Hailuo AI vs Pika
We give Hailuo AI a 2.2 GPA and Pika a 2.6, out of 4.0. Hailuo AI grades higher on the free plan. Pika grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hailuo AI
MiniMax's video and image generator, running its H3 model
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAHailuo AIFair | 2.6GPAPikaGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo plan prices could be read: the plan list didn't load for our reader, and third-party guides disagree. The site's header says plans start at $9.99 a month, but with nothing to check that against, it stays a C. | BStarter is $8 a month on yearly billing ($10 monthly) for 900 credits, about 7 five-second Seedance 2.5 clips or 112 Nano Banana 2 images. That's the cheapest start among its listed video rivals, Runway at $12 and Luma at $25, but there's no commercial license until Creator at $28. |
| Free plan and trial | CNew accounts get free credits on sign-up, but the amount isn't shown until you're signed in. MiniMax's separate Design app offers 3,000 free credits for downloading it. | 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 | CH3 makes clips with sound up to 15 seconds at 2K, mixes image, video and audio references, edits clips by instruction and makes images. But it runs MiniMax's own model only, with no partner models, API or plugins on record. | 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 | CNo app-store rating on record. Effect templates make quick clips easy, but mixing several references into one scene takes practice. | A4.73 from about 4,300 App Store ratings, in the top band. Each tool does one thing, like Extend Video or Color Grade, so it's clear where to start. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and an Android app on Google Play. The site links an iPhone app, but its US App Store page came back not found, and no integrations are listed. | 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 | short clips with sound from MiniMax's H3 | 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: Hailuo AI and Pika. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Hailuo AI lists an Android app.
- Only Pika lists an iOS app.
- Hailuo AI also covers templates.
- Pika also covers video editing.
At a glance
| Hailuo AI | Pika | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | $8 per month for 900 credits, billed annually ($10 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | New users get free credits on sign-up; the amount is not shown before signing in | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | MiniMax | Mellis, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | pika.art |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Hailuo AI
- Short social clips with sound from a prompt or a photo
- Mixing several reference images and clips into one video
- People who want to try MiniMax's H3 model in a ready-made app
Pika
- Social and ad creators who want task-specific video and image tools
- Adding sound and music to generated clips in the same app
- Trying several partner video models without separate accounts
Worth knowing
Hailuo AI
- Plan prices could not be read: the plan list did not load for our reader. The site header shows plans from $9.99 a month, and third-party guides disagree on the tiers.
- The site links to an iOS app, but its US App Store page returned not found on October 17, 2026; the Android app is on Google Play.
- MiniMax also sells H3 in its separate MiniMax Design app, which a site banner promotes with 3,000 free credits for downloading it.
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).
- The Starter plan has no commercial license; commercial use starts at Creator.
- 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
Hailuo AI
- MiniMax H3 video model
- Generates video with native stereo sound, up to 15 seconds long at 2K, from text, images or a mix of references, including multi-shot clips.
- Omni Reference
- Combine reference images, video and audio in one prompt, for example borrowing a camera move from one clip and a character from an image.
- Editing by instruction
- H3 edits and restyles existing clips and transfers motion from one video to another, with the change described in plain language.
- Image generation
- A separate Create Image mode turns prompts into still images, alongside text-to-video and image-to-video.
- Effect templates
- The home page offers trending preset templates such as PetPal, Style Switch, CineScope and ASMR for quick themed creations.
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
Hailuo AI
Pricing could not be confirmed. See hailuoai.video.
Pika
Starter$8
per month for 900 credits, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Enough for about 7 five-second Seedance 2.5 clips at 720p or 112 Nano Banana 2 images; no commercial license.
Creator$28
per month for 3,150 credits, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
About 25 Seedance 2.5 clips or 393 Nano Banana 2 images, a commercial license and 8 video jobs at once.
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
Hailuo AI
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.
