The best AI video model for each job, from our own tests

The short answer

A detailed brief: four models passed everything

We sent one prompt with nine details a tool can check to six models, twice each: a sign spelled BAKERY, a red bicycle left of the door, three pots right of it, a yellow umbrella, a cat walking left to right, a slow push in, and no people. Veo 3.1, Hailuo 3, Wan 3.0 and Seedance 2.5 passed all eighteen checks. Grok Imagine Video 1.5 missed one, and Kling v3 put a person in the empty shop twice.

Every clip, the rubric and the raw numbers are in One prompt, six video models, nine measured checks. It is one scene with no people, so it says nothing about faces or fast action.

A spoken line: Veo 3.1, or Hailuo 3 from your photo

Veo 3.1 renders speech and sound in the same pass, from text or from a start frame, in clips of 4, 6 or 8 seconds at 16:9 or 9:16. It comes in three tiers: Veo 3.1 for the finished shot, Veo 3.1 Fast for drafts and Veo 3.1 Lite for everyday clips. It is not the model for movement.

When the person has to come from a photo you already have, Hailuo 3 takes up to nine reference images and three audio tracks, and renders speech in stereo at 2K. It is the model behind most of the talking presets, such as Social media ad.

We measured that a voice is present in the speech band of both clips. We did not transcribe the words or measure the lip sync, so listen before you ship.

Bodies in motion: Kling v3 or Seedance 2.5

From one standing frame and a prompt written as physics, Kling v3 and Seedance 2.5 rotated a real backflip on every roll. Veo 3.1 Fast missed three of four, and Seedance 1.5 Pro missed from text alone. For a jump, a dance or a fall, use one of the first two and write where the weight lands.

The full test, with the prompt and the three before and after pairs on weight, contact and timing, is in Make AI people move realistically. The two go head to head on four tests in Seedance 2.5 vs Kling 3.0.

A design that holds, and a long take: Seedance 2.5

We gave Seedance 2.5 and Kling v3 the same start frame of a fictional car and the same drive-by prompt. Seedance 2.5 kept the nose, the wheels and the light bar; Kling v3 added a badge-like mark and a passenger. For a product, a logo or a vehicle, test the hardest shot on your own design first.

Seedance 2.5 also runs single takes of 4 to 30 seconds, in six frame shapes, and it is the one that takes a clip of yours to reference, edit or extend. Wan 3.0 also runs to 30 seconds, from text or a start frame, without speech. How to write for Seedance 2.5 is in Seedance 2.5: how to prompt it.

A 4K master: Kling v3 or Seedance 2.0 Pro

We rendered one prompt at 1080p and 4K and measured the files. Kling v3 and Seedance 2.0 Pro both return a real 3840 by 2160 picture, not a 1080p frame stretched to fit. The extra detail is real and small: it shows when you crop, zoom or watch on a 4K screen, not on a phone.

Footage you already have: Miroge, Multicam and Restore

Some jobs start from a clip, not a prompt. Three tools cover them, each picking the right model for you:

• Change what is in the clip: Miroge recasts the performers from your photos, swaps one thing, or redraws the place around the subject, on Seedance 2.5, Gemini Omni 1.1 (Video Edit), Runway Aleph 2 or HappyHorse. Start with Miroge: recast, swap or move a clip you already shot.
• Get more angles from one take: Multicam turns one locked off take into every setup you pick, in sync with your sound. The walkthrough is Get every camera angle from one take.
• Clean up a soft or noisy clip: in our test, SeedVR2 Restore scored closest to the clean original, and the sharpest looking generative pass scored furthest from it. The scores are in Restore soft, noisy or old footage.

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DamagedSeedVR2 Restore

A fast first draft

In the scored scene, Grok Imagine Video 1.5 came back in 59 and 49 seconds, the fastest of the six; Veo 3.1 took 84 and 113, Seedance 2.5 took 179 and 313. That is one reading each on one morning, and queues change. For drafts on any model, render the cheapest tier first and the keeper last.

What it costs

Every rate is read live from the price list for a 5 second clip, tier by tier; a longer clip costs proportionally more. How the price is built, and how to spend less on the same result, is in AI video pricing explained.

What we have not tested

• Whether a person looks the same from shot to shot, on any model. We make no claim about faces.
• Lip sync accuracy. We measured that speech is present, not that it matches the lips.
• Most of the catalog's other video models, such as Runway Gen-4.5, FLUX 3 Video and the HappyHorse family, head to head. Their pages open on a real example: browse them from the models page or Explore.
• Every test is one to three runs per model. A model that held can miss on the next run.