Midjourney V8.1vs.Stable Diffusion Turbo
Which one is better?
In our own test, Midjourney V8.1 leads. Neither is in the arena. Neither has an API price.
Test images
Same task, the first image of each. The task with the biggest difference is preselected.
Result for “Product photography”:Midjourney V8.1 ahead
What the rating looks at: Materials, reflections, and fine details.
“Ahead”: better in all three rating rounds. “Slightly ahead”: a higher value, but not in every round.
Test protocol of the images
Each test attempt uses the same archived prompt and one request. The first output of that attempt counts. Repeats after technical test failures are disclosed for the affected images. Files are normalized to 1,024 × 1,024 pixels without cropping. Provider resolution, randomness, quality tier and prompt processing can still differ. The images are a practical visual test, not a reconstruction of the arena configuration.
Character and detail
Midjourney V8.1: manual, one request, first output, Midjourney V8.1 Standard, 1:1, 1024x1024, four candidates, stylize 100, weird 0, variety 0, Raw off, personalization off, Relax mode, no reference image, no negative prompt, generated Aug 16, 2026, 12:19 PM. Source
Stable Diffusion Turbo: manual, local PyTorch 2.13.0, Diffusers 0.36.0; stabilityai/sd-turbo@b261bac6fd2cf515557d5d0707481eafa0485ec2; native 1024x1024, 1:1; one request, first output; steps=1, guidance=0.0, seed=5483236571890770311; mps for text encoder and denoising; cpu for native VAE decode; float16 for text encoder and transformer; float32 for VAE; native tokenizer truncation: tokenizer 80 to 77 tokens; archived input unchanged, generated Nov 2, 2026, 6:17 PM. Source
Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 985a75b38642a9f0e5e0c0e0c67f1b7f67780d42bd2168fa24e9a7a7a94b0da6
Midjourney V8.1 image SHA 256: cf522740817fefe58b263fa9a0d07d249c42211eca7d7c9b013f7145a7d2a8ea
Stable Diffusion Turbo image SHA 256: 291b69ba3d375bfa017c782f61521b705d67708ed5e1be9350d55d486ad6f1d1
Infographic
Midjourney V8.1: manual, one request, first output, Midjourney V8.1 Standard, 1:1, 1024x1024, four candidates, stylize 100, weird 0, variety 0, Raw off, personalization off, Relax mode, no reference image, no negative prompt, generated Aug 16, 2026, 12:19 PM. Source
Stable Diffusion Turbo: manual, local PyTorch 2.13.0, Diffusers 0.36.0; stabilityai/sd-turbo@b261bac6fd2cf515557d5d0707481eafa0485ec2; native 1024x1024, 1:1; one request, first output; steps=1, guidance=0.0, seed=8161577731918994504; mps for text encoder and denoising; cpu for native VAE decode; float16 for text encoder and transformer; float32 for VAE, generated Nov 2, 2026, 6:18 PM. Source
Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: ed65cb4e6a51e2336f8b149ad4cbb16e020f07d527ad94362e719d2dcf91d94f
Midjourney V8.1 image SHA 256: ac36188f88f37f23c2c405355d8dd12594085e1450d732fa419d8cec9a6c598f
Stable Diffusion Turbo image SHA 256: 80a2687dbc408395b416994d4853332427d09fccead1a6229564cc25b32de7e6
Product photography
Midjourney V8.1: manual, one request, first output, Midjourney V8.1 Standard, 1:1, 1024x1024, four candidates, stylize 100, weird 0, variety 0, Raw off, personalization off, Relax mode, no reference image, no negative prompt, generated Aug 16, 2026, 12:19 PM. Source
Stable Diffusion Turbo: manual, local PyTorch 2.13.0, Diffusers 0.36.0; stabilityai/sd-turbo@b261bac6fd2cf515557d5d0707481eafa0485ec2; native 1024x1024, 1:1; one request, first output; steps=1, guidance=0.0, seed=2124044582169182899; mps for text encoder and denoising; cpu for native VAE decode; float16 for text encoder and transformer; float32 for VAE; native tokenizer truncation: tokenizer 80 to 77 tokens; archived input unchanged, generated Nov 2, 2026, 6:16 PM. Source
Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: c67fd71e91304458a2feef5c91efa8677260fab0c0099a29a2c52cb579f5b2f3
Midjourney V8.1 image SHA 256: 992f2486be40bc361a638b4b266909d334883c05fe4763cf5e243358c688bfdd
