ClipCost · Last checked Oct 17, 2026 · Prices from verified data
Runway credits explained
How many credits each Runway model burns per second, what a credit is worth on each plan, how much video your monthly credits really buy — and what a 10s, 30s or 60s video costs once retries are counted.
Run your own numbers Runway cost per video Official pricing
Quick answer
Runway charges credits per second of video, on every attempt. Gen-4.5 and Gen-4 use 12 credits/second, Gen-4 Turbo 5, and the Aleph 2.0 editing model 28. The Standard plan’s 625 monthly credits ≈ 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 — Runway’s own figure. So a 30-second Gen-4.5 video needs 360 credits for one try ($6.91 at Standard annual’s $0.0192/credit), and a usable one with 2 retries needs 1,080 credits ($20.74) — more than Standard gives you in a month. Gen-4 Turbo does the same 30 seconds for 150 credits ($2.88), or 450 with retries ($8.64).
Basis: all rates verified Oct 17, 2026 from Runway’s own pages: runway.com/pricing, the help-centre articles How do credits work?, Creating with Gen-4.5 and Creating with Gen-4 Video, the Runway Academy credits & models page and Runway API pricing. “Usable” = 1 try + 2 retries (3 attempts), the same convention as our calculator. No quality ranking — cost only.
Credits per second, by Runway model
| Model | What it does | Credits / sec | Per 5s | Per 10s | Per generation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen-4.5 | Text/image to video (720p) | 12 | 60 | 120 | 2–10s; text-to-video needs Standard or higher |
| Gen-4 | Image to video (input image required) | 12 | 60 | 120 | 5s or 10s |
| Gen-4 Turbo | Budget image to video | 5 | 25 | 50 | 5s or 10s |
| Aleph 2.0 | Video-to-video editing | 28 | 140 | 280 | 56-credit minimum (API docs) |
| Gen-4 Aleph (previous) | Video-to-video editing | 15 | 75 | 150 | — |
| Act-Two | Character performance animation | 5 | 25 | 50 | 3s minimum |
| ProRes / PNG-sequence output | Export add-on (Max, legacy Unlimited, Enterprise) | +5 | +25 | +50 | On top of the model rate |
Gen-4.5 rate and 2–10s durations from Runway’s pricing FAQ and Gen-4.5 help article; Gen-4/Turbo from the Gen-4 help article; Aleph 2.0 from the pricing page (140 credits/5s), Academy page (28/sec) and API docs (56-credit minimum); Gen-4 Aleph and Act-Two from the Academy credits page; ProRes/PNG surcharge from the Gen-4.5 help article. One conflict, flagged: Runway’s pricing page says Standard’s 625 credits = 104s of Gen-4 Turbo (about 6/sec) but Max’s 9,500 = 1,900s (5/sec); the model docs say 5/sec, which we use. Check the cost Runway shows before you generate.
Third-party models inside Runway
Runway also sells other companies’ models for Runway credits. Same credit, different burn rate:
| Model in Runway | Credits / sec | 30s try (Standard annual) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Veo 3.1 · with audio | 40 | $23.04 | Academy page; help example 10s = 400 |
| Google Veo 3.1 · no audio | 20 | $11.52 | Academy page |
| ByteDance Seedance 2.0 Pro · 1080p | 40 (160 / 4s) | $23.04 | Pricing page |
| ByteDance Seedance 2.0 Fast | 29 (116 / 4s) | $16.70 | Pricing page |
| Kling 3.0 Pro · no audio / with audio | 12 / 17 | $6.91 / $9.79 | Academy page |
| Kling 3.0 Std · no audio / with audio | 9 / 13 | $5.18 / $7.49 | Academy page |
Convenience costs extra. Buying Kling directly, Kling’s own app charges from 6 credits/sec for Kling 3.0 (720p, no audio) on credits worth about $0.0100 — $1.80 per 30s try — versus $5.18 for the cheapest Kling 3.0 option inside Runway. Veo 3.1 Lite on the Gemini API is $0.05/sec ($1.50 per 30s). Full comparison: Runway vs Kling cost and Kling credits explained.
