Runway
A professional AI video generation and editing toolkit.
Description
Runway offers text/image-to-video AI models (Gen-4.5) alongside AI-powered editing tools like Act-One and Aleph, built for filmmakers, VFX artists, and ad creators.
Pros
- Many AI video tools in one platform (generation, performance capture, in-video editing)
- Quality improves quickly with each model release
- Great fit for filmmakers and content creators who iterate on prompts
Cons
- Credits burn fast on the flagship model, so real costs climb quickly with heavier use
- Takes time to learn the full feature set (Act-One, Aleph, motion brush)
What it does & solves
Runway solves the problem of needing a full production setup — cameras, actors, VFX software — to test a visual idea. Its Gen-4.5 model turns a text or image prompt into a short video clip, while separate tools handle performance capture (Act-One, which maps an actor's face onto a generated character) and in-video editing (Aleph, which can restyle, extend, or remove objects from existing footage). It won't replace a full production pipeline, but it collapses previz, concept trailers, and rough VFX work into a much faster loop.
Use cases
- Generating concept trailers, mood pieces, and B-roll from text or image prompts
- Restyling, extending, or removing objects from existing footage with Aleph
- Transferring an actor's facial performance onto a generated character with Act-One
- Building rough previz or storyboards for film and ad pitches before a full shoot
- Producing short social ads and product visualization clips
- Replacing a physical green screen with AI background removal
- Upscaling or smoothing footage for cleaner slow motion
Who it's for
Filmmakers, VFX artists, ad agencies, and content creators who don't mind iterating on prompts and camera controls to get a specific look. It's less beginner-friendly than one-click tools like Pika or InVideo AI — Act-One, Aleph, and the motion brush have a real learning curve — but that depth is what makes it useful for professional pre-production and VFX work rather than just quick social clips.
Getting started
- 1Sign up free at runwayml.com to get a one-time batch of starter credits.
- 2Pick Gen-4.5 (or another available model) and choose text-to-video or image-to-video.
- 3Write a prompt describing subject, action, camera movement, and style — the more specific, the more predictable the result.
- 4Generate a short clip, then refine with a revised prompt or tools like Motion Brush and camera controls.
- 5Use Aleph or the built-in editor to restyle or extend the clip once you're happy with the base generation, then export.
Tips for using it well
- Credits burn fast on Gen-4.5 (25 credits per second of video) — test an idea at short duration before committing to a longer final render.
- Feed image-to-video a strong, well-composed reference image for more control than a text-only prompt.
- Aleph is billed like any other generation, so use it selectively on footage that actually needs restyling or object removal rather than every clip.
- Only upgrade a tier once you're consistently exhausting your monthly credits — Max plan credits roll over, so overbuying capacity you don't use yet is wasted spend.
- Finish pacing, audio, and cuts in a standard editor (Premiere, DaVinci) rather than trying to assemble the whole piece inside Runway.
Plans & pricing
Free plan: 125 one-time credits (not renewed monthly) — enough to test the platform, but Gen-4.5's 25-credits-per-second cost means they disappear after a handful of short clips.
Standard
$12/month (billed annually; $15/month billed monthly)
625 credits per month, Runway's entry paid tier for regular use.
Pro
$28/month (billed annually)
2,250 credits per month, aimed at freelancers and small teams generating regularly.
Max
$76/month (billed annually; $95/month billed monthly)
9,500 credits per month with credit rollover, for heavier production use. Replaces the legacy Unlimited plan, which is being migrated to Max.
Enterprise
Custom
Volume pricing, dedicated support, and team management for studios and agencies.