Best AI Video Generators for Vertical Drama Segments (2026)
If you already have a storyboard and only need a 10–15-second vertical clip per segment, which model? Ranked on the three hard requirements of a drama segment: honoring reference images (consistency), executing intra-segment cuts, and native speech attached to the right face.
Ranking
Positions follow this list’s method (below), not the mean; the mean and "#n this issue" are site-wide figures.
Hailuo (MiniMax) Video generation model / creation platform#=15 of 36 this issue
Up to 9 reference images plus reference video and audio, native speech and multi-shot modeling (vendor claim) in 4–15 s clips.
- From
- Memberships advertised from $9.99/month on hailuoai.video; the plan table is not shown to signed-out visitors
- Free tier
- Free credits (per site)
Veo / Flow (Google) Video generation model / creation tool#=15 of 36 this issue
Native audio on every clip; up to 3 reference images; timestamped multi-shot prompts; $0.05–0.60 per second on the Gemini API depending on tier.
- From
- Google AI Plus +200, Pro +1,000, Ultra +10,000 ($100 plan) or +25,000 ($200 plan) Flow credits a month; plan prices vary by region; Gemini API from $0.05/s (Veo 3.1 Lite)
- Free tier
- 50 Flow credits per day for every account (no rollover); non-subscribers may be unable to generate video at peak hours
Kling AI Video generation model / creation platform#=21 of 36 this issue
Known for motion and physics; 3–15 s clips, Multi-Shot with up to 6 shots, element references with bound voices.
- From
- Standard $10, Pro $37, Premier $92, Ultra $180 per month at list (660 / 3,000 / 8,000 / 26,000 credits); first-month and billing-cycle discounts were shown on 2026-09-12
- Free tier
- Free Basic plan; its plan table lists no monthly credits, no 1080p/4K and no commercial use
Wan Video generation model / creation platform#=25 of 36 this issue
30-second segments, up to 10 reference images, $0.05–0.20 per second (480P–1080P, Singapore list).
- From
- International API (Singapore) $0.05/s (480p), $0.10/s (720p), $0.20/s (1080p); $0.041 / $0.083 / $0.165 in Tokyo, Frankfurt, Virginia and Hong Kong; consumer plans per site
- Free tier
- New-user free quota (per site)
Vidu Video generation model / creation platform#=29 of 36 this issue
Multi-subject references (up to 7 images on Q3) with native speech; $0.035–0.075 per second on the API.
- From
- Consumer plan prices are not shown on the public pricing page (the plan table does not render for signed-out visitors); API credits $0.005 each: Q3 reference-to-video $0.035 / $0.06 / $0.075 per second (540p / 720p / 1080p)
- Free tier
- Free credits (per site)
PixVerse Video generation model / creation platform#=29 of 36 this issue
V6 plus switchable H3/Seedance, canvas for shot arrangement.
- From
- API: V6 9–23 credits per second (720p–1080p, audio adds 3–5); credits $0.01 each in packs from $10, about $0.0067 on the $100/month Essential API plan; consumer plans page not reachable
- Free tier
- Free credits (per site)
Luma Dream Machine Video generation model / creation platform#=33 of 36 this issue
Look-first; aggregates Seedance, Kling, Veo 3.1 and MiniMax H3.
- From
- Plus $30/mo ($25 annual) 10,000 credits; Pro $90 (40,000); Ultra $300 (150,000)
- Free tier
- No free tier listed
Runway Video generation model / creation platform#=29 of 36 this issue
High-quality single shots; character reference; high cost.
- From
- Standard $15/mo ($12 annual) 625 credits; Pro $35 ($28) 2,250; Max $95 ($76) 9,500
- Free tier
- 125 one-time credits
Pika Video generation model / creation platform#36 of 36 this issue
Cheap and fun; weak consistency.
- From
- Standard $8/mo billed yearly ($10 monthly) 700 credits; Pro $28 ($35) 2,300; Fancy $76 ($95) 6,000
- Free tier
- Basic: 80 credits/month, 480p, no commercial use
Sora (OpenAI) Video generation model / app#35 of 36 this issue
Being discontinued: API removal on 2026-09-24; the app closed on 2026-04-26.
