Overview
Kling AI is Kuaishou's AI video generator and sits in the top tier of Chinese video models alongside Google Veo 3 and ByteDance Seedance.
Kling 3.0 arrived on September 11, 2026 on a unified Multimodal Visual Language architecture, producing native 4K at 60fps with 16-bit HDR. Multi-shot AI Director yields up to six continuous shots in one generation while holding characters consistent, and Elements accepts up to four reference images to lock a subject's appearance. The official blog previewed 4.0 on September 30 and the model shipped on October 19: clips up to 30 seconds, a prompt window extended to 8000 tokens, Omni Reference taking up to 15 reference assets, two-channel stereo with lip sync across more than ten languages, and a lighter Kling 4.0 Flash.
Within ten days of launch, 4.0 spread across surfaces. Lovart added it on October 24, with agent Arti drafting the shot list while the user keeps the final cut, and Runway Dev added it on October 25 with API access alongside the whole Kling line. On price, 3.0 Standard at 0.05 dollars per second is the lowest unit price in the line, and Kling 4 carries a 20 percent discount through November 30.
Key Features
- Kling 4.0: 30-second clips: Released on October 19, 2026, generating clips up to 30 seconds in one pass with a prompt window extended to 8000 tokens, enough for a complete narrative without stitching. Motion stability, audio quality and camera travel all improve.
- Omni Reference assets: Accepts up to 15 reference assets so characters, products and scenes can be specified separately, paired with 10 keyframes for pacing. Multiple subjects in one shot keep their own appearance instead of drifting between cuts.
- Stereo audio and lip sync: 4.0 adds two-channel stereo with a sense of left and right, and lip sync covers more than ten languages with room for several speakers in a scene, which suits dialogue-driven shorts.
- Kling 4.0 Flash: A lighter tier launched with 4.0 for batch output and draft iterations, faster and cheaper per second. Lock the shots first, then rerun on the full model.
- Native 4K 60fps and HDR: Since 3.0 the model outputs native 3840 by 2160 at 60fps with 16-bit HDR rather than upscaling afterwards, so high dynamic range survives the trip into an editor.
- Multi-shot AI Director: Up to six continuous shots in a single generation with characters, wardrobe and settings held consistent between cuts, aimed at ads and short drama segments that need shot rhythm.
- Motion Control AI: Curved camera paths, independent motion paths for multiple subjects and camera shake, plus six-axis camera movement and Motion Brush for animating only a chosen region of the frame.
- Avatar 2.0: A multimodal director module combines image recognition, audio analysis and text prompts, reading emotion from musical beats and turning it into expression and body language. Accepts photos, AI images, animals and cartoon characters at 1080p and 48fps.
Use Cases
- Brand films under 30 seconds in one generation, avoiding seams and colour shifts from stitching segments.
- Dialogue-driven drama clips where stereo audio and multilingual lip sync deliver a finished track.
- Ad storyboard iteration: run several versions on Flash, then rerun the chosen one on the full 4.0 model.
- Product videos with multiple subjects, using Omni Reference to lock the product, model and setting separately.
- Go from shot list to final cut inside Lovart, letting Arti draft the shot table while you handle the edit.
- Call Kling 4.0 through the API and mix it with other models for batch production.
- Digital presenters and virtual hosts, where Avatar 2.0 derives emotion from musical beats for rhythmic content.
Pros
- 30-second clips with an 8000 token prompt window let a full narrative run without splitting.
- Omni Reference supports 15 assets and 10 keyframes, giving fine control over multi-subject scenes.
- Two-channel stereo and lip sync in more than ten languages cover dialogue scenes end to end.
- 4.0 is available on Lovart and Runway Dev and can be called via API alongside the whole model line.
- The range from 3.0 Standard to 4.0 Flash spans budgets, so drafts and finals can use different tiers.
- Kling 4 is discounted 20 percent through November 30, which lowers the cost of batch output.
