Veo3: As low as $0.86 per videoVeo3 Fast: As low as$0.17per video
2025-07-04 | Zoey
With the rapid development of AI video technology, I spent two weeks personally trying out a number of AI video generation tools on the market, and finally selected 12 products that performed well in terms of efficiency and cost while producing high-quality videos.
Every tool offers distinct strengths and is best suited for specific use cases. Since there is no universal solution, I specifically explain the most suitable uses for each of them.
To evaluate the text-to-video function, I used a creative prompt like this:
"A playful dog jumping to catch a frisbee in a sunny park."
For the image-to-video test, I first used Creatra Art to generate static images based on the same description, and then made these images into animated videos.
Before we go any further, let’s briefly explain three main AI video generation methods.
AI text-to-video generation is a technology that only requires you to input a text description and the system will automatically generate the corresponding video footage.
Artificial intelligence will automatically parse these text prompts, understand the semantics and intent, and generate matching video content based on them, including character movements, ambient lighting, and even detailed restoration of physical effects.
This method greatly reduces the threshold for video creation, and even without shooting or editing experience, it can easily produce high-quality content. Due to its simple operation and large creative space, it has become the most popular type of AI video generation.
Image-to-video AI video generation technology can animate static images, making them appear more vivid and realistic by adding motion effects.
AI can generate smooth transition animations, camera motion trajectories, and even animated characters with expressions and movements based on one or a few images.
This approach not only improves visual expression, but also preserves the original artistic style and details of the image.
Some AI filmmakers particularly prefer image-to-video models because they can keep characters, scenes, and objects consistent throughout the video, ensuring that the work is more visually coherent and professional.
Video-to-video AI generation refers to the use of artificial intelligence technology to optimize and transform existing videos, rather than creating new videos from scratch.
It can help improve picture clarity, change the visual style of the video, add various special effects, and even adjust the content of the picture, such as removing unnecessary objects or changing the background.
Hailuo is an AI video generation tool from China. Although it is not well-known internationally, I found it to be one of the most comprehensive and smoothest products. Users can get free points for generating short videos by logging in every day. The trial threshold is very low, which is very suitable for beginners or light users.
In the test, Hailuo performed very well. I tested its video generation ability with a prompt word with dynamic action. The result was not only natural action, but also quite delicate background details and object interaction. Although there are slight inconsistencies in some scenes, the overall visual effect has surpassed most similar tools.
Another feature of Hailuo that I think is very good is its control over the movement of the lens. In most free AI video tools, the lens is usually fixed, but Hailuo can naturally simulate dynamic lens effects such as push, pull, pan, and follow. For example, in the scene I tested, it not only made the character move in the picture, but also adjusted the angle and distance of the camera synchronously, making the whole picture look more real and cinematic. This delicate sense of movement is very suitable for video content creation that requires picture rhythm and narrative.
Of course, Hailuo is not perfect. It currently does not support native audio, and the generated video can only be up to 6 seconds long. If you want to make longer clips, you have to splice them manually. Although these limitations may be a bit limiting for professional content creators, as a free and easy-to-use AI video tool, its overall experience is still worth recommending.
Hailuo offers three pricing plans to meet the needs of different users:
When I tested LTX Studio, although the puppy's movements were relatively realistic, the detail of "jumping to catch the Frisbee" in the video was hardly accurately presented. The first video it generated was of poor quality and almost unusable, and the overall performance disappointed me.
LTX Studio is not a simple "input prompt-output video" tool. It is more like a platform designed for users with narrative needs. When you enter it for the first time, you will find that its core logic revolves around "building a whole story" rather than just generating a short film.
The platform's storyboard design is clearly divided into three modules: plot outline, picture setting, and character management. In the plot module, you can upload your own script or use the script generation tool provided by the platform to build your narrative project from scratch.
If you are looking for a tool that can help you organize your story structure and plan the plot flow, LTX is a good starting point. It is particularly suitable for conceiving a preliminary script framework, such as designing a complete three-act story structure. However, there is still a clear gap in its ability to generate specific video clips, especially in terms of picture quality and detail performance, and it still needs to further polish its basic skills.
