Which Midjourney version should I use?

For most work in 2026, v6 or v7 give the best photorealism, prompt understanding, and text rendering. Use niji mode for anime and illustration. Older versions (v4, v5) are mainly useful for reproducing a specific older aesthetic or matching an existing project's look.

How do I set the Midjourney version?

Append --version (or --v) followed by the number, for example --v 6. You can also set a default version with the /settings command in Discord so you do not have to type the flag each time. For niji, use --niji 6 instead.

What is niji mode in Midjourney?

Niji is a specialised model tuned for anime and illustration styles, developed with Spellbrush. It excels at clean line art, expressive characters, and dynamic poses. Invoke it with --niji 5 or --niji 6 rather than the standard --v flag.

Does Midjourney v6 support inpainting?

Yes. From v6 onward Midjourney supports region editing (often called Vary Region or inpainting), letting you select part of an image and regenerate just that area with a new prompt. Earlier versions did not have this feature.

What changed in Midjourney v6 versus v5?

v6 brought much stronger prompt comprehension, far better in-image text rendering, more coherent details, and support for region editing. It also reads longer, more natural-language prompts well, whereas v5 responded better to comma-separated keyword lists.

What is the Midjourney Version Comparator?

Compare Midjourney versions v4, v5, v5.2, v6, and v7 side by side. See differences in photorealism, aspect ratio support, niji mode, inpainting, default stylize, and which --version flag to use, with copy-ready flags. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Midjourney Version Comparator

Name: Midjourney Version Comparator
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Each Midjourney version is a different model with its own strengths. Picking the right one — or switching deliberately to match an existing look — makes a real difference. This comparator puts the major versions side by side so you can see exactly what changes between v4 and v7.

How it works

Tick the versions you care about and the tool renders a capability matrix. Each row is a concrete capability rather than marketing copy:

Photorealism — how convincing realistic images look.
Prompt comprehension — how well it follows complex, natural-language prompts.
Text in image — legibility of rendered words and signage.
Aspect ratio support — preset-only versus arbitrary ratios.
Niji / anime mode — availability of the anime-tuned model.
Region editing (inpainting) — ability to regenerate part of an image.
Default —stylize — the baseline aesthetic strength.

The matrix makes the trade-offs obvious: newer versions win on realism and comprehension, while a specific older version may be the right call to match an existing project’s aesthetic.

Tips and notes

Set a default. Use /settings in Discord to lock your preferred version so you do not type --v on every prompt.
Niji is a separate flag. Use --niji 6, not --v 6 --niji. They select different models.
Newer is not always better. If you started a series in v5 and need consistency, keep using v5 for that series rather than mixing aesthetics mid-project.
Prompt style follows the version. v6 and v7 reward natural-language sentences; v5 and earlier respond better to comma-separated keyword lists.

Key differences worth knowing in detail

Text rendering. Before v6, legible text inside Midjourney images was nearly impossible — letterforms would distort, blend together, or simply be unreadable at anything beyond a couple of words. v6 changed this significantly: short labels, signs, and simple titles can now render legibly. v7 improves on this further. If your project requires text in the image, anything below v6 is effectively not an option.

Prompt comprehension and natural language. v5 responded well to comma-separated keyword lists: "golden sunset, mountains, cinematic, Kodak Portra, f/1.8". v6 and v7 also understand full sentences and conditional descriptions: "a golden sunset behind snow-capped mountains, shot on Kodak Portra film with a wide aperture". Older prompts often work fine in newer versions, but newer models reward the additional nuance that natural language provides.

Vary Region (inpainting). The ability to select a region of an upscaled image and regenerate only that area — leaving the rest intact — was introduced in v6. This is one of the most practical features for real creative work: fixing an awkward hand, changing a background detail, or swapping out an element without re-rolling the whole composition. v4 and v5 do not support it.

Niji is a parallel track. The niji model (currently niji 6) is an independent model trained specifically for anime and manga-influenced illustration, developed in collaboration with Spellbrush. It is not a “Japanese style” preset on the regular model — it is a completely different model invoked with --niji 6 rather than --v 6. For character illustration, dynamic action poses, and expressive stylized faces, niji consistently outperforms the same prompt run on the standard model.

Maintaining visual consistency within a project

If you start a creative project in one version and generate several images with a characteristic look, switching versions mid-project changes the model’s baseline aesthetic even when the prompt stays identical. The practical consequence: all images in a series should use the same --v flag. If you decide to upgrade version, consider regenerating key reference images from the series first to check how they translate before committing.