Midjourney shipped V8.1 Alpha on April 14, 2026, and the headline is blunt: HD is 3x faster and 3x cheaper. Standard is 50% faster and 25% cheaper. HD is now the default. If you paused your subscription after V8 felt inconsistent, it is time to come back.
What is Midjourney V8.1 Alpha?
Midjourney V8.1 Alpha is the April 14, 2026 refresh of the V8 image model, available only at alpha.midjourney.com. It keeps V7's aesthetic, makes HD the default resolution, and restores image prompts, image weights, and stable style references (srefs).
What you will need
Before you start, make sure you have:
- An active Midjourney subscription (Basic $10/mo, Standard $30/mo, Pro $60/mo, or Mega $120/mo — no free tier)
- A browser open to alpha.midjourney.com (V8.1 is not in Discord or the main midjourney.com site yet)
- A Google or Discord account to log in
- A prompt idea — even a one-liner works
Step-by-step tutorial: create your first V8.1 image
Step 1: Log in to alpha.midjourney.com
Go to alpha.midjourney.com in your browser. Sign in with your existing Google or Discord account linked to your Midjourney subscription. V8 models live only on the alpha site. The regular midjourney.com web app and Discord bot still run older models.
Step 2: Open Settings and switch to Version 8
Click the settings icon in the top-right corner of the home screen. A side panel opens. Find the Model section, then the Version dropdown, and select 8. V8.1 Alpha runs under the V8 model selector — this is the same place V8.0 lived. Midjourney has said V8.0 will be retired after V8.1 beds in, so selecting V8 routes you to V8.1 by default.
Step 3: Confirm HD is on (it should be by default)
In V8.1, HD mode is the default. You can still toggle between HD and Standard (SD) in the settings panel under Quality. Leave it on HD for the best 2K output without a separate upscaler. If you want to run a cheaper standard-res first, set it to SD and hit the Run as HD button later to rerun that job in HD.
Step 4: Write your prompt in the imagine bar
Click the prompt bar at the top of the home screen. A solid V8.1 prompt follows four beats: medium, subject, specifics, mood. Example:
> cinematic still of a lone astronaut walking through a red desert canyon, worn space suit, golden hour, dust floating in the air, 35mm film
Keep prompts descriptive. V8.1 shines with longer, specific prompts. If you exceed the length limit, the new Prompt Shortener trims it for you automatically.
Step 5: Tune aspect ratio, stylization, and speed
Next to the prompt bar, you will see sidebars for:
- Aspect Ratio — portrait, square, or landscape
- Stylization — how much artistic flair Midjourney adds
- Weirdness — injects unexpected elements
- Variety — spread across the four results
- Raw mode — stricter prompt adherence, less "Midjourney style"
- Speed — Relax, Fast, or Turbo
Start with Square 1:1, Stylization medium, Weirdness low. Move sliders once you see the output.
Step 6: Submit and iterate
Hit the paper plane icon to generate. You get four variations in HD by default. Click any thumbnail to open actions: Upscale (not needed on V8.1 HD), Vary, Rerun, or Run as HD if you were in SD. Adjust your prompt and iterate. Note: inpainting is still only in V7 as of this writing.
Step 7: Use moodboards and srefs for consistent style
One of the biggest wins in V8.1 is that moodboards and style references (srefs) are now super stable. That means your brand look, a consistent character vibe, or a signature palette carries across generations without the drift V8.0 had. Upload a moodboard in the sidebar, or paste an --sref link in the prompt. Image prompts and image weights are also restored in V8.1 — you can now blend two reference images again.
How is V8.1 different from V8.0?
Short answer: it fixes V8.0's consistency problem, makes HD the default, and brings back features Midjourney dropped from V7. Here is the quick comparison.
| Feature | V7 | V8.0 (March 17, 2026) | V8.1 Alpha (April 14, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aesthetic | Refined, warm | New look, mixed reception | Back to V7 feel |
| HD mode | Separate upscale | Available, pricey | Default, 3x faster, 3x cheaper |
| Standard resolution | Baseline | Baseline | 50% faster, 25% cheaper |
| Moodboards / srefs | Stable | Unstable | Super stable |
| Image prompts & weights | Yes | Removed | Restored |
| Prompt Shortener | No | No | Yes |
| Describe feature | Basic | Basic | Longer, more detailed |
If you bounced off V8.0 because it felt hot-and-cold, V8.1 is the "smoothed out" version creators were asking for.
What V8.1 is still missing
V8.1 is alpha, so a few V7 comforts are not here yet. Inpainting, outpainting, editing, and the dedicated upscalers remain on V7 for now. Midjourney has flagged those as next on the roadmap. If you need them, swap back to V7 in the Model dropdown for those jobs and return to V8.1 for fresh generations.
FAQ
Is Midjourney V8.1 Alpha free? No. There is no free tier as of April 2026. You need a paid subscription — Basic starts at $10/month and includes around 3.3 hours of fast GPU time. Standard at $30/month is the most common pick and adds unlimited Relax mode.
Where do I access V8.1 Alpha? Only at alpha.midjourney.com. It is not yet on the Discord bot or the main midjourney.com web app. Log in with your existing Midjourney account.
How do I switch back to V7 or V8.0 if I do not like V8.1? Open the settings panel (top-right gear icon), find the Model section, and pick a different version from the dropdown. V8.0 may be retired soon, so do not rely on it long term.
Does V8.1 support srefs and character references? Yes. V8.1 is V7-backwards-compatible for personalization profiles, moodboards, and srefs — and they are now more stable than in V8.0. Image prompts and image weights are also restored.
How fast is V8.1 HD mode really? HD in V8.1 is 3x faster than HD in V8.0 and 3x cheaper. Standard res is 50% faster and 25% cheaper. Midjourney also says standard quality in V8.1 runs about as fast as V7 draft mode.
If you found this useful, subscribe to CodeBrainery for more step-by-step tutorials like this — new guides drop daily. You can also follow us to get notified when we publish something new. Got questions? Drop them in the comments.