LTX Studio offers multiple pricing options to suit different user needs:
Veo 2 performs very well in terms of video quality. When testing the prompt "A playful dog jumping to catch a frisbee in a sunny park.", the video it generated was rich in details, the dog's movements were coherent and natural, the grass, sunlight, and camera movement were all very realistic, and the overall picture was very visually appealing. Especially in terms of dynamic performance, Veo 2's physical simulation capabilities made the dog's jumps and landings appear very smooth, without any broken frames or stiffness.
However, despite its excellent visual performance, Veo 2 currently does not support native audio output. This means that regardless of whether the prompt mentions sound elements such as dog barking, wind, or background music, the final video is silent, and users need to manually add audio tracks in post-production. This is an obvious shortcoming for users who want to quickly generate videos that can be published directly.
The picture is sharp and detailed, which is somewhat similar to Veo 2, but the biggest difference is that the audio is natively generated. Background sound, dialogue, and even ambient sound can be added automatically, and the overall listening experience is very natural. After matching the picture, the immersion is directly maximized.
I used it to make a short film. Although the process required some waiting, the result was unexpectedly good: the character's expression was unified, the camera connection was smooth, and the rhythm was just right. The overall feeling was like watching a finished movie trailer.
For those who want to tell stories or create narrative content, Veo 3 provides a new possibility. You can keep the characters consistent in different scenes and freely construct the storyline, which really has a bit of "director's sense".
Sometimes the character's face is still a little weird, the subtitles are not always accurate, and the lip shape may be slightly misplaced. But even so, this is the first time among the AI video tools I have tested that I feel that "this can be used for real creation."
Veo 3 gives me the feeling that it is a qualitative leap in the field of AI video.
To experience Veo 3, users need to join Google's paid AI plan, such as the Pro version for $19.99 per month, or the higher-end Ultra version ($249.99 per month).
Pro users can get a quota for Veo 3 generation once a month, which is suitable for early trial use; while Ultra users have a daily automatically refreshed video generation quota, which is suitable for high-frequency creators.
During my actual testing of Sora, the video quality did not reach the ideal level. Many pictures looked blurry, details were not clear, the overall picture quality was rough, and lacked the required clarity and sharpness. Especially in scenes that needed to show dynamic or complex elements, the video looked a bit bland and it was difficult to present a satisfactory visual effect. There was still a big gap between my original expectations for high-quality AI videos.
Especially in cases involving complex scenes, fast movements or multi-element superposition, the details in the video were particularly insufficient, and blur, inaccurate colors and even broken pictures often appeared, which greatly weakened the viewing experience.
In addition, the edges of people and objects were not processed carefully enough, the fusion of the background and the subject also appeared stiff and lacked a sense of naturalness, and the overall picture lacked a sense of hierarchy and reality, giving people a shoddy feeling.
Motion blur and frame skipping problems in dynamic pictures were also more obvious, resulting in a decrease in video smoothness and affecting the audience's immersion.
Overall, Sora currently has a lot of room for improvement in image quality optimization and detail restoration.
Kling performed fairly well in my tests. The overall composition of the picture is good, but the presentation of characters and dynamics is obviously lacking. Taking the "puppy catching a frisbee" as an example, the movements are stiff and unnatural, and some details even appear a little distorted. If you want to generate a more natural and smooth picture, you may need multiple attempts and iterations to achieve a satisfactory effect.
However, Kling's "element control" function is indeed one of the highlights. You can upload up to four reference images to allow AI to maintain character consistency in different scenes, and you can also animate specific items or props, and even allow different elements to interact to a certain extent. The picture coherence is handled relatively well.
But Kling also has obvious shortcomings.
If you value screen control and character consistency more, Kling is a choice worth trying; but if you pursue higher completion and sound performance, it may not be comprehensive enough.
Kling offers four subscription plans, covering different usage needs from free to advanced. The basic free plan has a monthly quota limit, suitable for light users to try.
Paid tiers include:
If you have higher requirements for video quality, generation efficiency or feature richness, then upgrading your subscription is worth considering. The higher the subscription level, the more points you get each month, and the lower the average cost per video. In addition, you can also enjoy advanced features such as faster generation speed, watermark-free export, image enhancement, etc., and you can also experience the new tools and features launched on the platform first, and the overall experience will be smoother and more professional.
However, in actual testing, Qwen also revealed many limitations.
First, the overall quality of the generated video is relatively basic, the picture details are not rich enough, and the visual effect is slightly thin, especially when it comes to complex scenes or dynamic pictures.
