Runway vs Kling vs Pika vs Luma Pricing 2026

A founder pricing AI video in 2026 needs three numbers per tool: the plan price, what the credits buy in seconds of finished video, and whether the output can be used commercially. This comparison covers all three using prices read on official pages on 2026-10-11. Where a figure was not verifiable, it says so instead of guessing.

1. What do Runway, Kling, Pika and Luma cost in 2026?

Monthly prices as listed on each vendor's pricing page; annual-billing rates in parentheses:

Tier	Runway	Pika	Luma
Free	$0, 125 one-time credits[1]	$0, credit packs only[4]	No free plan listed[5]
Entry	Standard $15 ($12), 625 credits[1]	Starter $10 ($8), 900 credits[4]	Plus $30, 10,000 credits[5]
Mid	Pro $35 ($28), 2,250 credits[1]	Creator $35 ($28), 3,150 credits[4]	Pro $90, 40,000 credits[5]
Top	Max $95 ($76), 9,500 credits, 1-month rollover[1]	Fancy $95-$880 ($76-$704), from 8,550 credits[4]	Ultra $300, 150,000 credits[5]

Three footnotes. Pika renamed and re-priced its plans since mid-2026: Starter replaces Standard and Creator replaces Pro, with more credits per plan, and its credit packs run 60 credits per dollar^[4]. Luma's yearly billing saves up to 20% ($300, $900 and $3,000 a year)^[5]. Kling is not in this table because its consumer subscription plans render only inside its browser app; its developer API prices are covered next.

2. Kling: API prices are public, plans are not

Kling moved its developer site to kling.ai, and the pricing data now ships in the page source, so it can be checked^[6][8]. Video is priced per second in units worth $0.14 each:

Kling model	720p	1080p	4K
Kling 3.0, no audio	$0.084/s[6]	$0.112/s[6]	$0.42/s[6]
Kling 3.0, native audio	$0.126/s[6]	$0.168/s[6]	$0.42/s[6]
Kling 3.0 Turbo, native audio	$0.112/s[6]	$0.14/s[6]	-

A 5-second Kling 3.0 clip at 720p without audio costs $0.42; at 1080p with audio, $0.84^[6]. Kling's models are also resold inside competitors: Runway's plans include Kling 3.0, and Luma hosts Kling Omni at 30 to 49 credits a second at 720p to 1080p and 147 credits a second at 4K^[1][5].

3. How far do the credits actually go?

Model	Credit rate	5-second clip
Runway Gen-4 Turbo	5 credits/s[2]	25 credits ($0.25 via API)
Runway Gen-4.5	12 credits/s[2]	60 credits ($0.60 via API)
Veo 3.1 on Runway	40 credits/s with audio, 20 without[2]	200 / 100 credits
Seedance 2.5 on Pika (720p)	122 credits per generation[4]	122 credits
Wan 3.0 on Pika (720p)	33 credits per generation[4]	33 credits
Luma Ray3.2 (720p / 1080p)	100 / 400 credits per 5s[5]	100 / 400 credits
Kling Omni 4K on Luma	147 credits/s[5]	735 credits

Read it against the allowances: Runway Standard's 625 credits buy 125 seconds of Gen-4 Turbo or 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month^[1]. Pika Starter's 900 credits buy 7 Seedance 2.5 clips or 27 Wan 3.0 clips^[4]. Luma Plus's 10,000 credits buy 100 clips of Ray3.2 at 720p or 25 at 1080p^[5]. Failed takes burn credits too, so model cost per keeper with the AI stack cost calculator and check the payback with the ROI payback calculator.

4. Who watermarks your video, and who owns it?

Vendor	Watermark	Commercial use
Runway	None from Standard up[1]	Granted by the terms of use[3]
Pika	None on any plan[4]	Creator and Fancy only, not Free or Starter[4]
Luma	No watermarked tier listed; plans start at Plus[5]	Listed from Plus upward[5]
Kling	Consumer plan terms not verifiable	Consumer plan terms not verifiable

The trap in 2026 is Pika Starter: it exports without a watermark, but its plan card lists no commercial license, so client work needs Creator at $28 to $35 a month^[4]. Runway remains the simplest for commercial work at the low end^[1][3].

