Head to head · Video · updated Oct 18, 2026
Wan (Wan2.x) vs Runway
Wan (Wan2.x) scores 56 to Runway's 46 on public evidence for generate video from text or images, and they rank #2 and #3 there. Both are free to start. Numbers below are the same public signals the ranking uses, recomputed nightly — nothing here is sponsored.
Wan (Wan2.x)
Alibaba's open-weight video generation models for text/image-to-video, runnable locally or via its web app.
+ The strongest fully open video model, with a 1.3B variant that runs on consumer GPUs and broad ComfyUI support.
− Local generation is slow (minutes per clip) and the larger 14B model needs a high-end GPU.
Runway
Generative video platform (Gen-4, Aleph) with text/image-to-video, video-to-video editing and classic AI editing tools.
+ Aleph lets you edit existing footage with text instructions, which few competitors offer.
− Credits burn fast and clips are limited to roughly 10 seconds per generation.
Side by side
public evidence| Wan (Wan2.x) | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence score / 100 | 56 | 46 |
| GitHub stars | 17,233 | closed source |
| Hacker News stories, 30d | 0 | 10 |
| Release-feed mentions, 30d | 0 | 1 |
| Last activity | 226 days ago | 0 days ago |
| Pricing | Open source · weights free (Apache 2.0); hosted plans vary | Free tier · from $12/mo |
| Platforms | linux, web, api | web, ios, api |
| Maker | Alibaba (Tongyi Lab) | Runway |
Which one?
Pick Wan (Wan2.x) if
- you want the stronger public evidence (56 vs 46)
- you want open source — self-host it, read it, fork it
- you need it on linux
- a bigger GitHub community matters (17,233 vs 0 stars)
Best for local open-source video generation.
Pick Runway if
- you need it on ios
- you want active maintenance (0 days since last activity vs 226)
Best for filmmakers mixing generation with real footage.