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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 15, 2026.

Best text to video tools

Text-to-video tools generate short clips from a prompt or an image. Of the seven we cover, Veo 3.1 is the reliable all-rounder and has the lowest 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.

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
• 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: Tellcut.

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, 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.
• Failed clips: Dreamina does not charge for failed generations and Hailuo and Luma return credits for them, while Runway refunds only generations that error; neither Luma nor Runway refunds results you dislike.
• Commercial use: Kling's free output is not for commercial use, Dreamina's terms describe it as generally for private, non-commercial use, and Hailuo's and Luma's terms allow commercial use only of content made on a paid plan.
• Sound: Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, Seedance 2.5 and MiniMax H3 generate native audio; CNET found no native audio on Runway's own videos, and Luma's Ray3.2 makes none.

Read more

• Hailuo AI review · pricing
• Higgsfield review
• Kling review
• Luma AI 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.