Luma vs Runway
We give Luma a 2.0 GPA and Runway a 2.6, out of 4.0. Runway grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Luma
Creative agents for video and images, built on Luma's Ray models
Runway
AI video, image and audio studio with its own Gen-4.5 model
How we grade them
| 2.0GPALumaFair | 2.6GPARunwayGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPlus is $25 a month on yearly billing ($30 monthly), against $8 to $12 for Pika, Runway and LTX Studio, and in this category's dearest tenth. It does buy 10,000 credits: about 2 minutes of Ray3.2 at 1080p or 8 at 720p. There's no cheaper plan. | 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 | CNew accounts get trial credits, but the pages don't say how many, and there's no free plan after that. | 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 | BAgents that plan and build across video, image and audio, Ray3.2 with HDR and EXR export, video-to-video, reframe and extend, the Uni-1 image model, plus Veo, Kling, Seedance and ElevenLabs. The whole video job. | 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 | CNo app-store rating on record. Working with agents across a project is a new habit, and Ray3.2 costs anything from 100 to 400 credits per 5 seconds depending on resolution. | 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 | CWeb only: the site lists no desktop or phone apps. There's a developer API, but no integrations in the listing. | 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 | agent-built video for production work | 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: Luma and Runway. How we grade
Price against what you get
Luma starts at $25 a month and scores 2.3 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 $13 a month lower. Of the other AI image and video generators on the chart, 11 score higher than Luma 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
- Luma starts at $25 per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($30 billed monthly). Runway starts at $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly).
- Only Runway lists iOS and Android apps.
At a glance
| Luma | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25 per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) | $12 per month for 625 credits, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial credits to start; the amount is not stated | Free plan with 125 one-time credits that do not refill, a selection of models and 5GB of storage |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Luma AI, Inc. | Runway AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | lumalabs.ai | runway.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Luma
- Creative teams producing many variants of a campaign or product shot
- Video work that needs HDR or EXR files for a production pipeline
- People who want an agent to plan and assemble the work, not just one clip
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
Luma
- There is no free plan; new accounts get trial credits, and the pages read do not say how many.
- Credit costs vary widely: Ray3.2 at 1080p costs 400 credits per 5 seconds, so Plus's 10,000 credits make about 2 minutes of it.
- Team and Enterprise prices are given only through sales, and SSO and shared credits need the Team plan.
- Luma is a web app; the site lists no desktop or mobile apps.
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
Luma
- Luma Agents
- Agents research, generate and refine work across video, image, audio and text while keeping a project's context; Luma Skills save a workflow to rerun.
- Ray3.2 video model
- Text- and image-to-video in draft, 540p, 720p or 1080p, with HDR and EXR export for production work and up to 16 keyframes through the API.
- Video-to-video, reframe and extend
- Change existing footage with video-to-video and Modify, reframe a clip to a new shape, extend it, and stitch clips with captions into a finished piece.
- Uni-1 image model
- Luma's image model carries style references, character references and brand guidance into each image; GPT Image and Nano Banana are also offered.
- Partner video and audio models
- Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.5 and MiniMax H3 for video, lip sync from Sync, and ElevenLabs voice, music and sound effects.
- Team workspaces
- Share credits and manage usage in one place, with projects, team-wide sharing, usage analytics and SSO on the Team plan.
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
Luma
Plus$25
per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
Luma and partner image and video models, commercial use and edit access for guests. Ray3.2 at 720p costs 100 credits per 5 seconds.
Pro$75
per month for 40,000 credits, billed annually ($90 billed monthly)
Everything in Plus, with four times the usage of Luma Agents.
Ultra$250
per month for 150,000 credits, billed annually ($300 billed monthly)
Everything in Pro, with 15 times the usage of Luma Agents.
TeamCustom
Shared team credits, projects and team-wide sharing, member management, usage analytics and SSO.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Team, plus enterprise commitments, dedicated training and custom fine-tuning.
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
Luma
- Annual discount
Lower monthly rate with yearly billing
Yearly billing costs $300 a year for Plus, $900 for Pro and $3,000 for Ultra, against $30, $90 and $300 a month; the page says up to 20% saved.
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.
