What is Adobe Firefly good for?

Adobe describes Firefly as a place to create and edit images, videos, audio and vector graphics from text prompts. For ad images, output from Adobe's own Firefly models comes with Adobe's statement that it's safe for commercial use, and on any paid plan, Firefly Image 4 makes sets of four variations without using credits. Partner models such as Nano Banana Pro are in Firefly too, but Adobe leaves their commercial use up to you.

Is Adobe Firefly unlimited?

Partly. Adobe's plans FAQ says every paid plan includes unlimited standard image and vector generations, which covers Firefly Image 4. Premium models such as Firefly Image 5 use credits, unless you're on Pro or above during Adobe's first-year offer. That offer leaves out Standard, Teams and Enterprise plans, and Adobe can change it at any time.

Which costs less per ad image, Firefly or Midjourney?

It depends on how many images you keep. By our arithmetic, a standard Midjourney prompt on Basic costs 4 cents for a set of four. If you use all four, that's 1 cent an image. A Firefly Image 5 picture on Standard is about 5 cents, and Firefly Image 4 uses no credits on a paid plan.

Can a business use Midjourney images in ads?

Yes, but which plan you need depends on the company's size. Midjourney's terms say that if your company brings in more than $1,000,000 a year in revenue, you need Pro or Mega to own what you make, and the rule covers its employees too. On Basic and Standard, your images are public by default, because Stealth Mode is only on Pro and Mega.

Adobe Firefly vs Midjourney: Ad Image Costs, With Firefly Image 5 at 10 Credits

What 5 cents buys on Firefly and on Midjourney

Five cents buys one Firefly Image 5 picture on Adobe's Standard plan, by our arithmetic. On Midjourney's Basic plan, 4 cents pays for one standard prompt, and that prompt comes back as a set of four images. So the two prices don't buy the same thing.

None of the six comparisons we could open for this search puts a dollar price on one picture from either tool. One of them, One AI Guide, says "There is no useful one-number comparison," calling Firefly's credits and Midjourney's plans "different billing models, not directly comparable units." We agree about the units, so we pair every price with the job it pays for, whether that's one picture you keep or a set of four you pick from.

We didn't test Firefly or Midjourney for this post. Adobe's figures come from its own pages, read November 5, 2026. We couldn't open Midjourney's help center, so its figures come from dated Internet Archive copies of its pages. The ratings come from public review pages, and the Novoads side is a set of ads we made with Nano Banana Pro in September. We didn't find a shutdown notice from either company.

What one ad image costs on each tool

Adobe's figures in this section are from November 5, 2026. Midjourney's come from an October 20 copy of its plans page and an October 15 copy of its GPU page.

Firefly prices each generation in credits

Adobe's credits FAQ lists Firefly Image 5 at "10 credits per generation." Its page on making images from text says that with Image 5 "A single image is generated," so one generation gets you one picture. Firefly Image 4 Ultra costs 20 credits a generation, and the FAQ says it also makes one image.

Adobe's US price card puts Firefly Standard at US$9.99 a month for 2,000 credits. That's about half a cent a credit, by our arithmetic. So an Image 5 picture comes to about 5 cents on Standard, and an Image 4 Ultra picture to about 10 cents.

Firefly Image 4 is a different case. Adobe's plans FAQ says "All paid plans include unlimited standard image and vector generations," and its offer page lists Image 4 among the standard features whose unlimited use "will not change when the special offer period ends." The page on making images says Image 4 returns "Four image variations." So once you're on any paid Firefly plan, a set of four from Image 4 doesn't use any credits.

Nano Banana Pro on Firefly's partner list

Adobe also offers other companies' models in Firefly. Its partner-models page lists "Gemini 3 (with Nano Banana Pro) by Google" at 40 credits a generation and marks the rate "For a limited time." On Standard, that's about 20 cents a generation by our arithmetic.

That row doesn't say how many pictures a generation returns. Adobe's list of images per generation covers only its own Firefly models, and its Gemini page mentions using these models "to generate image variations" without giving a number. We've counted a generation as one picture, so if it returns more, each one costs less than our figure.

The row doesn't name a resolution either. Adobe's page on editing images with text says Nano Banana Pro supports 1K and 2K output there. The offer page lists a 4K version on Premium. The partner page adds that "Usage rates may vary," and it says Google is deprecating the older Gemini 2.5 (with Nano Banana), so we price only Nano Banana Pro.

Midjourney prices each prompt in GPU minutes

Midjourney's plans page lists Basic at $10 a month with 200 minutes of fast GPU time. Its GPU page gives an "Approximate GPU Cost" of 0.8 minutes for a standard prompt and 1.3 minutes for an HD one. And its getting-started guide says a prompt makes "a set of four images."

