“AI video” covers three different jobs: generating footage from a prompt, having an avatar read your script, and editing real footage faster. Runway, Pika, HeyGen, Synthesia and Descript each do a different one of those jobs well — this page compares them on starting price, how their credits actually work, and who each tool fits.
Standard plan, billed annually ($15/mo monthly). Credit-based.
Entry paid plan, billed annually ($10/mo monthly). Credit-based.
Creator plan ($24/mo billed annually). Credit-based.
Starter plan ($18/mo billed annually). Shared credit pool.
Hobbyist plan, per person, billed annually ($24/mo monthly).
Note: Descript is included deliberately as the “edit what you filmed” option. It has AI generation features, but it is primarily an editor — not a text-to-video generator like Runway or Pika.
| Runway | Pika | HeyGen | Synthesia | Descript | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Generated B-roll, ads and creative shots | Short stylised clips for social feeds | Presenter videos without filming | Repeatable training & explainer videos | Podcasts & talking-head editing |
| Main job | Generate footage | Generate footage | Avatar presenter | Avatar presenter | Edit recorded footage |
| Free plan | Yes — 125 credits, one time | Yes | Yes — 3 videos/mo, up to 1 min each | Yes (Basic) — about 10 min/mo | Yes — 1 media hour/mo |
| Paid plans from | $12/mo billed annually (Standard) | $8/mo billed annually | $29/mo (Creator; $24 billed annually) | $29/mo (Starter; $18 billed annually) | $16/mo billed annually (Hobbyist, per person) |
| How you pay for output | Monthly credits; Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second | Credits; cost varies by model and resolution | Credits; premium avatar models cost more per minute | Shared credit pool across video, dubbing and other AI features | Media hours + AI credits, per person |
| Watch out for | Retries burn credits — a plan's seconds shrink fast | Plan names and credit rates change often | Top avatar quality sits in the credit-heavy models | Governance features (SSO, SCORM) sit on higher/Enterprise tiers | Priced per person; it won't generate a scene from a prompt alone |
Prices are in USD, before tax, as published by the vendors in November 2026. AI video pricing changes frequently — always confirm the current price and credit rates on the vendor's site before you buy.
Runway is a browser-based creative suite built around generation: text-to-video, image-to-video and video-to-video, with camera and motion controls on top. Its current ladder is Free (125 one-time credits), Standard ($12/mo billed annually, $15 monthly; 625 credits/mo), Pro ($28/$35; 2,250 credits) and Max ($76/$95; 9,500 credits). The flagship Gen-4.5 model costs 12 credits per second, so a Standard plan covers roughly 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 footage a month before retries — the credit maths, not the sticker price, is what decides your real cost.
Pika is a text-to-video and image-to-video generator known for playful, stylised output and one-click effects that squash, inflate or transform objects in a shot. Paid plans start at $8/mo billed annually ($10/mo monthly) — the cheapest paid entry here — on a credit system where the cost of a clip depends on the model and resolution you pick, with paid tiers offering up to 1080p and watermark-free, commercial-use output per its published pricing.
HeyGen turns a script into a talking-presenter video: pick a stock avatar or create a custom one, add a cloned or stock voice, and export. The free plan allows 3 videos a month, up to 1 minute each. Paid plans start with Creator ($29/mo, or $24/mo billed annually; 600 credits), step up to Pro (from $49/mo) with higher-resolution export and access to its newest avatar models, and reach Business ($149/mo plus per-seat pricing) for teams. Credit use depends heavily on which avatar generation you choose — the most realistic models cost several times more per minute than the standard ones.
Synthesia is the business-first avatar platform: scripts or slides become presenter videos, with brand controls, multilingual dubbing and — on higher tiers — the compliance and LMS features corporate teams ask for. The free Basic plan covers roughly 10 minutes of video a month. Paid plans start at Starter ($29/mo, or $18/mo billed annually), with the next tier at $89/mo ($64/mo billed annually) and Enterprise on custom pricing. Usage runs on a shared credit pool, so video, dubbing and other AI features all draw from the same balance.
Descript is the odd one out here, on purpose: instead of generating footage, it transcribes your recording and lets you edit the video by deleting words from the transcript. Around that core it adds captions, filler-word removal, Studio Sound cleanup, eye-contact correction and a growing set of AI generation features. Plans are priced per person: Free (1 media hour/mo), Hobbyist ($16/mo billed annually, $24 monthly; 10 media hours), Creator ($24/$35; 30 hours) and Business ($50/$65; 40 hours), with AI features metered in a separate credit pool.
Footage from nothing? Runway or Pika. A person presenting your script? HeyGen or Synthesia. Footage you already shot, edited faster? Descript. Most disappointment comes from buying a generator when you needed an editor, or the other way round.
Convert the plan into output: Runway's Standard is about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month; avatar tools price by the minute and by avatar tier. Then multiply by your retry rate — few usable clips are first takes.
All five have a free plan. Make one actual post, ad or training clip — not a test prompt — and count the credits, minutes and attempts it really took. That number is your plan size.
Confirm commercial use, watermark rules and — for custom avatars and voice clones — that you have the rights and consent for the likeness and voice you upload. Terms differ by plan, and they sit in the vendor's fine print, not the marketing page.
For the generators (Runway, Pika) and avatar tools (HeyGen, Synthesia), no — you start from text. Descript assumes you have footage to edit, but its transcript workflow is designed for people who don't think in timelines.
On published pricing, Pika's paid plan from $8/mo billed annually is the cheapest entry, and all five tools have free plans. For avatar video, HeyGen's free plan (3 short videos a month) and Synthesia's Basic plan (about 10 minutes a month) are the practical test beds.
Yes — that is the main use case for HeyGen and Synthesia: an avatar presents your script. Runway and Pika also need no camera, since the footage itself is generated. Check each plan's rules for custom avatars based on a real person.
Because many creators searching for “AI video” actually need their recorded videos cut, captioned and cleaned up — not generated. We include Descript as the editing option and label it as such, rather than pretending it is the same kind of tool.
Paid plans from these vendors generally include commercial use, while free plans often carry watermarks or restrictions — but the exact terms differ by vendor and plan, and avatar/voice features add consent requirements. Confirm the current terms on the vendor's site before using output in ads or client work.
Because this guide is compiled from the vendors' published specifications and pricing, not from paid placements or invented testing. Where a judgment appears, the underlying facts — price, credits, limits — are shown next to it so you can judge for yourself.