Which video generator fits which job
An AI video generator turns a written description, a photo or a short clip into a few seconds of moving picture, often with sound. Each clip is short, so a longer video is several clips joined.
The platform decides how long each clip runs, how sharp it is and who may use it. Each row names the platforms whose own pages back that need.
| If you need | Start with | Why, from its own page |
|---|---|---|
| A free first try | Runway, Adobe Firefly | Runway gives one-time free credits. Firefly offers free daily generations across image, video and audio. |
| A low monthly price with video | Google AI Plus | The lowest regular monthly price we could read here. It adds video in the Gemini app and credits for Flow, Google's filmmaking studio. |
| One long clip with its own sound | Seedance | Its API docs list the longest single clips on these pages, with audio, for all three models those docs cover. |
| A start from your own photos or footage | Gemini app, Seedance | Gemini takes one video and up to 5 images. Seedance takes up to 9 images, 3 videos and 3 audio files. |
| Clips you may sell or use in ads | Runway, Kling membership, Pika paid plans, Adobe Firefly | Runway "does not restrict your commercial use". Kling members' commercial use "is not restricted", and Pika's paid plans include a commercial license. |
| Privacy, or work with no internet | Wan2.2 in ComfyUI | Open weights, free to download, that run on your own graphics card. |
| An API for an app | Google, MiniMax, Seedance through BytePlus | Google and MiniMax price video by the second of output, and Seedance is sold through BytePlus ModelArk. |
Nine video generators compared on plans, limits and rights
Every cell comes from the vendor's own pricing, plans, terms or docs page, as listed on 6 November 2026, with prices in US dollars where the page showed them. Video plans change often.
Kling's plan page put no prices in the text we could read. Hailuo's plan prices come from its subscription terms, last updated in July 2025, so check its plan page before you pay.
| Platform | Made for | Free plan | Entry paid plan | Limits that bite | Commercial use | API | On your computer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Veo and Gemini Omni (Gemini app, Flow) | Clips from text or photos in the Gemini app and in Flow, Google's filmmaking studio | None: video needs a Google AI plan | Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month, with 200 Flow credits | Veo 3.1 clips of 4, 6 or 8 seconds. Gemini Omni Flash at 720p. You must be 18 | Google "won't claim ownership" of what you generate | Yes: Gemini Omni Flash at about $0.10 a second for 720p | No |
| Runway | Its own Gen-4.5 and Aleph models beside Kling and Seedance, in one studio | 125 one-time credits | Standard, $12 a month billed yearly, 625 credits, no watermarks | Gen-4.5 uses 60 credits for 5 seconds | Runway "does not restrict your commercial use". It may train its models on your inputs and outputs | Yes: the Runway API, at $0.01 a credit. Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits a second | No |
| Kling | Kling 4.0 clips on kling.ai, also reachable through MCP and a command line | Not stated on a page we could read. Non-members must keep Kling's brand and logo on their output | Standard membership. The price was not in the page text we could read | Watermark removal and video extension are for members only | Members' commercial use "is not restricted" | Its 4.0 post listed API access for enterprise customers and developers as coming soon | No |
| Luma | Its Ray video models next to other makers' models | None listed | Plus, $30 a month, or $25 billed yearly, 10,000 credits | Ray clips are priced per 5 or 10 seconds, from 360p to 1080p | Plus lists "Commercial use" | Not stated on its pricing page | No |
| Pika | Short clips from Pika's own models and others | No monthly credits ("credit packs only") and no commercial license | Starter, $10 a month, or $8 billed yearly, 900 credits | The free plan runs 2 videos and 2 images at a time | Paid plans include a commercial license | Yes: the Pika API at dev.pika.art, self-serve, paid from a prepaid balance | No |
| Hailuo (MiniMax) | Clips from the Hailuo and MiniMax H3 models | Welcome credits that expire 3 days after you get them. Downloads carry a watermark | Standard, $14.99 a month, 1,000 credits (terms last updated July 2025) | Plan credits expire after a month | On a paid plan, Hailuo claims no ownership and allows commercial use | Yes: MiniMax H3 from $0.08 a second at 768P | No |
| Seedance (ByteDance), in Dreamina | Clips with sound from text, pictures, video and audio, up to 4K through the API | Not stated on its pricing page | Dreamina Basic, $15 a month in the US after a $0.29 first month | Through the API, no real human faces as reference images or videos | Not stated on its pricing page | Yes, through BytePlus ModelArk | No |
| Adobe Firefly | Video next to images and audio, with partner models such as Luma Ray3.14 | Free daily generations across image, video and audio | Firefly Standard, $9.99 a month, 2,000 generative credits | Standard covers up to 20 five-second videos | Firefly model outputs "are safe for commercial use" | Not stated on its plans page | No |
| Wan2.2, open weights | Running a video model on your own graphics card | Free weights | None: the weights are free | The 5B model makes a 5-second 720p clip in under 9 minutes on a 24 GB card such as an RTX 4090. The 14B models need 80 GB | Apache 2.0 license | Not stated on its GitHub page | Yes, also in ComfyUI |
Make your first clip free in Runway
Runway's free plan gives a pot of credits once. They don't expire, so spend them on the one shot you most want to see. The steps follow Runway's own image to video guide, which starts from a picture and asks you to describe only what moves.
