Ideogram vs Midjourney

When to pick Ideogram

• You put text inside images — posters, ads, social graphics, product mockups. Ideogram’s 4.0 model scores 0.97 on the X-Omni English OCR benchmark, where Midjourney typically renders text at ~30–40% legibility.
• You want to start free or automate: a free weekly credit allowance plus a REST API ($0.025–$0.10/image) covers evaluation and programmatic workflows.
• You need open weights — Ideogram 4.0 (9.3B parameters) is self-hostable, allowing unlimited local generation without per-image fees.

When to pick Midjourney

• You want the strongest artistic and photorealistic look and don’t need accurate embedded text — Midjourney’s V7 model leads on aesthetic quality.
• You want the cheapest paid entry with unlimited output: Basic is $10/month, and Standard at $30/month adds unlimited relax-mode generations.
• You prefer a self-contained creative tool over an API — the web UI handles generation, inpainting, and animation without any integration.

Bottom line

The deciding factor is text. Ideogram is built around accurate in-image typography (0.97 OCR on its open-weight 4.0 model), has a free tier, offers a per-image API, and is self-hostable — the right choice for designers and marketers producing text-heavy visuals. Midjourney has no free tier and no API, but its V7 model produces the stronger pure aesthetic, and $30/month Standard gives unlimited relax-mode iteration. Pick Ideogram when legible text or programmatic access matters; pick Midjourney when raw image quality matters more than typography or price.