What a Runway credit is worth
| Plan | Price | Credits | $ per credit | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 125 one-time | — | Does not expire |
| Standard | $12/mo annual ($15 monthly) | 625 / month | $0.0192 ($0.0240 monthly) | Resets on billing date |
| Pro | $28/mo annual ($35 monthly) | 2,250 / month | $0.0124 ($0.0156 monthly) | Resets on billing date |
| Max | $76/mo annual ($95 monthly) | 9,500 / month | $0.0080 ($0.0100 monthly) | Up to 1 month rolls over |
| Purchased credits | $10 per 1,000 (minimum) | 1,000+ | $0.0100 | Never expire |
$ per credit = plan price ÷ monthly credits, assuming you use them all. Purchases are for paid plans only. Spend order (help centre): current month’s plan credits, then rollover credits, then purchased credits. Upgrades are prorated and add credits right away (pricing-page FAQ). Runway app credits and Runway API credits ($0.01/credit) are separate balances — one never pays for the other. Team plan credits (6,900 per seat, pooled) are listed by Runway; Team pricing was not checked here.
How much video your monthly credits buy
| Model | Free (125) | Standard (625) | Pro (2,250) | Max (9,500) | 1,000 purchased |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen-4.5 / Gen-4 (12/s) | 10s | 52s | 187s | 791s | 83s |
| Gen-4 Turbo (5/s) | 25s | 125s* | 450s* | 1,900s | 200s |
| Aleph 2.0 edits (28/s) | 4s | 22s | 80s | 339s | 35s |
| Veo 3.1 with audio (40/s) | 3s | 15s | 56s | 237s | 25s |
Seconds rounded down. Runway’s pricing page publishes the Gen-4.5 figures itself (52s / 187s / 791s). *Runway’s page says 104s and 375s of Turbo for Standard and Pro (about 6/sec); at the documented 5/sec it is 125s and 450s. Gen-4.5 text-to-video needs Standard or higher, so Free credits suit image-to-video tests.
Cost per 10s, 30s and 60s video (with retries)
Standard annual credit value ($0.0192). “Usable” = 3 attempts.
| Model | Credits per 10s | 10s try | 10s usable | Credits per 30s | 30s try | 30s usable | 60s try | 60s usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen-4.5 | 120 | $2.30 | $6.91 | 360 | $6.91 | $20.74 | $13.82 | $41.47 |
| Gen-4 | 120 | $2.30 | $6.91 | 360 | $6.91 | $20.74 | $13.82 | $41.47 |
| Gen-4 Turbo | 50 | $0.96 | $2.88 | 150 | $2.88 | $8.64 | $5.76 | $17.28 |
| Aleph 2.0 (editing) | 280 | $5.38 | $16.13 | 840 | $16.13 | $48.38 | $32.26 | $96.77 |
| Veo 3.1 with audio (in Runway) | 400 | $7.68 | $23.04 | 1,200 | $23.04 | $69.12 | $46.08 | $138.24 |
| Veo 3.1 no audio (in Runway) | 200 | $3.84 | $11.52 | 600 | $11.52 | $34.56 | $23.04 | $69.12 |
Maths: credits/sec × seconds × attempts × $0.0192. Example: Gen-4.5 30s = 12 × 30 = 360 credits × $0.0192 = $6.91; with 2 retries 1,080 credits = $20.74. Aleph 2.0 is priced per second of the video you edit, so its rows assume you edit the full length. Usable rows above Standard’s 625 credits are an effective cost at the plan rate, not cash Standard alone covers — you would need purchased credits or a bigger plan.
Same 30-second try on other plans
| Model (30s, 1 try) | Standard annual | Standard monthly | Pro annual | Max annual | Purchased credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen-4.5 (360 cr) | $6.91 | $8.64 | $4.48 | $2.88 | $3.60 |
| Gen-4 Turbo (150 cr) | $2.88 | $3.60 | $1.87 | $1.20 | $1.50 |
| Aleph 2.0 (840 cr) | $16.13 | $20.16 | $10.45 | $6.72 | $8.40 |
Monthly reality: usable 30-second videos per plan
| Plan | Gen-4.5 (1,080 cr each) | Gen-4 Turbo (450 cr each) | Aleph 2.0 edit (2,520 cr each) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (625) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Pro (2,250) | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Max (9,500) | 8 | 21 | 3 |
That is the real meaning of “625 credits”: one 30-second Gen-4.5 try a month, with 265 credits left over — not a finished, retried 30-second video. If you need more, a 1,000-credit top-up ($10, never expires) adds 83 seconds of Gen-4.5. Topping up Standard to cover one usable 30s Gen-4.5 clip costs $12 + $10 = $22 cash that month, with 545 purchased credits left for later.
