Leonardo AI vs Runway
Image & Graphics
Scale campaigns and content production with Leonardo for Teams. AI creative tools for marketing and design leaders to deliver more, faster.
Video & Animation
Creative AI platform offering tools for image and video generation and editing.
At a glance
| Leonardo AI | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $12/month | $15/month |
| Category | Image & Graphics | Video & Animation |
| Best for | Game artists creating concept art and character designs | Filmmakers generating shots, previs and visual effects |
Prices come from each official site and can change. Check the official pricing pages before subscribing.
Key features
Leonardo AI
- Image and video generation with 80+ models, including third-party models
- Train personal AI models from 10–20 of your own images
- Realtime Canvas and Realtime Generation for live sketch-to-image
- Leo Agent, Blueprints and Flow State creative workflows
- Unlimited relaxed image generation on select models (Premium+)
- Private generations and token rollover on paid plans
- Developer API with pay-as-you-go credits
Runway
- Text and image to video with Runway's Gen-4.5 model
- Aleph 2.0 plus third-party models like Kling and Seedance
- AI image generation with Gen-4 Image and Nano Banana Pro
- Music, voice and sound effect generation
- 4K video upscaling without watermarks on paid plans
- App Studio for building creative apps and Runway Ads
- Web app plus iOS and Android apps
Pros
Leonardo AI
- Free plan gives 150 fast tokens per day
- Wide model selection, including third-party models on paid plans
- Paid users retain ownership of their generated images
- Unused tokens roll over into a token bank on paid plans
Runway
- Access to Runway's own and third-party video models in one place
- Paid plans remove watermarks and include 4K upscaling
- Purchased extra credits never expire
- Annual billing saves 20%
Cons
Leonardo AI
- Free plan is limited to Auto model selection and public generations
- Token costs vary by model, making usage harder to predict
- Third-party models and Flow State always consume tokens
- Relaxed unlimited generation is slower and limited to select models
Runway
- Free plan offers only 125 one-time credits
- Video generation uses credits quickly (Standard covers about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 monthly)
- Standard and Pro monthly credits do not roll over
- Output quality varies and often needs several generations
Which one should you choose?
Choose Leonardo AI if you need
- Game artists creating concept art and character designs
- Marketers producing product images and social visuals
- Designers training custom models for a consistent brand style
- Hobbyists exploring AI art across many styles
Choose Runway if you need
- Filmmakers generating shots, previs and visual effects
- Marketers producing short video ads and social clips
- Designers creating concept images and mood boards
- Agencies testing multiple ad creatives quickly
Leonardo AI vs Runway: FAQ
Is Leonardo AI better than Runway?
Neither is better for everyone. Leonardo AI: Scale campaigns and content production with Leonardo for Teams. AI creative tools for marketing and design leaders to deliver more, faster. Runway: Creative AI platform offering tools for image and video generation and editing. Pick Leonardo AI for game artists creating concept art and character designs, and Runway for filmmakers generating shots, previs and visual effects.
Which is cheaper, Leonardo AI or Runway?
Leonardo AI's paid plans start at $12/month, compared with $15/month for Runway, based on each official pricing page at the last update. Limits differ between plans, so compare what each tier includes.
Do Leonardo AI and Runway have free plans?
Yes, both offer free access with usage limits. Paid plans raise those limits and add features.