The Best AI Video Generators for 2026

Artlist offers pretty much the perfect package for all creative endeavors. It's as if a company has finally listened to my prayers and included everything I had asked for: The best video generators, newest AI image gen and most advanced editing features (including Nano Banana), sound effects, AI voiceovers, templates and even colour grading all in one tool. SMEs can save significantly by combining everything in one tool, but their modular pricing system also allows for smaller packages. Let's also not forget about the time and computer storage required for downloading and uploading all the bits and pieces. I think tools like Artlist are the future. I never understood why I Runway and co. didn't add a proper video editing tool to their software right away. So here I go!

Key features:
AI Video Generator, AI Image Generator, Veo3, Nano Banana, Sora 2, Sound Effects, Text-to-Speech, AI Voiceover, +21 languages, 30+ Voices, Exclusive Studio Voices, Voice Library, Lifelike Voices, AI Image & Video Generator, Premium LUTs, Over 1M Footage Clips

Overall I really love Sora 2! It was able to generate videos I couldn't create before, for example of a breakdancing nun. All other tools (including Veo 3) got confused with the leg movements, no matter how much I changed my prompt. It's not 100% perfect, but if you remember how Sora 1 was promised to us and then couldn't deliver: This time it's different. It's great at depicting human emotion, creating beautiful frames, adding details and generally it follows prompts quite well. It will by default add camera movements and audio speech, so if you don't want that, you should specify it in your prompt. I've just compared Veo 3 with Sora 2 in a separate blog, you'll find much more details there, but for now I couldn't find a clear winner. Both have their strenghts and if you want to be able to access both, it's easiest to go with Artlist, which is also the platform I tested Sora 2 on.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video Generation, Image-to-Video, Cameo / Real-World Likeness Insertion, Controllability & Multi-Shot, Physical Realism & World Dynamics, Stylistic Versatility, Synchronized Audio & Dialogue, Motion Accuracy, Object Behavior, Expanded Stylistic Range

Ok Google, I see how you play it! The first video generator to add audio, pretty cool. Even if not perfect, but it wouldn't be fair to expect that I suppose. In my first try the cyborg says something cyborg-ish I suppose, at least I don't get it. But the woman responds as prompted and sounds great. The visuals are good, so overall I like it. By the way, I've added in the video comparing all generators, just scroll up and watch it straight there.

Key Features:
Text to Video, Frames to Video, Video Extension, Camera Control, Scenebuilder, 1080p Upscaling, 4K Realism, Improved Prompt Adherence, Improved Creative Control, Sound Effects

I generated the video with Wan 2.6 and it's really funny how it made the lady float about in a space suit unprompted. Also details are a bit blurry, but audio is ok. The cyborg could look better.
I still gave ElevenLabs a good rating because it's pretty impressive what they put together within their audio platform: the newest video models of Veo, Sora, Kling, even LTX, Seedance, Wan and a few specials like OmniHuman or Veed Lipsync.

On top they also have the Topaz Upscaler integrated, which is great because so far I always had to use an external tool for this. Credits costs are decent and if you need a voice generator, Elevenlabs is one of the top tools.

I really like their dashboard, it's quite intuitive and it's awesome that you can edit video straight in the same platform in their Studio feature.

It's a pity that it seems like you have 10K credits, but then can't generate any videos with those credits but are asked to sign up right away. Admittedly the starter plan with $5 monthly is really affordable and it's great they have such a small package too.

The video generator also offers start and endframes, which is great for contolling the story and characters better (it's simply easier to generate an image, get everything right there and then make it move instead of both at once). You can even upload the audio you want the video to incorporate.

Kling 2.6: Ok Kling, you're officially welcomed into the Video-Generators-with-Audio-family! Well done on the voices and making the cyborg a woman, nice twist. The visuals could be slightly better, the cyborg could look a bit more real, but otherwise I think this is a great debut.

Kling O1 Video: I've tested the newest model Kling O1 Video over Artlist, simply because I have a subscription there and I think it's a great progress from 1.6, which I liked a lot already. The movements now are much more natural and the model followed my prompt closer, not adding unnecessary other stuff. Well, except for that one extra arm once she lands on the book, lol. But given that the mission was quite complex and this really is the first generation, this is damn good!

Key Features:
Text to Video, Image to Video, Superior Video Realism, Dynamic Lighting and Shadows, Multi-Style Support, Faster Rendering Speeds, Enhanced Prompt Adherence, Dynamic Visuals, Video Length Support, Improved Camera Movements, Yearbook Effect, Start & End Frames

If you think now: but Freepik doesn't have its own model, why did you add them to this category? You are absolutely right. But it does combine all relevant models and makes the creation process so easy and fun that it absolutely made sense to add it.
The generated video here is a bit painful to listen to, Veo 3 Fast doesn't quite have this down, but I still decided to show you. It's just one of the many models they let you access within Freepiks platform.