A good video prompt names one subject, one action, the camera and the sound. The AI video lesson builds one line by line in Google's tools, and the same parts work here.
- Sign up on runway.com for the free plan, then upload your image. A photo, an illustration or a product shot works, and the clip starts from it.
- Describe the motion you want, not the picture. Set the camera movement, such as a push-in, a pan or a static hold, and choose the length.
- Generate, then review the clip. Change the prompt if something is off, and export it when it looks right.
Most clips in Runway's guide run five to ten seconds. Longer ones come from extending or chaining clips, which the guide says can be less reliable.
How long one clip can be
Every platform here makes short clips, and the ceiling differs by a factor of three. At the low end sits the small Wan2.2 model at home, and Seedance through its API goes furthest.
Length matters most for one unbroken shot, such as a product turning on a table. For anything with cuts, make each shot as its own clip and join them in a video editor, which also lets you mix platforms.
Sources: BytePlus ModelArk: Dreamina Seedance 2.0 series tutorial (read November 6, 2026), Google Flow Help: Google Flow models & supported features (read November 6, 2026), MiniMax API docs: Video pricing (read November 6, 2026), Luma AI: Pricing (read November 6, 2026), GitHub: Wan-Video/Wan2.2 (read November 6, 2026)
What Kling and ComfyUI posted about Kling 4.0 and Wan2.2
Kling's official account posted on X on 15 October 2026 that Kling 4.0 was fully available on kling.ai. The post added that it can be reached through MCP, a standard way for AI assistants to use outside tools, and through a command line. Two items sat under Coming Soon: 10-bit HDR output at 4K and 1080p, and API access for enterprise customers and developers. If your job needs 4K HDR, that line tells you to wait or to choose another platform.
Wan2.2 is the other end of the scale. ComfyUI's account posted on X on 28 July 2025, the day the weights came out, that the model ran in ComfyUI from day one under the Apache 2.0 license. The smaller 5B version needs as little as 8 GB of graphics memory there, thanks to auto-offloading, which moves parts of the model off the card while it works. The plain command on Wan's GitHub page asks for 24 GB.
To try it, open the Template Library in ComfyUI, search for "Wan2.2 5B", download the three model files the ComfyUI docs list, type a prompt and click Run. The ComfyUI tutorial installs the app first.
Down to 8GB VRAM requirement for the 5B version with ComfyUI auto-offloading.
Screenshots of X's own embeds of the posts, taken on 5 November 2026, with the time in UTC. X cuts both posts short with Show more. Select one to open the post on X.
Common mistakes when choosing a video generator
- Expecting free video from Google. The Gemini app and Flow make video only on a paid Google AI plan.
- Saving welcome credits for later. Hailuo's expire three days after you get them, and Runway's free credits come only once.
- Posting free-plan clips for a client. Pika's free plan carries no commercial license, and Kling asks non-members to keep its brand and logo on what they make.
