Runway ML is a creative AI company that has built a suite of tools aimed at video creators, filmmakers, and visual artists. Its flagship product, Gen-2, generates short video clips from text prompts or still images — a capability that was largely theoretical just a few years ago. The results are imperfect but improving rapidly with each model update.
Beyond video generation, Runway offers a range of AI-powered editing tools: background removal, motion tracking, inpainting, and frame interpolation. These are more immediately practical than the generative features and work well enough to be useful in real production workflows.
For creative directors and concept artists, Runway is useful for quickly visualizing motion concepts before committing to a full production. Generating a rough 4-second clip to show a client what a transition might feel like is faster and cheaper than shooting test footage.
The editing tools — particularly background removal and inpainting — are practical for social media content creators who need to clean up footage quickly without access to professional post-production software.
Developers building creative applications can use the API to integrate video generation into their own products, though the cost per generation needs to be factored into any commercial use case.
Free tier includes 125 credits. Standard plan at $15/month, Pro at $35/month, Unlimited at $95/month. Credits are consumed per generation, with video generation using more credits than image tools.