Step-by-Step Fix
1. Understand the Midjourney Plan Options
Before making billing changes, know what each plan includes:
- Basic ($10/month or $8/month annual): ~200 images/month in Fast mode, 3 concurrent jobs, no Relax mode
- Standard ($30/month or $24/month annual): 15 Fast GPU hours (~450–900 images), unlimited Relax mode, 3 concurrent Fast jobs
- Pro ($60/month or $48/month annual): 30 Fast GPU hours, unlimited Relax, 12 concurrent Fast jobs, Stealth mode
- Mega ($120/month or $96/month annual): 60 Fast GPU hours, unlimited Relax, 12 concurrent Fast jobs
2. Access Your Billing Plan Page
- Go to midjourney.com/account
- Sign in with the account you used to subscribe
- Click Manage Subscription or Billing
- Your current plan, renewal date, and payment method are displayed here
3. Upgrade Your Plan
To upgrade:
- On the billing page, click Upgrade Plan
- Select your desired tier
- Confirm payment — you are charged the prorated difference immediately
- Your new plan limits (more GPU hours, more concurrent jobs) activate within minutes
4. Downgrade Your Plan
To downgrade:
- On the billing page, click Change Plan or Downgrade
- Select the lower tier
- The downgrade takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle
- Your current plan continues until the next renewal date
5. Update Your Payment Method
If your plan renewal failed or you want to change cards:
- On the billing page, click Update Payment Method
- Enter new card details (number, expiry, CVV, billing ZIP)
- Save and confirm
- If the previous renewal failed, Midjourney may automatically retry the charge after you update
6. Contact Your Bank if Payment Is Still Failing
If payment continues to fail with a correct card:
- Call your bank and ask them to authorize recurring charges from Stripe (Midjourney's processor)
- Mention "online subscription" and "international recurring charge"
- After bank authorization, retry payment from midjourney.com/account
Why This Happens
Midjourney subscription billing uses Stripe, which processes charges as recurring international transactions from a US-based account. Banks in various countries have different risk thresholds for these charges and may automatically decline them even when the card has sufficient funds. Card expirations are another common cause — banks issue replacement cards with new numbers and expiry dates, but saved payment methods on subscription platforms are not automatically updated.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Not updating your payment method after getting a new card — banks replace cards every 2 to 4 years; always update your Midjourney payment method when you receive a new card number
- Choosing Basic plan and running out of images — Basic plan's ~200 image limit is reached quickly by active users; Standard's unlimited Relax mode is a much better value for regular users
- Downgrading mid-cycle expecting an immediate refund — downgrades take effect at the next renewal, not immediately; you keep your current plan benefits until then
- Not using annual billing — annual plans save approximately 20% compared to monthly billing; if you plan to use Midjourney long-term, annual is significantly cheaper
- Contacting Midjourney support before updating your payment method — most billing issues resolve by simply updating the card and retrying; support cannot process payments on your behalf
Additional FAQ
Q: Which Midjourney plan is best for a professional illustrator or designer?
For professional use, Standard ($30/month) is the minimum recommended plan because it includes unlimited Relax mode, allowing unlimited image generations for non-urgent work. Pro ($60/month) is the better choice for client work requiring privacy — it adds Stealth mode, which keeps your generations out of the public gallery. Pro also raises concurrent Fast job slots to 12, which significantly speeds up sessions where you need to explore many variations quickly. Mega ($120/month) doubles the Fast GPU hour allocation to 60 hours per month, which matters only if you generate at very high volume on a daily basis.
Q: What happens to images I generated if my Midjourney billing plan lapses?
Your generated images remain in your Midjourney gallery and are not deleted if your plan lapses due to a payment failure or cancellation. You retain read-only access to view and download previously generated images. What you lose is the ability to generate new images until you restore your subscription with a successful payment. Resubscribing restores full generation access immediately. For this reason, cancellation is risk-free from an image preservation standpoint — your creative history stays intact.
Q: Does switching to annual billing change my renewal date on Midjourney?
Yes. Switching from monthly to annual billing resets your renewal date to the date you make the switch, not your original monthly signup date. You are billed immediately for the full annual amount (with any prorated credit from your remaining monthly period), and your next renewal date becomes 12 months from the switch date. Annual plans save approximately 20%: Basic annual is $96/year vs $120/year monthly, Standard is $288/year vs $360/year monthly, Pro is $576/year vs $720/year monthly, Mega is $1,152/year vs $1,440/year monthly.
Related Issues
- Midjourney Payment Failed
- Midjourney Subscription Renewal Failed
- Midjourney Billing History
- Midjourney Contact Billing Support
Additional FAQ
Q: Why do I see a pending charge that later disappears? A disappearing pending charge is an authorization hold — a temporary reservation placed by your bank to verify funds are available. When a payment fails or is canceled, the hold is released without any actual charge being made. Most banks release authorization holds within 3–7 business days. If you see a hold older than 7 days, contact your bank and ask them to release it manually, referencing the merchant name and transaction date.
Q: How do I get proof of payment if I cannot find my receipt? Check your registered email inbox for a receipt email — search for the platform name or 'receipt' filtered to the past 30 days, including spam. Most platforms also have a billing history page in account settings (Settings → Billing or Subscription) where you can download invoices as PDFs. If neither works, your bank statement shows the transaction with the merchant name and amount, which is accepted as payment proof by most support teams.
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- Midjourney not generating images
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Additional FAQ
Q: Why do I see a pending charge that later disappears? A disappearing pending charge is an authorization hold — a temporary reservation placed by your bank to verify funds are available. When a payment fails or is canceled, the hold is released without any actual charge being made. Most banks release authorization holds within 3–7 business days. If you see a hold older than 7 days, contact your bank and ask them to release it manually, referencing the merchant name and transaction date.
Related Articles
- Midjourney not generating images
- Midjourney login not working
- Midjourney payment failed
- Midjourney rate limit exceeded
Additional FAQ
Q: Why do I see a pending charge that later disappears? A disappearing pending charge is an authorization hold — a temporary reservation placed by your bank to verify funds are available. When a payment fails or is canceled, the hold is released without any actual charge being made. Most banks release authorization holds within 3–7 business days. If you see a hold older than 7 days, contact your bank and ask them to release it manually, referencing the merchant name and transaction date.