Krea vs Runway
We give Krea a 2.8 GPA and Runway a 2.6, out of 4.0. Krea grades higher on value for money. Runway grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Krea
Image, video and 3D generation with real-time canvas and plugins
Runway
AI video, image and audio studio with its own Gen-4.5 model
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAKreaGood | 2.6GPARunwayGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ABasic is $5.25 a month on yearly billing ($9 monthly) for 5,000 units, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter. That's about 64 Nano Banana 2 images or 20 Seedance 2.0 videos a month, plus upscaling to 22K. Veo and Kling need Pro at $21. | 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 | C100 units a day, refilled daily, with the live canvas, image and 3D models, LoRA training on 50 images and 2K upscaling. Video is off, though, and Basic's own figures put a Nano Banana 2 image at about 78 units. | 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 | BIts own models plus Nano Banana, Seedance, Veo and Kling, a canvas that renders as you draw, editing, upscaling to 22K, LoRA training, a node editor, an agent, and plugins for Photoshop, Premiere, Resolve and Blender. Nothing core is missing. | 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 | C4.49 from 689 App Store ratings, just under the 4.5 line. And with nodes, LoRAs, an agent and dozens of models, there's a fair bit to learn. | 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 and iPhone, plus plugins for Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Blender, an API and an MCP server. No Android or desktop app of its own. | 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 | lots of models on a small budget | 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: Krea and Runway. How we grade
Price against what you get
Krea starts at $5.25 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Runway starts at $12 a month and scores 3.0.
Runway scores higher, and starts $6.75 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI image and video generators on the chart, none scores higher than Krea 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
- Krea starts at $5.25 per month for 5,000 units, billed annually ($9 billed monthly). Runway starts at $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly).
- Krea has a free plan. Runway does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Runway lists an Android app.
- Runway also covers video editing and AI agents.
At a glance
| Krea | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5.25 per month for 5,000 units, billed annually ($9 billed monthly) | $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 100 compute units a day, refilled daily, with real-time generation, the image and 3D models, LoRA training on up to 50 images and upscaling to 2K. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Free plan with 125 one-time credits that do not refill, a selection of models and 5GB of storage |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Krea | Runway AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | krea.ai | runway.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Krea
- Designers who want many partner models under one subscription
- Fast visual exploration on a live, render-as-you-draw canvas
- Small studios sharing one pool of units across up to 50 members
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
Krea
- Units on Basic, Pro and Max reset monthly and do not roll over; only Business and Enterprise carry unused units forward.
- Basic covers selected video models only; Veo, Sora, Kling and the other video models need Pro or above.
- After units run out, unlimited slower generation covers only supported in-house image models.
- SAML SSO, an SLA and IP indemnification are limited to Enterprise.
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
Krea
- Many models in one place
- Krea's own image models sit beside partner image and video models such as Nano Banana, GPT, Seedance, Veo, Sora and Kling.
- Real-time canvas
- Generates images as you type or draw on a live canvas, for fast iteration before a final render.
- Editing and upscaling
- Change an image by describing the edit with the Krea 3 model, remove backgrounds, and upscale images up to 22K on paid plans, plus video upscaling.
- LoRA training
- Train custom image or video LoRAs on your own characters, styles or products: up to 50 images per LoRA, or 2,000 on Max and Business.
- Nodes and Krea Agent
- Chain models and steps in a visual node editor, save workflows as shareable apps, or brief Krea Agent to plan and iterate across models.
- Plugins, API and MCP
- Plugins run Krea inside Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Blender, and a developer API and MCP server are offered.
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
Krea
Free$0
100 compute units a day and one image job at a time; the page lists video concurrency as 0.
Basic$5.25
per month for 5,000 units, billed annually ($9 billed monthly)
About 64 Nano Banana 2 images or 20 Seedance 2.0 videos a month; selected video models; upscaling to 22K. The page rounds the price to $5.
Pro$21
per month for 20,000 units, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
About 257 Nano Banana 2 images or 83 Seedance 2.0 videos a month, all video models including Veo and Kling.
Max$42
per month for 40,000 units, billed annually ($70 billed monthly)
Price rises with units: $63 a month yearly ($105 monthly) at 60,000. LoRA training on up to 2,000 images.
Business$40
per month for 20,000 units, billed annually ($50 billed monthly)
One price for up to 50 members sharing the units; $160 a month yearly ($200 monthly) at 80,000. Unused units roll over.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom seat counts and compute packages, SAML SSO, an SLA and IP indemnification.
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
Krea
- Annual discount
Save 40% on yearly individual plans
Yearly billing takes 40% off Basic, Pro and Max (Pro falls from $35 to $21 a month) and 20% off Business.
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.
