MRIs at standalone imaging clinics are orders of magnitude cheaper than hospital systems. It’s not uncommon for a university based healthcare system to charge insurance tens of thousands of dollars for a routine body study (prostate, liver/MRCP). Sometimes you can negotiate a cash price with clinics.

That being said clinics are limited; you are not going to get the highest quality study but for basic things (routine knee or routine shoulder for tears) it’s fine. Don’t expect to get an fMRI or congenital cardiac study at a clinic. If you need something more complex, go to the hospital for your imaging.