# Alternatives to Runway

Runway is a web, iOS and Android AI platform for generating and editing video and images from text or image prompts, built around its own Gen-4.5 model plus third-party models (Veo 3.1, Kling, Nano Banana Pro). It offers a free plan with one-time credits and paid Standard/Pro/Max subscription tiers, plus a developer API and an experimental real-time AI-character product.

Runway ranks #4 of 8 in AI video generators, with an Alt Score of 74. It is proprietary, freemium from $15/mo and available on Web and iOS. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/runway/
Category: AI video generators

## Where Runway stands out

- **Commercial use rights** — 4 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Individual creators exploring AI video and image generation, and teams and enterprises (e.g. BBC, Under Armour) producing marketing, product and film content at scale, per the pricing and product pages.
- **What you get**: Text-to-video, image-to-video, video editing/upscaling, AI lip sync, text-to-speech and music generation models, all metered by a shared credit system, plus a public API and, for enterprise, a real-time custom AI-character (avatar) builder.
- **How it works**: Users generate content from text or image prompts in the web app (or iOS/Android apps) using Runway's own Gen-4.5 model or third-party models like Veo 3.1 and Kling, each consuming a set number of plan credits; developers can call the same models through the Runway API.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $15/mo (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-08-03)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [HeyGen](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/heygen.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [InVideo AI](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/invideo-ai.md) | 81 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 3 | [Kling AI](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kling-ai.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| 4 | [Synthesia](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/synthesia.md) | 74 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension |
| 5 | [Luma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/luma-dream-machine.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Web |
| 6 | [Google Veo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/google-veo.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [Pika](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pika.md) | 48 | Proprietary | Web, iOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| AI video generators checklist | Runway | HeyGen | InVideo AI | Kling AI | Synthesia | Luma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starts at | $15/mo | $29/mo | $17/mo | $8.8/mo | $29/mo | $30/mo |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, iOS | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Web, Browser extension | Web |
| Text-to-video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image-to-video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| AI avatars | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Text-to-speech voiceover | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lip sync | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-language dubbing | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Custom avatar training | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | ? |
| 4K export | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | No | Partial |
| Watermark-free free tier | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
| API access | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Commercial use rights | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |

## Sources

Sources for Runway. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://runway.com/terms-of-use> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $15/mo — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS — <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/runwayml/id1665024375> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Status**: active — <https://runway.com/product> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Text-to-video**: Yes — <https://runway.com/product> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Image-to-video**: Yes — <https://runway.com/product> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **AI avatars**: Partial — <https://runway.com/news/introducing-runway-characters> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Text-to-speech voiceover**: Yes — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Lip sync**: Yes — <https://runway.com/resources/ai-lip-sync> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Multi-language dubbing**: No — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Custom avatar training**: Partial — <https://runway.com/news/introducing-runway-characters> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **4K export**: Partial — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Watermark-free free tier**: No — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **API access**: Yes — <https://runway.com/api> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Commercial use rights**: Yes — <https://runway.com/terms-of-use> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Free tier**: Yes — <https://runway.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/