Chinese alternatives to Runway

Chinese video generation products to evaluate when Runway is too expensive, unavailable or not aligned with your workflow.

Decision standard

This is not a generic ranking. It focuses on Chinese video products that can plausibly replace parts of a Runway workflow.

5 matched tools

Kuaishou

Kling AI

4.6

Kling is one of the clearest global entry points for Chinese AI video, but its plan and model-tier details can change quickly.

Best fit · Creators and growth teams that want to test a Chinese video model through an English-accessible workflow.

Globally availableFull English UIPublic APIFreemium

Payment: Card / Credits
Checked: May 12
Sources: Medium confidence
From: Free tier, paid credits vary by region

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MiniMax

Hailuo AI

4.2

Hailuo is a useful comparison target, but its global access and API maturity are tracked as less certain than Kling.

Best fit · Creators comparing Chinese video tools beyond Kling, especially for exploratory multimodal workflows.

Partially availablePartial English UILimited APIFreemium

Payment: Card / PayPal
Checked: May 12
Sources: High confidence
From: Free tier, paid plans vary

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StepFun

StepFun / Step

4.3

StepFun is important because it combines multimodal model depth, open-source releases and device commercialization, but overseas usability still needs hands-on checks.

Best fit · Teams evaluating Chinese multimodal models, open-source agent models, video/audio generation or device-side AI partnerships.

Partially availablePartial English UIPublic APIPaid

Payment: Platform billing / Step Plan
Checked: May 15
Sources: High confidence
From: Usage-based API and Step Plan subscription paths

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Shengshu Technology

Vidu

4.2

Vidu strengthens the directory beyond the obvious Kling/Hailuo pair and is easier for global users to inspect.

Best fit · Creators who want another English-facing Chinese video generation option.

Globally availableFull English UILimited APIFreemium

Payment: Credits / Platform billing
Checked: May 14
Sources: Medium confidence
From: Free tier, paid credits vary

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ByteDance / Volcano Engine

Jimeng AI

4.0

Jimeng is valuable intelligence content even if it is not a global buyer-ready product.

Best fit · Market watchers tracking China-first creative AI applications from ByteDance.

China onlyNo English UIUnknownFreemium

Payment: China payment methods
Checked: May 14
Sources: Medium confidence
From: China-market consumer pricing

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Why these tools qualify

Kling AI: Kling AI is relevant because it is positioned around video generation or Chinese video-model evaluation.

Hailuo AI: Hailuo AI is relevant because it is positioned around video generation or Chinese video-model evaluation.

StepFun / Step: StepFun / Step is relevant because it is positioned around video generation or Chinese video-model evaluation.

Vidu: Vidu is relevant because it is positioned around video generation or Chinese video-model evaluation.

Jimeng AI: Jimeng AI is relevant because it is positioned around video generation or Chinese video-model evaluation.

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