Disclosure: some links on this page may be affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Read the disclosure.

By the toolist.ai editors. Researched from vendor pages and hands-on tests published by others, not hands-on tested by toolist.ai. Updated October 23, 2026.

Best text to video tools

Text-to-video tools generate short clips from a prompt or an image. Of the nine we cover, Veo 3.1 is the reliable all-rounder and has the lowest subscription price per second in our calculations, through a Google AI plan, Kling makes clips with sound and strong camera moves from $8.80 a month, Runway suits filmmakers who also edit real footage, Higgsfield runs several of these models on one bill, and Seedance 2.5, ByteDance's model with native sound, sells in Dreamina from $15 a month and through the BytePlus API. MiniMax's Hailuo AI sells its H3 model, which makes clips of up to 15 seconds with native sound, from $10.50 a month. Luma AI, Luma Labs' app formerly called Dream Machine, runs its own silent Ray3.2 model beside Kling, Seedance, Veo 3.1 and MiniMax H3 on one credit balance from $30 a month. Pika, relaunched on September 17, 2026 as a creative platform for short social clips and effects, runs its own silent Pika 2.5 model beside Seedance 2.5, Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0 and MiniMax H3 on one credit balance from $10 a month for 900 credits, with a commercial licence on every paid plan. Its Free plan includes no monthly credits, and the published hands-on tests of Pika we found all cover earlier versions, from before the relaunch. PixVerse, an AI video app for short social clips and effects templates, makes clips of up to 15 seconds at 1080p with native sound from a prompt or a photo on its own V6 model. Its free plan gives 30 credits a day at up to 540p with a watermark, Standard costs $10 a month for 1,200 credits every 30 days plus 60 a day at up to 720p on PixVerse's own models, and other companies' models such as Seedance 2.5, Kling O3 and MiniMax H3 start with Pro at $30; the two published hands-on tests of PixVerse we found cover earlier models, not V6.

Quick picks

• Hailuo AI: best for short clips with native sound and multi-reference control at a low price per second
• Higgsfield: best for trying several video models, such as Kling, Seedance and Veo, on one bill
• Kling: best for low-cost clips with native sound and strong camera moves
• Luma AI: best for directed, silent cinematic shots and footage restyling, with HDR and EXR output for post-production
• Pika: best for short social clips and viral effects, with many video, image and sound models on one credit balance
• PixVerse: best for short social clips and effects with sound from a prompt or a photo, at a low entry price
• Runway: best for filmmakers who want generation plus editing of real footage
• Seedance: best for top-ranked cinematic clips with sound and heavy reference control
• Veo: best for reliable clips with dialogue and sound, inside a Google plan or the API

Compared

Listed in alphabetical order: we do not rank tools we have not tested ourselves. Price per unit divides each cheapest plan's monthly price by what it includes. Units differ between tools, so read the unit before comparing two rows.

Also listed, not researched yet: AI Trend Video, Tellcut, Vidu.

Filter every tool by price and free plan in the tool directory, or price your own month in the AI cost calculator.

How to choose

• Compare price per second, not per month: by our calculation Veo 3.1 Fast costs about 5 cents a second on Google AI Pro for 8-second clips, Luma's silent Ray3.2 at 720p about 6 cents on Luma AI's Plus plan in 5-second clips (24 cents at 1080p), MiniMax H3 at 768p about 7 cents on Hailuo's Standard plan, Kling 3.0 at 1080p with sound about 16 cents on Standard, Seedance 2.5 at 720p with sound about 29 cents on Pika's Starter plan in 5-second clips, and Runway Gen-4.5 about 29 cents on Standard. Dreamina plans are counted in credits, not seconds; the BytePlus API charges $0.231 a second for Seedance 2.5 at 720p. PixVerse publishes no credit cost per second for its web plans, so what a plan buys is shown only in the app, before each generation; its separate API, sold in its own credits, charges V6 from $0.022 a second at 360p without sound to $0.102 at 1080p with sound, by our calculation.
• Failed clips: Dreamina does not charge for failed generations and Hailuo and Luma return credits for them, while Runway refunds only generations that error; Luma, PixVerse and Runway do not refund results you dislike, and the newest one- and two-star Trustpilot reviews of PixVerse complain of credits spent on failed or blocked generations.
• Commercial use: Kling's free output is not for commercial use, Dreamina's terms describe it as generally for private, non-commercial use, Hailuo's and Luma's terms allow commercial use only of content made on a paid plan, and every paid Pika plan, from Starter at $10 a month, includes a commercial licence, but its Free plan does not. PixVerse's is unclear: no plan card names a commercial licence, its terms limit outputs to non-commercial use unless you get separate authorization or a commercial-use licence, and its V6 page says commercial rights depend on your subscription tier, so ask PixVerse in writing before using its clips in ads or client work.
• Sound: Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, Seedance 2.5, MiniMax H3 and PixVerse V6 generate native audio; CNET found no native audio on Runway's own videos, and neither Luma's Ray3.2 nor Pika's own Pika 2.5 makes any, though Pika Soundtrack can score a finished clip.

Read more

• Hailuo AI review · pricing
• Higgsfield review
• Kling review
• Luma AI review · pricing
• Pika review · pricing
• PixVerse review · pricing
• Runway review · pricing
• Seedance review · pricing
• Veo review
• Kling vs Veo
• Runway vs Kling

Other categories: avatar video, editors, clips, script to video, voice, image, writing, coding. All lists: best-of lists.