AI tools for video generation
Turning a prompt or a still image into a clip is billed per second and per attempt. Compare how seven tools meter that, which plans remove the watermark or allow commercial use, and which one runs on your own GPU.
Which tool fits, in short?
Use Runway if you generate a clip and then extend or upscale it in one workspace. LTX Studio fits multi-shot work planned from a script. Adobe Firefly suits clips you finish in Premiere. FramePack fits image-to-video on your own NVIDIA GPU without credits. Hosted tools bill per second and per attempt, so budget for retakes before you pick a plan.
This is a source-led shortlist, not a performance ranking. Open each profile for the provider source, check dates and plan conditions.
About this shortlist
What this page compares
- 7 published profiles
- Plans and access shown where documented
- Official source dates stay attached to each profile
- No invented score or hands-on result
How each option fits video generation
Each note comes from the tool's source-checked profile. The condition line is what to confirm before you rely on it for this task.
Runway
Generates clips from text or an image with Gen-4.5 and other models, then extends, upscales or removes backgrounds in the same workspace, so a generated shot can be finished without leaving Runway.
Check first: Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second (60 per 5-second clip), so Standard's 625 monthly credits make about 52 seconds; the 125 Free credits are granted once and output is watermarked.
LTX Studio
Plans a multi-shot video in one project: text-to-video, image-to-video and video-to-video shots land on a timeline with sound design, and AI storyboards break a script into shots.
Check first: Free (800 one-time credits) and Lite are personal-use only; AI storyboards, Elements and the commercial license start on Standard. Credits are renamed computing seconds, not seconds of finished video, so cost per clip depends on the model.
Adobe Firefly
Generate Video turns a text prompt or a reference image into clips at a choice of resolutions and aspect ratios, and the result opens in Premiere or Express on the same credit balance.
Check first: Generate Video costs 100 credits per second at 1080p and 20 at 540p, so Standard's 2,000 monthly credits make about 20 seconds at 1080p; Adobe does not publish the free daily limit.
Leonardo.Ai
Animates a prompt or a starting image into a short clip with a choice of video models, next to image generation, so a still made in Leonardo can become the first frame.
Check first: Free gives 150 tokens a day but generations are public; private mode starts on Essential (USD 12 monthly, USD 10 on yearly billing), and the profile lists no per-second video token rate.
Midjourney
Image-to-video animates a still you made or uploaded, with an optional prompt, which suits putting motion into a finished illustration rather than writing a scene from text alone.
Check first: There is no free trial; Basic (USD 10 a month) allows SD video only from 200 Fast minutes, at about 8 minutes per batch of four SD videos, and HD video starts on Standard.
Grok
Video generation sits inside the same assistant as chat and Imagine images, so a prompt can be refined in conversation before it becomes a clip of up to 30 seconds at 720p on SuperGrok.
Check first: Free has no video; SuperGrok Lite ($10 a month) adds it, 1080p needs SuperGrok Plus ($100), no tier publishes a clip quota, and the terms take a broad license to inputs.
FramePack
Runs image-to-video on your own NVIDIA GPU from one image and a prompt, with clip length set from 1 to 120 seconds and MP4 output at 30 fps, so no credits are spent per take.
Check first: Needs an RTX 30, 40 or 50 GPU with at least 6 GB and a model download above 30 GB; README figures put a 5-second clip at about 4 to 6 minutes on an RTX 4090, and laptops run slower.
Considered but not listed
- Synthesia: Synthesia builds presenter-led videos with AI avatars from scripts or slides, which is a talking-presenter format rather than generating a scene from a text or image prompt.
- HeyGen: HeyGen creates avatar-presented videos from a script and translates recorded video; like Synthesia it suits a presenter format, and translation is covered on the video editing page.
- Symphony Creative Studio: Symphony generates video at 1 credit per second without a fee, but weekly credits follow a linked ad account and its GenAI terms bar publishing outputs as ads outside TikTok unless TikTok permits it.
