPT+) | ✅ |
| Flux | Photorealism | ⭐⭐⭐ | Free-$$$ | ✅ |
| Ideogram | Text in images | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Free-$20/mo | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Stable Diffusion | Full control | ⭐⭐ | Free | ❌ |
My recommendation
Just need images? Midjourney. $10/month, stunning results, no learning curve.
Need images with text? Ideogram. Nothing else handles text reliably.
Building an automation pipeline? Flux via Replicate API. Cheap, fast, programmatic.
Want total control? Stable Diffusion + ComfyUI. Free, but you’ll spend hours learning.
Just want one image right now? DALL-E in ChatGPT. Describe it, get it, move on.
Coming soon
- Best AI dictation apps — tested and ranked (coming May 9) — which app actually understands your voice?
- I built a blog in 1 hour with AI (coming May 12) — the full stack, step by step
Some links above are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I actually use.
Related reading:
- I tested 10 AI writing tools so you don’t have to — the writing tool comparison
- How I built a blog in 1 hour with AI — the full no-code blog stack