If there is something one tool can't do, you can simply create the frame with another tool. Also having such an amazing image generator with Flux AI in the same tool, makes Freepik especially fun to play around with. It even lets you test experimental models and take a look into where video GenAI is going.

Key Features:
Extensive Free Library, 4K and HD Resolution, Video Review Vectors, Illustrations, Mockup, 3D Models, Text to Video, Image to Video, Custom Character, Custom Styles, Voice Generator, Sound Effect Generator, AI-Generated Music, Lip Sync

To test Runway, I used my AI generated mars landscape with the usual prompt of the two protagonists shaking hands. Usually I only prompt, but Gen-4 Turbo requires a reference image. I'm really disappointed with how the first lady turned out, she looks so animated. Weak even for a turbo model. So I added "photorealistic" to my prompt and this time it was better. But I'm still not particularly impressed, compared to the tools from the top 3 video generators, it's still rather simple. I do like the shadow on the lady and their movements are smooth. The cyborg could look better.

Backstory: I was excited to test Runway again, after all it was the very first video generator I got my hands on. Back then it was really hard to control motion, which today only causes problems if it's a difficult motion (like making a nun breakdance). I had a different problem during my test: Runway either requires a reference image (for Gen 4-Turbo or Gen-3 Turbo) or I'm forced to upgrade to a paid plan. Fair, video generation is expensive. But when I tried to generate the videos based on an image, I kept getting an error message.
So the first day I had to give up and come back the next just to I keep on receiving error messages, but at least this one turned out fine.

They have added a Runway creative assistant to help you write your prompts and you can also create video workflows now similar to flowith or Comfi UI. For example, if you want to transfer styles from one video clip to another, you can just set up a workflow.

Key Features:
Text to Video AI, Image to Video AI, Generate Images, Runway Creative Assistant Chat, Workflows, Infinitely Expand Images, Motion Brush, Reimagine Any Image, Train Custom Models, Erase Things from Videos, Slow Mo Any Video, Image to Video, Background Remover, Gen-3 Alpha, Complex Scene Changes, Cinematic Choices, Enhanced Fidelity, Act-1 (Animate Human Movements), Upscale to 4K, Act-One, Expand Video

So far I only knew LTX Studio as a video editor tool with pretty cool storyboarding feature and the lightricks app for filters and effects.

Now testing their video generator, I had some pleasant and not so pleasant experiences. I really like that the tool will provide various versions for the same prompt right away, I can really see how they understand video folks. At this point there is not video generation without a start or end image, which is not an obstacle because it also has a Flux and Nano Banana integration for images.

The downside is that the motions of the protagonists in the videos are too erratic or senseless. I had set the motion intensity to medium, but still wish it were smoother. The other con is the audio, which only generates alien jibberish. I couldn't understand anything in any of the videos. So I recommend using LTX Studio without sound for now and to set motion intensity to low if it's not a high speed scene.
Otherwise it didn't fully follow my instructions, in my example prompt I wanted the milky way to move from side to side of the frame, instead the camera is moving in on the handshake (and the cyborg turns out to have human hands).

Lastly I should say that I think once the model gets better, that this will be an awesome tool, simply because LTX Studio understands its audience and already offers such a wide palette of features.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video AI Generation, AI Storyboard Generator, Character Consistency Maintenance, Keyframe Motion Control, Real-Time Collaboration

This is the logical next step for Adobe: add a video generator to their AI tool mix. To be fair I tested their Video Generator when it was still in Beta. It didn't blow me away but it's not bad either. I like that they different shot sizes, camera angles and motions. You can also add a start and endframe picture, to control the narrative. I expect adobe to improve their tool significantly in the next few month and become a serious contender for Runway, KlingAI and others.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video, AI-Generated Video Effects, Advanced Camera Controls, B-Roll Creation, Commercially Safe Model, IP-Friendly Outputs, Resolution Options, Aspect Ratio Support, Keyframe Frame Control, Special Effects Generation

After 2 animation-style videos, I prompted for a photo-realistic video, but Pika seems to be unable to do that. I feel like the lady is trying to mumble something, but her lips are not moving enough. Nice fact: Pika Labs is actually a non-profit organization and a community of AI enthusiasts. And was one of the first open source video generators. Pika, I wish I could show you a bit more love. Sorry!

Key Features:
Image to Video, Text to Video

Bytedance's (TikTok makers) video generator works ok. It didn't blew me off my socks, at least with this very simple prompt. The cyborg looks very immature and unnatural. But I will definitely keep an eye on it, assuming that the model will learn very quickly since TikTok has so many videos and with that a lot of training data, which should give it a headstart.

Key Features:
Dual Generation Modes, Flexible Duration Options, Quality Output, Motion Synthesis, Text-to-Video, Image-to-Video, Motion Handling, Instruction Following, Visual Outputs, Concurrency Support