By our arithmetic, Basic's fast time works out to 5 cents a minute. That puts a standard prompt at 4 cents and an HD prompt at about 6.5 cents. If you keep all four images, each standard one costs 1 cent, or about 1.6 cents in HD. If you keep just one, it carries the cost of the whole prompt.

These sums assume you use all of the month's fast time, which Midjourney's GPU page tells you to do "because any unused time doesn't carry over to the next month." The page also says nonstandard aspect ratios "might require more time," so a vertical or 4:5 ad image could cost more than a square one. And Basic doesn't get Relax mode for images, which the page says "is only available to those with Standard, Pro, and Mega Plans."

Both tools side by side

Tool and plan	What you run	The maker's rate	Images back	Each image if you keep them all (our arithmetic)	Each image if you keep one (our arithmetic)
Firefly Standard	Firefly Image 5	10 credits a generation	1	About 5 cents	About 5 cents
Firefly Standard	Firefly Image 4 Ultra	20 credits a generation	1	About 10 cents	About 10 cents
Any paid Firefly plan	Firefly Image 4	No credits (standard generation)	4 variations	No credits	No credits
Firefly Standard	Nano Banana Pro (partner model)	40 credits a generation, for a limited time	Not stated	About 20 cents, counted as one	About 20 cents
Midjourney Basic	Standard prompt	About 0.8 GPU minutes	4	1 cent	4 cents
Midjourney Basic	HD prompt	About 1.3 GPU minutes	4	About 1.6 cents	About 6.5 cents

If you keep one picture from each run, a standard Midjourney prompt comes in a cent under Firefly Image 5. If you'd use every image a prompt returns, a standard Midjourney image costs about a fifth of an Image 5 picture. And Firefly Image 4 uses no credits on a paid plan, so once you've paid for the plan, its variations add nothing per image.

The plans behind those prices

Firefly's four paid plans, and its free plan

As of November 5, 2026, Adobe's US price card lists four paid plans, each labeled Monthly. Our Adobe Firefly pricing guide goes through what each one includes, so here we list only the prices behind the sums above.

Firefly Standard is US$9.99 a month with 2,000 credits.
Firefly Pro is US$19.99 a month with 4,000 credits.
Firefly Pro Plus is US$49.99 a month with 10,000 credits.
Firefly Premium is US$199.99 a month with 50,000 credits.

Adobe's credits FAQ says those credits are "for premium generations," and it gives every one of these plans "Unlimited access to standard generations." We didn't find a yearly price for these four plans on Adobe's web pages. The one yearly Firefly price we saw was an in-app purchase on Apple's App Store, "Adobe Firefly Mobile Yearly" at $49.99.

Adobe's plans FAQ says Firefly "offers a free plan with limited daily generations, plus four paid tiers." Its credits FAQ also describes "free daily generations" for users without a plan, but another line on the same page says free plans get credits that "expire one month from allocation." Since those lines don't agree, we haven't counted any free images here.

Adobe's first-year offer, and who it leaves out

Adobe's offers page, which we read on November 5, heads its list "Firefly plan special offers as of October 13, 2026." The offer gives a year of unlimited generations on select models to Firefly Pro, Pro Plus and Premium, and to the credit plans from 4,000 to 50,000 credits. Image 5 and Image 4 Ultra are covered on all of them. Nano Banana Pro at 1K and 2K is covered on Pro Plus, Premium and the two largest credit plans. At 4K, it's covered on Premium and the largest credit plan.

The same page also sets conditions.

Firefly Standard isn't on the list, and "Teams and Enterprise plans are not included."
The offer is "available exclusively on firefly.adobe.com and on the Firefly mobile app," and unlimited generations "cannot be used in any other Adobe products or desktop applications."
"The year begins on the date you start your eligible plan and runs for 12 consecutive months," and "After the first year, all users return to consuming credits."
"If a partner model is no longer offered through Firefly, it will also no longer be included in the special offer."
Adobe "reserves the right to modify, limit, or discontinue any aspect of the special offer at any time," and it may add "service safeguards (such as adjusted processing speeds or queueing during periods of high demand)."

The page doesn't say the offer is closed to new buyers, but we couldn't confirm that someone signing up today would get it. Our explainer on Adobe Firefly covers what each Firefly model does.

Midjourney's four plans

In the October 20 copy, Midjourney's plans page says "Midjourney offers four subscription tiers: Basic, Standard, Pro, and Mega." Our Midjourney pricing breakdown sets all four side by side, so we list only each plan's monthly price and fast time from that copy.

Basic is $10 a month with 200 minutes of fast time.
Standard is $30 a month with 15 hours of fast time.
Pro is $60 a month with 30 hours of fast time.
Mega is $120 a month with 60 hours of fast time.

