Hailuo AI vs Higgsfield vs Pika vs Runway
A side-by-side look at Hailuo AI, Higgsfield, Pika and Runway for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
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MiniMax video generator: 2K native-audio clips, camera commands, multi-reference input
- Price
- Free tier (limited credits, watermarked); paid plans: see the vendor's pricing page
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Previs and animatics that need native sound in the first pass
-
AI video studio with camera control: Seedance 2.5, Cinema Studio 4.0, API and MCP
- Price
- Free tier; paid plans from €19/mo billed annually (prices exclude VAT)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Directors previsualising multi-shot sequences with camera direction and fixed characters
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AI video, image and audio studio that routes between Seedance, Veo and Pika's own models
- Price
- Starter $10/mo ($8/mo billed yearly); Creator $35/mo; Enterprise custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Fast social and product clips that need dialogue or a sound bed in one pass
-
Gen-4.5 video, Aleph 2.0 video editing and an agent that builds whole ad campaigns
- Price
- Free (125 one-time credits); Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually)
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Previs and shot tests with Gen-4.5 before committing to a shoot
The short version
Where they differ
- Hailuo AI is the only one without MCP server.
All 4 offer: text to image, text to video, image to video, video to video, public API.
Feature by feature
Hailuo AI vs Higgsfield vs Pika vs Runway: capabilities
| Hailuo AI | Higgsfield | Pika | Runway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier (limited credits, watermarked); paid plans: see the vendor's pricing page | Free tier; paid plans from €19/mo billed annually (prices exclude VAT) | Starter $10/mo ($8/mo billed yearly); Creator $35/mo; Enterprise custom | Free (125 one-time credits); Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually) |
| Infinite canvas | Not confirmed | Partial | No | Not confirmed |
| Node / flow builder | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | No | Yes |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Not confirmed | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Native audio in video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Lip-sync | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Partial | Not confirmed |
| Voice / TTS | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music & SFX | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Upscaling | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Character consistency | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Camera control | Partial | Yes | Partial | Not confirmed |
| Custom training | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Third-party models | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Partial | No | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
Hailuo AI
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|
Higgsfield
| Free | €0limited use |
|---|---|
| Starter | €19per month, billed annually |
| Plus | €47per month, billed annually (€59 monthly) |
| Ultra | €99per month, billed annually (€129 monthly) |
| Teams | From €65per seat per month |
Pika
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Starter | $10 ($8 yearly)monthly or yearly |
| Creator | $35monthly or yearly |
| Enterprise | Customcustom |
| API Club | $10monthly membership |
Runway
| Free | $0none |
|---|---|
| Standard | $15monthly |
| Pro | $35monthly |
| Max | $95monthly |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
Hailuo AI
Pick it for
- Previs and animatics that need native sound in the first pass
- Stylised anime and illustration shots for music videos and short films
- Character shots driven by a reference image plus a motion or voice reference
Stands out
- Native stereo audio (dialogue, SFX, music) in the same pass as the picture, which removes a separate sound step for short clips
- Up to 12 mixed image, video and audio references in one generation, more reference types than most single-prompt video tools
Watch out
- Free tier is watermarked and small
- Clips top out at 15 seconds per generation
Higgsfield
Pick it for
- Directors previsualising multi-shot sequences with camera direction and fixed characters
- Agencies producing ad variants from a product link or brand assets
- Editors who want generation inside DaVinci Resolve, Photoshop or Blender via plugins or MCP
Stands out
- Many models, one credit balance: Seedance 2.5, Kling 3.0 Turbo, Wan 3.0, Grok Video 1.5, MiniMax H3 Max, Gemini Omni and image models such as FLUX 3 and GPT Image 2.5 run from one account, so you can shop models per shot.
- Cinema Studio 4.0 is a directed-scene workspace (30-second takes, 50 references, camera and colour controls) rather than a single prompt box.
Watch out
- Premium video models are credit-gated on every plan, so high-volume work gets expensive quickly
- The best access terms are time-limited promotions (unlimited windows, the 33-day Seedance 2.5 promotion, cashback offers)
Pika
Pick it for
- Fast social and product clips that need dialogue or a sound bed in one pass
- Character and product consistency across a short campaign using @-mentioned references
- Generating voice-over and sound effects for an edit without a second audio subscription
Stands out
- Multi-model access on every plan, including Free: Seedance 2.5, Pika 2.5, MiniMax H3, Veo-class and image models behind one app, so you do not need separate subscriptions
- Own synced-audio models (Soundtrack, SFX, Speech, Music) that score or voice a generated scene in the same tool, priced by Pika as the lowest-cost audio option
Watch out
- Free plan has no monthly credits, so you buy packs before you can test much
- Resolution and clip-length limits per plan are not published on the pricing page
Runway
Pick it for
- Previs and shot tests with Gen-4.5 before committing to a shoot
- Fixing finished footage with Aleph 2.0, such as swapping backgrounds or wardrobe across a clip
- Agency ad and campaign work using Agent, Brand Kits and Projects
Stands out
- Gen-4.5 and Aleph 2.0 sit in one credit pool with third-party models such as Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.5, Wan 3.0 and Nano Banana Pro, so you can compare models without separate subscriptions.
- Aleph 2.0 edits existing footage rather than generating new clips, which keeps the rest of a shot stable.
Watch out
- Credits burn fast: about 12 credits per second for Gen-4.5 and about 28 for Aleph 2.0
- Single generations run about 10 seconds, so longer scenes need stitching
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.
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