Decided between Midjourney and local Stable Diffusion after 200 test images
I kept bouncing between using Midjourney for quick mockups and running Stable Diffusion locally for full control. After about 200 test images across both, I went with the local setup because I needed to tweak the model weights for my client's brand style. The learning curve was rough, spent nearly 3 weekends just getting the right checkpoint and LoRA combo working. But now I can batch out variations without subscription limits, which matters since I do around 50 concept pieces a month. The tradeoff is I miss Midjourney's simpler prompts and built-in upscaling. Has anyone else made this switch and found a good middle ground for client work?