Hailuo (MiniMax) Review (2026): Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons
MiniMax's video platform; the H3 model supports multiple reference images, native speech and multi-shot segments, and is integrated by PixVerse and others.
Hailuo (MiniMax Video) centers on the MiniMax H3 model: 4–15 s clips at 768P or 2K, up to 9 reference images plus up to 3 reference videos and 3 reference audio clips per request (12 files in total), native stereo audio, and native multi-shot modeling (vendor claim). First/last-frame input and reference input cannot be combined in one request. The platform itself does not parse novels or composite episodes.
Pros
- Multi-reference images and audio give drama-grade consistency
- Native speech with lip-sync tied to the on-screen speaker
- Several shots inside one 4–15 s clip (native multi-shot modeling, vendor claim)
Cons
- No parsing, splitting or compositing
- Reference audio capped at 15 s total, 3 clips
- First-frame and reference images are mutually exclusive
Against the field
Hailuo (MiniMax) against the field
- Script & novel parsingsame as 13 others13513221
- Character consistencysame as 14 others12141434
- Storyboard & shot controlsame as 12 others2412843
- Video generation qualitysame as 15 others311155
- Voice & audiosame as 5 others2141155
- Episode compositingsame as 7 others756871
- Cost & free tiersame as 0 others614135
Coverage of the six stages
| Parsing | Reference art | Storyboard | Video | Audio | Compositing | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SceneMixer | 6/6 | ||||||
| Scenes AI | 6/6 | ||||||
| Pixmax | 6/6 | ||||||
| Frameo.AI | 6/6 | ||||||
| Elser AI | 6/6 | ||||||
| M Studio | 6/6 | ||||||
| PopShort AI | 6/6 | ||||||
| Katalist | 6/6 | ||||||
| LTX Studio | 6/6 | ||||||
| Melies | 6/6 | ||||||
| invideo AI | 6/6 | ||||||
| Storyboarder.ai | 5/6 | ||||||
| AutoWeeb | 5/6 | ||||||
| OnSolo | 5/6 | ||||||
| Veo / Flow (Google) | 5/6 | ||||||
| Argil | 5/6 | ||||||
| Topview | 5/6 | ||||||
| Showrunner Studio | 4/6 | ||||||
| Hailuo (MiniMax) | 4/6 | ||||||
| Morph Studio | 4/6 | ||||||
| Kling AI | 4/6 | ||||||
| Wan | 4/6 | ||||||
| PixVerse | 4/6 | ||||||
| Runway | 4/6 | ||||||
| Luma Dream Machine | 4/6 | ||||||
| MagicLight | 3/6 | ||||||
| ScreenWeaver | 3/6 | ||||||
| CapCut | 3/6 | ||||||
| Higgsfield | 3/6 | ||||||
| Vidu | 3/6 | ||||||
| SkyReels | 3/6 | ||||||
| Dreamina | 3/6 | ||||||
| OpenArt | 2/6 | ||||||
| Mootion | 2/6 | ||||||
| Sora (OpenAI) | 2/6 | ||||||
| Pika | 1/6 |
Published per-second prices
Features & pricing
Core features
- Text- and image-to-video
- Multiple subject references (H3 up to 9)
- Reference audio + native speech
- Native multi-shot modeling in one generation (vendor claim)
- Public API
Pricing
- Free tier
- Free credits (per site)
- Starting price
- Memberships advertised from $9.99/month on hailuoai.video; the plan table is not shown to signed-out visitors
- Billing
- Membership + credits; API per second
- Platforms
- Web, API
API list: MiniMax H3 $0.08/s (768P) and $0.13/s (2K); H3-Max $0.05/s (480P) and $0.08/s (768P), text- and image-to-video only. Reference images beyond the first 5 cost $0.04 each; reference audio is free. Series estimate →
Scores and basis
Methodology →Scored 1–5 per criterion on our published methodology from official documentation and vendor pages; criteria without enough information are left unscored.
| Criterion | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Script & novel parsing | 1 | No parsing; single prompts |
| Character consistency | 4 | |
| Storyboard & shot control | 3 | Canvas / manual arrangement |
| Video generation quality | 5 | Frontier model; stable motion, physics, faces |
| Voice & audio | 5 | Controllable character voices with correct lip-sync attribution |
| Episode compositing | 1 | Export segments, assemble by hand |
| Cost & free tier | 5 | Low per-second price with a usable free tier |
Best for
Models under the hood
Compare with alternatives
All alternatives →FAQ
Is Hailuo (MiniMax) free?
Free credits (per site) Memberships advertised from $9.99/month on hailuoai.video; the plan table is not shown to signed-out visitors
Can Hailuo (MiniMax) turn a novel into a short drama?
No Consistency: Up to 9 reference images, 3 reference videos and 3 reference audio clips per call (12 files in total)
Who is Hailuo (MiniMax) for?
Dialogue-heavy drama segments with native speech; as the upstream engine inside a pipeline tool.
What are the alternatives to Hailuo (MiniMax)?
See the Hailuo (MiniMax) alternatives page — every option on the same rubric with the criteria where it is stronger.
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)