The day after I write this, September 24, 2026, the API for OpenAI’s video generation AI, “Sora,” will be discontinued. The consumer app and web versions already ended service on April 26 of this year, and according to the official OpenAI help page, it will completely close its doors on September 24, including access via API. A tool that was a staple in comparison articles as a “representative of video generation AI” until half a year ago will no longer be accessible to new users by the time you read thisâthat is how quickly the field of video generation AI changes.
That is precisely why what you should look for in a comparison is not the flashy performance demos of the models, but rather “how much it costs today and how much you can try for free.” I have compared the official pricing pages of five currently active servicesâRunway, Pika, Luma AI (Dream Machine), Kling AI, and Google Veo (Flow)âto lay out their free tiers and lowest-cost plans side-by-side.
Even with a “Free Plan,” the actual scope of what you can touch is this different
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Runway: The free plan provides a “one-time” grant of 125 credits, with no monthly replenishment. Once you use them up, that’s it; you don’t get a new free allowance the following month (Runway official website).
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Pika: The free plan is $0 per month, but the official website states “0 credits/month; additions are via pack purchase only.” In other words, you cannot generate a single video on the free plan; it is designed so that you must purchase a separate credit pack to start using it. There is no watermark on generated content (Pika official website).
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Luma AI (Dream Machine): The pricing structure was revamped in 2026, and the free plan itself was abolished. The entry point is now the Plus plan, which starts at $25/month billed annually ($30 if billed monthly) (Luma AI official website).
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Kling AI: A free “Basic” plan exists, but on the official pricing comparison table, the monthly credit grant column is marked with a “-” (no grant). 1080p/4K generation, watermark removal, and commercial use are also marked with “-,” making it less of an entry point to “actually try it out” and more of a landing page to guide you toward paid plans (Kling AI official website).
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Google Veo (Flow): Even without a subscription, you are granted 50 credits every day. While there is a condition that unused credits do not roll over and video generation itself may be restricted during peak usage hours (night to late night in Japan time), it is the only one of the five companies designed to let you try video generation “every day without paying” (Google Flow help). Note that the subscription guide page for Gemini itself states that “video generation features are not provided in the free plan,” making it slightly confusing that the free credits for Flow alone and the free plan for the Gemini app are treated as separate categories (Gemini official website).
In summary, even if they carry the “Free Plan” banner, the only two companies where you can actually create a video without paying are Runway (though only once) and Google Veo (Flow, though with a daily limit). Pika and Kling AI effectively require payment even if they have a free plan, and Luma AI has no free plan at all.
Comparing the “entry point” of the cheapest paid plans
I also want to compare how much you pay first after using up your free allowance.
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Runway Standard: $12/month billed annually ($15 billed monthly), 625 credits per month (Official).
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Pika Starter: $8/month billed annually ($10 billed monthly), 900 credits per month. However, this price tier does not include a commercial license; commercial use is only unlocked starting from the next tier up, the Creator plan ($28/month billed annually) (Official).
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Luma AI Plus: $25/month billed annually ($30 billed monthly), 10,000 credits per month, commercial use allowed (Official).
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Kling AI Standard: The regular price is $10/month, but a promotion offering $6.99 for the first month only is always advertised. 660 credits per month (Official).
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Google AI Plus: 725 yen/month. In addition to the 50 credits/day granted for Flow alone, 200 credits are added monthly (Official).
While Google AI Plus is the only one displayed in yen, making a simple side-by-side comparison difficult, it appears to be the most accessible price point for those living in Japan. On the other hand, Luma AI has no free tier and requires a significant amountâat least $25â30 per monthâmaking it clearly priced for “serious users” among the five.
Commercial use and resolution are not always “automatically included when you upgrade your plan”
It is easy to overlook the fact that paying more does not necessarily unlock all features across the board. Pika is designed so that commercial use is not unlocked with just one subscription (Starter); you must upgrade to the Creator plan above it to use it. In the official comparison table for Kling AI, 1080p/4K output and watermark removal are excluded from the free Basic plan (marked with “-“), and it is difficult to tell which paid plan they are definitely included in without carefully reading the table. In contrast, Luma AI allows commercial use on all paid plans and supports 1080p output with the latest Ray models, making the conditions simple. While Runway allows for no watermarks and commercial use on paid plans (Standard and above), the official website does not explicitly state whether commercial use is allowed on the free plan, so it is worth confirming whether you can use videos created solely with the free quota for work.
I have previously compared image generation AIs by lining up the “contents of their free plans” in the same way. In that case, too, the display of “from XX yen per month” hid differences in conditions, such as whether payment was mandatory or if it was based on an annual subscription.
Summary: Use “Can I still try it for free?” as your first filter before choosing
The genre of AI video generation is one where a service that was the talk of the town can cease to exist just a few months later, as seen with Sora. If you choose based only on rankings on comparison sites or past reputation, you may find that the plans have changed or the free quota is gone by the time you actually try to use it. Whether you are in general affairs or accounting and want to make a simple introductory video for internal use, or a freelancer wanting to try out a video to serve as a sales document, it is safer to use “how much can I touch without paying today” as your first filter rather than the price. Viewed by that standard, Google Veo (Flow) is easy to choose as a first step because you can try it continuously with daily free credits, and Runway is easy to choose because you can check the quality for free even if it is just once. From there, it is best to check the conditions for commercial use and resolution based on the points noted in this article and confirm them against your actual intended use before paying.
