Guide · · FrameLedger research desk
The best free AI video plans right now, and what $0 actually gets you
Short answer: for recurring free video, Google Flow (Gemini Omni Flash) is the most generous option we could verify today. PixVerse comes next with daily credits, but only at 540P. Runway gives you a one-time taste. Pika's free plan comes with zero credits, Luma has no free plan at all, and OpenAI's Sora is gone.
Every number below comes from the vendor's own pricing or help page, checked on October 11, 2026. Each fact is labeled: Verified means it is on an official page, Vendor claim means it is the company's own marketing, and Our math means we did the arithmetic.
The ranking
- Google Flow (Gemini Omni Flash): 50 credits every day, video up to 10 seconds at 720p.
- PixVerse Basic: 60 starting credits plus 30 a day, up to 540P.
- Vidu Free: the newest Q4 model at 540P, but the free credit amount isn't published.
- Runway Free: 125 credits once, which is enough for about 10 seconds of Gen-4.5.
- Kling Basic: a free plan exists, but watermark removal, commercial use and 1080p/4K are paid-only.
The rest are free in name only: Pika, Higgsfield, Hailuo and Luma. Details below.
1. Google Flow: the most recurring free video we can verify
Verified Google's Flow help page says every account gets 50 Flow credits per day, with or without a subscription. Unused daily credits don't roll over, and the daily refresh starts from your first generation.
Verified The same page lists Gemini Omni Flash costs for "All users": at 720p, a 4-second clip costs 7 credits, 6 seconds costs 10, 8 seconds costs 12 and 10 seconds costs 15. At 360p, clips cost 4 to 7 credits.
Our math 50 daily credits buy three 10-second 720p clips (45 credits) or four 8-second 720p clips (48 credits) a day. Google notes that costs are per generation, and one request can produce two videos, so check your settings before you click.
Verified Veo 3.1 is listed at 10 credits (Lite) and 20 credits (Fast) for "non-Ultra subscribers". The page doesn't say outright whether people with no subscription can use Veo, so we count only Omni Flash as confirmed free.
Gemini Omni Flash → · Google Veo 3.1 →
2. PixVerse Basic: daily credits, low resolution
Verified PixVerse's free Basic plan gives 60 starting credits plus 30 credits a day, with resolution up to 540P and 2 generations at once. Paid Standard ($8/mo billed yearly) raises that to 720P and 1,200 credits every 30 days.
Our observation The daily refill makes PixVerse good for practice and storyboarding. 540P won't hold up as a final export for most social platforms.
3. Vidu Free: the newest model, at a premium
Verified Vidu's free plan includes its Q4 model at 540P for 4 credits per second. Paid plans pay 2 credits per second for the same thing. Free users also get 10 references a month for character consistency.
Our observation The pricing page didn't show how many free credits you get, so we can't tell you how many seconds that adds up to. Paid plans support clips of 3 to 16 seconds and list commercial use. The free plan doesn't.
4. Runway Free: a one-time sample
Verified Runway's free plan is a one-time deposit of 125 credits that never expires. Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second and generates 5- or 10-second clips. Free users can't buy more credits.
Our math That is one 10-second clip or two 5-second clips of Gen-4.5 (120 credits), and then you're done.
5. Kling Basic: free, but with strings
Verified Kling lists a $0 Basic plan. On its own comparison table, watermark removal, commercial use and 1080p/4K generation appear only on paid plans, and Basic makes 1 video per generation (paid plans make 4). The cheapest paid plan is $6.99 for the first month, then $8.80 a month.
Free in name only
- Pika: Verified the Free plan includes 0 monthly credits ("packs only"). It does promise no watermark on every plan, but there's no commercial license below the $35 Creator plan.
- Higgsfield: Verified the free plan is described only as "Limited use", with no numbers.
- Hailuo (MiniMax): Vendor claim "New users receive free credits". We couldn't verify the amount, because the plan page redirected to the homepage.
- Luma: Verified no free plan on the official pricing page. Plans start at $30/mo ($25 billed yearly).
- OpenAI Sora: Verified the app was discontinued on April 26, 2026 and the API on September 24, 2026.
Can you use free-plan videos commercially?
