Use AI for your artwork
Generating an image takes seconds — owning it is the tricky part. What the major AI art platforms cost, who gets the rights, and what survived since this post first ran.
The fear of losing your job as a creative is real. Since prompt-based AI renderings started flooding social media, it's hard to tell what came from a professional creative's mind and what was just thrown together. Fact is: artwork can be generated in the blink of an eye — with a bit of Photoshop skill, images come together in moments. The bitter part: all of it builds on work that specialists and professionals spent years developing.
This post covers the major AI platforms for creating digital artwork — what they cost, and who actually owns the output. From my experience, generating is easy as a gimmick; it gets hard the moment a concrete concept or idea is on the table. Much of what floods the internet is, I'd argue, just playing around.
Stable Diffusion in 3D space
Composing scenes and building effective 3D models takes serious experience. Meanwhile, the AI algorithms draw on a shuffled database of ArtStation and other sources full of hard-earned quality work.
After that first round with Stable Diffusion I wasn't really satisfied — the results simply didn't match what I'd hoped for visually. My DALL-E poster turned out nicer, but still not great. With more time I'd solve parts of it with rigged characters and overpaint.
The major AI creation platforms compared
Midjourney — pay to own
Still the strongest raw output — but the interesting part is the rights. The "generate for free, own nothing" era is over: there's no real free tier anymore (trial output stays non-commercial under CC BY-NC 4.0). Four subscriptions now: Basic $10, Standard $30, Pro $60, Mega $120 per month (20% off annually).
What the current terms say, condensed:
- Paid members own their assets — with one catch: companies grossing over $1M per year must be on Pro or Mega.
- Everything generated is public and remixable by default — Stealth Mode costs extra (Pro/Mega).
- Midjourney keeps a perpetual license to reuse whatever is submitted.
DALL-E / ChatGPT image generation
DALL-E is OpenAI's image model — the credit shop this post originally described (50 free credits, then $15 for 115) is history. Image generation now lives inside ChatGPT — free tier included, Plus at $20/month — and via the API, billed per image. The outpainting feature ("generate outer area") was my favorite back then; today's models handle edits and extensions natively.
DreamStudio → Brand Studio
DreamStudio was Stability AI's official web app for Stable Diffusion — pay-as-you-go credits instead of a subscription. It's gone: discontinued in 2026, the domain now redirects to Stability's Brand Studio, a production platform aimed at brand and agency teams ($50/month Core plan after a 1,000-credit trial). The practical takeaway: Stable Diffusion itself is open — anyone wanting the model without the platform risk runs it self-hosted, e.g. via ComfyUI.
Platform prices — still an expensive pleasure
No question, Midjourney's results are strong. But it's worth watching the price tags — and the rights attached. Updated overview:
| Platform | Free | Paid (monthly) | Commercial rights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Trial only, CC BY-NC | $10–120 | Owned on paid plans (>$1M revenue → Pro/Mega) |
| ChatGPT / DALL-E | Limited via ChatGPT | Plus $20 / API per image | Broad usage rights per OpenAI terms |
| Stability AI | 1,000 trial credits | Brand Studio Core $50 | Per Stability terms; self-hosting = own rules |
Artwork where AI is used effectively
On ArtStation there are genuinely convincing results from artists who put AI inside their workflow rather than letting it do the work:
- What lurks in the Deep 2 by Syllo // Sylvain Lorgeou
- Dead prophecy by Alexander Tsaruk
- AI fun by Robert Wilinski
- AI Interior Design by Sergii Golotovskiy
The follow-up post shows what this looks like in practice: a fictional XR game concept built with AI-assisted artwork.
Sources
- Comparing Midjourney Plans — Midjourney Docs
- Midjourney Terms of Service — Midjourney
- ChatGPT / API pricing — OpenAI
- Brand Studio — Stability AI (DreamStudio successor)
Questions about AI platforms, usage rights or an XR project that needs concept work? Write to ingmar@konnow.de or reach out via LinkedIn.Sources
- Comparing Midjourney Plans — Midjourney Docs
- Midjourney Terms of Service — Midjourney
- ChatGPT / API pricing — OpenAI
- Brand Studio — Stability AI (DreamStudio successor)
A digital project on the table — AI-assisted concept work, your own workflow or the rights question behind the platforms? Worth a conversation → ingmar@konnow.de · LinkedIn