AI Video Tools
Generation, editing, subtitling and avatar tools for video production.
5 tools
- RunwayVideo generation and editing tools aimed at professional production work.Official: runwayml.comfrom $15/mo
- DescriptEdit video and podcasts by editing the transcript text.Official: descript.comfrom $15/mo
- HeyGenAvatar videos and translation with lip sync, aimed at training and marketing.Official: heygen.comfrom $24/mo
- KlingVideo generation noted for physical motion that holds together.Official: klingai.comfrom $10/mo
- PikaShort-form video generation with editing controls for specific regions.Official: pika.artfrom $10/mo
This label covers four quite different products: generating footage from a prompt, editing existing footage with AI assistance, producing subtitles and dubs, and driving a synthetic presenter. Generation gets the attention, but for most people with actual work to do, the editing and subtitling tools deliver more value per pound and are far more predictable.
What to look at when choosing
Clip length is a hard limit, not a starting point
Generation tools produce short clips — typically a handful of seconds. A longer piece means generating many clips and cutting them together, which is where consistency becomes the problem: the same character, lighting and setting have to survive across shots that were generated independently. Budget for the assembly work, because it is usually most of the work.
Cost per second, not cost per month
Video generation is the most compute-hungry thing in this directory, and pricing usually reflects that through credits rather than a flat subscription. A plan that looks cheap monthly can be exhausted in an afternoon of iteration — and iteration is unavoidable, because the first generation is rarely the one you use. Work out the cost of a finished minute, including the takes you throw away.
Subtitling and dubbing are the mature end
Transcription and translation for video are genuinely reliable now, and they solve a problem most video actually has: reaching people who watch on mute or do not speak your language. If you are new to the category and want something that works today rather than something impressive, this is the corner to start in.
When you probably do not need one
If you need a specific real place, a real product on camera or a real person, filming remains faster, cheaper and honest in a way generation is not. Generation earns its place where the footage does not exist and cannot practically be shot — abstract sequences, impossible camera moves, concepts rather than records.