Adobe Firefly vs Runway
We give Adobe Firefly a 3.0 GPA and Runway a 2.6, out of 4.0. Adobe Firefly grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's image, video and audio generator, with partner models
Runway
AI video, image and audio studio with its own Gen-4.5 model
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAdobe FireflyVery good | 2.6GPARunwayGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStandard is $9.99 a month for 2,000 credits, right on this category's cheaper quarter. Standard image and vector features are unlimited, and the credits cover up to 20 five-second videos or 100 minutes of music. | CStandard is $12 a month on yearly billing ($15 monthly) for 625 credits, about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 or 78 Gen-4 images. Against its listed video rivals, Pika at $8, Firefly at $9.99 and Luma at $25, that's the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free daily allowance of image, video and audio generations, with models such as Nano Banana, that refreshes every day. The listing doesn't say how much it is. Paid plans also have a 7-day free trial. | C125 credits once, which never refill, with a selection of models and 5GB of storage. At 12 credits a second that's about 10 seconds of Gen-4.5, then you pay. |
| Features | AImages, video, audio and vectors: Generative Fill, object removal in video, music, speech, translation into 20+ languages and partner models. What rivals don't match is the same credits working in Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere, and Adobe's own models trained on licensed content. | BIts own Gen-4.5 next to Kling, Seedance and Nano Banana, Aleph 2.0 for editing real footage by describing the change, an agent that builds whole videos, music, effects and voice clones, plus plugins. The whole video job. |
| Ease of use | B4.69 from about 10,800 App Store ratings, a hair under the 4.7 that earns an A. There's a lot on offer across image, video and audio, but nothing to set up. | B4.5 from about 17,700 App Store ratings. The app itself is friendly, but working out what a month of credits buys takes some sums. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, and the credits also work in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom and Express. No Firefly desktop app of its own, and the iPhone app isn't listed for iPad. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plugins for Premiere Pro, After Effects and Resolve, links to ChatGPT, Claude, Figma, Dropbox and Notion, and a developer API. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | AI images and video inside Adobe's apps | making and editing AI video |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Adobe Firefly and Runway. How we grade
Price against what you get
Adobe Firefly starts at $9.99 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Runway starts at $12 a month and scores 3.0.
Adobe Firefly scores higher and starts $2.01 a month lower. Of the other AI image and video generators on the chart, none scores higher than Adobe Firefly for less, and 2 score higher than Runway for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Adobe Firefly starts at $9.99 per month for 2,000 credits, billed monthly. Runway starts at $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly).
- Adobe Firefly has a free plan. Runway does not, though it has a free trial.
- Runway also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Adobe Firefly | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month for 2,000 credits, billed monthly | $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free daily generations across image, video and audio without a plan, including models such as Nano Banana and Luma Ray3.14. Limits refresh every day. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Standard, Pro and Pro Plus | Free plan with 125 one-time credits that do not refill, a selection of models and 5GB of storage |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Adobe | Runway AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | adobe.com | runway.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Adobe Firefly
- Creative Cloud users who want generation inside the apps they already use
- Commercial work where the origin of training data matters
- Teams that need image, video and audio generation from one vendor
Runway
- Video makers who want to edit real footage by describing the change
- Creators who want several leading video models under one subscription
- Small creative teams sharing one credit pool and brand kits
Worth knowing
Adobe Firefly
- Monthly credits reset on the billing date and do not roll over; video, audio and partner models all draw on them.
- Team versions of Pro, Pro Plus and Premium cost the same per license but need an annual commitment, billed monthly.
- Adobe's commercial-use assurance covers its own models; you are responsible for partner-model output, and IP indemnity is for enterprise plans.
- The iOS app is listed for iPhone only, not iPad.
Runway
- Credits run out fast on video: Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits a second, so Standard's 625 credits make under a minute of it.
- Standard and Pro credits reset each month with no rollover; extra credits are sold in packs of at least 1,000 and never expire.
- The Team plan needs at least 2 seats and stops at 9; larger groups are sent to Enterprise sales.
- The free plan's 125 credits are a one-time grant and are not refilled.
