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AI Compare · AI tools

Runway: plans, prices, strengths and limits

Runway is a web and mobile app for generating and editing video, images and voice with its own Gen models and models from other companies, paid for in credits. Its Terms leave you the owner of what you make and do not restrict commercial use.

Prices for United States, before sales tax Data release 2026.10.16-3, Oct 16, 2026 Rules 2.1.0

Made by
Runway AI, Inc.
Individual plans
4, one free
Paid plans
$15 to $95 a month
Facts checked
Oct 16, 2026

Quick verdict

Runway puts video, image and voice generation behind one credit balance. Every paid plan includes all of its AI video and image models, among them Gen-4.5, Seedance, Kling and Veo. Free gives 125 credits once, which never refresh, and every Free video carries a Runway watermark. Standard is $15 a month with 625 credits, Pro $35 with 2,250 and Max $95 with 9,500, all before tax. Billed yearly they are $12, $28 and $76 a month: $144, $336 and $912 a year, paid up front. Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits a second, so a month of credits buys about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 video on Standard, 187 on Pro and 791 on Max.

Commercial use is not tied to a plan. Runway's Terms (section 4.4) say it "does not claim ownership of any of your Inputs or Outputs" and "does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs", with no plan restriction stated, and the help center says you retain ownership and all rights. One page differs: the Premiere Pro plugin FAQ describes plugin output as "commercial use on paid plans". Videos are watermark-free from Standard up. The same Terms say your Inputs and Outputs "may be used by the Company to train and improve its AI models", and we found no opt-out.

The principal limitation is what Runway has dropped or leaves undocumented. It deprecated its standalone Subtitles tool (April 2026) and its Transcript tool and lists no replacement for either, no page describes cutting long videos into short clips, and the Free plan's models and tools are shown only after login. This verdict rests on what Runway documents, not on our tests, which we have not run yet.

Strengths and limits

Strengths

  • All models on every paid planStandard, Pro and Max list access to all AI video and image models: Gen-4.5, Seedance, Kling, Veo and more for video, and Gen-4 Image, Gen-4 Image Turbo, Nano Banana Pro and more for images. Gen-4.5 makes 2 to 10 second clips at 720p, Seedance 2.0 Pro outputs 1080p, and every paid plan can upscale to 4K.
  • Generate and edit in one appThe Final Cut timeline in Runway Agent splits, trims, moves and deletes clips and exports the result, and the Agent can assemble clips on request. Aleph 2.0 in Edit Studio makes AI edits to footage you upload, at 140 credits per 5 seconds.
  • Characters driven by a performance or a scriptAct-Two, from Standard up, transfers the motion, speech and expression of a driving performance to a character, up to 30 seconds at 5 credits a second. Character Script to Video turns a character image and a typed script into a video of the character delivering it; its help article names no plan.
  • Voice generation and voice clonesText to Speech costs 1 credit per 50 characters, with Eleven v3 among the models. Pro includes 1 custom voice clone and Max up to 3, each costing 50 credits to create, recorded in the app or uploaded as a clip, and usable for Text to Speech and lip sync.
  • Plugins, MCP and mobile appsRunway runs on the web and in iPhone and Android apps. From Standard, plugins generate inside Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve Studio. Pro and Max add Runway MCP, which works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Replit and other MCP clients and uses plan credits.

Limits

  • Free is a one-time allowancePlan limit. Free has 125 credits one time, which do not expire or refresh, and you cannot buy more credits on Free. All Free videos carry a Runway watermark. Which models and tools Free includes is shown only after login, so most Free capabilities are not verified.
  • No captions or transcription toolDocumented as not offered. Runway deprecated its standalone Subtitles tool (April 2026) and its Transcript tool, and its deprecation table lists the alternative as "N/A". Turning a long video into short clips is not verified: no Runway page describes it.
  • Your work may train Runway's modelsNot verified: an opt-out. Terms section 4.4 say Inputs and Outputs may be used to train Runway's models, and the terms, privacy policy and help center describe no opt-out setting for individual plans. The help center says third-party model providers do not train on customer content.
  • Credits reset monthly below MaxBilling limit. Standard and Pro credits reset each cycle, and unused monthly credits do not roll over. Max rolls over up to one month of unused credits. Standard and Pro can buy extra credits, with a minimum of 1,000 on Standard; Free cannot buy credits.
  • Storage and dubbing unclearUnverified. For Pro storage, Runway's pages disagree: the pricing page lists 100GB, the Pro plan help article 500GB. A Voice Dubbing node in Workflows does speech to speech in 29 languages, but no page says whether it translates speech or which plans include it.

