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Midjourney vs Runway

Midjourney logo

Midjourney

Social Media

AI image generation with artistic excellence

From
$10/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Runway logo

Runway

Social Media

AI-powered creative tools for video and images

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Runway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Midjourney subscription tiers as captured 29 December 2023 ranged from $10/month (3.3 Fast GPU hours) to $120/month (60 Fast GPU hours), with extra GPU time at $4/hour, and companies earning over $1,000,000/year in gross revenue were required to use the Pro plan; Runway the free tier is 125 one-time credits rather than a monthly allowance, so it runs out and does not refill
  • They diverge on capability: Midjourney covers Text-to-image, Runway covers Gen-2 video generation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Midjourney and Runway actually diverge.

Attributes where Midjourney and Runway differ
AttributeMidjourneyRunway
Starting price$10/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsDiscord, WebWeb
Founded20212018

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Social Media).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Midjourney

  • Text-to-image
  • Style transfer
  • Image upscaling
  • Variation generation
  • Discord
  • Web interface
  • Discord support

Only in Runway

  • Gen-2 video generation
  • Green screen
  • Inpainting
  • Super resolution
  • Motion tracking
  • Adobe Premiere
  • Final Cut Pro
  • API access

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Midjourney

  • ai tools managementnot Runway
  • Workflow automationnot Runway
  • Reportingnot Runway

Runway

  • Generating video clips from text or image promptsnot Midjourney
  • Extending or editing existing footage with generative modelsnot Midjourney
  • Removing objects and backgrounds from videonot Midjourney
  • Storyboarding and previsualisation for productionnot Midjourney

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Midjourney

  • Subscription tiers as captured 29 December 2023 ranged from $10/month (3.3 Fast GPU hours) to $120/month (60 Fast GPU hours), with extra GPU time at $4/hour, and companies earning over $1,000,000/year in gross revenue were required to use the Pro plan

Runway

  • The free tier is 125 one-time credits rather than a monthly allowance, so it runs out and does not refill
  • Outputs carry a watermark until the Standard plan at $12 a month
  • Everything is metered in credits, and Gen-4.5 video costs 60 credits per 5 seconds, so a Standard plan covers roughly 125 short videos a year
  • Only the Max plan at $76 a month rolls unused credits over, and only for one month
  • The free tier gives a selection of models rather than the full set

Pricing, plan by plan

Midjourney

$10/month
  • Basic$10/month
    • 200 generations/month
    • General commercial terms
  • Standard$30/month
    • 15 GPU hours
    • Unlimited relaxed
  • Pro$60/month
    • 30 GPU hours
    • Stealth mode

Runway

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 125 credits
    • Basic tools
    • 720p exports
  • Standard$12/month
    • 625 credits/month
    • Gen-2 access
    • 4K exports
  • Pro$28/month
    • 2250 credits/month
    • All tools
    • Priority processing
  • Unlimited$76/month
    • Unlimited generations
    • Custom models
    • API access

Which should you pick?

Choose Midjourney if

  • You need text-to-image.
  • You work on Discord, Web.
  • You also want style transfer.
Midjourney review

Choose Runway if

  • You need gen-2 video generation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want green screen.
Runway review

Questions people ask

Is Midjourney or Runway better?
Neither clearly leads. Midjourney starts at $10/month and Runway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Midjourney or Runway?
Runway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $10/month for Midjourney and Free for Runway.
Does Midjourney or Runway run on more platforms?
Midjourney runs on Discord, Web. Runway runs on Web.
Can I use Runway for free?
Yes. Runway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Midjourney starts at $10/month.
What is Midjourney best used for?
Midjourney is most often used for ai tools management, workflow automation, reporting. Of those, ai tools management and workflow automation are not what Runway is typically brought in for.
What can Midjourney do that Runway cannot?
Midjourney covers Text-to-image, Style transfer, Image upscaling, Variation generation. Runway covers Gen-2 video generation, Green screen, Inpainting, Super resolution. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Runway: How much does Runway cost?

Runway publishes four tiers on annual billing: Standard at $12 per month, Pro at $28 and Max at $76, against monthly rates of $15, $35 and $95. Enterprise is quoted. Annual billing is advertised as 20% off.

Source
Runway: Does Runway have a free plan?

Yes. The free plan costs nothing and includes 125 one time credits to explore the AI tools, plus 5GB of asset storage. The credits are one time rather than monthly.

Source
Runway: How many credits does each Runway plan include?

Standard includes 625 credits a month, Pro includes 2,250 and Max includes 9,500. Only Max offers credit rollover, and it rolls over for one month.

Source
Runway: When do I need Runway Pro rather than Standard?

Pro adds custom voices for lip sync, raises storage to 500GB and gives access to the best models, on top of Standard's AI image and video models, 4K upscaling and watermark free output.

Source
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