Runway

Runway is a web-based generative media platform built around text-to-video and image-to-video, but it has grown well beyond a simple editor. Today it also handles image generation and native audio, and it hosts a range of third-party models alongside its own.

The current flagship is Gen-4.5, announced on December 1, 2025. It sits at the top of the Gen-4 family, which also includes Gen-4 and the faster Gen-4 Turbo. Compared with earlier Gen-4 models, Gen-4.5 improves motion quality, prompt adherence, and physical and temporal realism, and the family added native audio generation alongside video. At launch it took the No. 1 spot on the Artificial Analysis Video Arena leaderboard.

Beyond its own models, Runway lets you work with external ones such as Veo 3.1, Nano Banana Pro, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.0, and Gemini, so you can compare outputs without leaving the platform. That makes it useful for character consistency across shots, image-driven video, and mixed image, video, and audio workflows.

Pricing is credit-based. The Free plan costs nothing and gives 125 one-time credits with watermarked output and limited models (no Gen-4 Video, Gen-4.5, or Veo). Standard is $12/mo billed annually ($15 monthly) with 625 credits a month. Pro is $28/mo annually ($35 monthly) with 2,250 credits. Max is $76/mo annually ($95 monthly) with 9,500 credits and one-month rollover; it replaced the discontinued Unlimited plan. Enterprise pricing is custom.

The main limitation is the credit system: generation consumes credits, so heavy use gets expensive, and the free tier is more of a trial than a working plan. The new Max plan is purely credit-based and, unlike the old Unlimited plan, does not include Explore Mode.

Runway suits creators, editors, and studios who want a single place to generate and compare AI video across multiple models, and who are comfortable paying per credit for higher-quality output.