Pricing
Per-second and per-call model tiers: Kling Video 3.0 at 0.05 dollars per second, 3.0 Omni at 0.08, Kling 2.6 at 0.28 per 5 seconds with native audio, 2.5 Turbo at 0.35 per 5 seconds and O1 at 0.126 per second. Kling 4 carries a 20 percent discount through November 30, 2026. Subscriptions: free signup with 1 dollar and 66 credits, watermarked; Standard at 6.99 dollars per month with 660 credits; Pro at 25.99 dollars per month with 3000 credits and commercial rights. Referrals grant credits to both sides. Check the official site for quotas and commercial terms.
Summary
Kling spent the year making image quality and camera language solid before filling in duration and sound. 3.0 raised controllability with 4K 60fps, a multi-shot director and Elements, and 4.0 pushed single clips to 30 seconds with stereo audio and lip sync in more than ten languages, so dialogue-driven shorts can come out in one pass. Integration with Lovart and Runway Dev puts it inside design tools and API pipelines. For Chinese short video and advertising teams, the draw is having storyboard through audio track inside one model.
Version History
- Kling 4.0 lands on Runway Dev with API access (2026-10-25): Kling said on October 25 that Kling 4.0 is available on Runway Dev and can be called through the API alongside the rest of the Kling model line. The model generates clips up to 30 seconds with native audio, accepts up to 15 reference images and 10 keyframes for precise control, and carries a 20 percent discount through November 30.
- Kling 4.0 arrives on Lovart with 30-second clips and 10 keyframes (2026-10-24): Kling announced on October 24 that Kling 4.0 is live on Lovart. Clips run up to 30 seconds, with 10 keyframes for pacing and up to 15 reference assets for characters, products and scenes, alongside steadier motion, better audio and wider camera moves. Lovart agent Arti drafts the shot list while the user keeps control of the final cut.
- Kling 4.0 officially released with 30-second clips, stereo audio and multilingual lip sync (2026-10-19): Kling AI officially released the Kling 4.0 video generation model on October 19, capable of generating clips up to 30 seconds in a single pass, with prompt understanding expanded to an 8,000 token window and Omni Reference accepting up to 15 reference assets. It adds dual-channel stereo audio and lip sync across more than ten languages, alongside a lighter Kling 4.0 Flash variant. The September 30 blog post had only teased the version; this release fills in the full specifications. Kling AI also appeared at ACFM 2026 the same month to showcase the model's cinematic capabilities.
- The official blog released Kling 4.0, highlighting upgrades in visual realism, creative control, and storytelling capabilities; existing reviews only cover Kling 3.0. (2026-09-30): The official blog published Kling 4.0, highlighting upgrades in visual realism, creative control, and narrative capabilities; existing reviews only cover Kling 3.0.
- Kling 3.0 launches with native 4K 60fps and multi-shot AI directing (2026-09-11): Kuaishou released Kling 3.0 on a unified Multimodal Visual Language architecture, outputting native 4K (3840x2160) at 60fps with 16-bit HDR and clips up to 15 seconds. The multi-shot AI Director produces up to six connected shots with consistent characters in one pass; Elements locks an identity from up to four reference images and supports coreference across three or more characters; native audio sync covers lip sync in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish with up to three speakers per scene. Motion Control AI adds curve dolly camera paths, independent paths for multiple subjects and camera shake, alongside six-axis camera movement and a Motion Brush.
- Avatar 2.0 turns a single photo into a singing and dancing performance (2026-09-04): Kling released Avatar 2.0, whose multimodal director module blends image recognition, audio analysis and text prompts to read emotion from the musical beat and turn it into facial expressions and body language, so choruses look excited and rap verses land with matching nods and gestures. Real photos, AI images, animals and cartoon characters can all perform, output at 1080p HD and 48fps. Two-stage generation first lays out the whole performance, then fills in detailed motion while keeping it consistent throughout. Usage rose 300% on launch day.
- Kling 3.x / 3.0 Master (2026): Kuaishou Kling's third-generation flagship: significant upgrades in video physical consistency and camera movement, forming the global first tier with Google Veo 3, ByteDance Seedance, and HappyHorse; introduces professional capabilities like Multi-Reference / Character Consistency / 1080p HD
- Kling 2.x / 2.0 Master (2025): Opened simultaneously domestically and internationally; 5-10 second generation enters practical stage
- Kling 1.0 / 1.5 / 1.6 (2024): Kling's debut directly benchmarked Sora demo, establishing itself as the leading domestic video generation tool