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Source-backed analysis11

Review basis

Research-based review: the AppDuo Editorial Team compiled it from official pages, documentation, app stores, press and user feedback, without hands-on testing. Every claim links to a source with the date it was checked.

11 reference sources

Information updated Nov 11, 2026

How we review
Runway logo

Runway Review

AI video and image suite with credit-based pricing and an API

Editorial Team6.8/10Write the first review

By Official AppDuo editorial team · Fact-checked

  • Web
  • iOS
  • Android
  • API
Freemium · $15.00/mo
Visit Runway
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Decide at a glance

Our verdict

Runway suits video makers, ad teams and studios that want many models, editing tools and an API in one place. The trade-offs are credit-based costs that are hard to predict, an English-only interface and unresolved litigation over training data.

Best for: Creators and studios generating and editing high-quality AI video

Skip it if: Anyone who needs a fixed, predictable cost for high video volume

Pros

  • Free plan, with paid plans from $15/month ($12/month billed yearly)
  • Standard already includes all video and image models, including third-party ones such as Kling and Seedance, plus 4K upscaling and no watermarks
  • API, Runway MCP and tools for ads, voice and music

Cons

  • Credits are charged per second of video (Gen-4.5: 12 credits/second), making costs hard to predict; this is a common Trustpilot complaint
  • Monthly credits on Standard and Pro expire on the billing date
All pros and cons · Who is it for?

More pros

  • Max adds HDR, ProRes and image-sequence output plus one month of credit rollover

More cons

  • Faces a proposed class action in the US alleging it circumvented YouTube's protections to collect training videos
  • English-only interface and no published refund policy

Best for

  • Ad teams that want Runway Ads, Brand Kits and professional export formats
  • Developers adding video generation to their own products through the API or MCP

Skip it if

  • Users who need a multilingual interface or an explicit commitment that their content is not used for training

Experience & key features

What Runway is

Runway is an AI video and image generation and editing platform from Runway AI, Inc., a New York company founded in 2018. Its homepage now frames the company around "Real-World Intelligence" for brands, agencies and studios. It is available on the web, iOS, Android and through an API.

Key features

Standard and above include all video and image models, an agentic collaborator, App Studio, Runway Ads, music, voice and sound-effect generation, and 4K upscaling. Per the Google Play listing, the app offers third-party models such as Seedance 2.5, Kling 3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 alongside Runway's own Gen-4.5, plus Runway Agent, which builds a full video from a description. Pro adds Runway MCP, unlimited 4K upscaling and voice cloning. Max adds early access to new models and HDR, ProRes and image-sequence output.

Pricing and value

Every plan runs on credits. Free has 125 one-time credits; Standard is $15/month ($12/month billed yearly) for 625 credits; Pro $35 ($28) for 2,250; Max $95 ($76) for 9,500. Per the help center, Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second, so a 5-second clip uses 60 credits and a 10-second clip 120. Purchased top-ups (minimum 1,000 credits) do not expire. The US App Store lists Standard at $14.99/month or $143.99/year. Runway publishes no VND prices. A Team plan with 6,900 credits per seat, pooled across the workspace, is described in the help center, but the pricing page does not show its price.

More analysis

Versus alternatives

Runway competes directly with Sora, Kling AI, Luma Dream Machine and Pika in AI video, while Adobe Firefly leans on integration with Adobe software. Runway stands out for its editing tools, API, professional export formats on higher tiers, and bundling other vendors' models in one app. Compare cost per second of video you actually need, not the headline plan price.

Screenshots

Runway homepage promotional image
Runway homepage promotional image
Runway Ads image from the homepage
Runway Ads image from the homepage

Plans & pricing

Prices last verified Nov 11, 2026

Free

Personal

Free

125 one-time credits that do not expire, 5GB storage, a selection of models for testing.

Standard

Personal

$15/mo

$12/mo billed yearly

625 credits/month, up to 3 projects, 5 parallel generations, 20GB storage, no watermarks, 4K upscaling.

Pro

Personal

$35/mo

$28/mo billed yearly

2,250 credits/month, up to 5 projects, 15 parallel generations, 1 Brand Kit, 1 custom voice clone, Runway MCP, 100GB storage, top-up credits anytime.

Max

Personal

$95/mo

$76/mo billed yearly

9,500 credits/month, up to 10 projects, 20 parallel generations, up to 3 Brand Kits and 3 voice clones, 500GB storage, unused credits roll over for one month, early access to new models.

Free plan limits
Free has 125 one-time credits and a limited set of models; Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second, so 125 credits cover two 5-second clips.
Free trial
No free trial
Cancellation & refunds

Neither the pricing page nor the credits help article states a refund policy. Upgrades apply immediately and are prorated; on downgrade, the unused balance is credited toward the next billing cycle.

Privacy

The privacy policy (effective October 23, 2026) does not say whether user content, prompts or outputs are used to train models, and it describes no training opt-out. Runway may create aggregated, de-identified or anonymized data from personal data to improve the service. Face scans and voiceprints are kept for at most three years after the last interaction. Deletion requests go through privacy.runway.com or [email protected]. The service is not intended for under-13s.

