Leonardo AI vs Runway

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Leonardo AI logo

Leonardo AI

AI image and video studio with custom model training and a real-time canvas editor

Freemium

Verdict

Leonardo AI and Runway are both Image & Visual AI tools. Both have a free plan or trial.

Best overall

Leonardo AI

  • Game developers
  • Concept artists
  • Designers
  • Marketers

Choose Leonardo AI if

  • You want a tool built for game and concept art.
  • Free plan with 150 tokens per day.
  • Many first-party and third-party image and video models in one account.

Choose Runway if

  • You want a tool built for Text-to-video and image-to-video generation.
  • Combines video, image and audio generation and editing in one workspace.
  • Offers Runway's own Gen-4.5 plus third-party models such as Seedance 2.0.
Best for beginners
Leonardo AI
Best for business
Runway

Features

16 features compared.

  • AI Canvas
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Multiple models
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Available
  • Personal model training
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Video generation
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Blueprints
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Image editing tools
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Mobile apps
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • API and MCP server
    Leonardo AI
    Available
    Runway
    Not available
  • Gen-4.5 video model
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Creative Agent
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Characters
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Aleph and Act-Two
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Audio tools
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Workflows and Recipes
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Runway Dev API
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available
  • Runway MCP
    Leonardo AI
    Not available
    Runway
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    Leonardo AI
    Freemium
    Runway
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    Leonardo AI
    Yes
    Runway
    Yes
  • Starting price
    Leonardo AI
    $0
    Runway
    $0
  • Plans
    Leonardo AI
    4 plans
    Runway
    4 plans

Leonardo AI plans

  • Free

    $0

    150 fast tokens per day with public creations

    • 150 daily tokens
    • Basic quality
    • Public creations
    • Presets
  • Essential

    Most popular

    $12/month

    8,500 fast tokens per month

    • 8,500 monthly tokens
    • Private creations
    • Token rollover bank
    • Personal model training
    • Token top-up packs
  • Premium

    $30/month

    25,000 fast tokens per month

    • 25,000 monthly tokens
    • Unlimited relaxed image generation on Leonardo models
    • Larger rollover bank
    • More simultaneous generations
  • Ultimate

    $60/month

    60,000 fast tokens per month

    • 60,000 monthly tokens
    • Unlimited relaxed image and video generation on select models
    • Largest rollover bank
    • 6 simultaneous generations

Runway plans

  • Free

    $0

    125 one-time credits that do not expire

    • A selection of generative models
    • 5GB storage
  • Standard

    $15/month

    625 credits per month; $12 per month billed annually

    • All video and image models
    • Creative Agent
    • 5 parallel generations
    • Music and voice and sound effects
    • Up to 3 projects
    • No watermarks
    • 4K upscaling
    • 20GB storage
  • Pro

    Most popular

    $35/month

    2,250 credits per month; $28 per month billed annually

    • Everything in Standard
    • 15 parallel generations
    • Up to 5 projects
    • 1 Brand Kit
    • 1 custom voice clone
    • Top-up credits
    • Runway MCP
    • Unlimited 4K video upscaling
    • 100GB storage
  • Max

    $95/month

    9,500 credits per month; $76 per month billed annually

    • Everything in Pro
    • Early access to new models
    • 20 parallel generations
    • Up to 10 projects
    • Up to 3 Brand Kits
    • Up to 3 custom voice clones
    • HDR and ProRes and image sequence outputs
    • 500GB storage

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Leonardo AI
8.5overall
Runway
8.4overall

Leonardo AI leads in 1 category and Runway in 0.

  • Image Quality

    Leonardo AI
    8.7
    Runway
    Not rated
  • Model Variety

    Leonardo AI leads by 0.5
    Leonardo AI
    9.0
    Runway
    8.5
  • Customization & Control

    Leonardo AI
    8.8
    Runway
    Not rated
  • Ease of Use

    Leonardo AI
    8.0
    Runway
    Not rated
  • Value for Money

    Leonardo AI
    7.8
    Runway
    Not rated
  • Video Quality

    Leonardo AI
    Not rated
    Runway
    9.0
  • Camera & Motion Control

    Leonardo AI
    Not rated
    Runway
    8.8
  • Editing Tools

    Leonardo AI
    Not rated
    Runway
    8.6
  • Pricing Clarity

    Leonardo AI
    Not rated
    Runway
    7.2

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Leonardo AI

Pros

  • Free plan with 150 tokens per day
  • Many first-party and third-party image and video models in one account
  • Personal model training on paid plans
  • AI Canvas for inpainting and outpainting
  • Apps for iOS and Android, plus a pay-as-you-go API

Cons

  • Free generations are public and the daily allowance is small
  • Token costs vary by model and settings, so spend is hard to predict
  • Unlimited relaxed video generation needs the $60 Ultimate plan
  • Official pricing page blocks automated access, so plan details need checking on the site

Runway

Pros

  • Combines video, image and audio generation and editing in one workspace
  • Offers Runway's own Gen-4.5 plus third-party models such as Seedance 2.0
  • Creative Agent builds videos from a conversation
  • Runway Dev API with Node and Python SDKs
  • Free plan with 125 credits that do not expire
  • Native iOS and Android apps

Cons

  • Credit-based pricing: a 5-second Gen-4.5 clip costs 60 credits, so the 625 credits on Standard cover about 10 such clips
  • Standard and Pro credits do not roll over at the end of the month
  • Some App Store reviewers complain about the cost of failed or unusable generations
  • 4K upscaling is unlimited only on Pro and Max

Platforms

  • Web
    Leonardo AI
    Supported
    Runway
    Supported
  • Windows
    Leonardo AI
    Not supported
    Runway
    Not supported
  • macOS
    Leonardo AI
    Not supported
    Runway
    Not supported
  • iOS
    Leonardo AI
    Supported
    Runway
    Supported
  • Android
    Leonardo AI
    Supported
    Runway
    Supported
  • API
    Leonardo AI
    Supported
    Runway
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    Leonardo AI
    Not supported
    Runway
    Not supported

Integrations

Leonardo AI

5 integrations
  • Leonardo MCP server
  • Python SDK
  • TypeScript SDK
  • Cursor
  • VS Code

Runway

5 integrations
  • Runway MCP
  • ChatGPT plugin
  • Meta Ads
  • Google Ads
  • TikTok Ads

Company

  • Company
    Leonardo AI
    Leonardo Interactive Pty Ltd
    Runway
    Runway AI, Inc.
  • Founded
    Leonardo AI
    2022
    Runway
    2018
  • Headquarters
    Leonardo AI
    Sydney, Australia
    Runway
    New York, NY
  • Listing
    Leonardo AI
    Claimed
    Runway
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is Leonardo AI better than Runway?

It depends on your workflow. Leonardo AI is built for game and concept art. Runway is built for Text-to-video and image-to-video generation.

What are the key feature differences between Leonardo AI and Runway?

Leonardo AI: AI image and video studio with custom model training and a real-time canvas editor. Runway: AI video, image and audio creation suite with Gen-4.5, agents and an API.

Does Leonardo AI or Runway have a free plan?

Yes, both do. Leonardo AI is freemium and Runway is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, Leonardo AI or Runway?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.