Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

MAI-Image-2.5 vs Midjourney v6.1 benchmark

Name: MAI-Image-2.5 vs Midjourney v6.1 AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Comparing verified benchmark accuracy, speed, and token pricing between MAI-Image-2.5 and Midjourney v6.1. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Share Analysis:

Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

5 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

MAI-Image-2.5 (5)Midjourney v6.1 (0)

MAI-Image-2.5

5 of 5 Wins

✓Image Elo✓Generation time✓Price per 1k images✓Prompt adherence✓Text rendering

Midjourney v6.1

0 of 5 Wins

Competitive baseline across remaining benchmarks

Microsoft AI

Leads 5 of 5 metrics

MAI-Image-2.5

Microsoft AI proprietary foundation image model for Copilot Studio and enterprise creative workflows.

Img Elo 1,307$48.1/1k imgs

Midjourney

Midjourney v6.1

Previous standard in aesthetic digital art generation, retained as a historical compare baseline.

v6.1Img Elo 1,265$80/1k imgs

MAI-Image Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

2 models

Currently comparing MAI-Image-2.5 vs Midjourney v6.1. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: MAI-Image-2.5

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash$20/1k

Top Rival Showdowns for MAI-Image-2.5

All Matchups

Compare vs:vs GPT Image 2 (High)vs Reve 2.1 vs Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image)vs FLUX.2 [max]vs Ideogram 4.0 (Quality)

Image Quality LeaderMAI-Image-2.5 Wins

MAI-Image-2.5

Δ 42 Image Elo pts

Generation Speed LeaderMAI-Image-2.5 Wins

MAI-Image-2.5

3.8s per render

Value per Dollar LeaderMAI-Image-2.5 Wins

MAI-Image-2.5

$48.1/1k images

Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

MAI-Image-2.5 (5)vsMidjourney v6.1 (0)

MAI-Image-2.5: 5W (100%)Overall: MAI-Image-2.5Midjourney v6.1: 0W (0%)

← MAI-Image-2.5Midjourney v6.1 →

🏆MAI-Image-2.5(3/3)

Visual Quality & Adherence

Arena Preference Elo, prompt fidelity & typography score

Benchmark

MAI-Image-2.5vsMidjourney v6.1

Image Elo

1,307vs1,265+42

Prompt adherence

92%vs89%+3%

Text rendering

93%vs84%+9%

MAI-Image-2.5: 3WMidjourney v6.1: 0W

🏆MAI-Image-2.5(1/1)

Generation Latency

Time to render full-resolution image snapshot (seconds)

Benchmark

MAI-Image-2.5vsMidjourney v6.1

Generation time

3.8svs7.5s+3.7s

MAI-Image-2.5: 1WMidjourney v6.1: 0W

🏆MAI-Image-2.5(1/1)

Cost Efficiency

API inference cost per 1,000 generated images

Benchmark

MAI-Image-2.5vsMidjourney v6.1

Price per 1k images

$48.1/1kvs$80/1k+$31.9/1k

MAI-Image-2.5: 1WMidjourney v6.1: 0W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Image Elo+42

MAI-Image-2.51,307

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Midjourney v6.11,265

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Generation time+3.7s

MAI-Image-2.53.8s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Midjourney v6.17.5s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Price per 1k images+$31.9/1k

MAI-Image-2.5$48.1/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Midjourney v6.1$80/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Prompt adherence+3%

MAI-Image-2.592%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Midjourney v6.189%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Text rendering+9%

MAI-Image-2.593%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Midjourney v6.184%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Benchmark	MAI-Image-2.5	Midjourney v6.1	Advantage Delta
Image Elo	1,307 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	1,265 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+42
Generation time	3.8s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	7.5s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+3.7s
Price per 1k images	$48.1/1k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	$80/1k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+$31.9/1k
Prompt adherence	92% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	89% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+3%
Text rendering	93% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	84% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+9%

Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 40% with MAI-Image-2.5

Monthly Image Production Volume25k images / month (25000 imgs)

Quick Presets:

MAI-Image-2.5$1,202.50 / mo

Rate: $48.1/1k

Midjourney v6.1$2,000.00 / mo

Rate: $80/1k

Estimated Cost Delta

MAI-Image-2.5 is estimated to save $797.50/month ($9,570/year).

Based on 25k images generated

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatinsufficient data

Need list prices.

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGinsufficient data

Need context sizes.

Screenshots / visioninsufficient data

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	insufficient data	Need list prices.
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	insufficient data	Need context sizes.
Screenshots / vision	insufficient data	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

0 total votes

Community Discussions (0)

No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK

Microsoft AI

MAI-Image-2.5

Elo n/a

SWE-bench—

Speed (tok/s)—

Input / 1M Tokens$48.1/1k

Output / 1M Tokens$48.1/1k

Midjourney

Midjourney v6.1

Elo n/a

SWE-bench—

Speed (tok/s)—

Input / 1M Tokens$80/1k

Output / 1M Tokens$80/1k

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?: We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?: SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: List prices are missing for at least one model.
Which is faster, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?: We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?: Context window is missing for at least one model.
Can I self-host either model?: Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MAI-Image-2.5 and Midjourney v6.1 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All MAI-Image-2.5 matchups →|All Midjourney v6.1 matchups →

MAI-Image-2.5 vs HiDream-O1-Image-1.5 (previous other)MAI-Image-2.5 vs MAI-Image-2.5-Flash (next other)Midjourney v6.1 vs Midjourney v7 (next midjourney)MAI-Image-2.5-Flash vs Midjourney v6.1 GPT Image 2 (High) vs Midjourney v6.1 Reve 2.1 vs Midjourney v6.1

Benchmark

MAI-Image-2.5

Midjourney v6.1

Advantage Delta

Image Elo

1,307

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

1,265

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+42

Generation time

3.8s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

7.5s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+3.7s

Price per 1k images

$48.1/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

$80/1k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+$31.9/1k

Prompt adherence

92%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

89%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+3%

Text rendering

93%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

84%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+9%

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatinsufficient data

Need list prices.

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGinsufficient data

Need context sizes.

Screenshots / visioninsufficient data

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	insufficient data	Need list prices.
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	insufficient data	Need context sizes.
Screenshots / vision	insufficient data	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (undefined).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?

We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.

Which is better at coding, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?

SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

List prices are missing for at least one model.

Which is faster, MAI-Image-2.5 or Midjourney v6.1?

We do not have TTFT for both models.

Which has the larger context window?

Context window is missing for at least one model.

Can I self-host either model?

Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MAI-Image-2.5 and Midjourney v6.1 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.