Adobe Firefly vs Midjourney – Which is the better AI image generator?
Adobe Firefly and Midjourney are both popular AI image generators. Is one consistently better than the other at producing great results? In this article, we're going to find out.
Download the PDF: Adobe Firefly vs Midjourney - AI Image Comparison
So you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and you need to generate some AI images for your project. What are your options?
The most obvious choice would be to use Adobe Firefly, which is Adobe’s own AI image generator. A big advantage with Firefly is that it’s included with your Creative Cloud subscription so you can generate images at no additional cost. You can access Adobe Firefly on the Firefly website or by using the new Generate Image feature in the Photoshop beta.
Your other option would be to use a third party AI image generator, with Midjourney currently the most popular. Midjourney is capable of producing incredibly realistic results, but the disadvantage is that it requires its own monthly subscription.
So are Adobe Firefly’s AI images good enough for what you need or is Midjourney so much better that it’s worth the extra cost? I’ve spent a lot of time with both Firefly and Midjourney, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the answer is… it depends.
To show you what I mean, let’s put both to the test to see how they compare when given the same prompts.
In keeping with the AI theme, I asked ChatGPT to come up with some simple prompts to create eight different kinds of images, from nature and landscape scenes to product shots, still life, portraits, and yes, even a fire-breathing dragon. For each comparison, I’ve entered the exact same prompt into Firefly and Midjourney, clicked Generate once, and chose the best of the four initial results that each one gave me.
We'll be comparing Firefly Image 3 and Midjourney V6, the most current versions at this time.
Let's get started!
AI image comparison #1: Misty forest at dawn
Prompt: A dense forest with mist rolling through the trees at dawn, with sun rays filtering through the foliage.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
Since AI image generators always produce random results and you never get the same result twice, a direct comparison can be a challenge. That’s especially true with nature photos like these where Adobe Firefly and Midjourney are both quite capable and produced good results.
The Firefly image has more sun rays and mist, at the expense of the forest which looks rather bare. By comparison, the Midjourney image shows a lush green forest but is less misty and shows fewer sun rays. Is one result better than the other? Not really. They’re different but both look good.
Winner: Tie
AI image comparison #2: Mountain range at sunset
Prompt: Majestic mountains with snow-capped peaks, a vibrant sunset sky, and a serene lake reflecting the scene.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
With this landscape scene, the difference between Firefly and Midjourney is more obvious.
Adobe Firefly gave us the image we asked for and it’s not bad. It just lacks detail, which was also a problem with the previous Firefly result we looked at.
By comparison, the Midjourney image is more eye-catching. The contrast is stronger, everything is more detailed and the composition draws you in. Both are usable but if given a choice, I’d take the Midjourney result.
Winner: Midjourney
AI image comparison #3: Product shot
Prompt: Product shot, a luxurious perfume bottle on a sleek marble surface, surrounded by delicate petals and soft ambient lighting, with a blurred elegant background.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
This time we have a product shot of a perfume bottle, and I like the Adobe Firefly result better.
To me, the Firefly image looks more like a product shot with the perfume bottle front and center, and the bottle’s reflection on the marble surface looks more natural compared to the stretched and distorted reflection from Midjourney.
Also, Firefly’s habit of adding less detail than Midjourney has worked in its favor, allowing the focus to remain on the perfume bottle while Midjourney’s preference for more detail made the shot too busy.
The flower petals in the Firefly image should be softer, but overall I’m going with Adobe Firefly for this one.
Winner: Adobe Firefly
AI image comparison #4: Home interior
Prompt: A warm and inviting living room with a fireplace, comfortable furniture, and soft lighting.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
For this home interior prompt, Firefly generated a photo of a living room that would probably look good in a furniture catalog or a real estate listing. Everything looks bright and clean, but also very bland.
Yet the Midjourney image looks warm and inviting, with better lighting and more detail in the furniture and the rug. Even the plant in the far corner of the Midjourney image has more detail than the plants in the Firefly image.
Winner: Midjourney
AI image comparison #5: Fantasy scene
Prompt: A fantasy scene with a fire-breathing dragon perched on a castle tower, with flames illuminating the night sky.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
And now for something completely different, and a great example of a major difference between Adobe Firefly and Midjourney.
