AI Video Playbook

Models compared

Every current video model in one table, and which one wins at which job.

Seedance 2.5 is the model creators compare everything else against. Kling 3.0 is the pick for action, Veo 3.1 for polished atmosphere and natural sound, and Wan 3.0 for long clips at a low price. The table below has the details, and the section after it says who wins at what.

Sora 2 is gone. OpenAI shut the Sora app on 26 Apr 2026 and the Sora 2 API on 24 Sep 2026, with no direct replacement. Treat any platform still selling "Sora 2" with suspicion.

Master table

Specs come from official docs. Strengths and weaknesses come from creator tests and community posts, so read them as reported, not measured.

ModelMax length per clipMax resolutionNative audioReferencesStrengths (reported)Weaknesses (reported)
Seedance 2.530 s1080pYes, dialogue in 11 languages including VietnameseUp to 50: 30 images, 10 videos, 10 audioTaste and complex scenes, wins most side by side tests, long single takesStrict moderation, no real human faces in references, invents or ignores the audio reference in about 15 to 20% of runs (one tester), some saw a regression from 2.0
Seedance 2.015 s4K (Fast and Mini: 720p)YesUp to 15: 9 images, 3 videos, 3 audioOnly Seedance with 4K, cheaper, beat 2.5 in one same prompt testIgnores timestamps, only follows "Shot 1, Shot 2"
Kling 3.015 s1080p (4K at a higher credit rate)Yes, mono, 5 dialogue languages7 images, or 1 video plus 4Action, fights, tracking and orbit shots, multi shot up to 6 shots, Elements for identityLess predictable between runs, image to video can hang at 99%
Kling 4.0 Flash20 s720pNot statedOmni ReferenceAbout 4x cheaper per second than Seedance 2.5 (one tester), dialogue timing praised in posts that look promotionalOnly for Ultra yearly subscribers, no first or last frame, generated music sounds dated
Veo 3.1 Standard8 s (extend to 148 s)4KYes, always on3 imagesPolish, physics, ambience and dialogue audio, establishing shotsPulls stylized characters toward realism, heavy flagging in Flow, expensive
Veo 3.1 Fast8 s4KYes3 imagesGood draft model, 20 Flow credits per clipVery detailed prompts can produce unrelated output (reported)
Veo 3.1 Lite8 s1080pYesNoneCheapest Google model, 10 Flow credits per clipNo reference images, no 4K
Gemini Omni Flash10 s (extend to 40 s)720p native, 1080p and 4K upscaledYesReference to video, up to 3 video clips of 3 sConversational edits, storyboard grid input, top of an audio leaderboard in Sep 2026Native 720p only, not covered by Flow's free daily credits
Wan 3.030 s1080pYes, free to toggleUp to 20: 10 images, 5 videos, 5 audio, plus a document or linkRanked first on Artificial Analysis text to video, fast, cheapWeak audio, environments can look generated, no longer open weights
MiniMax H315 s2KYes, stereo9 images, 3 videos, 3 audioOpen weights (runs on a 4090 or 5090), H3 Max leads a video editing leaderboardBlurry mid frames, slow, retries can make it costly
Vidu Q4 Preview16 s4KYes, voice cloning from 3 audio clips15 images, 3 audioMany references and 4K on paperNo text only mode, almost all posts are one campaign, no independent review found
Runway Gen-4.5About 10 s (not confirmed)720p generation, 4K upscale (not confirmed)Not confirmedFirst frameControl and VFX tools, Aleph 2.0 for editingLittle creator talk, Runway lists weak object permanence and cause and effect
Luma Ray3.220 s1080p HDR, 16 bit EXRNot mentionedUp to 16 keyframesHDR and EXR for finishing, many keyframesAlmost no community feedback, no sound
Grok Imagine 1.515 s1080pYes, with lip sync14 images, 3 voice referencesFast, Lite tier is very cheap, good for simple loopsFloaty, sluggish movement, weak on complex motion
LTX-2.5Not stated4KYes (vendor table)Not statedOpen weights, free commercial use under 10M USD revenue, useful for upscale, mattes and HDRNot a hero model for action
PixVerse V615 s1080pYes, toggleFusion, including video referencesCheap, first and last frame, extendFew independent reviews, vendor says complex action needs retries

Kling 4.0 (the full model, up to 30 s, 4K, stereo audio, 15 references) was announced for October 2026. On 15 Oct 2026 no official page confirmed it was generally available.

Who wins at what

JobWinnerRunner up
Best overall look, complex scenesSeedance 2.5Seedance 2.0
Action, fights, fast cameraKling 3.0Seedance 2.5
Atmosphere, establishing shots, natural ambienceVeo 3.1Gemini Omni Flash
Dialogue in VietnameseSeedance 2.5None confirmed
Many reference images (characters, products)Seedance 2.5 (50)Wan 3.0 (20), Vidu Q4 (15)
One long takeSeedance 2.5, Wan 3.0 (30 s)Luma Ray3.2 (20 s)
Cheap draftsVeo 3.1 Lite, Seedance 2.0 MiniGrok Imagine 1.5 Lite
Editing a clip you already haveMiniMax H3 MaxGemini Omni Flash, Runway Aleph 2.0
Running locally, no subscriptionMiniMax H3LTX-2.5
HDR and finishingLuma Ray3.2LTX-2.5
Free startVeo 3.1 in Google FlowDreamina daily credits

Pick a model per shot

You do not have to use one model for the whole film. A common split: Kling for action, Veo or Omni for atmosphere, Seedance for shots driven by references or music. Cut them together in the edit.

For prices per clip, see Pricing. For model specific prompting, see Model guides.

Sources

  • Official specs: BytePlus ModelArk Seedance docs, kling.ai feature pages and user guide, Gemini API Veo and Omni docs, Alibaba Model Studio Wan 3.0 docs, MiniMax platform docs, Vidu platform docs, Runway research page, Luma Ray3.2 announcement, xAI video docs, ltx.io model page, PixVerse API docs. Links in Sources.
  • Strengths and weaknesses: creator tests and posts on X between Aug and Oct 2026, plus practitioner write-ups (Liromfilms, Kapwing, elser.ai). Posts tagged as sponsored were not used, and posts that look like campaigns are labeled.