Billed yearly, each plan works out to 20% less a month, by our arithmetic from the same page. Extra fast time costs $4 an hour on every plan. Midjourney's Free Trials article, in an October 16 copy, says "No free trial is currently available in Discord or the midjourney.com website," and points instead to "A limited trial" on its niji · journey app.

Can you run the picture in a paid ad?

What Adobe's commercial-use line covers

Adobe's plans FAQ, as of November 5, 2026, says "Outputs from Adobe Firefly AI models are safe for commercial use." It counts "creating print and digital promotional materials" as commercial use, which we read as covering ads. In the same answer, Adobe says its models are trained on licensed and public domain content and that it "automatically attaches Content Credentials for transparency."

That line is about Adobe's own models. For partner models, the same FAQ says "You're responsible for determining whether content generated by partner models is appropriate for your project." We read that as leaving a Nano Banana Pro picture made in Firefly to your own judgment.

Indemnity is a narrower promise. The plans FAQ says "Eligible enterprise customers can also receive IP indemnification for select Adobe Firefly outputs." Adobe's indemnity terms apply to a customer whose agreement with Adobe links to that page, and they exclude capabilities "powered or provided by non-Adobe trained models" as well as features marked beta. We read that as no indemnity for a Standard or Pro subscriber, and none for any partner model. Adobe's labeling FAQ also says "Adobe does not automatically add visible AI labels to content," so if an ad platform asks for an AI label, you'd have to add it yourself.

Midjourney's $1,000,000 line, and who sees your work

Midjourney's terms, in an Internet Archive copy from November 1, say a company, or "any employee of a company with more than $1,000,000 USD a year in revenue," must subscribe to Pro or Mega "to own Your Assets." Its plans page puts the line at "gross revenue per year." So for a company over that line, Midjourney starts at Pro, which is $60 a month or $48 a month billed yearly. We compare that rule with Stability's in Midjourney vs Stable Diffusion.

The terms also say "By default, Your Content is publicly viewable and remixable." Midjourney says Stealth Mode "keeps your images and videos private," but it's only on Pro and Mega, so on Basic and Standard, the drafts of your ads are public. Its alpha changelog post of October 8 also warns that "Non-stealth images can still appear on Explore and on profiles, even if you made them inside a private folder."

If you were planning to script a batch of ad images, Midjourney's terms say "You may not use automated tools to access, interact with, or generate Assets through the Services." We found nothing on Adobe's pages saying whether Firefly pictures are public or private by default, so this privacy comparison covers Midjourney only.

Sizes for the feed and for Stories

Adobe's aspect-ratio page, last updated June 16, 2026, lists Landscape, Portrait, Square, Widescreen and Vertical, and it says "Vertical (9:16) is available for Firefly Image 4 and Firefly Image 4 Ultra models." The page doesn't list 4:5. The page may be behind the app, so check Image 5's size menu before you plan Stories ads on it. For Nano Banana Pro in Firefly, Adobe's Gemini page lists both "Standard (4:5)" and "Vertical (9:16)."

Midjourney's aspect-ratio page, in an October 1 copy, describes 9:16 as a "Vertical orientation, common for mobile content on social media." The GPU page's note about nonstandard ratios applies here too.

What Adobe and Midjourney say each tool does well

We didn't make a test image in either tool for this post, so here we quote each company on its own tool.

How Adobe describes Firefly

Adobe's product page calls Firefly "an AI-powered creative space that helps you create and edit images, videos, audio, and vector graphics from simple text prompts." For ad images, three of its help pages describe the features we'd look at first.

Its page on editing images says you can "Add, remove, or modify objects and backgrounds by describing the changes you want in everyday language."
Its Fast mode page says "If you want to specify text in an image, use quotation marks." In Firefly Boards, Adobe says you can "edit or remove text directly within any image on your Boards canvas without impacting the rest of the composition," though "Emojis and non-Latin character sets aren't supported."
Its What's new page describes interfaces, marked beta, that "run large batch jobs with up to 500 input assets" and that "experts in your organization" build. We read that as a feature for companies with their own production teams, and we wouldn't plan a 500-image batch around a Standard plan.

How Midjourney describes V8.2

Midjourney introduced V8.2 in an update post on July 24, 2026, saying "This update focuses on aesthetics and image quality and personalization." Its version page, in an October 6 copy, says "The current default Midjourney version is V8.2." Our post on what V8.2 means for ads goes deeper into the model.

Its V8 Alpha post of March 17, 2026, says "Text rendering works better than ever" when you put the words in quotes.
Its Edit Model page, in an October 10 copy, says you can "Generate new images using up to 4 reference images." For an ad set, that's the feature we'd try first to keep one product looking the same across several images.