Key features
Adobe Firefly
- Image generation and editing
- Generate Image, Generative Fill and Generative Expand add, remove or extend content, and are unlimited on every paid plan.
- Video generation and editing
- Make clips from text or images, add or remove objects and swap backgrounds in existing video, and upscale footage with Topaz Astra.
- Audio tools
- Generate sound effects, music and speech, and translate audio or video into more than 20 languages.
- Partner models
- Models from Google, OpenAI, Flux, Luma, Runway and others run inside Firefly and draw on the same monthly credits.
- Firefly Boards
- Mood board and storyboard tools combine generated images, uploads, colors and fonts; paid plans include unlimited use of Firefly Boards.
- Credits across Adobe apps
- The same generative credits work in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom and Adobe Express as well as the Firefly web and mobile apps.
Runway
- Gen-4.5 and partner models
- Runway's own Gen-4.5 video and Gen-4 image models sit beside Kling, Seedance, Wan, FLUX and Nano Banana, each with its own credit price.
- Aleph 2.0 video editing
- Change a shot's lighting, restyle it, or add and remove elements by describing the change; edit one frame and carry it through the clip.
- Runway Agent
- An agent on every paid plan that plans and generates a whole video from a conversation, with shared agent skills on the Team plan.
- Audio and voice
- Music, sound effects and text-to-speech from models such as Lyria 3 and Eleven v4, plus custom voice clones on Pro and Max.
- Plugins and MCP
- Generate and extend footage inside Premiere Pro, After Effects and Resolve, or call Runway from ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP agents.
- Developer API
- Runway Dev sells the same models to developers at $0.01 a credit, with a model router that picks a model per request.
Plans
Adobe Firefly
Free$0
A daily allowance of image, video and audio generations that refreshes each day.
Firefly Standard$9.99
per month for 2,000 credits, billed monthly
Unlimited standard image and vector features; credits cover up to 20 five-second videos or 100 minutes of music.
Firefly Pro$19.99
per month for 4,000 credits, billed monthly
Up to 40 five-second videos, plus Photoshop on web and mobile and Adobe Express Premium.
Firefly Pro Plus$49.99
per month for 10,000 credits, billed monthly
Up to 100 five-second videos, 33 minutes of video translation and 500 minutes of music a month.
Firefly Premium$199.99
per month for 50,000 credits, billed monthly
Unlimited use of the Firefly Video Model, plus credits for partner models and audio.
Creative Cloud Pro$69.99
per month, billed annually
The Creative Cloud suite of 20+ apps, which includes Firefly with 4,000 credits a month.
Runway
Free$0
125 one-time credits that do not refill, a selection of models and 5GB of storage.
Standard$12
per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)
Enough for about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 video or 78 Gen-4 images at 1080p; all models, no watermarks, 3 projects.
Pro$28
per month for 2,250 credits, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
About 187 seconds of Gen-4.5 or 281 Gen-4 images; credit top-ups, a Brand Kit, a voice clone and the Runway MCP.
Max$76
per month for 9,500 credits, billed annually ($95 billed monthly)
About 791 seconds of Gen-4.5; one month of unused credits rolls over, early model access, and HDR and ProRes output.
Team$55
per seat / month, billed annually ($69 billed monthly)
Everything in Max, with 6,900 credits per seat in a shared pool, shared projects and frame-accurate comments. For 2 to 9 seats.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited members and workspaces, SSO, roles and permissions, legal indemnification and dedicated onboarding.
Ways to pay less
Adobe Firefly
No public discounts listed.
Runway
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
The pricing page marks yearly billing as 20% off: Standard falls from $15 to $12 a month, Pro from $35 to $28 and Max from $95 to $76.
- Education
25% off for students and educators
Students and educators who verify their status through SheerID get 25% off any paid plan; classes of 3 or more licenses can ask for up to 25% off.
- Other savings
Bonus credits for new Enterprise customers until Oct 31, 2026
New Enterprise customers signing by October 31, 2026 get bonus credits matching what they use in the first 60 days. A minimum spend applies.
