Runway Explained: The Future of Video Creation Is Here

In 2026, virtually anyone can create high-quality video content, without specialized knowledge or skills. There is no longer a need to install or master complex editing software; professional content creation is now as simple as opening the app and entering a prompt. This article explores one of the most popular AI video generators that has made video production simpler and more accessible thanks to artificial intelligence. You’ll learn about the key features, pricing, and use cases of the Runway AI platform.

Runway is a cloud-based creative platform offering AI tools for video, image, and audio generation. It is powered by multimodal generative machine learning models that support a range of methods: text-to-video, image-to-video, text-to-image, image-to-image, and text-to-speech. Users can create high-quality content using text prompts, even without advanced skills.

Runway offers AI-powered video editing tools that let users tweak output settings such as resolution, export options (HD and 4K), and generate textures for 3D assets. The platform's interface offers numerous options and modes, accessible through a convenient dashboard or search bar that displays all available projects and resources. It also features a user-friendly editor with drag-and-drop support for editing and composing scenes, a real-time preview, and other features.

Runway was founded in 2018. In 2022, it participated in the development and popularization of the open-source Stable Diffusion model, created jointly with Stability AI and the research group CompVis. This involvement contributed to increased recognition in the AI community and helped the company raise nearly $200 million in funding, reaching a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion.

In 2023, Runway introduced Gen-1, a model that generates video from images and text prompts. An improved version, Runway ML Gen-2, was soon released. It could generate or transform video content based on text prompts and became one of the first commercially available multimodal AI models for text-to-video generation.

A year later, the company released Gen-3 Alpha, a next-generation AI model. It expanded the Gen series with multimodal support, combining text-to-video, image-to-video, and text-to-image modes. Trained on a large-scale dataset, Gen-3 Alpha boasted improved accuracy and output quality.

In March 2025, Runway introduced the Gen-4 model, followed by its updated Gen-4.5 version in late 2025. The key feature of this model is high-quality generation of visually consistent characters, objects, and environments across various scenes and lighting conditions.

Runway AI's functionality is built around the challenges video creators and video production teams typically face at various stages of their workflow. Runway's capabilities cover key areas of modern AI-driven content production, from basic video generation to complex visual transformations. The platform's generative AI models and intelligent editing tools enable the creation of video, image, audio, and 3D content, as well as professional-grade refinement of existing materials.

Video Generation

The platform enables users to generate videos in just a few clicks, based on text queries (text-to-video) or uploaded images (Runway AI image-to-video) with additional prompts. In addition to text instructions for the AI, users can use advanced settings, such as camera motion controls, special effects, lip syncing, and other options for customizing video content.

Images and Audio Generation

In addition to video generation, the platform's AI algorithms can generate and edit static graphics. Users have access to several modes for creating visual content from scratch based on text queries (text-to-image) or existing images (image-to-image).

Runway's built-in audio generator provides professional voiceovers for videos and other content in eight languages in several modes: text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, and lip sync. You can use preset voices or custom-trained voices for AI voiceover.

Editing Media Content

The AI video editor includes a comprehensive set of tools for editing existing videos and images. You can remove objects from a video, change the style, mood, background, lighting, and staging of images, recolor videos, enhance quality, add new backgrounds, and create dynamic scenes from a single frame.

Runway's media editing capabilities don't end there. It also lets you animate static characters with gestures, facial expressions, and voiceovers using custom voices and lip syncing. You can also change the lighting and time of day in videos.

Creating 3D Objects and Textures

One of Runway ML AI's key features is generating 3D objects from multiple images or video frames captured from different angles. The resulting 3D model can be exported in OBJ format, while previews and supporting materials can be exported as images. The finished object can also be added to the catalog of video-to-3D model templates.

The platform allows you to generate original 3D textures based on short text prompts. Upon receiving the request, the AI model generates a texture in seconds, which can then be refined. You can manually refine it in the settings, add it to the resource catalog, or download it to your device.

The Runway AI video generator is used by hundreds of thousands of filmmakers, video creators, advertisers, designers, artists, animators, and other creative professionals worldwide. The platform's capabilities are actively utilized in various stages of modern film and TV series production (House of David, HANAA, Life After People), animation (Mars and Siv), advertising campaigns (Under Armor, Nike, Fox Entertainment), and popular TV shows (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).

Runway is used to create visual elements for music videos (Alicia Keys) and to develop specific visual solutions for pop star concert tours (Madonna Celebration Tour). It is also used in shoe design (New Balance), architectural and 3D design (KPF, UPenn), and educational courses and programs (Williams College, HKU Business School).

Runway ML's tools for generating, prototyping, and post-production processing of visual content have demonstrated their effectiveness in many fields. The platform is particularly valuable for:

Runway AI pricing offers a flexible access model designed for both individual video makers and professional teams and large companies. The feature set, generation limits, and collaboration capabilities depend on the selected plan and credit volume. Users can start working for free and, as the number and complexity of their tasks increases, upgrade to more feature-rich plans with advanced tools, increased storage, and priority support.

Free

The free plan for individual users includes basic tools for generating and editing media content. A one-time allocation of 125 credits is provided. Subscribers gain access to AI video generation using the Gen-4 Turbo model (image-to-video), image generation using the Gen-4 model (text-to-image, references), the ability to create up to three video projects, and 5 GB of storage.

Standard

The entry-level paid plan is for individuals and small teams. It offers more capabilities for generating, editing, and exporting content. It allows for up to five users per workspace.

Includes: 625 credits monthly, all features of the Free plan + access to all applications, workflows, 3 video modes (Aleph video editor, Gen-4 for image-to-video generation, Act-Two for performance capture), video quality improvement, watermark removal, unlimited video projects, 100 GB of data storage, technical support via dashboard.

Cost: $15 per month per user.

Pro

The Advanced plan is for professionals, small and medium-sized teams, and companies. It provides access to all AI modes and tools. It supports up to 10 participants per workspace.

Includes: 2250 credits monthly, all features of the Standard plan + creation of custom voices for text-to-speech and lip sync, 500 GB for data storage.

Cost: $35 per month per user.

Unlimited

This plan provides full platform functionality and allows for unlimited video generation. It supports up to 10 participants per workspace.

Includes: 2250 credits monthly, all features of the Pro plan + unlimited generations in Aleph, Gen-4 Turbo, Gen-4 (images and video), Act-Two, Gen-3 Alpha Turbo modes in Explore mode at low speed.

Cost: $95 per month per user.

Enterprise

The Enterprise plan is for large teams, companies, and organizations. It provides advanced features for platform implementation, customization, and security.

Includes: custom credits, all Pro plan features plus a customizable workspace, enhanced security and compliance, enterprise onboarding, priority support, integration with internal tools, and Workspace Analytics.

Cost: available upon request.

Runway AI has significantly simplified video and visual content production, making this complex industry accessible to a broad audience. This result is driven by innovative AI models whose accuracy and performance steadily improve with each new release.

Runway video creation is in demand not only among amateurs but also among recognized experts in filmmaking, video production, animation, design, and 3D graphics. The platform's powerful suite of professional tools and user-friendly interface help professionals create media content faster and more efficiently, transforming creative visions into reality.

The rates listed reflect monthly subscription costs at the time of publication. Since pricing and plans are subject to change, please visit the official website for the most current information.