- Comparing credits as if they were the same money. Runway charges 60 credits for 5 seconds of Gen-4.5, while Pika lists 10 credits for 5 seconds of its H3 Flex model.
- Building a Seedance clip around a photo of a real person. Its API turns down reference images and videos that show real human faces.
Check yourself
You want one unbroken 12-second clip. Which of these lists single clips that long?
Show answer
A. Seedance 2.0 Its API docs list clips of 4 to 15 seconds, while Veo 3.1 in Flow stops at 8 and the small Wan2.2 model makes 5.
You need a clip for a paying client and only have the Pika free plan. What is the problem?
Show answer
B. The free plan has no commercial license Pika's free plan exports without a watermark, but its pricing page lists the commercial license only on paid plans.
Your computer has a graphics card with 8 GB of memory. Which route makes video with no credits at all?
Show answer
D. Wan2.2 5B in ComfyUI ComfyUI runs the 5B Wan2.2 model on 8 GB of graphics memory with auto-offloading, and the weights are free.
How should you compare credits between two video platforms?
Show answer
C. By how many seconds of video they buy A credit buys different amounts on each platform, such as 60 for 5 seconds of Gen-4.5 against 10 for 5 seconds of Pika H3 Flex.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI video generator cost?
Most platforms sell credits: a monthly plan buys a set number, and each model spends them on every second of video at its own rate. A higher plan buys more of them. Through an API there is no plan, and you pay per second instead.
Who owns an AI video I make?
Usually you, or at least the platform makes no claim to it. Runway's terms add that it may train its models on your inputs and outputs, so keep confidential footage out of it.
Is there a free AI video generator with no watermark?
Yes, if you run Wan2.2 at home, since no service stamps anything on clips you make yourself. Online, Pika's free exports carry no watermark. Hailuo marks its free downloads, and Kling keeps watermark removal for members.
What happened to Sora?
OpenAI shut it down. Its Sora video models and the Videos API left the OpenAI API on 24 September 2026, six months after developers were told, and its deprecations page lists no replacement.
Sources
- Google: Google AI plans (US) https://gemini.google/us/subscriptions/?hl=en
- Google Gemini Apps Help: Generate videos with Gemini Apps https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16126339?hl=en
- Google Flow Help: Get started with Google Flow https://support.google.com/flow/answer/16353333?hl=en
- Google Flow Help: Google Flow models & supported features https://support.google.com/flow/answer/16352836?hl=en
- Google Terms of Service https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en-US
- Google AI Studio: Gemini API pricing https://aistudio.google.com/docs/pricing
- OpenAI: API deprecations https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations
- Runway: Pricing https://runway.com/pricing
- Runway: Terms of Use https://runway.com/terms-of-use
- Runway: Image to video guide https://runway.com/resources/image-to-video-guide
- Runway API docs: Pricing https://docs.dev.runwayml.com/guides/pricing/
- Kling AI: Payment policy https://kling.ai/docs/payment-policy
- Kling AI: Credits policy https://kling.ai/docs/point-policy
- Luma AI: Pricing https://lumalabs.ai/pricing
- Pika: Pricing https://pika.art/pricing
- Pika: API for developers https://dev.pika.art/
- Hailuo AI: Video subscription service terms https://hailuoai.video/doc/payment-policy.html
- MiniMax API docs: Video pricing https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-video
- BytePlus ModelArk: Dreamina Seedance 2.0 series tutorial https://ai.byteplus.com/ark/region:ap-southeast-1/docs/seedance-2-0
- Dreamina: Seedance 2.5 and 2.0 pricing https://dreamina.capcut.com/seedance/seedance-2-5-pricing-2026
- Adobe: Firefly plans https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly/plans.html
- GitHub: Wan-Video/Wan2.2 https://github.com/Wan-Video/Wan2.2
- ComfyUI docs: Wan2.2 video generation https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/video/wan/wan2_2
- Kling AI on X, 15 October 2026 https://x.com/Kling_ai/status/2110747537187709424
- ComfyUI on X, 28 July 2025 https://x.com/ComfyUI/status/1949802127066628370
- Runway on YouTube: Move with Gen-4.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4DXMWWSDeM