Runway vs Kling vs Veo vs Higgsfield: what a 5 second clip costs

Pricing for AI video is hard to compare because each vendor sells a different unit: monthly credits, per-second API fees, or tokens. This page converts the published prices into one number, the cost of a 5 second clip, and then explains why that number is only the start. For head-to-head detail on any one pair, see my pages on Higgsfield vs Runway, Higgsfield vs Kling and Higgsfield vs Veo and Flow. This page is the table and the decision.

I use Higgsfield and I am an affiliate for it, so I show its numbers next to the others and say where it loses.

This page may contain affiliate links from which Blur Studio earns commissions.

The short answer

Lowest per clip in my arithmetic: older, cheaper models (Kling 3.0) on a large Higgsfield plan, then a large Runway plan or a pay-per-use API seller such as fal (fal.ai, a company that sells pay-per-use access to AI models). Cost per credit falls as the plan gets bigger, so a small plan is the costly way to buy any model. Highest: the newest premium model on the smallest plan. Those are not like-for-like, because the models differ. The right pick is the model that gives you a usable clip in the fewest tries, and that you only learn by running the same brief on each. A test for that is further down.

Also note that Sora, OpenAI's video app, is closed: OpenAI's help page says the app ended on 26 April 2026 and the API ends on 24 September 2026. It is not in this comparison and Higgsfield's tool list does not include it.

What each platform is

• Runway makes its own video models (its current one on the pricing page is Gen-4.5) and an editor with brand and editing tools. It also sells Kling and Seedance models inside its credit system. So "Runway vs Kling" is partly a billing question, because you can buy Kling through Runway.
• Kling is Kuaishou's video model family (versions and plans explained). You can buy it from Kling directly, through Runway, through Higgsfield, or through API sellers. The Kling alternatives page covers the other ways to pay for it. Kling's own price page did not render, so Kling is quoted only through fal and Runway, and labeled that way.
• Veo is Google DeepMind's video model. You reach it through Google's Flow tool (Google's app for making video with Veo, included in some Google AI plans), the Gemini API (Google's developer interface), or other platforms such as Higgsfield.
• Higgsfield lists Kling, Seedance, Veo 3.1, Wan, Hailuo and others in one account and charges in credits. It is a reseller of those models plus its own tools.

Seedance, mentioned above, is ByteDance's video model family (ByteDance owns TikTok). Wan is Alibaba's. One more name you will see: Gemini Omni Flash is a separate Google model that is not Veo. I give its price below because Google prints it, but do not read it as a Veo price.

The table: price per 5 second clip

These figures are vendor prices as of 4 November 2026. The "per 5 seconds" numbers are my arithmetic from the credit and plan prices shown, so they are estimates. Resolution, sound and watermark rules differ by row and unconfirmed items are marked.

Route	What the page showed	My arithmetic, per 5 seconds
Runway Gen-4.5	12 credits per second (60 per 5 s). Standard $15 a month or $12 on annual billing for 625 credits; Pro $35 or $28 for 2,250; Max $95 or $76 for 9,500	$1.44 on Standard monthly, about $1.15 on Standard annual, about $0.48 on Max annual
Kling 4.0 at 1080p, bought on Runway	118 credits per 5 s (89 with a 25 percent discount that Runway's page said runs through 30 November)	About $2.83 on Standard monthly, $2.27 on Standard annual, $0.94 on Max annual. With the discount: about $2.14, $1.71 and $0.71
Kling v3 Pro or Standard, through fal	$0.14 per second, prepaid per-output credits	$0.70
Kling v2.5 Turbo Pro, through fal	$0.07 per second	$0.35
Gemini Omni Flash (not Veo), Google API	$17.50 per million tokens; 5,792 tokens per second of 720p video	About $0.50 at 720p (about $0.10 per second)
Veo through Google's API	No Veo 3.1 rate on Google's pricing page; the Veo preview API models are retired (see below)	Not available
Veo through Google plans (Flow)	Monthly Flow units: Plus 200, Pro 1,000, Ultra 10,000 or 25,000. Units per clip not shown; the page listed no prices	Not available
Kling through Kling's own site	Page did not render	Not available

Seedance 2.0 Pro at 1080p is 160 Runway credits per 4 seconds, which is a different length from the rows above, so it is left out of the 5 second table rather than stretched. fal prices some models by token (for example Seedance 2.0 Fast at $0.0112 per thousand tokens), and that cannot be turned into seconds without the model's token rate, so it is not converted.