Based on what Runway AI, Inc. documents for each plan, not on our tests.

Who it suits

A good fit if you

  • Generating video from text or images with several companies' models in one app
  • Commercial projects without a watermark, from Standard at $15 a month
  • Animating a character from your own recorded performance with Act-Two
  • Editors working in Premiere Pro, After Effects or DaVinci Resolve Studio (Standard and up)

Look elsewhere if you

  • Captions or transcripts: Runway's standalone tools are deprecated with no replacement listed
  • Ongoing free use: Free's 125 credits are one time only and every video is watermarked
  • Keeping your inputs out of model training: no opt-out found
  • Cutting long videos into short clips: not verified
  • iPad: the mobile app is for iPhone and Android only

Plans and prices

Runway individual plans and prices for United States
PlanMonthlyYearlyChecked
Runway Free Free Oct 15, 2026
Runway StandardYearly toggle shows $12/month billed annually (Save $36/year); 12 x $12 = $144. $15 a month $144 a year Oct 15, 2026 Source
Runway ProYearly toggle shows $28/month billed annually (Save $84/year); 12 x $28 = $336. $35 a month $336 a year Oct 15, 2026 Source
Runway MaxYearly toggle shows $76/month billed annually (Save $228/year); 12 x $76 = $912. $95 a month $912 a year Oct 15, 2026 Source

Prices for United States, before sales tax unless a plan says otherwise. A yearly plan is paid up front and is not cancel-any-time.

Features by plan

What Runway AI, Inc. documents for each plan. A hatched mark means we could not verify it, which is not the same as "not offered".

Runway features by plan
FeatureRunway FreeRunway StandardRunway ProRunway Max
Images, video and voice
Image generation Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Video generation Yes Yes Yes Yes
Image editing and design
Photo editing Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Background removal Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Text inside images Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Logo maker Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Vector (SVG) files Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Upscaling Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Video editing and presenters
Photo to video Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Footage editing Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Avatar presenters Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Lip sync Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Automatic captions No No No No
Clips from long videos Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Exports without a watermark No Yes Yes Yes
Music, voice and transcription
Voiceover from text Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Voice cloning No No Yes Yes
Dubbing into other languages Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Transcription No No No No
Integrations and agents
Connectors to other apps Unclear Yes Yes Yes
Privacy and control
Opt out of model training Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Export your data Yes Yes Yes Yes
Shows ads Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear
Rights and licensing
Commercial use of outputs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Apps and extras
Apps Yes Yes Yes Yes

The details and sources of every row are in Compare two AIs and the data release.

What it documents for each use

  • Images & Design Create images from a description · Make graphics for posts and slides · Edit my own photos · Remove a background · Make images with exact text
  • Video & Animation Make short videos from a description · Edit my own video footage · Turn a photo into a video · Make a video with a presenter
  • Business & Productivity Connect AI to the apps I already use
  • Audio & Voice Turn a script into a voiceover · Use a copy of my own voice

A use is listed when at least one plan documents every feature a task needs. Answer quality is a separate question: see below.

Using it day to day

Runway runs in the browser, in an iPhone app (no iPad) and in an Android app. The Adobe and DaVinci Resolve plugins let Free users sign in but ask them to upgrade before generating. The API is billed separately. You can upload images (JPEG, PNG, WebP), video (MP4, MOV including ProRes, MKV, WebM, 3GP, OGV) and audio (MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC), and add documents and fonts to Runway Agent. What each plan includes:

  • Free, $0: 125 credits one time, a limited set of models chosen by Runway, a Runway watermark on every video, 5GB storage.
  • Standard, $15 a month: 625 credits a month (about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5, or 78 Gen-4 Images at 1080p), 5 parallel generations, up to 3 projects, no watermark, 4K upscaling, 20GB storage.
  • Pro, $35 a month: 2,250 credits (about 187 seconds of Gen-4.5), 15 parallel generations, up to 5 projects, 1 Brand Kit, 1 custom voice clone, Runway MCP, unlimited 4K video upscaling; storage is 100GB or 500GB depending on which Runway page you read.
  • Max, $95 a month: 9,500 credits (about 791 seconds of Gen-4.5) with one month of rollover, early access to new models, 20 parallel generations, up to 10 projects, 3 Brand Kits, 3 custom voice clones, HDR, ProRes and image sequence output, unlimited 4K upscaling, 500GB storage.