- From
- API until 2026-09-24: sora-2 $0.10/s (720p); sora-2-pro $0.30 / $0.50 / $0.70 per s (720p / 1024p / 1080p)
- Free tier
- None: the Sora app closed on 2026-04-26 and the API price list shows no free tier
Score table
The 7 integer scores in list order, so the reasons for the order are visible.
| # | Tool | Parsing | Consistency | Storyboard | Video | Audio | Compositing | Cost | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hailuo (MiniMax)Video generation model / creation platform | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3.4/5 |
| 2 | Veo / Flow (Google)Video generation model / creation tool | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3.4/5 |
| 3 | Kling AIVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3.0/5 |
| 4 | WanVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2.9/5 |
| 5 | ViduVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2.7/5 |
| 6 | PixVerseVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.7/5 |
| 7 | Luma Dream MachineVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2.6/5 |
| 8 | RunwayVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.7/5 |
| 9 | PikaVideo generation model / creation platform | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1.9/5 |
| 10 | Sora (OpenAI)Video generation model / app | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | — | 2.5/56/7 scored |
What a season costs
Converted from published per-second prices; 5 tools comparable.
Cumulative cost at 1 / 3 / 5 / 10 episodes
- Hailuo (MiniMax) $101
- Veo / Flow (Google) $63
- Kling AI $106
- Wan $126
- Vidu $44
| Episodes | 1 ep | 3 eps | 5 eps | 10 eps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hailuo (MiniMax) | $10 | $30 | $50 | $101 |
| Veo / Flow (Google) | $6 | $19 | $31 | $63 |
| Kling AI | $11 | $32 | $53 | $106 |
| Wan | $13 | $38 | $63 | $126 |
| Vidu | $4 | $13 | $22 | $44 |
How we ranked
FAQ
Where is Seedance 2.0?
Seedance is a model, not a platform; it ships through Dreamina, BytePlus ModelArk and pipeline tools such as SceneMixer, and inside Runway/Luma/PixVerse as a third-party option.
How much cheaper is 720p than 1080p?
It depends on the vendor. On the official lists checked on 2026-09-12 the 720p price is 50% of 1080p on Wan 3.0, 75% on the Kling 3.0 API, 80% on Vidu Q3 reference-to-video, 63% on Veo 3.1 Lite, 83% on Veo 3.1 Fast, and the same price on Veo 3.1 Standard. Draft on the cheapest tier that shows the problem you are checking, finalize high.
Sources
Official pages opened while writing; current pricing and features are always as shown on the vendor site.
- https://hailuoai.video/ — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/video-generation — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://platform.minimax.io/docs/api-reference/video-generation-v2-create — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-paygo — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://www.minimax.io/blog/minimax-h3 — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://pixverse.ai/ — Hailuo (MiniMax)
- https://support.google.com/flow/answer/16526234 — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://support.google.com/flow/answer/16352836 — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://one.google.com/about/google-ai-plans — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/veo — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/ultimate-prompting-guide-for-veo-3-1 — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://runway.com/pricing — Veo / Flow (Google)
- https://kling.ai/quickstart/klingai-video-3-model-user-guide — Kling AI
- https://kling.ai/blog/kling-video-3-multi-shot-guide — Kling AI
- https://kling.ai/quickstart/klingai-video-3-omni-model-user-guide — Kling AI
- https://kling.ai/dev/pricing — Kling AI
- https://kling.ai/app/membership/membership-plan — Kling AI
- https://kling.ai/blog/kling-video-3-0-credit-cost-guide — Kling AI
- https://runway.com/pricing — Kling AI
- https://lumalabs.ai/pricing — Kling AI
- https://wan.video/ — Wan
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan3-0-video — Wan
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan3-video-generation-api-reference — Wan
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan3-video-generation-guide — Wan
- https://www.vidu.com/pricing — Vidu
- https://platform.vidu.com/docs/reference-to-video — Vidu
- https://platform.vidu.com/docs/image-to-video — Vidu
- https://platform.vidu.com/docs/pricing — Vidu
- https://pixverse.ai/ — PixVerse
- https://docs.platform.pixverse.ai/v6-2056814m0 — PixVerse
- https://docs.platform.pixverse.ai/pricing-796039m0 — PixVerse
- https://lumalabs.ai/pricing — Luma Dream Machine
- https://lumalabs.ai/news/introducing-luma-scenes — Luma Dream Machine
- https://runway.com/pricing — Runway
- https://runway.com/workflows — Runway
- https://docs.dev.runwayml.com/api/ — Runway
- https://docs.dev.runwayml.com/guides/pricing/ — Runway
- https://pika.art/pricing — Pika
- https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152 — Sora (OpenAI)
- https://sora.chatgpt.com/sunset — Sora (OpenAI)
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations — Sora (OpenAI)
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/video-generation — Sora (OpenAI)
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing — Sora (OpenAI)