Video: Generate and Edit With AI
Runway and Kling AI for generating clips, CapCut for editing -- all with free tiers.
Generate Videos From Nothing
Video generation is the newest AI frontier and is moving fast. You can now type a description or upload an image and get back a short video clip. These are short (5-30 seconds typically), but the quality is improving month by month. Useful for social media content, visual concepts, and creative experimentation.
| Runway | |
|---|---|
| What it is | AI video generation and editing platform with text-to-video and image-to-video |
| Best at | High-quality short video clips, creative visual effects, professional-grade output |
| Free tier | Free tier with 125 one-time credits (enough for about 25 seconds of video) |
| First paid tier | Standard Plan - US$12/month (~A$19/month) |
| Ken's take | Runway is the most established AI video tool. The Gen-4.5 model (current as of 2026, sits on top of the Artificial Analysis Text-to-Video benchmark) produces genuinely impressive results. Browser-based, no software to install. The free tier is enough to experiment but runs out fast. Think of this as a creative tool for short clips, not a replacement for traditional video production. |
| Sign up | https://runwayml.com |
| Kling AI | |
|---|---|
| What it is | AI video generator from Kuaishou with industry-leading video length (up to 3 minutes) |
| Best at | Longer AI-generated videos, generous free tier, built-in audio generation |
| Free tier | 66 free credits per day (enough for 1-2 short videos daily, resets every 24 hours) |
| First paid tier | Standard Plan - US$7/month (~A$11/month) |
| Ken's take | Kling has the most generous free tier of any AI video tool. The daily credit refresh means you can experiment consistently without paying. Videos can be up to 3 minutes, which is significantly longer than competitors. Quality is good but can be inconsistent. Failed generations still consume credits, which is frustrating. Worth trying on the free tier before considering paying. |
| Sign up | https://klingai.com |
| Veo 3.1 (Google) | |
|---|---|
| What it is | Google's video generation model. The natural replacement for Sora, which OpenAI shut down on 26 April 2026. |
| Best at | Cost-effective serious video work, with audio generation built in. Veo 3.1 Lite (released 31 March 2026) sits at US$0.05/sec for 720p output via the API, making it the cheapest serious video model on the market. Fast and Standard tiers handle higher-quality work. |
| Free tier | Limited generations included with the free Gemini tier; Google AI Pro adds a usable monthly allowance. |
| First paid tier | Google AI Pro - US$19.99/month (~A$32/month) for around 90 videos a month, or pay-as-you-go via the API. |
| Ken's take | If you are already on Google AI Pro for Gemini, Veo is essentially free at the volumes most people need. The audio-included generation makes it more useful for social content than Runway or Kling, where you would normally source audio separately. Quality is on par with Kling and slightly behind Runway for cinematic work, but the price difference is significant. |
| Sign up | https://gemini.google.com |
| Pika | |
|---|---|
| What it is | AI video generation focused on stylised effects and creative visual experiments rather than cinematic realism. Pika 2.5 is the current model |
| Best at | Short, playful, social-media-style clips with effects you cannot easily get from Runway or Kling. The Pikaffects library (Pikadditions, Pikaswaps and similar) is the differentiator |
| Free tier | Free tier with daily credit allowance for short clips |
| First paid tier | Basic Plan - US$8/month (~A$13/month). Pro at US$76/month for bulk creation |
| Ken's take | Pika sits in a different niche to Runway and Kling. Where the others compete on cinematic realism, Pika leans into playful stylised effects. If you make TikTok content or want quick fun clips with creative twists, Pika is the right pick. For serious video work, quality lags Runway. The free tier is enough to test it. Worth knowing exists, but not the first AI video tool I would tell a beginner to try. |
| Sign up | https://pika.art |
Try this right now (free)
Open Kling AI (free account) and try: "A golden retriever running through a sunlit wheat field in slow motion, cinematic look." Or upload a photo of a landscape and ask it to animate it with gentle wind and moving clouds.
Edit Videos Smarter
This is different from generating videos from scratch. CapCut is a video editor (many of you may already use it) that has added AI features to make editing faster and easier. The standout is auto-captioning, which alone saves hours of work.
| CapCut | |
|---|---|
| What it is | Video editor with powerful AI features for automated editing, captions, and content creation |
| Best at | Auto-captioning (92-95% accuracy), AI avatars, text-to-speech, script-to-video assembly, background removal |
| Free tier | Free tier includes auto captions, basic AI tools, AI avatars, 1080p export |
| First paid tier | CapCut Pro - US$19.99/month (~A$32/month) (price nearly doubled in early 2026) |
| Ken's take | The auto-caption feature alone makes CapCut worth knowing about. Upload a video, click one button, and get accurately timed subtitles. The free tier is genuinely generous. If you make any kind of video content for social media, CapCut should be in your toolkit. Note: CapCut is owned by ByteDance (the TikTok parent company), which is worth being aware of from a privacy perspective. |
| Sign up | https://capcut.com |
Try this right now (free)
Record a 30-second video of yourself talking on your phone. Upload it to CapCut and use the auto-caption feature. See how accurate the transcription is and how quickly it generates styled subtitles.
Worked Example: Dogs Cooking Dinner
The best way to understand AI video prompting is to try something ridiculous. So let us make a video of dogs cooking dinner.
Your first instinct might be to type "dogs cooking dinner" and hit generate. You will get something back, but it will be vague and generic. AI video tools respond to detail the same way AI text tools do. The more specific you are, the better the result.
Here is a prompt that actually works in Kling AI:
Notice what that prompt does. It names specific dog breeds (not just "dogs"). It describes a specific action for each dog. It sets a scene with lighting and atmosphere. And it uses a camera term — "shallow depth of field" — that the AI understands.
Will it be perfect? No. The dogs' paws will probably do something weird. The chopping will not look right. AI video still struggles with fine motor actions and realistic object manipulation. But the overall scene — dogs in a kitchen, wearing chef gear, apparently cooking — will come through clearly enough to make anyone smile.
Try this right now (free)
Open Kling AI with your free account and paste the prompt above. Generate it at standard quality first (uses fewer credits). Then try changing the breeds, the dish, or the kitchen style. A poodle making sushi. A border collie flipping pancakes. You will learn more about how these tools interpret prompts in ten minutes of playing around than you will from any tutorial.