Stable Diffusion Turbo image SHA 256: 13dcbe6eb77495317a03f3eed013c4358ae7466fca00d9f869e512279a8a2af6
Typography and layout
Midjourney V8.1: manual, one request, first output, Midjourney V8.1 Standard, 1:1, 1024x1024, four candidates, stylize 100, weird 0, variety 0, Raw off, personalization off, Relax mode, no reference image, no negative prompt, generated Aug 16, 2026, 12:19 PM. Source
Stable Diffusion Turbo: manual, local PyTorch 2.13.0, Diffusers 0.36.0; stabilityai/sd-turbo@b261bac6fd2cf515557d5d0707481eafa0485ec2; native 1024x1024, 1:1; one request, first output; steps=1, guidance=0.0, seed=2303175353176269810; mps for text encoder and denoising; cpu for native VAE decode; float16 for text encoder and transformer; float32 for VAE, generated Nov 2, 2026, 6:16 PM. Source
Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 2e012c3d14ee5dd02203a94f394ca80a5038cdebd6032b25a8b8a221f2255419
Midjourney V8.1 image SHA 256: af3d2c5042b108a7fe2eb49bae072d30030e6b6cf814875ef9ce7074ceafc4ce
Stable Diffusion Turbo image SHA 256: 7def19e4f4adf68244ff69e5873b9f465ecd158fb4abab0273443bfc3804438e
The numbers at a glance
Midjourney V8.1
not in the arena
Stable Diffusion Turbo
not in the arena
Midjourney V8.1
Rank 73 of 108
Stable Diffusion Turbo
Rank 108 of 108
Midjourney V8.1
no API price
Stable Diffusion Turbo
no API price
Ranks among the 21 image models with an arena rating and the 108 with a GraduallyBench run; prices compared with 28 models with an API price.
Midjourney V8.1
- Subscription
- At Midjourney from ≈ €10.60 a month (Midjourney Basic). 4 plans in Germany.
- Via API
- No API price known. Access: Web app.
Stable Diffusion Turbo
- Subscription
- n/a No plan in Germany names exactly this model.
- Via API
- No API price known. Access: local.
- License
- Open weights.
Subscriptions only count plans that name exactly this model. Subscription prices include VAT, API prices are in dollars.
GraduallyBench from Nov 3, 2026 · Subscription database from Sep 29, 2026 (38 days old)
All data side by side
The better value is bold. For ratings only when the gap is clear.
| Kennzahl | Midjourney V8.1 | Stable Diffusion Turbo |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | ||
| Arena ratingfrom votes by users, higher is better | n/a | n/a |
| Arena rank | n/a | n/a |
| Arena votesmore votes, a safer rating | n/a | n/a |
| GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100 | 38 | 3 |
| GraduallyBench by task | ||
| Typography and layoutLegible text, hierarchy, and composition | 14 | 0 |
| Product photographyMaterials, reflections, and fine details | 50 | 1 |
| Character and detailAnatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency | 51 | 5 |
| InfographicNumbers, labels, and visual organization | 35 | 5 |
| API price | ||
| Per imagelower is better | n/a | n/a |
| 100 images | n/a | n/a |
| Profile | ||
| Released | Apr 14, 2026 | n/a |
| Weightsopen means: runs locally | proprietary | open |
| Lifecycle | no notice | Older open fast checkpoint; no active hosted API ID claimed in the reviewed model list |
| Access | Web app | local |
| Parameters | not published | not published |
| Largest output | 2K | not consistently published |
| Plans in Germanynaming exactly this model | 4 | n/a |
API prices for one image at 1,024 × 1,024 pixels according to Artificial Analysis.
Sources: Midjourney V8.1 model source (verified Aug 15, 2026) · Stable Diffusion Turbo model source, status source (verified Nov 1, 2026)
Arena ratings by category
From blind votes on LMArena. “Ahead” means the lead is clear.
No shared arena score in the stored snapshot
The stored benchmark database contains no measurement for Midjourney V8.1 and Stable Diffusion Turbo from the same arena and category. Older model versions are not used as substitutes.
More comparisons
Compare Midjourney V8.1 and Stable Diffusion Turbo with the models people compare them with most often.