Runway vs Wan (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Wan if

• Fits if you want long 1080p clips on a small monthly budget
• Works for people who'll check in daily to earn free credits

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: one video at a time and 6 image styles
• Watch out: the first month or year is non-refundable after activation
• Watch out: the '50% off' is for yearly billing, and monthly is double
• Not for you if you need the API, as it's bought separately from the membership
• Watch out: the pages don't name the company behind Wan

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.

Wan

• The listed prices carry a '50% off' label for yearly billing; monthly-billed prices are double.
• The first month or year is non-refundable after activation, per the page.
• The membership covers create.wan.video only; the API and other products are bought separately.
• The pages read do not name the company behind Wan.

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.

Wan

Video generation up to 1080p

Paid plans create high-resolution 1080p video and longer clips of 10 to 30 seconds.

Image generation with styles

Free accounts get 6 image styles; paid plans unlock all of them.

Concurrent submissions

Plans differ in how many jobs run at once: 1 video on Free, 3 on Pro and 8 on Premium.

Accelerate mode

The page says credits stretch to up to 1,200 images or 60 videos on Pro, and 4,800 images or 240 videos on Premium.

Canvas, skills and CLI

The studio menu lists a Canvas, Skills, a Playground and a CLI/API area alongside the generator.

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.

Wan

• Free$0

  One video and one image at a time, 6 image styles, daily check-in credits.

• Pro$5

  per month for 300 credits, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly)

  3 videos and 3 images at a time, watermark-free downloads, 1080p, videos of 10 to 30 seconds.

• Premium$20

  per month for 1,200 credits, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)

  8 videos and 5 images at a time, plus the Pro features and all image styles.

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.

Wan

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing, 50% off

  The membership page lists Pro at $5 a month billed yearly against $10 billed monthly, and Premium at $20 against $40.