Secondly, it currently only supports text generation of videos, does not support image to video conversion, and lacks detailed control of elements such as lenses and characters, which to a certain extent limits the flexibility of creation.
In addition, Qwen does not have a built-in audio function and cannot automatically generate dubbing or background sound effects, resulting in a slightly bland overall atmosphere of the video.
Although these shortcomings are not a hard injury for entry-level users, for creators with higher content production needs, they may still feel that they are not "professional" enough. Of course, considering that it is completely free and has no watermark, Qwen is still a tool worth trying, but it is more suitable for low-threshold and lightweight creation needs.
I was a little disappointed with Firefly's video quality. The generated videos lack details and appear blurry, especially in complex scenes. Compared with other AI video generation tools, it lacks native audio support and must rely on external software for dubbing, which puts some limitations on the production of complete videos.
Adobe Firefly is relatively expensive, and for users with limited budgets, the cost-effectiveness is not outstanding. Despite this, its simple and intuitive interface design and smooth operation experience are still impressive, suitable for beginners to quickly get started with making simple B-roll videos or background materials.
Adobe offers a free plan that allows users to produce a certain number of videos.
A Firefly Standard subscription costs $9.99 per month and includes 2,000 credits, which is enough to produce about 20 five-second videos.
Firefly Pro costs $29.99 per month and increases the credits to 7,000, which allows for about 70 short videos.
Firefly Premium costs $199.99 per month and includes 50,000 credits and unlocks Firefly Video's advanced features for producing more complex video content.
Higgsfield did a fantastic job for me. It captured the dog's dynamic movements with pinpoint accuracy and smoothly transformed the scene into a cinematic video. The smooth camera movements and natural transitions made the footage vivid and engaging, truly bringing the moment to life.
The platform also provides a variety of practical preset options, allowing you to easily apply different effects, such as collision zoom, smooth transitions and dynamic lens movement, which greatly enriches the visual expression of the video.
Luma's main advantage is its image-to-video function. It can seamlessly transform static images into smooth, high-quality videos that give the picture depth and dynamics. Whether it is creating immersive visual effects or enhancing the sense of 3D space, Luma performs well. In addition, the user interface is simple and users can get started quickly, which is very suitable for users who need to create dynamic visual content.
The biggest drawback of Luma is that the video generation speed is slow. Even if you subscribe to a paid plan of more than $29.99 per month, the waiting time is still long. Although it may be affected by the server load, as a paying user, this experience still makes people feel unsatisfactory.
Runway is clearly designed for filmmakers, not just the average AI video enthusiast. Its core strength is its rich and advanced features that allow you to shoot very professional shots.
Tools like dynamic brushes and camera controls can precisely control the movement in the scene or adjust the camera angle to make the clips more cinematic. I especially like its repair tool, which can easily clean up messy backgrounds without affecting other elements of the picture, which greatly saves post-processing time.
The free version is a good experience, but there are some limitations, such as only recording short videos and non-paying users can only convert pictures to videos. Despite this, its processing speed and output quality are very stable, and it performs well even with complex prompts.
If you just want basic AI video features, there are more affordable and easier-to-use options on the market. But if you are looking for a high degree of creative control and don’t want to be bound by cumbersome traditional editing software, Runway is one of the most powerful browser-based tools I have used.
Synthesia is a leading AI video production platform built for businesses, allowing you to quickly generate high-quality videos with virtual digital humans. No professional equipment is required, just input text to create lifelike digital human videos. It supports more than 140 languages and various dialects, helping companies to easily promote content to global audiences. Whether it is training, marketing, internal communication or customer service, Synthesia can come in handy, and intelligent lip sync technology makes videos more natural and realistic. It can also be automatically translated into 29 languages to facilitate multilingual content generation.
Although it lacks creative freedom and personalized editing, it has become the first choice for many companies' digital video production because of its stability, ease of use and professionalism.
In summary, AI video generation tools in 2025 are developing rapidly, bringing unprecedented creative freedom and efficiency improvements.
Whether you are a content creator, corporate marketer, or filmmaker, you can find a solution that suits your needs.
Choosing the right tools, combined with your own creativity and goals, will make your video works more professional and attractive.
In the future, AI video generation technology will continue to improve and bring more possibilities, which deserves our continued attention and exploration.
Viddo AI is an advanced AI-powered video generation platform that transforms text or images into high-quality, cinematic videos—no editing skills required.
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