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By the toolist.ai editors. Researched from Runway's own pages and hands-on tests published by others, not hands-on tested by toolist.ai. Updated October 6, 2026.

Runway review: pricing, features and what testers found

Runway is an AI video studio whose Gen-4.5 model turns prompts or images into short clips, with the Aleph model for editing existing footage and third-party models on the same credits. Paid plans start at $15 a month.

Our take

Zapier names Runway the best AI video generator for film-making, praising how Gen-4.5 understands camera moves and timed beats and how Aleph can relight or restyle footage you already shot. It is an expensive way to buy seconds, though: Standard's 625 credits make about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month, about 29 cents a second, and Gen-4.5 sits 23rd of 31 on Artificial Analysis's blind-vote board. Credits come back only when a generation errors, not when you dislike the result.

Based on Runway's published plans and the hands-on tests linked below, not on a test of our own.

Good for

  • Filmmakers and editors who want generation and video-to-video editing in one place
  • Creators who want several video models on one credit balance

Watch out for

  • Standard buys about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month; Gen-4.5 is not on the free plan.
  • Credits are refunded only when a generation errors, not for results that miss the prompt.
  • Standard and Pro credits reset each month; only Max rolls them over, for one month.
  • The Unlimited plan stopped selling on June 1, 2026; existing Unlimited subscribers move to Max on November 30, 2026.
  • Gen-4.5 renders at 720p; higher resolutions come from upscaling.

What Runway does

Price

Free plan: 125 credits once (they never refresh), a limited set of models without Gen-4.5, and a watermark on every video.

PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearly, per monthIncludesPrice per second of Gen-4.5 video
Standard $15 $12 625 credits a month, about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 (12 credits a second); no watermark, 4K upscaling $0.288
Pro $35 $28 2,250 credits a month, about 187 seconds of Gen-4.5; credit top-ups, a custom voice, 100 GB storage $0.187
Max $95 $76 9,500 credits a month, about 791 seconds of Gen-4.5; credits roll over one month, ProRes and HDR output $0.120

Price per second of Gen-4.5 video is our calculation: the monthly-billing price divided by what the plan includes, assuming you use all of it. It is not a measured cost.

Prices last checked: 2026-10-16 on Runway's pricing page. Full breakdown: Runway pricing.

Price history

No price change since we first recorded these prices on October 6, 2026. We re-check them every week and list each change here.

What hands-on testers found

We have not tested Runway ourselves. These are the published tests we found that used it hands-on, newest first; follow the links for the full reviews.

Artificial Analysis Video Arena · October 6, 2026

What they tested: Blind human votes between text-to-video models without audio, read on the day we checked.

  • Gen-4.5 ranked 23rd of 31 on the no-audio board.
  • Runway's December 2025 claim of first place no longer holds on today's board.

Their score: 23rd of 31 (Elo 921), silent text-to-video board

CNET · Katelyn Chedraoui · September 14, 2026

What they tested: Runway's latest model across varied prompts in a tested roundup of AI video generators.

  • Rated the most creative option, good for brainstorming and animating stills.
  • Many settings to control output before generating.
  • No native audio on Runway's own videos.

Their score: 7 out of 10

Zapier · Miguel Rebelo · updated July 8, 2026

What they tested: Gen-4.5, Aleph and Act-Two over almost a month of testing; picked as best for film-making.

  • Gen-4.5 understands film terms such as timed beats and camera moves.
  • Aleph changed lighting, angle, weather or objects in uploaded footage from a prompt.

What users say

Test result

toolist.ai has not run its own test of Runway; the findings above come from the published tests linked. See how we research and test.

Best text to video tools · Runway pricing · Runway alternatives

Compared with

Do you make Runway? Claim this listing to correct it; it's free. To see whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity recommend it, and how many readers we send you: toolist.ai for AI companies.

Sources