# Hailuo AI vs Runway (2026): side-by-side comparison

Source: [GLAD-AI-TOR](https://glad-ia-tor.com) · Full page: https://glad-ia-tor.com/vs/hailuo-ai-vs-runway
Arena: ai-video · Crowd scores are live visitor verdicts (one per person per tool, never paid, Bayesian-smoothed).

## At a glance

| | Hailuo AI | Runway |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $15/mo | $12/mo |
| Crowd score | 71% (3 votes) | 57% (3 votes) |
| provider | MiniMax | Runway AI, Inc. |
| freeTier | trial credits (about 200, 3-day expiry), watermark, non-commercial | 125 one-time credits, watermarked, 3 projects |
| maxDuration | 10s (768p), 6s at 1080p | 10s per generation, ~60s multi-shot |
| resolution | 1080p (6s) or 768p (10s) | 1080p native, 4K upscale |
| nativeAudio | no | yes |
| api | yes | yes |
| videoQuality (1-5) | 4 | 4.5 |
| motionRealism (1-5) | 4.5 | 4 |
| easeOfUse (1-5) | 4 | 4 |
| speed (1-5) | 4 | 4 |
| valueForMoney (1-5) | 4.5 | 3 |

### Hailuo AI

> The physics champion: Hailuo 2.3 ranks #1 on WorldModelBench and undercuts everyone at roughly $0.19 per 6-second clip via API

Strengths:
- #1 physics realism on WorldModelBench: in a 2026 stress test (glass dropped into water with moving hair and cloth) it produced consistent splash arcs and natural cloth motion with no identity drift, where Kling and Veo faltered
- Aggressive pricing: API from about $0.19 per 6s 768p video (up to $0.56 for 10s standard), and web plans from $14.99 with recurring $7.99 promos on the entry tier
- Paid plans bundle third-party frontier models (Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Nano Banana Pro) in one subscription, rare among first-party generators
- Hailuo 2.3 Fast variant cuts cost and latency further for drafts and high-volume iteration

Weaknesses:
- Weak camera movement: the physics holds until you ask for a pan or tracking shot; Kling 2.6 is clearly better at cinematic camera work per 2026 comparisons
- Short clips only: 6 seconds at 1080p, 10 seconds max at 768p, nothing longer in a single generation
- No native audio from the Hailuo models themselves; the bundled Veo 3.1 and Sora 2 cover audio but burn credits much faster

Verdict: Hailuo 2.3 is the value pick of the AI video vertical: best-in-class physics, full commercial rights from $14.99 (often promoted at $7.99), and third-party models like Veo 3.1 and Sora 2 bundled in the same subscription. Take it for product shots involving liquids, cloth or hair, and for API pipelines where $0.19 per clip is hard to beat. Avoid it for cinematic camera moves, where Kling 2.6 wins, and for one-pass audio, where Veo 3.1 remains the reference. The 6-second cap at 1080p also rules out longer narrative work.

Full review: https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/hailuo-ai · Markdown: https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/hailuo-ai.md

### Runway

> The AI video suite: Gen-4.5 plus Veo 3.1 and Kling 3.0 Pro bundled under one subscription from $12/month

Strengths:
- Gen-4.5 (released 2025-12-01) debuted at the top of text-to-video leaderboards with clear prompt-adherence and text-rendering gains over Gen-4
- Multi-model hub since May 2026: one subscription covers Gen-4.5, Google Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0 Pro, Seedance and FLUX, ideal for best-tool-per-shot workflows
- Only one of the big three that is a real post-production suite: Aleph video editing, performance capture, custom voices and lip sync, 4K upscaling
- Standard plan cut from $15 to $12/month (annual) in May 2026 while expanding model access at every tier

Weaknesses:
- Credits evaporate: at 12 credits per second of Gen-4.5, the $12 Standard plan buys about 52 seconds a month (roughly five 10-second clips), and every failed take costs the same
- Recurring 2026 user complaints: weak prompt adherence on complex scenes, inconsistent quality between takes, and heavy moderation that blocks benign content
- The Unlimited plan is being retired in favor of Max ($95/month, 9,500 credits) with existing users migrated on 2026-09-01, and unlimited Explore-mode generations run at a relaxed, slower rate

Verdict: Runway is the buy if you want a production tool, not just a prompt slot machine: generation plus editing, capture, lip sync and upscaling in one place, and since May 2026 the same $12/month subscription also serves Veo 3.1 and Kling 3.0 Pro. That makes it the default choice for agencies and anyone running a best-model-per-shot workflow. Pure-volume creators get more seconds per dollar going to Kling directly, and audio-first cinematic work is still stronger on Veo 3.1. Do not evaluate it on the Free plan alone: 125 one-time credits is barely 10 seconds of Gen-4.5.

Full review: https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/runway · Markdown: https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/runway.md

## More

Full ai-video ranking: https://glad-ia-tor.com/hall-of-fame/ai-video

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