Ratings from reviewers and app users

Trustpilot

On November 5, 2026, the Trustpilot profile for firefly.adobe.com, which Adobe hasn't claimed, scored 1.7 from 32 reviews. One-star reviews made up 85% of them. Midjourney's profile, which the company has claimed, also scored 1.7, from 373 reviews. Of those, 76% were one-star.

Apple's App Store

On Apple's US App Store, the Adobe Firefly app scores 4.7 from 11K ratings. Midjourney's Free Trials article points to its niji · journey app, which scores 4.4 from 584 ratings. That's the niji app's score, so we don't count it as Midjourney's own rating.

We left out Google Play, where the Firefly listing didn't give us one steady figure, and G2 and Capterra, which we couldn't open.

Where Novoads costs more, and where it costs less

Nano Banana Pro in Novoads and in Firefly

You can run Nano Banana Pro in both Firefly and Novoads, so it's the closest thing to a like-for-like price here. In Novoads, it's 2 credits an image at 1K or 2K. At 4K, it's 4 credits.

Novoads plan	Monthly price	Credits a month	Per credit, our arithmetic	One Nano Banana Pro image at 1K or 2K
Starter	$15	200	$0.075	15 cents
Plus	$49	1,000	$0.049	About 10 cents

Our pricing page on monthly billing, with the Starter, Plus and Ultra cards The plans on novoads.ai/pricing with monthly billing on, 2026-11-05 · Plus lists 1,000 credits a month, which the card counts as 500 Nano Banana Pro generations

At those prices, Novoads costs more per picture than three of the options above.

Firefly Image 5 on Standard is about 5 cents a picture, roughly half our Plus price.
A standard Midjourney prompt on Basic is 4 cents for four images, if you use all of the month's fast time.
Firefly Image 4 uses no credits at all on a paid Firefly plan.

Novoads does cost less than Nano Banana Pro in Firefly wherever Firefly charges credits for it. On Standard, Firefly's rate is about 20 cents a generation, and on Premium it's about 16 cents, by our arithmetic. Every Novoads plan is paid from the first month. Our Nano Banana Pro explainer covers what the model does well, and we price it against Midjourney in Midjourney vs Nano Banana.

Where Adobe's offer comes out ahead

Under Adobe's first-year offer, Pro Plus and Premium subscribers can use Nano Banana Pro at 1K and 2K without credits on Adobe's website and its mobile app. Pro Plus is US$49.99 a month on Adobe's US price card, so the comparison comes down to how many images you'd make.

Novoads Starter is $15 a month, and our pricing page counts its credits as 100 Nano Banana Pro generations.
Novoads Plus is $49 a month, and the page counts its credits as 500.
At our Plus rate, the price of Pro Plus would buy about 510 Nano Banana Pro images, by our arithmetic.

So for Nano Banana Pro alone, if you get Adobe's offer and make more than about 500 images a month, you'll pay less on Pro Plus while the offer runs. Under 500 a month, our Plus and Adobe's Pro Plus cost about the same, and under 100, Starter costs less than either. After the first year, Pro Plus goes back to credits, and at today's rate, its 10,000 credits cover 250 Nano Banana Pro generations a month.

Four ads we made in Novoads

We made the four ads below for our own cap on September 1, using Nano Banana Pro in Novoads, one generation each. At today's price, the set costs 8 credits, about 39 cents on Plus by our arithmetic. None of them came from Firefly or Midjourney.

Our tan cap in four Novoads ad images with Spanish headlines, shot on a studio plinth, worn on a street, set on a desk and posted on a billboard at dusk Made in Novoads with Nano Banana Pro · our tan cap in four 4:5 ad layouts at 2K with Spanish headlines, each from a single generation · 2 credits apiece today, 8 credits in all · 2026-09-01

You use the same credits for video ads, product photos, talking actors and voiceovers, so one monthly balance covers your stills and your video. You can see what each plan's credits make on our pricing page.

Price a month of ad images on one balance

Starter is $15 a month for 200 credits. A Nano Banana Pro picture is 2 credits at 1K or 2K.

See what each plan makes

Which one we'd pick for ad images

Pick Firefly if you want Adobe's commercial-use line behind your pictures and you stick to its own models. On a paid plan, Image 4 sets cost no credits, and an Image 5 picture on Standard is about 5 cents.
Pick Midjourney Basic if you'll use most of each set of four, your company is under the $1,000,000 line, and public drafts don't bother you.
Pick Midjourney Pro if your company is over that line or you need Stealth Mode.
Pick Firefly Pro Plus for more than about 500 Nano Banana Pro images a month, if you get Adobe's offer and while it runs.
Pick Novoads for Nano Banana Pro images and video ads on one balance, at about 10 cents an image on Plus.

If none of the three fits, our list of Midjourney alternatives for ad creatives matches other image tools to the job. Before you commit, make a few ad images on the plan you'd buy, and count how many from each run you'd actually use.