Five credit traps
- Every attempt is billed. A discarded generation burns the same credits as the keeper, so budget at your real retry rate.
- Use it or lose it on Standard and Pro. Monthly credits expire on your billing date; only Max rolls up to one month over.
- Generations are short. Gen-4.5 makes 2–10s clips and Gen-4/Turbo 5s or 10s, so a 30s or 60s video is several generations stitched — and any segment can need a retry.
- Third-party models burn faster. Veo 3.1 with audio is 40 credits/sec inside Runway — Standard’s month covers about 15 seconds.
- App and API credits do not mix. Credits bought in the Runway app cannot pay for the Runway API, and vice versa.
Next steps: see Runway cost per video for the full Gen-4.5 vs Turbo breakdown, Runway vs Kling cost if you are choosing between the two, compare Runway with Kling, Pika and Veo at 30s and 60s, or check the cheapest AI video generator ranking. Run your own model, plan and retry count in the calculator.
Sources
All fetched Oct 17, 2026: runway.com/pricing (plan prices and credits, 625 = 52s of Gen-4.5, Aleph 2.0 140 credits/5s, Seedance 2.0 rates, rollover FAQ); How do credits work? (allotments, expiry, purchases, spend order, app vs API credits); Creating with Gen-4.5 (12/sec, 2–10s, 720p, ProRes/PNG +5/sec); Creating with Gen-4 Video (Gen-4 12/sec, Turbo 5/sec); Runway Academy — Credits & Available Models (Aleph 2.0, Gen-4 Aleph, Act-Two, Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0 in Runway); Runway API pricing (Aleph 2.0 56-credit minimum, API credits $0.01). Prices change — Runway shows the credit cost before each generation, so confirm in-product.
FAQ
How do Runway credits work?
Runway charges credits per second of video for every attempt you generate, including the ones you throw away. Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits per second, so a 5-second generation costs 60 credits and a 10-second one 120. Paid plans get a monthly allotment (Standard 625, Pro 2,250, Max 9,500 credits); the Free plan gets a one-time 125 credits.
How many Runway credits do I need for a 30-second video?
On Gen-4.5 or Gen-4, 360 credits for one 30-second attempt (12 per second × 30), or 1,080 credits with 2 retries. Gen-4 Turbo needs 150 per attempt (450 with 2 retries). Editing 30 seconds with Aleph 2.0 needs 840 credits per attempt, and Veo 3.1 with audio inside Runway needs 1,200. Gen-4.5 generates 2–10 seconds at a time, so a 30-second video is at least 3 generations.
How many seconds of video do 625 Runway credits make?
About 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 or Gen-4 — Runway's own figure for the Standard plan. That is 125 seconds of Gen-4 Turbo at the 5 credits per second in Runway's model docs (Runway's pricing page says 104 seconds), about 22 seconds of Aleph 2.0 edits, or about 15 seconds of Veo 3.1 with audio.
How much is one Runway credit worth?
Plan price divided by plan credits: about $0.0192 on Standard annual ($12/month, 625 credits) or $0.0240 on monthly billing; $0.0124 on Pro annual; $0.0080 on Max annual. Purchased credits are $10 per 1,000 ($0.01 each, minimum 1,000, paid plans only). Runway API credits are a separate balance.
Do Runway credits roll over or expire?
Standard and Pro monthly credits expire on your billing date. Max rolls up to one month of unused credits over. The Free plan's one-time 125 credits and any purchased credits do not expire. Runway spends the current month's plan credits first, then rollover credits, then purchased credits.
How much does Aleph 2.0 cost on Runway?
Aleph 2.0, Runway's video-to-video editing model, costs 28 credits per second of video (140 credits per 5 seconds), with a 56-credit minimum per generation in Runway's API docs. A 10-second edit is 280 credits ($5.38 on Standard annual credits) and a 30-second edit is 840 credits ($16.13) per attempt. Standard's 625 credits cover about 22 seconds of Aleph 2.0 edits a month.