Elon Musk says Grok is ‘getting there’ as AI nears Midjourney-level visuals. How both tools stack against each other

Elon Musk has reignited the AI creativity debate after retweeting a post on Sunday, which suggests that his platform’s AI, Grok, has reached “Midjourney-level aesthetics.” The original post came from Dogan Ural, designer and official creative ambassador at xAI, who shared two side-by-side visuals, one created by Grok Imagine and the other by Midjourney — both sharp, vibrant and near-identical in quality.

“I never thought I’d say this, but… Grok might have reached Midjourney-level aesthetics. Just try it and tell me what you think,” Ural wrote on Saturday. Musk’s brief response, “Getting there,” added fuel to growing speculation that Grok could soon compete directly with Midjourney, the reigning leader in AI-generated art.

Grok vs Midjourney: Developers and core changes

While both tools are powered by artificial intelligence, Grok and Midjourney serve fundamentally different creative needs.

Grok, developed by xAI, is a conversational AI built directly into X. Designed to be more than a chatbot, it leverages real-time data from the platform, setting it apart from rivals like ChatGPT or Google Gemini. Musk has described Grok as “curious and a bit rebellious”, a model that injects personality, humour and wit into its interactions. Currently available to free and paid subscribers, Grok is being used for quick summaries, entertainment, and even light-hearted banter with users.

In contrast, Midjourney operates within the visual domain. Accessible via Discord, it transforms text prompts into detailed, high-quality images. Founded by David Holz, the platform has become a favourite among designers, artists and marketers seeking cinematic visuals with rich textures and painterly depth. Its artistic precision and style have set benchmarks in the generative art community.

Key differences: Text versus visual imagination

At their core, the two platforms channel creativity in different formats. Grok processes and generates text, while Midjourney interprets and visualises it.

Grok vs Midjourney: Subscription tiers

Midjourney offers tiered plans starting from $10/month (or $8 billed annually) for the Basic plan, offering around 200 image generations per month. Its Standard ($30) and Pro ($60) tiers add faster rendering, video generation, and even stealth mode for private image creation.

Meanwhile, Grok follows a three-tier structure. The Basic plan offers limited access to Grok 3 with features like voice and the Aurora image model. The SuperGrok plan, priced at ₹700/month, provides expanded memory, access to Grok 4, and new AI companions. The SuperGrok Heavy tier — at ₹29,900/month — gives users early access to upcoming Grok 4 models and extended context memory for complex reasoning.