Overview
Runway is one of the pioneers and long-term leaders in the AI video generation track. Since 2018, it has been conducting AI + video research, pushing AI video from research demos all the way to consumer-grade and Hollywood industrial-grade production pipelines.
**The current mainstays are Gen-4 / Gen-4 Turbo** (released in March 2025, iterated to Gen-4.5 in 2026). Compared to Gen-3 Alpha, they offer generational improvements in visual physical consistency, long-shot stability, and cross-shot character and scene consistency, making them the version truly used by Hollywood studios in projects. The accompanying **Act-Two performance capture** (driving a complete digital character performance with a selfie video, including facial expressions, gestures, and body movements) and **Runway API** have completely upgraded it from a "creative tool" to a "video production platform," with partnerships already established with Lionsgate and others.
In 2026, Runway also launched **Runway Aleph** (a next-generation video-to-video editing model) and **Workflows** (multi-model node-based orchestration), gradually shifting its positioning from a "single-point generator" to an "AI film and television creation operating system."
Key Features
- Gen-4 / Gen-4 Turbo Video Model: The main video model for 2025-2026, achieving industry-leading physical consistency, long-shot stability, and character consistency. The Turbo version is fast, while the Standard version offers high quality.
- Act-Two Performance Capture: Upload a selfie performance video to drive any digital character, including facial expressions, gestures, and body movements. It is the most complete performance transfer solution in AI video.
- Runway API: An API for enterprises and studios, allowing Gen-4 / Aleph / Act-Two to be embedded into their own video production pipelines.
- Aleph Video-to-Video: A next-generation video editing model that enables local repainting, style transfer, object replacement, and shot rewriting on existing videos.
- Workflows Multi-Model Orchestration: Node-based orchestration of different Runway models and third-party models to build reusable production pipelines.
- Complete AI Video Editing Suite: One-stop professional editing tools including Green Screen intelligent keying, Inpainting, super-resolution, frame interpolation, and motion brushes.
- Hollywood-Grade Commercial Deployment: Collaborations with top studios like Lionsgate, integrated into real film, series, and advertising production workflows.
Use Cases
- Quick generation and revision of ads / TVCs / brand marketing videos
- Pre-visualization (Previz) and shot pre-production for film and TV
- Rapid output for short video and social media content creators
- Using Act-Two for character performance driving and virtual hosts
- Using Aleph for stylization and object replacement on existing videos
- Using the API to integrate AI video into custom creation tools or e-commerce material pipelines
Pros
- Gen-4 series is top-tier in the industry for physical consistency and long-shot stability
- The only AI video brand truly entering Hollywood industrial pipelines
- Act-Two performance capture is the most complete character driving solution in current AI video
- Complete toolchain: generation + editing + performance + API + Workflows all in one
- Well-developed API and enterprise services, suitable for integration into actual production workflows
Pricing
Free (125 one-time credits, experience Gen-4 Turbo); Standard $15/month (625 credits/month, Gen-4 Turbo + partial Gen-4); Pro $35/month (2250 credits/month, full Gen-4 + Act-Two + higher resolution); Unlimited $95/month (unlimited Standard generation mode + priority GPU); Enterprise on demand (API quota, SSO, custom models). Annual billing offers approximately 20% discount. Act-Two and Aleph are available in Pro and above tiers.
Summary
Runway is a veteran leader in the AI video track. From 2025 to 2026, with the Gen-4 series + Act-Two + Aleph + API, it has upgraded itself from a "show-off demo" to a "video platform truly entering the film industry pipeline." If you work on ads / film pre-production / high-quality content creation, Runway remains one of the top choices. For daily social media short videos, it can be used alongside Kling 3.0 / Sora 2 / Google Veo 3: Runway excels in control and consistency, Kling and Veo excel in Chinese language / physical feel, and Sora 2 excels in audio-video synchronization and Cameos.
Version History
- Runway Agent 推出自然语言工作流功能 (2026-07-24): Introducing workflows in Runway Agent. Now you can build, run, or edit node-based workflows using natural language. Workflows unlock high-quality outputs at scale. Try it now by clicking the link below to invoke the /Workflow skill.
- Agent Natural Language Workflow (2026-07-24): Runway Agent introduces workflows, allowing natural language to build/run/edit node-based workflows, massively unlocking high-quality output.
- Runway Gen-4.5 / Aleph / Workflows (2026): Gen-4 iterates to 4.5, Aleph video-to-video model + Workflows node-based orchestration launched, upgrading from generator to creation OS.
- Runway Gen-4 / Act-Two / API (2025): Fourth-generation video model released, with major upgrades in physical and character consistency; Act-Two performance capture and Runway API launched simultaneously, officially entering Hollywood industrial pipelines.
- Runway Gen-3 / Gen-3 Alpha (2024): Image quality leaps to Hollywood level, 10-second generation becomes industry benchmark.
- Runway Gen-2 (2023): The first truly usable commercial text-to-video product, ushering in the AI video era.
- Runway Gen-1 (2023-02): Video-to-video style transfer, laying the foundation for the AI video track.