app.runwayml.com Reviews 5

RunwayML.com. Using this service in April/May 2026.

I have read other reviews on here, so I cannot attest for them. But I am using their $75 a month unlimited "Explore Mode" service. It is kinda pricey yes, but as a creator, I appreciate having access to *UNLIMITED Seedance 2.0!*

Yes, it can only create two videos at a time in Unlimited mode, it's still unlimited, nonetheless. If you understood how expensive most AI video services are, especially Veo, and how much energy some of these companies use up, you'd understand that $75 a month for *Unlimited* Seedance 2, Veo 3, etc, is a pretty good deal. Trying to generate just 45 seconds of video with these services without a subscription, would probably cost you at least $15. So yes, it's a bit pricey, but if you want to generate a lot of individual videos, or make an AI web-series like me, their Unlimited plan is worth it. I can't testify on the behalf of their cheaper plans, though.

Now here's some of the negatives. Their UI has quite the learning curve. It takes some time to learn how everything works and where things are located. I had to Google quite a few things to learn it. But basically "Custom" is where you make your videos or images, Sessions (in the top center) are your creation sessions and it's best to seperate different projects into different sessions, "Recents" are where all your recent generated stuff gets saved so you don't have to keep switching between sessions and apps, and "Characters" allow you to create your custom characters, where you can upload images the AI will use to make them, as well as custom voices, and a data sheet for what their personality is, how they act, how old and how tall they are, etc. (all of this you type yourself; it's like a Bio sheet to give to the AI so they act consistently.) You can use characters by generating content with them (it's best to make a 5 second video in the Character section, so you can have them speaking and using their voices for future reference,) and tagging/naming them in the Recents section.

Once you learn all of this, you can start making your own AI content with consistent characters, voices, looks, clothing, etc. I am making my own television and movie content using Seedance, Seedream (the image creation version of Seedance,) Nano Banana, and Runway's voice creator. Seedance is best for videos cause you can re-use characters. Every AI engine has their a different interface. For example, Veo requires a starting frame each time, and makes it slightly harder to re-use characters consistently.

Also, you should know Seedance 2 videos have about a 4-6 minute wait time and you can only make two at a time, even in the unlimited "Explore Mode." Making more than two at a time will require using credits and you get about 2,400 credits a month with the unlimited Explore Mode; they are used for things like generating custom voice clips, skipping the 'two at a time' wait, etc. (Yes, not everything is "unlimited," but I've only used about 400 out of 2,400 credits though in two weeks.)

Seedance is the best quality for AI videos and has an easier-to-use interface that doesn't require image frames to begin making videos. But the site has all of the major AI video and image making platforms on there, with the three best ones: Seedance, Kling, and Veo. Sora might have once been on there too, but Sora was discontinued on April 22nd. (Sora also SUCKED and was extremely inconsistent and bad at following prompts; it won't be missed, even if it was "free.")

I will state, Seedance does make mistakes. All AI platforms do. But I'll say their mistakes are only about 10-15% of the time, compared to Veo's 33% ratio (about one out of three prompts will be generated wrong) and Sora's 70-80% ratio of messing up. (Seriously, Sora was horrendously bad. When it worked, it worked well, but it rarely worked at all.) So yes, Seedance is pretty consistent and good at following your prompts, but it will mess up about 1 out of 10 times. If you're not using an Unlimited plan, or you're in Credits mode, be aware of this.

Also, Runway's new video editor studio is currently trash. It's supposed to make seamless edits to videos, like replacing bad scenes, character voices, glitches and hallucinations, etc., but it's still in it's early phase, pretty buggy, and more trouble than it's worth, especially if you're using credits. It's better to just scrap the entire video, or edit it off-site if you can, than trying to use Edit Studio. It's success rate is low and if you're not on the unlimited Explore Mode, it's going to waste your time and credits.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my Unlimited Runway subscription, giving me unlimited Seedance videos (at 2 at a time,) and I recommend it, if you can afford it and you're a creator like me. I can't really attest to the other plans, however.

What's advertised as a professional AI tool turned out to be a high-tech gambling table where my hard-earned money evaporated in less than 30 minutes.

This isn't a creative platform—it's a digital casino. You feed it credits like casino chips, watch your balance disappear with unpredictable, often unusable results, and when you complain, their response essentially translates to: "This is what we have. If you don't like it, you must not understand AI. Maybe buy our unlimited $1000+ subscription and play with it like a toy?"

My creative project funds vanished faster than in a Las Vegas slot machine. The false advertising should be criminal. I worked with actual troubled youth who showed more consistency and transparency than this system.

I've dealt with actual scam artists who had more integrity. At least with them, you know you're being scammed. RunwayML dresses their roulette wheel in "AI innovation" buzzwords.

Warning to all creators: If you're looking for a reliable tool, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a digital casino where your money disappears with zero accountability, congratulations—you've found it.

I am now pursuing a chargeback through my bank and reporting this to consumer protection agencies. This company shouldn't be allowed to operate in the creative tools space.

On top of the yearly subscription, you’re forced to deal and pay more with a credit system that disappears at an absurd speed. Even the smallest test eats up credits in seconds. It’s extremely frustrating to pay a fixed subscription and still feel like you’re stuck in a hidden “pay-per-use” model.

The platform is also far from intuitive. The learning curve is unnecessarily complicated, many parameters are poorly explained, and getting consistent results requires wasting even more credits experimenting. Ironically, the moments where you need to test the most are exactly where you get financially punished.

IF I could give minus stars I would. Never have I screamed at a screen so violently in my life. It has ruined my day and ruined my life plans. If you were to look up false advertising in the dictionary, you should see listed this terrible ai video 'service'.
I've worked with criminals and damaged teens who take better direction than this system does.
I'll be considering demanding a refund through my bank for what I've spend in subscribing to this.