- Dezgo: Dezgo's text-to-video and image-to-video models run mostly in prepaid Power Mode, and its public pricing pages do not publish video prices, so a cost per second cannot be stated.
Compare tools for video generation
Use the profiles below to inspect the specific workflow, pricing and limits before making a choice.
Runway
Video & editingRunway is a video platform that generates clips from text or images and edits existing footage, with generation billed in credits per second.
LTX Studio
Video & editingLTX Studio is Lightricks’ browser-based AI video production suite for scripts, storyboards, consistent characters and generated shots.
Adobe Firefly
Images & designSuited to designers and marketers already in Photoshop, Premiere or Express who want AI images, video and audio on one credit balance.
Leonardo.Ai
Images & designLeonardo.Ai is a web and mobile platform for generating, editing and upscaling AI images and short videos, with a token allowance that refreshes daily on the Free plan.
Midjourney
Images & designMidjourney is a paid AI image and short-video generator, used on the web or in Discord, that meters work in GPU time instead of credits.
Grok
Writing & contentGrok is the SpaceXAI assistant for chat, live web and X search, voice, coding and image or video generation on web and mobile apps.
FramePack
Video & editingFramePack is free open-source image-to-video software that runs locally on NVIDIA GPUs and is distributed only through its GitHub repository.
What the shortlist costs to start
Cheapest paid plan billed month to month, in USD, as listed on each profile.
Midjourney$10/mo
Leonardo.Ai$12/mo
LTX Studio$15/mo
Runway$15/mo
What to compare for this task
These questions keep the shortlist tied to the work instead of turning it into a generic feature list.
Cost per usable second
How many credits, tokens or GPU minutes does one second cost on your model and resolution, and how many retakes do you expect per shot?
Starting point
Do you start from text alone, from your own still image, or from a storyboard of several shots?
Rights and visibility
Does the plan you will pay for remove the watermark, keep generations private and allow commercial use?
Where it runs
Is a hosted credit plan acceptable, or do you need a local tool that runs on your own GPU?
Compare the shortlist
Values come from the linked profile fields. Blank or unverified details stay visible rather than being filled by assumption.
| Documented detail | Runway | LTX Studio | Adobe Firefly | Leonardo.Ai | Midjourney | Grok | FramePack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Free access available | Free access available | Free access available | Free access available | No free tier | Free access available | Free access available |
| Paid plans from | USD 12 per month, billed yearly (USD 15 billed monthly) | $12 per month, $144 billed yearly (or $15 billed monthly) | EUR 10.98 per month, incl. VAT, shown as Monthly | USD 12 per month, billed monthly (USD 10 per month on yearly billing; tax excluded) | USD 10 per month, billed monthly (USD 96 per year on annual billing, USD 8/month) | $10 per month (shown on the grok.com plans page) | Free open-source software; runs on your own GPU |
| Best starting point | Generated video and footage editing | Storyboarding and producing short AI videos from a script | AI images, video and audio inside an Adobe workflow | AI images with a daily free allowance | AI images and short image-to-video clips from text and image prompts | Chat and research that needs live X and web context | Local image-to-video on an NVIDIA RTX GPU |
| Source status | Source-checked: 22 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 25 Sep 2026 · Update due | Source-checked: 29 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 1 Oct 2026 | Source-checked: 24 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 24 Sep 2026 · Update due | Source-checked: 24 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 24 Sep 2026 · Update due | Source-checked: 24 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 24 Sep 2026 · Update due | Source-checked: 29 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 29 Sep 2026 | Source-checked: 28 Sep 2026Pricing checked: 28 Sep 2026 |
| Profile | Runway profile | LTX Studio profile | Adobe Firefly profile | Leonardo.Ai profile | Midjourney profile | Grok profile | FramePack profile |
Head-to-head comparisons for this task
Both tools in each comparison are on this shortlist.