The Veo API models have moved. Google's deprecations page (checked 4 November 2026) lists the three Veo 3.1 preview models in the Gemini API (standard, fast and lite) with a shutdown date of 22 October 2026, which has already passed. It also lists Veo 3.0 and Veo 2.0 API models with a shutdown date of 30 June 2026. For all of them Google names Gemini Omni Flash as the recommended replacement. That is why the Omni Flash row above is the one Google API price in the table. Google's plans page still mentions Veo 3.1 (for example Veo-based image-to-video in Google Photos on Pro and Ultra), so Veo is not gone from Google's products, only from those API model names. If you plan to call Veo or Omni Flash through the API, check which model names are live today before you build anything. For the product itself, see what Veo 3.1 is and how to get access.

What each is reported to be good at

Price is only half the choice, and prices alone make Kling and Veo look interchangeable. One comparison page (from MyArchitectAI, an architecture-rendering tool, so a seller with its own product) summarises it this way: Veo for built-in synced audio and prompt understanding, Kling for smooth motion and lip-synced dialogue at low cost, and Runway for editing control. The same page reports that on Runway's entry plans credits do not roll over and failed generations still cost credits, and that Kling data is processed under Chinese jurisdiction, which some business buyers will want to check against their own data rules. Runway's page confirms the first point for Standard and Pro (Max credits roll over one month). The rest is not confirmed on vendor pages, so treat it as reports and test.

Where Higgsfield sits in the table

Higgsfield charges in credits. As of 4 November 2026, its pricing page shows Starter at $19 a month for 270 credits, Plus at $59 monthly or $47 on an annual plan for 1,200, and Ultra at $129 monthly or $99 annual for 3,000. Dividing price by credits gives roughly $0.07 per credit on Starter and about $0.033 on Ultra annual. Plans and promotions change, so check the pricing explainer and the live pricing page.

The credit costs printed on Higgsfield's pricing page, which it marks as approximate for these rows, include about 7 credits for a 5 second Kling 3.0 clip at 720p, about 8 at 1080p, about 22 for a 5 second Seedance 2.0 clip at 720p, and about 16 credits for a 4 second Veo 3.1 Fast clip (about 40 for standard Veo 3.1). My arithmetic from that:

Higgsfield route	Credits (approximate)	Dollars, from Ultra annual to Starter
Kling 3.0, 5 s, 720p	about 7	about $0.23 to $0.49
Kling 3.0, 5 s, 1080p	about 8	about $0.27 to $0.56
Seedance 2.0, 5 s, 720p	about 22	about $0.73 to $1.55
Veo 3.1 Fast, 4 s	about 16	about $0.53 to $1.13
Veo 3.1, 4 s	about 40	about $1.33 to $2.82

Kling 4.0 and Seedance 2.5 are in Higgsfield's model list but have no printed credit cost; the cost shows on the Generate button. Three cautions on these numbers. Subscription credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, so credits you do not use raise your real cost. The figures exclude tax. And the Veo rows are 4 seconds, not 5.

What I take from the two tables: Higgsfield's Kling 3.0 price is far below Runway's Gen-4.5 or Kling 4.0 on a small plan, but it is an older Kling model, so you are not comparing like for like. Against fal's $0.70 for Kling v3, Higgsfield's Kling 3.0 clip comes out lower on the plans above, as long as you use the credits, but they are different model versions. The API route wins when you have a developer and want to pay only for what runs, with no credits that expire and no monthly fee.

Why cost per clip is not cost per clip you keep

A clip that costs 35 cents and fails four times in five costs more than a $1.44 clip that works the second time. Work out cost per kept clip: price per attempt, divided by the share of attempts you approve. In a made-up example, if model A costs $0.70 a try and one in four tries is usable, a kept clip costs $2.80. If model B costs $1.44 and one in two is usable, a kept clip costs $2.88. The two are nearly equal even though the sticker prices differ by double. The only way to learn your own ratio is the same-brief test below. More on spending credits wisely is in the credit guide.

