Midjourney vs DALL-E vs Stable Diffusion — Which AI Image Generator Wins?

I spent a week generating the same 50 prompts across Midjourney V6, DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT), and Stable Diffusion XL (via DreamStudio). Here's what I found.

The short version

Midjourney wins on aesthetics. Everything it generates looks like it was art directed. Even bad prompts produce something visually striking. If your use case is "make beautiful images," Midjourney is the answer.

DALL-E 3 wins on prompt following. It does exactly what you ask, including text in images (which the others struggle with). If you need specific compositions — "a red bicycle next to a blue mailbox with a sign that says OPEN" — DALL-E nails it while the others improvise.

Stable Diffusion wins on control and cost. It's open source, runs locally, and you can fine-tune it on your own data. If you need consistency (same character across 100 images) or have privacy requirements, SD is the only real option.

Quality comparison

For photorealistic images, Midjourney V6 produces the most convincing results. The lighting, depth of field, and skin textures are eerily real. DALL-E 3 is close but has a slight "digital" quality that trained eyes can spot. Stable Diffusion varies wildly depending on the model and settings — at its best it matches Midjourney, at its default it's noticeably weaker.

For illustrations and art, it's closer. Midjourney has a distinctive "Midjourney look" that's gorgeous but recognizable. DALL-E 3 produces cleaner, more commercial illustrations. Stable Diffusion's community models (anime, fantasy, concept art) are often the best in their niche.

Text in images

This used to be a joke for all AI image generators. Now DALL-E 3 handles it surprisingly well — signs, labels, book covers with readable text. Midjourney V6 improved dramatically but still garbles text about 30% of the time. Stable Diffusion remains the weakest here unless you use specialized models.

Pricing breakdown

This is where things get interesting:

• Midjourney: $10-60/mo depending on speed and quantity. No free tier.
• DALL-E 3: Included with ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) or $0.04-0.08 per image via API.
• Stable Diffusion: Free if you run locally. DreamStudio charges ~$0.002 per image. Community tools like ComfyUI are completely free.

If you're generating 10 images a week, any option works. If you're generating 1000 images a month, Stable Diffusion is 10-50x cheaper.

My recommendation

• Marketing and social media: Midjourney. The aesthetics justify the cost.
• Product mockups and specific compositions: DALL-E 3. Prompt accuracy matters more than style.
• Bulk generation, consistency, or privacy: Stable Diffusion. Unbeatable on cost and control.
• Just want to try AI images: DALL-E 3 via ChatGPT Plus. You're probably already paying for it.