Since Firefly was trained only on images from the Adobe Stock library (which probably doesn’t include many real-world photos of fire-breathing dragons), it didn’t really know what to do here. So instead of a photorealistic image of a dragon perched on a castle tower, it gave us an illustration. It’s a really good illustration, and fantasy illustrations like these are something Firefly does very well.
But if we wanted something photorealistic, it was Midjourney that delivered, producing an amazing cinematic image that looks straight out of Game of Thrones.
Winner: Midjourney
AI image comparison #6: Still life photo
Prompt: A still life photo featuring a rustic wooden table with a bowl of fresh fruit, a vase of flowers, and a softly lit background.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
If Midjourney could create a fire-breathing dragon, you’d think it would have no trouble with a still life photo of flowers and a bowl of fruit. And yet, the image it gave us looks messy and cluttered. Just like with the product shot from earlier, Midjourney’s preference for detail and complexity is working against it and adding too much to the scene.
Meanwhile, Firefly’s general lack of detail created a more pleasing image with a clean and simple composition. Some of the fruit in the bowl looks fake because of the reduced detail, but it’s still a nicer image overall.
Winner: Adobe Firefly
AI image comparison #7: Portrait of an elderly man
Prompt: A close-up portrait of an elderly man with deep wrinkles, wearing a hat, and a thoughtful expression.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
We’ve seen that the main difference between Adobe Firefly and Midjourney is the amount of detail they can render, and Firefly’s lower detail can sometimes work to its advantage. But not here. The lack of detail is very obvious with close-up portraits like these. Skin is simply too complex for Firefly to handle, resulting in the man’s face having a slightly plastic look to it. It’s a nice photo overall, but it looks fake.
Midjourney’s higher detail makes it much better for portraits. Even without any additional upscaling or sharpening, the man’s face looks realistic. I do like the warmth of the Firefly image, but the detail just isn’t there.
Winner: Midjourney
AI image comparison #8: Portrait of a young woman
Prompt: A young woman standing in a field of vibrant wildflowers, with the warm glow of golden hour illuminating her.
Adobe Firefly result
Midjourney result
Which was better?
If close-up portraits are a problem for Firefly, what if we pull the camera back? And instead of an elderly man with deep wrinkles, we ask for a young woman with naturally softer skin? Could Firefly better compete with Midjourney?
Yes and no. Our subject does look more realistic this time in the Firefly image, but even at this distance the detail isn’t quite enough. And as usual, Firefly’s result looks bland and less interesting. Midjourney’s shallow depth of field, soft lighting and warm glow give the image a professional look, while Firefly’s image looks amateurish by comparison.
Winner: Midjourney
Overall winner: Midjourney
Adobe Firefly powers all of Photoshop’s generative AI features, including Generative Fill which is great for editing tasks like extending an image or removing people from photos. You can even use Generative Fill for creative effects like turning a photo into a painting. As an editing or creative tool, Adobe Firefly works great.
But is Adobe Firefly good enough to generate entire images from scratch? In some cases, yes.
In our testing, Firefly did a comparable job to Midjourney with the sunlight through the misty forest
prompt. And it did better than Midjourney with the product shot and the still life photo where Firefly’s lower detail worked to its advantage. Firefly is also great at illustrations, as we saw with the dragon.
However, in all cases where higher levels of detail were needed, Midjourney was the clear winner. Firefly simply could not compete with the detail and complexity that Midjourney was capable of, whether it was the mountain landscape, the home interior, our two portrait shots, or the fire-breathing dragon.
You can always edit your Midjourney prompt to ask for less detail when you need it, but asking Firefly for more detail won’t work. Of course things could change with Adobe’s next version of Firefly. But for now, is Midjourney worth the extra cost for your AI images? My answer is yes.
Related tutorials:
- How to use the AI Remove Tool in Photoshop
- Add more visual intensity with Adobe Firefly
- Using Structure and Style Reference in Adobe Firefly
Don't forget, all of my Photoshop tutorials are now available to download as PDFs!