Runway is one of the best-known AI video tools, and for good reason: strong models, a full editor and, on its Team plan, real collaboration features. But agencies making client ads every week often find they need something different: a price they can quote before they generate, separate client workspaces and an easy way to get approval.
This guide covers what Runway costs today, four alternatives matched to the kind of work agencies do, and a simple test to choose between them. Every price below comes from the vendor’s own pricing page, opened on the date shown.
Short answer
- Stay with Runway if your team wants to direct and edit generative video by hand and values model choice.
- Creatify if you mostly turn product pages into performance ads.
- HeyGen if you need presenters, avatars or translated spokesperson videos.
- Kling if you want direct access to Kling’s own video models.
- Fabeo (our product) if you deliver finished ads to clients and want per-minute pricing, client workspaces and review links.
What agencies should compare
Agencies rarely lose time to model quality. They lose it to revisions, unclear costs and handoffs. Before comparing tools, answer four questions:
- Can I quote a client price before I generate? Credit systems vary by model, length and resolution, so the cost of a finished ad is harder to predict than a per-minute price.
- Can I keep clients and brands apart? Look for workspaces, brand kits and asset libraries per client.
- How does the client review the work? A review link with comments beats files sent over email.
- What does each extra team member cost? Per-seat pricing adds up quickly in a busy studio.
Runway: what it does well and what it costs
Runway’s individual plans (runway.com/pricing, opened 16 October 2026):
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Credits per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 125 one-time |
| Standard | $15 | $12 | 625 |
| Pro | $35 | $28 | 2,250 |
| Max | $95 | $76 | 9,500 |
Runway’s Gen-4.5 model uses 12 credits per second of video. By Runway’s own figures, that is 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month on Standard, 187 seconds on Pro and 791 seconds (about 13 minutes) on Max. Those are generated seconds, before any re-runs or clips you discard. Paid plans have no watermark, and every paid plan also includes other models, such as Kling 3.0.
For teams, Runway’s Team plan is $69 per seat per month, or $55 billed annually, for 2 to 9 members. It includes a shared credit pool, frame-accurate commenting, up to 100 brand kits and user roles. Enterprise pricing is on request.
Choose Runway when you want creative control, a wide choice of models and a team that edits clips into finished work itself. Its Team plan has real collaboration features; the trade-off is per-seat cost and credit-based pricing that changes with each model you use.
Four alternatives, by job
Creatify: ads from product pages
Creatify turns product URLs into video ads, with ad-cloning and automation features. Its plans (creatify.ai/pricing, opened 16 October 2026): Standard $15 a month ($12 annually) with 55 credits; Pro $55 ($44) with 280 credits; Max $95 ($76) with 730 credits and 3 seats; Business $195 ($156) with 1,500 credits and 10 seats. The page does not convert credits into video minutes.
Choose it for high-volume performance ads built from product pages.
HeyGen: presenters and avatars
HeyGen is built around AI avatars and presenter-style video, including translation. Its plans (heygen.com/pricing, opened 15 October 2026): Creator $29 a month with 600 credits; Pro from $49 with 1,000 credits; Business $149 a month with 1,500 credits, one seat included and extra seats at $20 a month.
Choose it for training videos, explainers and localized spokesperson clips.
Kling: direct model access
Kling sells credit-based memberships for its own video models at kling.ai. We could not see plan prices without signing in, so we do not quote any. Note that Runway’s paid plans also include Kling 3.0, so you may already have access through Runway.
Choose it for working directly with Kling’s models, if you are comfortable managing prompts, credits and editing yourself.
Fabeo: client delivery for agencies
Fabeo is our product, so weigh this section accordingly. Fabeo turns a brief into a finished, scripted video and is priced per rendered minute: $3 a minute headline, with plans at $12, $24 and $39 a month for 4, 8 and 15 rendered minutes. The Agency plan works out to $2.60 a minute (fabeo.ai/pricing).
What it adds for agencies:
- Per-minute pricing. A 30-second ad is half a rendered minute, so you know the cost before you render. Writing and editing the script costs nothing.
- Client workspaces. Up to 50 clients, 10 brands per client and 100 products per brand on the Agency plan (Fabeo for agencies).
- Review links. Clients watch in the browser and approve or request changes, without a Fabeo account.
- No seat limit. There is no per-seat fee; the team shares the account’s minutes.
- Works from Claude and ChatGPT over MCP.
Its limits: videos are up to 2 minutes long, it does not focus on avatar presenters, and review links carry Fabeo’s branding.
Choose it for a steady flow of client ads where you need a quotable price, brand separation and approvals in one place.
A worked cost example
Say a client wants ten 30-second ads a month. That is 5 rendered minutes of finished video.
- On Fabeo: about $15 at the $3 headline rate, or well inside the Agency plan’s 15 minutes ($39 a month).
- On Runway with Gen-4.5: 5 minutes is 300 seconds, or 3,600 credits, if every clip works first time. That is more than the Pro plan’s 2,250 credits and fits within Max’s 9,500. Real projects need re-runs, and editing those clips into ads takes time on top.
- On Creatify or HeyGen: the cost depends on how many credits each video uses, which their pricing pages don’t fix. Make one test ad and note the credits it uses.
Credit and per-minute prices are not directly comparable, and the cheapest plan on paper is rarely the cheapest for your actual work. Use the AI video cost calculator to estimate your own monthly volume, and see AI video cost per minute in 2026 for a wider comparison.
How to choose in 30 minutes
Take one real client brief. Make the same 30-second ad in your two strongest candidates. Then record three numbers:
- Total spend, including re-runs.
- Time to a client-ready cut, including editing.
- How the client reviewed it, and how many rounds it took.
Pick the tool that wins on those three numbers for your work, not the one with the best demo reel. For a fuller side-by-side, see Fabeo vs Runway.
FAQ
What is the best Runway alternative for agencies?
It depends on the work. Creatify suits product-page ads, HeyGen suits presenter videos, and Fabeo suits client delivery with per-minute pricing and review links. Runway itself remains a strong choice for hands-on creative work.
Is Runway expensive for agencies?
Individual plans run from $12 to $95 a month, and the Team plan is $55 to $69 per seat per month. Whether that is expensive depends on how many seconds you generate, how many re-runs you need and how many people need access.
Can I use Kling models without a Kling account?
Runway’s paid plans list Kling 3.0 among their models, so yes, through Runway. For Kling’s own plans, see kling.ai.
Does Fabeo charge per seat?
No. Fabeo has no seat limit; your team shares the account’s rendered minutes.
Prices were checked on 15 and 16 October 2026 and change often. Check each vendor’s pricing page before you buy.