Hailuo AI vs Runway
A side-by-side look at Hailuo AI 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
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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
- Only Runway offers MCP server.
All 2 offer: AI agent, text to image, text to video, image to video, video to video, public API, mobile app, free tier.
Feature by feature
Hailuo AI vs Runway: capabilities
| Hailuo AI | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier (limited credits, watermarked); paid plans: see the vendor's pricing page | Free (125 one-time credits); Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually) |
| Node / flow builder | Not confirmed | Yes |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Text to video | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | Yes | Yes |
| Video to video | Yes | Yes |
| Native audio in video | Yes | Partial |
| Voice / TTS | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Music & SFX | Partial | Yes |
| Upscaling | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Character consistency | Partial | Partial |
| Camera control | Partial | Not confirmed |
| Custom training | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Third-party models | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Partial | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
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
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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