Flux.1 vs. Midjourney: The New AI Image Generator That's Redefining Digital Art
Do you remember the awe you felt the first time you used AI to create images? That "Oh my gosh, this is incredible!" feeling?
Recently, I experienced that same excitement with a new tool—the Flux AI image generator.
Upon Flux.1 release, people began to speculate that Midjourney’s reign as the king of AI image generation might be in jeopardy. This new contender is Flux.1.
Here’s an official sample image from Flux.1 website—take a look:
From these sample images, you’ll be amazed to see how much text Flux.1 can generate in a single output, and with such realism!
Keep in mind that Midjourney only recently began handling text generation, and the results have been somewhat lacking.
As for this photo of an elderly man by the seaside, the texture and creativity are exceptionally well done, especially the hands—you’ll see just how good Flux.1 really is.
The New Star in AI Art: Flux.1
Flux.1 is the latest AI art model developed by the original team behind Stable Diffusion. This Flux AI image generator is making waves in the AI art community.
This release includes three versions:
- FLUX.1-pro
- FLUX.2-dev
- FLUX.3-schnell
In simple terms: standard, pro, and ultra.
There’s a chart circulating online comparing the ELO scores of the Flux.1 model series to other art models. It shows that Flux.1 outperforms both the SD3 and Midjourney v6.0 versions.
However, I didn’t find a Midjourney v6.1 model. So, I’ll be comparing the current top versions of both models: FLUX.1-pro and Midjourney v6.1 (referred to as Flux.1 and Mj-v6.1).
The evaluation will focus on the following aspects: character depiction, hand generation, creativity, and text generation.
Round 1: Character Depiction
In this round, we’ll be examining the details of character portrayal, expressions, and overall feel.
From the comparison, it’s clear that Flux.1 doesn’t retain much detail in the skin texture; it looks somewhat smoothed out. The hair appears a bit too sleek, giving it a stronger AI feel.
Mj-v6.1 has similar issues, but the hair looks more realistic and closer to real photos.
One great aspect for both is the impressive handling of lighting and shadows. Honestly, it's quite astonishing that Flux.1 achieves such a high level.
In this round, they’re on par with each other.
Round 2: Hand Generation
People often say that you can tell if an image is AI-generated by looking at the hands.
In other words, one of the biggest challenges in AI art is drawing hands. I don’t know how many people have been startled by the "octopus hands" produced by AI.
So, how does the newcomer Flux.1 perform in this area?
This is the long-range view.
You can see that Mj-v6.1 has noticeably "creative" hand shapes—out of 8 generated images, 4 are unusable. In contrast, Flux.1 generated 4 images, with only 1 having issues.
Now, let’s take a look at the close-up performance:
It seems that Flux.1 has put a lot of effort into this, with just the right number of fingers—five!
However, Mj-v6.1’s close-up shots are also nearly perfect, although they have a bit more fuzz.
In this round, Flux.1 wins!
Round 3: Creativity
AI needs to do more than just draw; it has to be creative. After all, we want an assistant that can spark inspiration, not just a robot that mindlessly copies.
Here, I’m comparing a set of cake designs.
You can see that Flux.1's designs look more realistic, but this also makes them seem a bit "by the book."
Mj-v6.1, on the other hand, is more daring—the cake's shape is unique, the colors are more vibrant, and the use of light and shadow is richer.
In this round, Mj-v6.1 wins!
Round 4: Text Generation
Finally, let's check the "literacy" skills of these two AI artists. The ability to accurately generate text within an image is a key factor in distinguishing AI performance.
As advertised, the text generated by Flux.1 is not only clear and legible but also follows the capitalization exactly as per my prompt.
Mj-v6.1 has improved too, but none of the 4 images it generated match the precision of even one text image from Flux.1.
In this round, Flux.1 wins.
After four rounds of comparison, it's clear that Flux.1 has shown impressive strength, especially in hand generation and text accuracy.
However, Midjourney still holds its ground in terms of creativity and overall atmosphere.
This is great news! The AI art field is no longer dominated by just MJ and SD; with Flux.1 stepping in, we might be looking at a three-way competition.
If you’re someone who prioritizes precise details, especially in character and text rendering, Flux.1 might be the better fit for you. Plus, with local deployment, there are more customizable plugins available.
But if you value creativity and artistic flair, Midjourney remains an excellent choice.
However, these models need to be switched back and forth, and all require subscription. See here, Aitubo Flux AI Generator is a perfect solution. On Aitubo you can use all cutting-edge models in one place, not only Flux.1, but also Midjourney, Stable Diffusion 3 and DALL·E 3, etc.
Come and try:https://aitubo.ai/flux-image-generator/