Runway is an AI video and image platform. You can generate video from text or images, edit and transform existing footage, and use a growing set of audio, image and workflow tools, all paid for with monthly credits. It also offers models from other companies alongside its own.
This review summarises what Runway’s pricing page, help centre, research pages and changelog say about its plans, credits, models and recent updates. It is written for people deciding whether to pay for it, such as video editors, marketers, agencies and creative teams.
How we researched this: we did not run hands-on tests for this article. It is based on the vendor’s own documentation and public sources, checked on 11 November 2026. Features and prices change, so confirm details on the vendor’s site before you buy.
Key takeaways
- Runway sells monthly plans built around credits: Free (125 one-time credits), Standard, Pro and Max, with list prices of $15, $35 and $95 a month and about 20 percent off for annual billing.
- Cost per clip depends on the model. The pricing page gives examples such as 60 credits for 5 seconds on Gen-4.5, and other models cost more or less.
- Standard and Pro credits do not roll over, while Max credits roll over for one month, and purchased top-up credits do not expire.
- Runway’s changelog shows frequent additions between August and October 2026, including third-party models, a team plan, plugins for Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, and an ads tool.
- Runway’s own research page lists limits in Gen-4.5 such as objects appearing or disappearing unexpectedly, and we could not confirm Runway’s data and training policies in this research.
What Runway is
Runway builds generative video models and a web app around them. Its pricing page says paid plans give access to all AI video and image models, an agentic creative collaborator, App Studio, Runway Ads, and music, voice and sound effect generation. When we opened the old runwayml.com pricing address, it redirected to runway.com, so the company’s main domain appears to have changed; the help centre still uses runwayml.com addresses.
Runway’s own models
Runway’s research page says Gen-4.5 is its most advanced video generation model, released on 1 December 2025 and available on all paid plans. It claims the top position on the Artificial Analysis text-to-video benchmark with 1,247 Elo points, based on blind human preference voting, ahead of models from Google, Kling and OpenAI. That is Runway’s claim, and we have not checked it. The page also says Gen-4.5 was developed on NVIDIA GPUs.
A second research page describes GWM-1, announced on 11 December 2025, as Runway’s first general world model family. It is described as an autoregressive model that generates video frame by frame in real time, with variants for explorable environments (GWM Worlds), conversational characters (GWM Avatars) and robotics (GWM Robotics). Output is described as up to 2 minutes at 720p.
Who it is for
Based on the documented features, Runway suits creative professionals and teams who want to experiment with AI video and image generation in one workspace, including editors who want to work inside Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects or DaVinci Resolve through plugins, and marketers who want ad variants. Teams can share credits through workspaces or the self-serve team plan.
It is less suited to someone who wants a simple flat monthly price per clip, because cost varies by model. If you are new to AI video, our beginner’s guide to AI video prompts covers the basics.
Key features (documented)
| Area | What Runway’s pages describe |
|---|---|
| Video generation | Gen-4.5 and a range of third-party models. Third-party models named in pricing and changelog include Kling, Seedance, Wan and Grok Imagine. |
| Image generation | Models such as Gen-4 Image, Seedream and Ideogram appear in credit costs and the changelog. |
| Audio | Text to speech, sound effects and music. The changelog lists ElevenLabs V4 for audio generation from 29 September 2026. |
| Upscaling | 4K upscaling on Standard and above. Pro and Max have unlimited 4K video upscaling. |
| Agent and automation | An agentic creative collaborator, App Studio (hosted apps from plain-language descriptions) and Runway MCP on Pro and Max. |
| Ads | Runway Ads analyses top-performing ads on Meta, Google and TikTok and generates on-brand variants. |
| Editor plugins | Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects plugins (8 September 2026) and a DaVinci Resolve plugin (23 September 2026). |
| High-end output | Max only: HDR, ProRes and image-sequence output, and early access to new models. |
Recent updates from the changelog
Runway’s changelog (latest entry 27 October 2026) lists frequent releases. Examples with dates include Seedance 2.5 with up to 30-second videos and native audio on 11 August, a Wan 3.0 video model with audio on 24 August, a self-serve Team plan on 4 September, App Studio on 26 October and Runway Ads on 27 October. It also lists enterprise features such as per-project credit caps (9 October) and comments on assets (7 August). Because the lineup changes this quickly, check the changelog for what is current when you buy.
Pricing model
Checked on 11 November 2026, in US dollars from Runway’s pricing page. Confirm on Runway’s site before buying.
| Plan | List price per month | Billed annually (per month) | Credits per month | Limits listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Not applicable | 125 one-time credits, which do not expire | 5GB storage, limited model selection |
| Standard | $15 | $12 | 625 | 3 projects, 5 parallel generations, 20GB |
| Pro | $35 | $28 | 2,250 | 5 projects, 15 parallel generations, 1 Brand Kit, 1 voice clone, 100GB |
| Max | $95 | $76 | 9,500 | 10 projects, 20 parallel generations, up to 3 Brand Kits and 3 voice clones, 500GB |
Annual billing is shown as 20 percent off, with annual credit totals of 7,500, 27,000 and 114,000 for Standard, Pro and Max.
Credit costs, with examples
The pricing page lists examples rather than a full rate card. Gen-4.5 costs 60 credits per 5 seconds (the help centre says 12 credits per second). Kling 4.0 at 1080p costs 89 credits per 5 seconds, listed with a 25 percent discount through 30 November. Seedance 2.0 Pro at 1080p costs 160 credits per 4 seconds. Gen-4 Image at 1080p costs 8 credits, Gen-4 Image Turbo costs 2 credits, and text to speech costs 1 credit per 50 characters. This means a Standard plan’s 625 credits cover roughly ten 5-second Gen-4.5 clips, before any retries. That is our arithmetic from the published figure, not a Runway claim.
