Runway ML vs Pika
Runway ML and Pika side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Runway ML | Pika | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video & Motion | Video & Motion |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $12/mo (checked October 2026) | $8+/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Not listed |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Runway ML lists a free tier and Pika does not.
Pika has the lower starting price ($8/mo against $12/mo for Runway ML). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Video & Motion category.
About each tool
Runway ML
AI video and image generation and editing platform with credit-based plans. Free plan with 125 one-time credits; Standard is $12 a month billed annually ($15 monthly).
Who it is for
Creators, video editors and studios who want to make AI video and images in a browser. Higher tiers add team seats, brand kits and studio export formats, and developers can use a separate pay-per-credit API.
Strengths
- Standard and higher plans list no watermark and 4K upscaling
- Credit rates are published per model; for example, Gen-4.5 video costs 12 credits a second
- Standard, Pro, Unlimited, Max and Team can buy extra credits (minimum 1,000), and purchased credits do not expire, per the help center
- Max lists studio-grade outputs (HDR, ProRes, image sequences) and up to 500GB of storage
- Team plans share a pool of 6,900 credits per seat, and Viewers are free, per the help center
Limitations
- The Free plan is a one-time deposit of 125 credits that do not expire, with 5GB of storage, and free users cannot buy credits
- Generation is metered in credits. At 12 credits a second, a 5-second Gen-4.5 clip is 60 credits and Standard's 625 monthly credits cover about 52 seconds
- Credit rates vary widely by model. For example, Gen-4 Video Turbo is 5 a second, and Veo 3.1 is 20 a second without audio and 40 with audio
- Standard allows up to 3 projects and 5 parallel generations, and Pro allows 5 projects and 15 parallel generations
- The Unlimited plan has not been offered since 1 June 2026. The help center says legacy plans stay unchanged through 30 November 2026, then monthly subscribers move to Max at $95 a month
Pika
AI video generator for short clips from text, images and video, with effects such as Pikaffects, editing tools and several models. Starter is $8 a month billed annually; the Free plan has no monthly credits.
Who it is for
Individual creators and small teams who make short social or marketing video clips and want effects, editing tools and several video models in one credit-based account. The vendor also lists an API and an Enterprise tier for developers and larger organizations.
Strengths
- The pricing page says all plans include access to all models and no watermark, including Free
- Annual billing is listed at 20% off: Starter $8 a month and Creator $28 a month
- Creator and above include a commercial license, and Fancy adds unlimited parallel generations and a priority queue
- The Create apps page lists tools beyond text-to-video: Camera Director, Swap Anything, Extend Video, Upscale Video, Motion Transfer, Pika Soundtrack, Pikaffects, Pikaframes (up to five stills) and Pikadditions
- A separate developer API at dev.pika.art lists usage-based prices, for example Pikaffects at $0.05 a request
Limitations
- Starter ($10 a month monthly, $8 annual) has 900 credits and no commercial license, and commercial use starts at Creator ($35 a month monthly)
- Fancy is a range ($95 to $880 a month monthly, $76 to $704 annual) from 8,550 credits, and early access starts at $440 a month