One fixed task to compare them
Proposed evaluation, not performed: run the same input through two or three shortlisted tools and judge each against the same acceptance line. We have not run it; results depend on your plan and account.
Sample input
Your own photo of a plain ceramic mug on a wooden table (no logo), plus the prompt "slow push-in, steam rising from the mug, soft morning light, no text". Target: one 5-second 16:9 clip you may use in a client's social post, from at most three attempts per tool.
Steps
- Note the plan, its license line (personal or commercial) and the credit, token or GPU-minute balance before the first attempt.
- Generate image-to-video from the photo with the prompt; where the tool only takes text, describe the mug and mark the run "text only".
- Stop at the first acceptable take or after three attempts, and record the units each attempt used from the account's usage view.
- Download the clip and check its resolution, length and watermark, then confirm the plan allows client use.
- Passes if
- One take keeps the mug's shape and handle unchanged with no added lettering, runs 5 seconds, downloads without a watermark, and the plan's license covers client work; units per attempt are recorded.
- Fails if
- The mug warps or gains text in every take, the watermark or a personal-use license only appears at download, or three attempts use more than the budget you set before starting.
Guides for this task
Browse by category
The categories of the shortlisted tools, with every profile in each.
Questions about video generation with AI
Is there an AI that can generate videos?
Yes. Runway makes clips from text or an image with Gen-4.5 and can extend or upscale them. LTX Studio plans multi-shot videos from a script. Adobe Firefly turns a prompt or reference image into clips that open in Premiere. Midjourney animates a still, and FramePack runs image-to-video on your own NVIDIA GPU. Which fits depends on whether you start from text or an image.
Is AI video generation free, and is any generator 100% free?
Partly. No hosted tool here is free without limits. FramePack is free software that costs only your own GPU time and electricity. Runway and LTX Studio give one-time trial credits, and Firefly offers free daily generations with no published count. Grok Free and Midjourney include no free video. Free clips are typically watermarked, public or limited to personal use, so read the license line before posting one.
How long can one AI video clip be?
It depends on model and plan. SuperGrok lists 720p clips of up to 30 seconds, and FramePack lets you set anywhere from 1 to 120 seconds locally. Because hosted tools charge by the second, a long clip multiplies the price of every failed take. Generating several short shots and joining them on a timeline, as LTX Studio and Runway allow, keeps a reject cheap.
Can I use AI-generated video in client or ad work?
Check the license of the plan, not just the tool. LTX Studio limits Free and Lite to personal projects. Runway says commercial use depends on your plan's terms and that recognisable people, trademarks and footage you did not create need extra care. Grok's terms take a perpetual license to inputs, including any likeness they contain, which matters for client photos.
Why did my credits run out after a few clips?
Hosted tools charge every attempt, including the ones you discard. At Runway's Gen-4.5 rate, three 5-second takes cost 180 credits, close to a third of Standard's month. Firefly charges five times as much per second at 1080p as at 540p, so drafting prompts at low resolution saves credits; the final full-resolution render is a new generation and can differ.
Sources for this task
These checks cover the task conditions below. Each linked profile keeps its own feature and pricing evidence.
- Runway pricingrunway.com · Checked 2026-10-02
Gen-4.5 at 60 credits per 5 seconds, plan credits, one-time Free credits and watermark; not a quality or speed check.
- Adobe Firefly plansadobe.com · Checked 2026-10-02
Monthly credits and five-second video counts per plan, free daily generations without a stated limit; US view, prices not used here.
- LTX Studio pricingltx.io · Checked 2026-10-02
One-time Free credits, personal versus commercial license by plan, and credits renamed from computing seconds; no per-model second rate.
Related tasks
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How to use this shortlist
Start with the task fit, then open the profile whose documented workflow matches your constraints. Check the source date, plan terms and limits on the provider site before you subscribe or publish an output.