Hailuo AI
videoby minimax
The best budget AI video generator. MiniMax's cost effective tool produces up to 1080p 10 second clips from text and images using a credit based system starting at $9.99/mo.
Key features
Free tier available, Pro at $34.99/mo
Budget conscious creators who want AI video generation starting at $9.99/mo instead of paying $20 to $250 per month for premium tools
Most cost effective AI video generator on the market; a 768p 6 second clip costs around $0.25 on the Standard plan, and even 1080p runs about $0.80 per clip
What it does
Text to Video Generation
Generate up to 1080p video clips from natural language text descriptions. Describe a scene, action, lighting, and mood, and Hailuo creates a video clip (up to 10 seconds per generation at 1080p).
Learn moreImage to Video Generation
Upload a reference image and animate it into a video clip. Useful for bringing still photos, illustrations, or generated images to life.
Multiple Style Options
Experiment with different visual aesthetics for your generations, allowing varied looks across projects.
Rapid Iteration
Quick generation times enable fast iteration cycles, letting you refine prompts and regenerate until you get the result you want.
Free Tier
Try Hailuo without any financial commitment. The free tier provides limited trial credits with watermarks at 768p max resolution, enough to test quality before upgrading.
Pricing
Free
Limited trial credits with watermarks and 768p max resolution. Enough to test video quality before committing to a paid plan.
- Limited trial credits
- 768p max resolution
- Text to video
- Image to video
- Watermarks on all output
- Lowest queue priority
Standard
1,000 credits per month with watermark free downloads and 1080p HD support. Good for casual creators and experimentation.
- 1,000 credits per month
- 1080p HD video support
- Watermark free downloads
- Text to video
- Image to video
- Single thread processing
Pro
4,500 credits per month with 2 parallel tasks and 10 second 1080p support. Best value for regular content creators.
- 4,500 credits per month
- 10 second 1080p HD videos
- Watermark free downloads
- 2 parallel tasks
- All style options
Master
10,500 credits per month for high volume production with 2 parallel tasks.
- 10,500 credits per month
- 10 second 1080p HD videos
- Watermark free downloads
- 2 parallel tasks
- All features
Ultra
12,000 credits per month plus unlimited access to Hailuo 1.0 legacy models at no credit cost.
- 12,000 credits per month
- Unlimited Hailuo 1.0 models
- 10 second 1080p HD videos
- Watermark free downloads
- 2 parallel tasks
Max
20,000 credits per month plus unlimited Relax Mode for legacy models. The highest tier for professional studios.
- 20,000 credits per month
- Unlimited Relax Mode (1.0 and 2.0 models)
- 10 second 1080p HD videos
- Watermark free downloads
- 2 parallel tasks
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Most cost effective AI video generator on the market; a 768p 6 second clip costs around $0.25 on the Standard plan, and even 1080p runs about $0.80 per clip
- Free tier available for testing quality before committing to a subscription
- 1080p output quality is solid for the price point
- Both text to video and image to video generation supported
- Rapid iteration cycles with quick generation times
- Backed by MiniMax, a well funded publicly traded company with over $1.5 billion raised, ensuring continued model improvements
- No Google, OpenAI, or other Big Tech account required; standalone product
Cons
- Video quality does not consistently match top tier output of Veo 3.1 or Runway Gen 4.5 on the most demanding prompts
- No native audio generation; clips are silent (unlike Veo 3 which generates synchronized dialogue and sound effects)
- Maximum clip length of 10 seconds is shorter than some competitors like Sora (20 seconds) or Kling (up to 3 minutes)
- Limited camera control options compared to Google's Flow or Runway's director tools
- Free tier includes watermarks on all generated content
- MiniMax is based in China, which may raise data privacy considerations for some users
How to get started
Create your account
Go to hailuoai.video and create a free account. The free tier provides limited trial credits with watermarks at 768p, enough to test quality before committing.
Generate your first video
Describe the scene you want in natural language. Include details about the subject, action, lighting, camera angle, and mood. You can also upload a reference image for image to video generation.
Experiment and iterate
Try different levels of detail in your prompts. More specific descriptions (camera angle, lighting, mood) generally produce better results. Use the style options to explore different visual aesthetics.
Upgrade when ready
Standard ($9.99/mo) provides 1,000 credits for casual use. Pro ($34.99/mo) offers 4,500 credits and 2 parallel tasks, making it the best value for regular creators. Master ($79.99/mo), Ultra ($124.99/mo), and Max ($199.99/mo) serve high volume production.
Deep dive
Detailed guides with comparisons, tips, and visuals for each feature.
Hailuo Version History
From basic text to video in 2024 to refined 1080p generation with improved prompt understanding in version 2.3.
Cost per Clip Comparison
How Hailuo's per clip pricing stacks up against Veo, Runway, Kling, and Sora.
MiniMax: The Company Behind Hailuo
MiniMax's broader AI model ecosystem including frontier language models, audio synthesis, character AI, and their Hong Kong IPO.
Hailuo vs Other Video Generators
Detailed comparison with Veo, Runway, Kling, Sora, and Seedance across quality, features, and pricing.
Links
Documentation
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Last updated: 2026-06-01