“AI video” covers very different jobs. Generating a cinematic clip from a prompt is not the same as making a training video with a talking presenter, or cutting a podcast into short clips. Decide which job you have first, then shortlist tools. This guide focuses on fit. Plan prices change often, so we keep them on each tool’s own pricing page, where every figure comes from the vendor’s official page with the date we checked it.
Three kinds of AI video tools
1. Text-to-video and image-to-video generators
These create new footage from a prompt or a still image. Runway, Sora, Google Veo / Flow, Kling, Luma Dream Machine, Pika and Hailuo sit here. They suit filmmakers, agencies and creators who need b-roll, concept shots or short social clips. Plans are usually credit-based, so clip length, resolution and model choice drive what you spend. Current plans and credit allowances: Runway pricing, Kling pricing, Luma Dream Machine pricing and Pika pricing. OpenAI has discontinued Sora (web app April 2026, API September 2026), so there is no current Sora price to compare. We have not published Hailuo or standalone Veo pricing; check those vendors directly.
The one figure we can bind: Google AI Pro ($19.99, $19.99 a month in the US) includes 1,000 Google Flow credits a month. How many clips those credits buy is not stated in our data.
2. Avatar and presenter video
HeyGen and Synthesia turn a script into a video with an AI presenter. They fit training, onboarding, sales outreach and localisation, where clarity matters more than cinematic style. Plans and limits: HeyGen pricing and Synthesia pricing, or the side-by-side HeyGen vs Synthesia comparison.
3. Editing tools with AI features
Descript and CapCut help you edit footage you already have: transcripts, captions, cuts and clean-up. If you film yourself, these often save more time than a generator. Plans: Descript pricing and CapCut pricing.
A practical test workflow
- Write one test brief that matches your real work, for example a 10-second product shot or a 60-second explainer.
- Run it on two or three tools using free trials or free credits where the vendor offers them.
- Compare usable output, not the best clip. Count how many generations you needed to get one clip you would publish.
- Check the credit cost of that clip on each tool’s pricing page. That is your real cost per finished clip.
- Check commercial-use and likeness terms, especially for avatar tools.
Voice and music
Most videos need audio. For voiceover, see ElevenLabs pricing; for music, Suno pricing. We have not published Udio pricing.
Why prices live on separate pages
Video tools change plans and credit rules often. We only publish a price after reading it on the vendor’s own page and recording the date. Keeping prices on one page per vendor means a change is corrected in one place. To turn credits into a monthly figure, try the video generation cost calculator.
How we check prices
AI Stack Wise reads prices only from official vendor pricing pages, help centers and docs, records them exactly as printed, and marks anything unread as “price not verified”. Google AI Pro was last checked on 2026-10-19; each linked pricing page shows its own check date. Prices are in USD and exclude tax unless stated. See our methodology. Spotted a change? Email [email protected].