Kling vs Runway – Which AI Video Tool is Better? Here’s the Answer

Kling AI and Runway AI are one of the biggest names in the AI video generation industry.

While both these tools have a lot of different features, the common thing they both do is turn text (prompts) or images into videos, with the latter being the most used feature in both.

So which is better?

Here are Creative Pad Media, I like to give you short and crisp answers. So here it goes. Since the most commonly used feature in both the tools is the Image-to-Video generator, let’s start the discussion with this.

Which is Better at Turning Images Into Videos – Kling or Runway?

The answer is – Kling AI is better. In fact it is country miles ahead of Runway when it comes to image to video capability.

Why?

Simply because the movements in the videos produced by Kling are very dynamic. Basically, everything moves, whereas in Runway, things can appear a bit static sometimes.

Also, the overall physics of the subjects/objects in the video is far more realistic in Kling as compared to Runway.

Here’s a short comparison video that proves this point. In the video below, I created an image in Midjourney and then used that to turn it into a video using different AI video tools like Kling and Runway:

You can see here that even though the result produced by Runway AI wasn’t bad, it simply wasn’t as dynamic and real looking as the Kling one.

Here’s another similar example:

What are some other features that Kling and Runway are known for?

Apart from the typical image to video generation, both Kling and Runway have some other impressive features too.

Kling Elements

For example, Kling has a very popular feature called Elements. This feature allows you to combine different images and turn them into a single video. You can check out our detailed tutorial on it:

Runway Gen-4 References

Runway also has an amazing tool called Gen-4 References, which allows you to use multiple reference pictures to create scenes with consistent characters. It works in a very unique way too. We have shown it in the following tutorial:

But in July 2025, Runway released a tool which shook the entire AI industry. This tool is called Act-Two.

Runway Act-Two

This tool allows you to transfer gestures, facial expressions, movements and dialogue from one video to anything else that you wish. That too with a single click. This is a GAME CHANGER for film-makers, animators and AI avatar creators. You can see how it works by watching our in-depth tutorial on it:

Which can be used for free – Kling or Runway?

One of the biggest downsides of Runway is that you only get a handful of credits when you create an account. These credits do not replensish. Once they expire, your only option is to go for the paid plan.

Whereas, in Kling, you the free credits replenish on a monthly basis. On top of that, Kling offers a lot of free methods to increase the credits, like doing surveys, using affiliate links, etc.

So when it comes to free usage, Kling is definitely better.

Conclusion

The conclusion is simple – If your main goal is to use the Image to Video feature in both the tools, then use Kling. Not only is Kling better than Runway, it can be used for free forever, since the credits replenish periodically. In fact Kling is so far ahead in this category that it’s real competition is not with Runway, it is with Veo 3 Image to Video. Apart from the the image to video feature, the other tools in Kling are pretty much of no use.

But if your goal is to have a tool which will help you in the overall film-making or video production journey, then Runway is better mainly because of its two tools – Gen-4 References, which allows you to easily create scenes with consistent characters, and Act-Two, which allows you to transfer the gestures and dialogues to those scenes.

You can even combine both. A very popular approach is to use Runway to create scenes with consistent characters, and then turn those images into videos using Kling.

So the final answer is – It really depends on what your objective is.

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