Neural Frames vs Runway (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Neural Frames if

• Fits if you make music videos for your own tracks
• Works for artists who want lyric or lip-sync clips

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a free try, because there isn't one
• Pricey if you're on a budget, as Knight is $26 a month billed yearly
• Tight if you want 4K, since upscaling isn't on the cheapest plan
• Watch out: Knight is marked not recommended for Autopilot
• Watch out: there's no blanket refund, only a case-by-case one for first-time subscribers

Pick Runway if

• Fits if you want to change real footage by describing the edit
• Works for small teams of 2 to 9 sharing one credit pool

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you make a lot of video on Standard, whose 625 credits are about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5
• Not for you if you want a free plan to keep using, as the 125 credits never refill
• Pricey if you want unused credits to carry over, which only Max does, at $76 a month yearly
• Watch out: extra credits come in packs of at least 1,000, and top-ups need Pro at $28
• Not for you if your team is over 9 people, as Team stops at 9 seats and bigger groups go to Enterprise sales

Neural Frames

• The three plans differ mainly by credits (2,400, 7,200 or 24,000 a month); longer songs and pricier models use more of them.
• 4K upscaling is not on the cheapest plan, and Neural Knight is marked not recommended for Autopilot.
• Unused subscription credits roll over only while subscribed, up to 300% of the monthly amount, and expire when the plan ends.
• There is no blanket refund guarantee; the FAQ describes a case-by-case refund for a first-time subscriber.

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.

Neural Frames

Autopilot music videos

Upload a song and the tool builds a full music or lyric video with consistent characters, then lets you refine scenes through chat.

Audio-reactive effects

Visuals pulse with the track, and beat-sync intensity can be set per video.

Lyric and lip-sync videos

Show lyrics on screen or sync a character's mouth to the vocal performance.

Short-Form Studio

Makes clips for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, including conversion from horizontal to vertical.

Editors and stem extraction

Frame-by-frame and text-to-video editors give per-scene control, and uploads can be split into stems.

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.

Neural Frames

• Neural Knight$26

  per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)

  2,400 credits a month, 7 AI models, Autopilot, Short-Form Studio and 1080p upscaling. No 4K upscaling.

• Neural Ninja$66

  per month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)

  7,200 credits a month, 10 AI models, Autopilot, Short-Form Studio, and 1080p and 4K upscaling.

• Neural Nirvana$199

  per month, billed yearly ($299 billed monthly)

  24,000 credits a month, 10 AI models, everything in Ninja, plus priority upscaling.

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.

Neural Frames

• Annual discount

  33% off with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows a 33% yearly discount, for example Neural Ninja at $66 a month instead of $99.

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.