Credit rules
- Standard and Pro monthly credits do not roll over. Max credits roll over for one month.
- Purchased top-up credits never expire, with a 1,000-credit minimum purchase.
- Upgrades take effect immediately and are prorated. Downgrades apply the unused balance toward your next cycle.
- Editors in a workspace share one set of plan credits.
- Web app credits and API credits are separate balances.
The help centre’s credits article still lists an Unlimited plan alongside Pro, and a help article titled “Unlimited plan is switching to Max” appeared in our search results, but we could not open it. The pricing page lists only Free, Standard, Pro and Max, so confirm the current lineup if you are on a legacy plan. Our guide to reading an AI tool’s pricing page covers how to compare credit-based pricing.
Strengths
- Many models in one place. Paid plans include Runway’s own models and third-party models.
- Published credit examples. You can estimate cost per clip before you commit.
- Workflow integrations. Plugins for Adobe and DaVinci Resolve and an MCP connection support existing toolchains.
- Documented limitations. Runway states weaknesses in its own research page rather than only strengths.
- Team and enterprise features. Shared credit pools, a self-serve team plan and admin credit caps.
- Non-expiring top-ups. Purchased credits never expire.
Limits and cautions
- Costs scale quickly. Video credits per second add up, especially with retries.
- Stated model limits. Runway lists causal reasoning (effects sometimes appear before their causes), object permanence (objects may appear or disappear) and success bias (actions succeed too often) as limitations of Gen-4.5.
- Pricing varies by model and over time. Promotions such as the Kling discount end on dates.
- Most generous features are on Max. Rollover, early model access and HDR or ProRes output are Max only.
- Plan naming is in flux. Legacy references to Unlimited remain in places.
- Privacy details unconfirmed. See below.
Privacy and data
We did not manage to read Runway’s terms of service or data-use policy in this research, so we cannot say how Runway handles uploaded footage, whether your content is used to train models, or who owns outputs. Do not assume either way. Before uploading client footage, faces or unreleased material, read Runway’s terms and privacy policy and ask support or sales in writing. The changelog notes enterprise controls such as project credit caps, but that does not answer the data question. Our guide to protecting company data when using AI tools lists what to ask.
Because partner models are included, also check whether each third-party model has its own terms. Video that looks real can also mislead viewers, so see our guide to spotting AI-generated content and decide how you will label your output.
Alternatives
We did not research alternatives in depth. Our Adobe Firefly review covers a creative suite that also includes video generation and partner models under a different credit system. Our HeyGen review covers a tool focused on avatar presenter video, which is a different job from cinematic clip generation. Use our guide to comparing AI tools side by side fairly to run the same brief through each.
Who should and should not use it
| Best for | Look elsewhere if |
|---|---|
| Creators who want many video and image models under one subscription | You need a fixed cost per finished video |
| Editors who want AI inside Premiere Pro, After Effects or DaVinci Resolve | You need documented data-use terms before any trial and have not yet read them |
| Teams that share a credit pool and want admin controls | You want long, controlled scenes without visible artefacts and have not tested your own prompts |
| Heavy users who can justify Max for rollover and queue-free generation | You only need an occasional clip |
Questions to ask before buying
- Which model will we use most, and what does a finished 10-second clip cost after retries?
- Do we need Max features such as rollover, HDR output or early model access?
- What are the terms on training data, content ownership and confidentiality?
- Do third-party models have extra terms?
- Would the team plan or a shared workspace suit our seat count?
Use our guide to testing an AI tool before you pay for it with the free plan’s 125 credits to try your own brief, and our guide to choosing an AI tool to set criteria first.
Frequently asked questions
Does Runway have a free plan?
Yes. The pricing page lists a Free plan with 125 one-time credits that do not expire, 5GB of storage and limited model selection.
How many credits does a video cost?
It depends on the model. Runway lists Gen-4.5 at 60 credits for 5 seconds and other models at different rates.
Do credits roll over?
Standard and Pro credits do not. Max credits roll over for one month. Purchased top-ups never expire.
What models are available?
Runway’s own Gen-4.5 plus third-party models listed in its pricing page and changelog, including Kling, Seedance, Wan, Ideogram and Seedream. The list changes often.
Can I use Runway inside Premiere Pro?
The changelog lists Adobe plugins for Premiere Pro and After Effects, added on 8 September 2026, available on all plans.
Can I trust the output?
Review every clip for errors. See our guide to checking AI output for mistakes.
Conclusion
On the documentation we read, Runway is a fast-moving, credit-based AI video and image platform with a published plan ladder, many models and growing integrations. The key trade-offs are costs that depend on the model, credits that do not roll over on lower plans and data terms we could not confirm. It is best for creators and teams who will test their own prompts and budget by credit.
Start with our guide to choosing an AI tool, run a trial on the free plan and confirm every price on Runway’s site.
Sources
- Runway pricing, 11 November 2026
- How do credits work? (Runway Help Centre), 11 November 2026
- Max plan details (Runway Help Centre), 11 November 2026
- Introducing Runway Gen-4.5, 11 November 2026
- Introducing GWM-1, 11 November 2026
- Runway product updates and changelog, 11 November 2026
