Genmo vs Pika (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pika grades higher than Genmo: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Genmo grades higher on the free plan. Pika grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Genmo
Text-to-video playground built on the open-source Mochi 1 model
Which one is for you
Pick Genmo if
- Fits if you want to try text-to-video on an open model you can also run yourself
- Works for developers comfortable pulling Mochi 1 from GitHub or ComfyUI
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as the 250 credits are a one-off unlocked by a payment method
- Tight if you need clips without a watermark, as that starts at Lite
- Watch out: credits reset monthly, and the page does not say whether leftovers carry over
- Watch out: the page does not say whether yearly billing exists for Lite and Standard
Pick Pika if
- Fits if you make short social clips and ads and want one tool per job
- Works for clips that need music and sound effects matched to the action
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try before paying, as the free plan has 0 credits and packs cost $25 for 1,500
- Watch out: video eats credits, at about 122 for one 5-second 720p Seedance clip
- Tight if you need much video, as Starter is about 4 five-second clips a month and credits don't roll over
- Watch out: payments aren't refunded, and top-up credits expire after 365 days and work only on pika.art, not the API, MCP or iOS app
- Not for you if you're on Android or want a desktop app, and the developer API is a separate $10 a month
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAGenmoFair | 2.6GPAPikaGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $10 a month for 1,200 credits, the middle of image-tool prices. The page does not say whether that is monthly or yearly billing. | BStarter is $8 a month on yearly billing ($10 monthly) for 600 credits, about 4 five-second Seedance 2.5 clips at 720p, with a commercial license. That's the lowest start among its listed video rivals, Runway at $12 and Luma at $25, but 4 clips a month doesn't go far, and Creator at $28 makes about 21. |
| Free plan and trial | D250 one-time credits unlock only after adding a payment method, which the page says is never charged, and videos are watermarked. That is about 2 Mochi videos, not a plan. | FThe Free plan has 0 credits a month and only works with bought packs, at $25 for 1,500 credits. So nothing is free, and payments aren't refunded. |
| Features | CMochi video generation in a playground, plus Replay video at 50 credits. A narrow job, with Mochi 1 published on GitHub and Hugging Face if you would rather run it yourself. | BVideo Studio for up to 30-second multi-shot videos on Pika 2.5, Seedance and MiniMax, apps to extend, regrade and rework footage, image tools, saved characters, product shots and soundtracks matched to the action. The whole job. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. Type a prompt in the playground and generate. | A4.73 from about 4,300 App Store ratings, in the top band. Each tool does one thing, like Extend Video or Color Grade. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb playground only. The open model can run in ComfyUI or from Hugging Face and GitHub, but Genmo has no app of its own. | BWeb and iPhone, with ChatGPT and other agents through MCP and a separate developer API. No Android or desktop app, and top-up credits don't work in the iPhone app. |
| Best for | text-to-video on the open Mochi model | short social clips with sound |
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: Genmo and Pika. How we grade
Price against what you get
Genmo starts at $10 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Pika starts at $8 a month and scores 3.3.
Pika scores higher and starts $2 a month lower. Of the other AI image and video generators on the chart, 14 score higher than Genmo for less, and none scores higher than Pika 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
- Genmo is open source, according to its own site.
- Pika also covers video editing and image generation.
At a glance
| Genmo | Pika | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $10 per month for 1,200 credits (billing basis not shown) | $8 per month for 600 credits, billed annually ($10 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 250 one-time credits, unlocked by adding a payment method (never charged); watermarked | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Genmo, Inc. | Mellis, Inc. |
| Price read from | genmo.ai | pika.art |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Genmo
- The free 250 credits do not refill, and the page says adding a payment method unlocks them.
- Credits reset each month; the page does not say whether leftovers carry over.
- Prices read '/month', but the page does not say whether yearly billing exists.
- The pricing page names the Mochi and Replay video types; other models were not read.
Pika
- There are no free credits: the Free plan includes 0 credits a month and works only with bought packs, at 60 credits per $1 ($25 for 1,500).
- Video uses credits fast: a 5-second 720p Seedance 2.5 clip costs about 122 credits, so Starter's 600 make about 4.
- Plan credits reset each period without rollover; top-up credits expire after 365 days and work only on pika.art, not the API, MCP or iOS app.
- Payments are non-refundable. The developer API is a separate membership at $10 a month, with $10 of credit in the first month.
Key features
Genmo
- Mochi 1 video generation
- The Playground turns written prompts into video with Genmo's Mochi model; Mochi video costs 100 credits and Replay video 50.
- Open-source model
- Mochi 1 is published on GitHub and Hugging Face, so it can be run on your own hardware or through ComfyUI.
- Monthly credit reset
- Paid credits are a balance that resets each month to the plan's amount, per the pricing page.
- Priority queues
- Lite gets high queue priority and Standard the highest, along with early access to new models.
Pika
- Video Studio
- Makes anything from a short clip to a 30-second multi-shot video, using Pika 2.5, Seedance 2.5, MiniMax H3, Wan 3.0 or Gemini Omni.
- Editing apps for footage
- Extend Video adds frames to a clip, Color Grade changes its look, and Swap Anything and Motion Transfer rework existing video.
- Image Studio and Edit Image
- Generate images with models such as GPT Image 2.5, Nano Banana 2 and Seedream, then swap, remove or restyle parts of them.
- Characters and product shots
- Character Studio saves a character to reuse across creations, and Product Shot stages a product without a photoshoot.
- Pika Soundtrack and audio
- Soundtrack scores a clip with music, ambience and sound effects matched to the action; separate studios handle speech, music and SFX.
- MCP, ChatGPT and API
- Pika can be used from ChatGPT and other agents through its MCP server, and developers reach the same models through the Pika API Club.
Plans
Genmo
Free$0
250 lifetime credits that do not refill; videos carry a Genmo watermark.
Lite$10
per month for 1,200 credits; billing basis not shown
No watermark, commercial use and high queue priority.
Standard$30
per month for 5,000 credits; billing basis not shown
No watermark, commercial use, highest queue priority and early model access.
Pika
Starter$8
per month for 600 credits, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Enough for about 4 five-second Seedance 2.5 clips at 720p, with a commercial license and 2 video jobs at once.
Creator$28
per month for 2,600 credits, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
About 21 Seedance 2.5 clips at 720p and 8 video jobs at once; for a limited time, free Pika H3 Flex generations every day.
Fancy$76
per month for 8,550 credits, billed annually ($95 billed monthly)
About 70 Seedance 2.5 clips, priority queue and unlimited parallel jobs. Larger credit steps run to $880 a month.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom monthly credits for studios and teams, with dedicated support and early access to new models.
Ways to pay less
Genmo
No public discounts listed.
Pika
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
The pricing page lists yearly billing at 20% off: Starter $8 instead of $10 a month, Creator $28 instead of $35, Fancy $76 instead of $95.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Genmo or Pika?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pika is cheaper to start with: $8 a month, against $10 a month for Genmo. Genmo starts at $10 per month for 1,200 credits (billing basis not shown), and Pika starts at $8 per month for 600 credits, billed annually ($10 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Genmo or Pika?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Genmo nor Pika has a free plan. Genmo has a free trial.
Which platforms do Genmo and Pika run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Pika lists an iOS app. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.