HeyGen vs Runway
| HeyGen | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| What it says it does | Be your best self, every time. Create clear, confident AI videos with your Personal Avatar—your face and voice, without filming every video. Try it free. | Runway is an AI image, video and audio generation platform with its own Gen-4.5 and Aleph video models plus third-party models, used to create ads, social clips and b-roll from text, images or footage. |
| Pricing | Free plan or free trial mentioned on official site; see official pricing page for current prices. (official) | Free plan with a one-time 125 credits; Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed annually, 625 credits/mo); Pro $35/mo ($28 annually, 2,250 credits/mo); Max $95/mo ($76 annually, 9,500 credits/mo); extra credits from 1,000; Enterprise custom (official) |
| Website | https://www.heygen.com | https://runwayml.com/ |
Which to use
HeyGen wins when the video should look like a person delivering a script and you do not want to film it. Runway wins when you want its own Gen-4.5 and Aleph video models plus other leading models and editing tools in one subscription.
- Choose HeyGen if you want talking-head videos of yourself or a stock avatar without filming each one.
- Choose Runway if you make ads, social clips or b-roll and want top AI video models in one editor.
This is an editorial fit note from each vendor's public site and docs, not a sponsored ranking and not a price quote. Descriptions in the table come from those sites. Confirm current prices there. How we review tools.
Keep exploring
The BuildStack newsletter
One money-making AI workflow and the tools behind it, every week.