> > Very unlikely to be better than SDXL combined with its rich ecosystem […]
> MJ is already better than SDXL if you don’t need any of the [elements of the rich ecosystem beyond the base models]
Yeah, I think you kind of missed the point there. (Also, not convinced you are right even there, MJ seems to be much worse at prompt-following than base SDXL model, and on other qualities in the range where subjective opinions are going to vary considerably on which is better, judging from the head-to-head comparisons with prompts I’ve seen, largely from people claiming that MJ is better so presumably not trying to subtly favor SDXL in the construction of the comparisons. Because of the ecosystem, its been a long time since I found MJ more useful than even SD 1.5-based toolsets.)
From my experience, while MJ is not as good at following the exact prompt, it's been much better at producing overall visually appealing images.
I don't have as much experience with SDXL, but I've used plenty of Dall-E and other models; most of them generate results that follow the prompt well, but look more like a collage than a piece of art. Which may very well be what you're going for, but for doing more abstract and creative brain storming, I much prefer the Midjourney, which definitely has a specific "look".
> MJ is already better than SDXL if you don’t need any of the [elements of the rich ecosystem beyond the base models]
Yeah, I think you kind of missed the point there. (Also, not convinced you are right even there, MJ seems to be much worse at prompt-following than base SDXL model, and on other qualities in the range where subjective opinions are going to vary considerably on which is better, judging from the head-to-head comparisons with prompts I’ve seen, largely from people claiming that MJ is better so presumably not trying to subtly favor SDXL in the construction of the comparisons. Because of the ecosystem, its been a long time since I found MJ more useful than even SD 1.5-based toolsets.)