Other costs the table hides: sound (some models include it and some do not), resolution (a 720p draft is cheaper than 1080p), and the time you spend reviewing.

Where each option wins

• Runway wins when you want its editing tools, brand kits and MCP connection (a standard way to let an AI assistant such as Claude use a tool), and professional output formats such as ProRes and HDR. It also shows prices before you pay, with a free start of 125 one-time credits.
• Kling directly wins when you want its newest model first, before resellers add it. Its prices were not available to check, so confirm them on its site.
• Google wins when you already pay for a Google AI plan and Flow units are included (the plans page lists 200, 1,000, 10,000 and 25,000 units a month from Plus to the top Ultra tier), or when you want Veo from its maker. How many units one clip uses was not on the page, and the page did not list Veo for the Plus tier, so check what your plan includes first.
• fal (or another API seller) wins on pay-per-use billing and automation, if you have a developer.
• Higgsfield wins when you want to try Kling, Seedance, Veo and others without four accounts, plus its own tools such as Marketing Studio for ads. It is weaker if you only ever use one model, because buying that model's own plan or API is then simpler and, at volume, often cheaper.

Pick by job

Job	Start with	Why
Not sure which model suits your product	One multi-model account (Higgsfield or Runway)	Same brief across models without extra sign-ups
High volume of one model, with a developer	An API seller such as fal	Pay only for what runs, and automate it
Editing and brand tools in one place	Runway	Its editor and brand features
You already pay for Google AI	Flow with Veo	Check what your plan includes first
Ads and product videos for clients	Higgsfield or Runway	Test both on your own product
Occasional use, a few clips a month	The cheapest plan that includes your model, or pay per output via an API seller	Avoid paying for unused credits

The broader list is in best AI video generators for small business, and you can compare the multi-model option with buying a model's own site in Higgsfield vs direct model sites.

A same-brief test

A plan you can run in one afternoon. Write one brief, for example a product on a table, slow push-in, soft daylight, 5 seconds, no people. Run it five times on each platform you are considering, at the same resolution, with sound on if the model supports it.

1. Record price per attempt for each, from the button or the plan maths above.
2. Score each clip pass, partial or fail on: product shape stays correct, no melting or flicker, camera move matches the brief, no stray text or logos, usable in the first 3 seconds.
3. Count passes. Cost per kept clip is total spend divided by passes.
4. Check the watermark and download resolution on each, because free tiers often differ.

Pass: at least 2 of 5 clips usable and cost per kept clip within your budget for the job. Fail: fewer than 2 usable, or a cost per kept clip more than you would pay a freelancer for the same shot. Repeat once with a harder brief (a person, a hand holding the product) because models differ most there.

Rights and labels

Higgsfield's Terms of Use say it does not restrict commercial use of outputs, but its pricing table marks commercial use as not included on the Free plan and free output is watermarked, so use a paid plan for client work. Check Runway's, Google's and Kling's commercial-use terms before using clips in paid ads. Outputs are not guaranteed to be unique. Follow each ad platform's AI labelling rules, and check local law. This is information, not legal advice. See the AI video rights checklist.

Who should skip Higgsfield

• You will only ever use one model, and its maker's plan is cheaper for your volume.
• You have a developer and send hundreds of clips a month: an API seller bills only what runs and can be automated, so compare it on your own volume.
• You mainly need an editing suite with brand controls and professional formats: Runway fits better.
• You want the newest Kling model the day it appears: go to Kling or check whether Higgsfield lists it.
• You make a handful of clips a year: a plan whose credits expire monthly will cost you more than pay-per-output.

How I'd approach this

I would not pick on price alone. I would run the same-brief test on two platforms with a small budget, log model name, version and credits per attempt, and choose the one with the lowest cost per kept clip. Then I would re-run the test every quarter, because the prices and model names in this table will change; Runway's own Kling discount is a good example, since it was shown for a limited time.

If you want the numbers in one place, keep a sheet with attempts, passes, credits and dollars per job. If you want the workflow, approval step and asset library set up so that your team does this the same way every time, Blur Studio builds that; you can see how it works. And if you decide a multi-model account suits you, start with one month on a Higgsfield plan or a Runway plan and treat the first week as the test.