5. Who has a real API?

• Runway: first-party API at $0.01 per credit with per-model per-second rates, including hosted third-party models such as Veo 3.1, Seedance and Wan^[2].
• Luma: first-party API priced per video: Ray3.2 at 5 seconds costs $0.15 / $0.30 / $1.20 for 540p / 720p / 1080p, and $0.45 / $0.90 / $3.60 at 10 seconds, with HDR at 2x^[7].
• Kling: first-party developer API priced per second, from $0.084 a second at 720p^[6].
• Pika: top-up credits cannot be used with its API, and the pricing page lists no API rate card^[4].

At 5-second clips, Luma's 540p rate ($0.15) is the cheapest first-party API path, followed by Runway Gen-4 Turbo ($0.25 at a flat per-second rate) and Kling 3.0 at 720p ($0.42); at 1080p, Kling 3.0 without audio ($0.56) undercuts Luma Ray3.2 ($1.20)^[2][6][7].

6. Which should you pick?

• Client work on a budget: Runway Standard at $15 a month ($12 annually); commercial use and no watermarks^[1][3].
• Cheapest paid experimentation: Pika Starter at $10 a month, for non-commercial tests^[4].
• Large credit allowance: Luma Plus at $30 with 10,000 credits and commercial use^[5].
• Kling output with published prices: Kling's developer API, or Kling 3.0 inside a Runway plan^[1][6].
• Video inside a product: Runway's credit API, Luma's per-video API or Kling's per-second API; choose by resolution and clip length^[2][6][7].

Video pricing moved all year, so re-verify before committing a workflow. For the pure per-second view across more providers, see the cheapest AI video API in 2026.

All pricing figures verified against official vendor pages on 2026-10-11. Kling consumer subscription prices were not verifiable; Kling API prices were read from the page source of kling.ai/dev/pricing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Kling AI cost in 2026?

Kling's developer API prices video per second in units worth $0.14 each. Kling 3.0 costs $0.084 a second at 720p without audio ($0.42 for a 5-second clip), $0.112 at 1080p and $0.42 at 4K; with native audio it costs $0.126 at 720p and $0.168 at 1080p. Kling 3.0 Turbo with native audio is $0.112 a second at 720p and $0.14 at 1080p. These figures sit in the page source of kling.ai/dev/pricing, read on 2026-10-11. Kling's consumer subscription plans render only in the browser app and were not verifiable.

Can I use Runway output commercially?

Yes. Runway's terms of use grant commercial use of outputs, and its paid plans export without watermarks from Standard ($15 a month, or $12 billed annually) upward. Pika grants a commercial license only on Creator ($35, or $28 billed annually) and Fancy, not on Starter. Luma lists commercial use from Plus at $30 a month. Verified on each vendor's pages on 2026-10-11.

Which AI video plan is cheapest in 2026?

On subscription price, Pika Starter at $10 a month ($8 billed annually, 900 credits) is the cheapest paid plan, followed by Runway Standard at $15 ($12 annually, 625 credits) and Luma Plus at $30 (10,000 credits). Pika Starter does not include a commercial license, so the cheapest plan you can use for client work is Runway Standard. By API, Kling 3.0 at $0.42 for a 5-second 720p clip and Luma Ray3.2 at $0.15 for 5 seconds at 540p are the lowest first-party per-clip prices.

What is the cheapest way to generate 5 seconds of AI video by API?

Among first-party APIs on 2026-10-11: Luma Ray3.2 costs $0.15 for 5 seconds at 540p ($0.30 at 720p, $1.20 at 1080p); Runway Gen-4 Turbo costs $0.25 for 5 seconds (5 credits a second at $0.01); Kling 3.0 costs $0.42 for 5 seconds at 720p without audio; Runway Gen-4.5 costs $0.60. Budget for retries: a usable take often needs several generations.