Kling generates the better motion. Runway gives you more control over it. Both watermark free output, and Runway's free credits arrive once and never refill.
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Pick Kling AI if you want the shot to look physically real, because Kling holds a body together through fast movement better than Runway does and costs less per attempt while you iterate.
Pick Runway if you need to direct or edit the shot rather than roll the dice, because References keep a face and an outfit steady across shots, Aleph edits footage you already have, and the same plan also runs Kling, Veo and Seedance.
Pick neither if you need one specific repeatable shot by a client deadline, because both still fail unpredictably and a stock clip costs less than your twentieth regeneration.
prices checked 2026-10-13 · by dan scutaru
| Kling AI | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| price | free tier · from $10/mo | free tier · from $15/mo |
| free tier | Basic has no subscription credits, but non-subscribers can claim a monthly free-credit grant at login (amount not published, valid 31 days). 720p only, 1 video per generation, no video extension, Kling watermark, not licensed for commercial use. | 125 one-time credits (not monthly) plus 5GB storage, limited to a subset of models, and generations carry a watermark. |
| runs on | web, ios, android, windows, mac, api | web, ios, android, api |
| Longest single clip | 15 seconds (Video 3.0) | 10 seconds (Gen-4.5) |
| A second of video on the entry plan | 6 to 12 credits on Kling 3.0, about 9 to 18 cents at 660 credits for $10 | 12 credits on Gen-4.5, about 29 cents at 625 credits for $15 |
| Output resolution | 720p free, 1080p and 4K on paid plans | Gen-4.5 renders at 720p, with 4K upscaling from Standard |
| Top individual plan | Ultra, $180/mo, 26,000 credits | Max, $95/mo, 9,500 credits |
| Unused credits | Monthly credits last 31 days, bought credits 2 years | Reset monthly on Standard and Pro, one month rollover on Max, bought credits never expire |
Kling costs roughly half as much per second. Kling Standard is $10 a month for 660 credits, and Kling 3.0 costs 6 credits a second at 720p or 8 at 1080p without audio, 9 or 12 with it. That is about 9 to 18 cents a second, or 55 to 110 seconds a month. Runway Standard is $15 for 625 credits, and Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits a second: about 29 cents, or 52 seconds a month.
Runway also sells Kling 3.0 on its paid plans, at 9 Runway credits a second for the Std version without audio and 12 for Pro. On Runway Standard that is about 22 cents a second, so having one bill for both roughly doubles what a Kling clip costs you.
Kling, partly. The free Basic plan comes with no subscription credits. Kling's FAQ says non-subscribers can claim a monthly batch of free credits at login, valid for 31 days, and does not say how many. The daily free credits most guides quote are listed as a subscriber benefit. Free output is 720p, one video per generation, with no extension, Kling's watermark and no licence for commercial use.
Runway's free plan is 125 credits, once. They never expire and never refill, and you cannot buy more without upgrading. Every free video carries a Runway watermark, and Gen-4.5 starts at Standard. Neither free tier will finish a project, but Kling's comes back every month.
Both animate a still, and Kling gives you more room to do it. Kling 3.0 turns an image into 3 to 15 seconds of video at 720p or 1080p, and takes a start frame and an end frame, so you decide where the shot ends up. Runway's Gen-4.5 added image to video in January: 2 to 10 seconds, rendered at 720p, on Standard and above, with 4K upscaling as a separate step.
If you only want to bring one photo to life, an old family picture say, Kling's free plan is the cheaper test, watermark aside. If the still is one frame of a bigger edit, Runway keeps the clip in the same place as the tools that cut, restyle and upscale it.
Runway's own models have nothing that does exactly this. You give Kling a character image and a 3 to 30 second video of someone moving, and it copies the movement and facial expressions onto your character. The 3.0 version costs 9 credits a second in Standard mode and 12 in Professional, and if the output comes back shorter than your clip, Kling keeps the credits.
Runway's own nearest tool is Act-Two, a character performance model at 5 credits a second with a 3 second minimum. Runway also lists Kling 3.0 Motion Control among its models, at 13 credits a second for 720p and 17 for 1080p. Since Runway credits cost more than Kling's, that is the expensive way to use Kling's feature.
For motion per dollar, yes. Kling 3.0 makes clips up to 15 seconds long, against 10 on Gen-4.5, at roughly half the price per second. For working on a shot after you generate it, no: Runway has Aleph for editing footage, References for keeping a character consistent, and other labs' models, Kling included, under one plan.
Not for new subscribers. Runway stopped selling Unlimited on June 1 and replaced it with Max: $95 a month for 9,500 credits, without Explore Mode. Existing Unlimited subscribers keep it until November 30, 2026. After that, monthly subscribers move to Max at the same price, and annual subscribers choose between a refund and a credit bonus.
Yes. Kling has iOS and Android apps plus desktop versions for Windows and for Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, all linked from kling.ai. Runway has phone apps too, but its help page lists only the web for Gen-4.5.
Yes. Runway's developer API charges $0.01 per credit, so Gen-4.5 costs 12 cents a second and Gen-4 Turbo 5 cents. Kling also has its own API, linked from the top of kling.ai.