Ive been messing with Midjourney for my indie game assets for months now and usually I can get exactly what I want but lately the V6 updates feel a bit too... polished? If that makes sense. Im trying to get a specific grittier look for my character sprites and no matter how I mess with the stylize or chaos parameters it just looks like the same stock AI art. My demo launch is in like three weeks so I dont have time to spend days training my own models locally on my old laptop. If I have a budget of around $50 a month what are the top AI tools for generating high-quality images that offer more flexibility than Midjourney right now?
^ This. Also, im super satisfied with Stability AI Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 for better CFG control.
> Also, im super satisfied with Stability AI Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 for better CFG control. Totally agree with the SD XL suggestion. If your laptop is basically a brick like mine and you dont want to deal with local installs, check out Mage.space Pro Plan. It lets you run custom LoRAs and models from Civitai right in your browser, which is perfect for getting that grittier vibe without the usual Midjourney sheen. Also honestly im super happy with Ideogram 2.0 Pro Subscription lately. It handles text better than anything else but the styles can be pushed into some really unique directions if you mess with the settings. Since youre on a tight deadline, using a cloud based SD setup is gonna save your life... literally no setup time. Just jump in and start prompting. Good luck with the demo launch man!
In my experience Leonardo.ai Artisan Plan 8500 Tokens allows better LoRA integration. Scenario.gg Professional Tier 50 Trainings is superior for consistent character sprites tho, avoiding that over-polished Midjourney look.