Privacy, data and ads

Runway's Terms say your Inputs and Outputs may be used to train its AI models. We found no opt-out setting for individual plans on the terms, privacy policy or help center, so an opt-out is not verified. The help center says third-party model providers do not train on customer content. You can select assets and batch download them as a ZIP from the Assets page, and the privacy policy lists a right to access and get a copy of your personal information. Whether any plan shows ads is not verified. Runway also offers content credential (C2PA) verification on its site. Read Runway's privacy policy before you upload faces, voices or client material.

Read the vendor's own page: Runway privacy and data controls. We make no legal or compliance claim.

Test results

We have not tested Runway yet, so this page makes no claim about answer quality, and we show no example outputs. Run the same kit in it and in the alternatives, in your own account:

Getting started

  1. Start on Free and log in to see which models and tools it includes, since Runway shows that list only after login. Your 125 credits are one time only.
  2. Treat Free output as drafts: every Free video carries a watermark. For watermark-free video, choose Standard or above.
  3. Check costs before a long session: Gen-4.5 is 12 credits a second, Gen-4 Image 8 credits at 1080p, Aleph 2.0 140 credits per 5 seconds and Act-Two 5 credits a second.
  4. Choose billing: Standard is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly ($144 paid up front). Max is the plan with credit rollover, ProRes and HDR output and 3 voice clones.
  5. Compare plans on our tools page, and read how we check vendor claims.

Your fit

Tell Find my AI what you do and what matters; it checks every plan of Runway against your priorities, next to the alternatives.

Alternatives

  • Luma Luma documents captions and Whisper v3 transcription at 1 credit a minute inside its app, which Runway has deprecated, and its Plus plan at $30 a month lists commercial use and 10,000 credits a month. About Luma
  • Higgsfield Higgsfield Plus at $59 a month lists Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 up to 4K, custom voice cloning and a Translate mode that re-voices content in 18 languages, though it has no mobile or desktop app. About Higgsfield
  • Descript Descript edits video by editing its transcript, creates animated captions automatically and turns long recordings into 1 to 20 short clips with Create Clips, none of which Runway documents. About Descript
  • HeyGen For presenter videos, HeyGen Creator at $29 a month lists 700+ stock video avatars, videos up to 30 minutes at 1080p and AI Clipping, which turns long videos into captioned highlight clips. About HeyGen

Recent changes

  • Runway Max added
  • Runway Pro added
  • Runway Standard added
  • Runway Free added

Every change is in the change log.

Questions

How much does Runway cost?

Standard is $15 a month, Pro $35 and Max $95, before tax. Billed yearly they are $12, $28 and $76 a month: $144, $336 and $912 a year, paid up front. Free is $0 with 125 credits one time.

Can I use Runway videos commercially?

Runway's Terms say it "does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs" and state no plan restriction, so this covers Free too. Free videos carry a Runway watermark, though, and the Premiere Pro plugin FAQ describes plugin output as "commercial use on paid plans".

Who owns what I make with Runway?

You do. Runway's Terms say it does not claim ownership of your Inputs or Outputs, and the help center says you retain ownership and all rights. The same Terms let Runway use Inputs and Outputs to train its models.

How much video do Runway's credits buy?

Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits a second and makes clips of 2 to 10 seconds at 720p. Runway puts a month of credits at about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 on Standard, 187 on Pro and 791 on Max. Other models have their own rates.

Can Runway add captions or transcribe a video?

Not with a dedicated tool. Runway deprecated its standalone Subtitles tool (April 2026) and its Transcript tool and lists no alternative. Runway Characters can download a text transcript of a live avatar conversation, which is not file transcription.

Sources

22 official pages, checked Oct 15, 2026 to Oct 16, 2026. This page was written by the What the tech desk with AI assistance from the facts in our data release; no company paid for or reviewed it.

Read how AI Compare works. Found an error? It goes in the change log once corrected.

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Found an error? Tell us at our contact page and we will correct it in the change log.