Short answer
Runway offers 125 one-time credits on its Free plan, but that does not guarantee Gen-4 or Gen-4 Turbo access. Runway says the models available on Free can change, so check your signed-in account. Standard and higher plans include access to all Runway AI image and video models. (Runway Free plan details)
If Gen-4 is available to you, Runway’s consumer guide lists it at 12 credits per second and Gen-4 Turbo at 5 credits per second. Consumer generations are 5 or 10 seconds: that is 60 or 120 credits for Gen-4, and 25 or 50 credits for Turbo. For example, 125 credits would cover two 5-second Gen-4 generations (120 credits) or five 5-second Turbo generations (125 credits)—if those models are enabled on your Free account, and before allowing for retries. (Creating with Gen-4 Video)
Runway subscription prices and credits
Runway’s web pricing page displays the following plan prices and credit allowances. The paid annual prices are labeled as billed annually and shown as monthly equivalents. These are the dollar-denominated prices displayed on that web page; regional applicability, taxes, and app-store pricing are not confirmed here, so check the price shown at checkout. (Runway pricing)
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing, monthly equivalent | Included credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 125 one time |
| Standard | $15/month | $12/month | 625/month |
| Pro | $35/month | $28/month | 2,250/month |
| Max | $95/month | $76/month | 9,500/month |
At the displayed annual rates, the arithmetic totals are $144/year for Standard, $336/year for Pro, and $912/year for Max. Runway’s Gen-4 guide also recommends trying Turbo first to iterate at a lower credit cost, then switching to Gen-4 if needed. (Runway pricing; Creating with Gen-4 Video)
Gen-4 Turbo API cost and production requirements
Runway’s developer API lists gen4_turbo for image-to-video; the endpoint’s accepted model names do not include a model named simply gen4. The API rate for Gen-4 Turbo is $0.05 per second. As a conditional calculation, an accepted 5-second request would cost $0.25 and an accepted 10-second request $0.50, before taxes or retries. API charges are separate from consumer-plan credits. (Runway API reference; Runway Dev model catalog)
The image-to-video endpoint is POST /v1/image_to_video. Requests use a Bearer API key and the X-Runway-Version: 2024-11-06 header. Request fields and accepted values vary by model, so select the gen4_turbo schema in the API reference rather than assuming an endpoint-wide field list; confirm the applicable inputs and duration there before sending requests. (docs.dev.runwayml.com)
Generations run as asynchronous tasks: the API returns a task ID, which you poll until it succeeds or fails. The SDK’s wait-for-output method handles that lifecycle; output URLs are temporary, so download and store results you need to keep. (Runway API reference; Runway API guide; Runway Dev API reference)
Runway Dev requires a separate developer account and API credits; its setup documentation states a $10 minimum payment to get started. API throughput limits depend on the project’s usage tier. Requests above a project’s concurrency limit can be marked THROTTLED and queued, so check the applicable tier limits when estimating production throughput. (Runway API setup guide; Runway API usage tiers)
Bottom line
- Free consumer testing: 125 credits once; Gen-4 access is not guaranteed. If enabled, the listed consumer rates imply 60 credits for a 5-second Gen-4 clip or 25 for a 5-second Turbo clip, before retries.
- Paid consumer access: Standard displays as $15 month-to-month or $12/month billed annually, with 625 monthly credits. At the listed rates, that allowance equals ten 5-second Gen-4 generations or twenty-five 5-second Turbo generations, before retries and only if the relevant model is available to your account.
- Production API: Gen-4 Turbo is listed at $0.05 per second, billed separately from consumer subscriptions. Confirm the model-specific request schema and project tier limits before estimating API volume.
Sources
Creating with Gen-4 Video – Runway
AI Image and Video Pricing from $12/month | Runway AI
Available AI Models | Runway Dev
API Getting Started Guide | Runway Dev