Official pricing page

Runway alternatives

Runway logoVSLuma Dream Machine logoRunway vs Luma Dream Machine
Adobe Firefly logo7.5/10

Adobe Firefly

Adobe's AI studio for images, video and audio, with partner models built in

Freemium
Luma Dream Machine logo6.9/10

Luma Dream Machine

Luma's AI video and image platform, billed in credits

Freemium
All alternatives

Controversies & incidents

Issues documented by the press, regulators, courts or the vendor itself. Every item is sourced; unproven claims are labelled as allegations. Last researched: Nov 11, 2026

  • Medium impactAllegedLawsuit ·

    Proposed class action alleging Runway scraped YouTube videos for AI training

    Since February 2026, YouTube creators have sued Runway in federal court in New York, alleging it bypassed YouTube's access controls to collect training videos. In October 2026 the court refused to dismiss the case; the claims remain allegations with no finding of liability.

    Read the full account

    On February 18, 2026, Ace Cam, Inc. filed a proposed class action in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York; on February 27, Businessing LLC (YouTuber Ali Spagnola's company) filed a second suit in the same court. According to Bloomberg Law, the complaint alleges Runway violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by using a video-downloading program to bypass "technological measures controlling access to and copying of YouTube videos" and training its model on the files. Per the OpenClassActions case tracker, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan consolidated the two cases on March 27, 2026, added a third related case in June, and on October 30, 2026 denied Runway's motion to dismiss. That ruling addresses only whether the complaint can proceed, not whether Runway broke the law. No class has been certified and there is no settlement. Earlier, in July 2024, 404 Media reported a leaked spreadsheet showing plans to train on more than 3,900 YouTube channels; VentureBeat noted 404 Media could not confirm that every listed video was used.

    Vendor response

    In its motion to dismiss, Runway argued that publicly viewable YouTube videos cannot be protected by an access control and that the creators have no authority over YouTube's technical measures. The court rejected these arguments at the pleading stage; Runway can raise them again later.

    Sources:Bloomberg Law (2026-03-02): YouTube creator sues AI video generatorOpenClassActions: Ace Cam v. Runway AI case trackerVentureBeat (2024-07-25)

Frequently asked questions

Is Runway free?

Yes, there is a Free plan with 125 one-time credits and a selection of models. All models and watermark-free output require Standard ($15/month) or higher.

Do unused credits carry over?

On Standard and Pro, monthly credits expire on the billing date. Max and Team roll over up to one month of unused credits. Purchased credits and the Free plan's 125 credits do not expire.

Does Runway support Vietnamese?

The App Store listing shows English as the only language. We found no official page confirming a Vietnamese interface.

Has Runway been sued?

Yes. In February 2026, YouTube creators filed proposed class actions in the Southern District of New York alleging Runway circumvented YouTube's protections to download videos for model training. On October 30, 2026 the judge denied Runway's motion to dismiss, so the case continues; no finding of liability has been made. See the Controversies section.

Review evidence & sources11

Scores

Ease of use
7.5
Why this score

Available on the web, iOS and Android, and the mobile apps include Runway Agent, which builds a video from a plain-language description. The interface is English-only and users must work out credit costs per generation.

Features
8.5
Why this score

Standard covers video, image and audio models, 4K upscaling, Runway Ads and App Studio; Pro adds MCP and voice cloning; Max adds HDR and ProRes output. Few rivals bundle this much alongside a developer API.

Value for money
6.5
Why this score

The $15/month plan buys 625 credits, about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 video a month, and those credits do not roll over. Trustpilot sits at 1.1/5, with many reviews about high prices and credits spent even on failed outputs.

Performance
7.5
Why this score

App Store shows 4.5/5 from about 20K ratings and Google Play 4.4/5 from about 12K, but Trustpilot reviewers report ignored prompts, inconsistent characters and black-screen renders. No independent benchmark is cited.

Support
5.5
Why this score

There is a help center and documentation, but many Trustpilot reviewers report trouble reaching a human, cancelling, and getting refunds. Runway has not claimed its Trustpilot profile and posts no replies there; no public refund policy was found.

Privacy & security
5.5
Why this score

The policy is silent on training use of user content and offers no opt-out, while Runway also holds face and voice data. The lawsuit over its training-video sourcing is ongoing.

What users say

Sources

Specs & compatibility
Developer
Runway AI, Inc.
Headquarters
United States
Launched
2018
Category
AI

Capabilities

  • AI features
  • Public API
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Mobile app
  • Integrations

Platforms

  • Web
  • iOS
  • Android
  • API

Interface languages

  • English

Integrations

  • Runway API
  • Runway MCP

Support

  • Email
  • Help center
  • Live chat

Change history

  1. Update.The current privacy policy takes effect on this date.
  2. Company.$315 million Series E led by General Atlantic at a $5.3 billion valuation; about $860 million raised in total per Crunchbase News.
  3. Company.$308 million Series D led by General Atlantic at a $3.3 billion valuation.
Full change history (4)
  1. Feature.Runway unveils the Gen-3 Alpha video model and opens public access a few weeks later.
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