Usually not, or not clearly. Pika says Free has no commercial license. Kling and Vidu list commercial use only on paid plans. For the others we haven't verified the terms yet, so treat free-plan output as personal and test use until you've read the vendor's terms yourself.
If you're a developer: there are no free API tiers here
Verified Veo 3.1 and Gemini Omni Flash are paid-tier-only on the Gemini API. None of the video APIs we checked lists a free tier. The cheapest metered rates we found (lowest listed resolution, so not like-for-like):
| Tool | From | What that rate covers |
|---|---|---|
| Grok Imagine | $0.020/sec | grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite (xAI API) |
| Luma Dream Machine (Ray3.2) | $0.030/sec | Ray3.2, 540p SDR, $0.15 per 5 sec (Luma API) |
| Seedance (ByteDance) | $0.040/sec | Seedance 2.0 Mini, 480p; Seedance 2.5 from $0.103/sec (BytePlus) |
| Wan 3.0 (Alibaba) | $0.041/sec | wan3.0-video 480P list price, Tokyo/Frankfurt/Virginia/Beijing/Hong Kong; $0.05 in Singapore |
| Google Veo 3.1 | $0.050/sec | Veo 3.1 Lite, 720p, with audio (Gemini API) |
| Hailuo AI (MiniMax H3) | $0.050/sec | MiniMax H3 Max, 480P; H3 starts at $0.08/sec (768P) |
| Gemini Omni Flash | $0.100/sec | About $0.10/sec at 720p, Standard (Gemini API, token-based) |
| Runway | $0.120/sec | Gen-4.5 at 12 credits/sec, $0.01/credit (Runway Dev) |
See the full pricing page for subscription prices.
Every tool's free plan, from our database
| Tool | Type | What the vendor's page says |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Omni Flash | Recurring free credits | Yes, in Google Flow. Flow lists Omni Flash costs for "All users": 720p costs 7/10/12/15 credits for 4/6/8/10 sec, and 360p costs 4 to 7 credits. With 50 free daily credits, that is three 10-sec 720p clips (45 credits) a day. Not on the free API tier. |
| Google Veo 3.1 | Free plan not verified | Google Flow gives every account 50 credits per day, with or without a subscription. Flow lists Veo 3.1 Lite at 10 credits and Fast at 20 credits per generation for "non-Ultra subscribers"; it does not state outright whether non-subscribers can pick Veo. No free tier on the Gemini API. |
| Grok Imagine | Free plan not verified | Not verified |
| Hailuo AI (MiniMax H3) | Free plan, allowance not published | MiniMax says new users get free credits. The exact amount and the plan page could not be verified (the subscribe page redirected to the homepage). |
| Higgsfield | Free plan, allowance not published | Free plan listed as "Limited use" (no figures given). |
| Kling AI | Free plan, allowance not published | Basic plan at $0. On the comparison table, watermark removal, commercial use and 1080p/4K generation appear only on paid plans. Free credit amounts weren't shown on the page we read. |
| Luma Dream Machine (Ray3.2) | No free plan | No free plan listed on the official pricing page (checked 2026-10-11). |
| Pika | Free plan, 0 credits | Free plan at $0 with 0 monthly credits (credit packs only). No watermark, but no commercial license. 2 parallel video generations. |
| PixVerse | Recurring free credits | Basic plan at $0: 60 starting credits plus 30 credits a day, up to 540P, 2 concurrent generations. |
| Runway | One-time free credits | Free plan with a one-time 125 credits that don't expire. Free users can't buy extra credits. |
| Seedance (ByteDance) | Free plan not verified | Not verified |
| Vidu | Free plan, allowance not published | Free plan at $0. The Q4 model costs 4 credits/sec at 540P (2 credits/sec on paid plans), and you get 10 references a month. The page didn't show how many free credits you get. |
| Wan 3.0 (Alibaba) | Free plan not verified | Not verified |
| OpenAI Sora | No free plan | None. The service is discontinued. |
How we checked
We read each vendor's official pricing, help or developer documentation page on October 11, 2026. If a page wouldn't load or didn't state a number, we left the field blank instead of guessing. Sources are listed on each tool page. Prices change often. If you spot a change, the updates log shows what we last saw and when.