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Side-by-side comparison · Video & Audio

OpusClip vs HeyGen vs Runway

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

OpusClip

4.3

From $15/mo

HeyGen

4.1

From $29/mo

Runway

3.8

From $15/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

OpusClip

4.3
Best overallBest value

Pick it if: Creators, podcasters and marketers who record themselves talking and need a steady stream of short-form videos.

HeyGen

4.1

Pick it if: Founders, marketers and trainers who need lots of on-camera video but hate filming.

Runway

3.8

Pick it if: Creators, marketers and agencies who need custom footage without a shoot.

Overview

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
In one lineTurns long videos into short clips, and edits raw talking-head footage by chat.Type a script and a lifelike presenter reads it on camera, in your voice or any language.Make short AI video clips from text or images, then edit footage by describing changes.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$15/mo$29/mo$15/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Overall rating4.3Winner4.13.8
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.5
3.5
FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.5
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.0
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app No Yes Yes
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension No No No
API access– Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes–
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes Yes
Makes images Yes No Yes
Makes video Yes Yes Yes
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes No
Learns your brand or style Yes Yes No
Works in many languages Yes Yes–
Capabilities score11/ 1712/ 179/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Plans

Free

Free

Trying it on a few videos.

Free

Free

Testing an avatar and the translation feature.

Free

Free

Seeing what it can do before you pay.

Starter

$15/mo

Solo creators posting a few shorts a week.

CreatorOur pick

$29/mo, or $24/mo billed yearly

Solo founders and marketers publishing regularly.

Standard

$15/mo, or $12/mo billed yearly

Occasional clips and short social videos.

ProOur pick

$29/mo

Anyone posting daily or running a team.

Pro

From $49/mo

Heavier users who want 4K and flexible usage.

ProOur pick

$35/mo, or $28/mo billed yearly

Anyone making video most weeks.

Business

Custom

Agencies and media companies at volume.

Business

$149/mo

Teams with several presenters.

Max

$95/mo, or $76/mo billed yearly

Agencies and heavy daily users.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies producing video across departments.

Team and Enterprise

See website

Companies that need shared workspaces and security controls.

Which plan to pickFree is enough to see if the clips are any good. Starter removes the watermark, but Pro is the plan most people end up on: it adds the scheduler, all 9 posting platforms, extra brand templates, 16:9 and 1:1 reframing and export to Premiere. Business only makes sense for agencies or media teams.Creator covers most solo founders and marketers: no watermark, your own avatar and 30-minute videos. Move to Business only when you need SSO, more than one custom avatar or a team sharing the account.Use the free credits to learn what prompts work, then go straight to Pro. Standard sounds cheap, but 625 credits is only a few minutes of good video a month and you'll spend more topping up than you saved.

Key features

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Standout features
  • ClipAnything
  • AI Producer
  • Captions
  • ReframeAnything
  • Brand templates
  • Scheduler and API
  • Digital twin
  • Video translation
  • Stock avatars
  • Photo avatars
  • Templates and brand kit
  • API
  • Gen-4.5 video
  • Several models in one app
  • Edit by describing
  • References
  • Extend and upscale
  • Audio tools

Pros and cons

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Pros
  • The fastest way to turn one long video into lots of shorts
  • AI Producer does a full edit of raw footage from a short brief
  • Captions and reframing are accurate and easy to fix
  • Scheduler, API and MCP mean you can automate posting
  • Digital twins and translation are the best in the category for short clips
  • You can learn it in an afternoon
  • Big library of stock avatars, voices and templates
  • API and Zapier make personalised video at scale possible
  • Generating and editing footage live in one app
  • Several top models to try under one subscription
  • Reference images keep people and products consistent
  • Mature, stable product with an API for automation
Cons
  • Built for talking content, so it's weak on cinematic or screen-recorded videos
  • Credits run out quickly on long videos and repeated edits
  • The scheduler, team seats and Premiere export need Pro
  • AI Producer is still in beta, with a 5-minute limit per video
  • Free plan is only enough for a test
  • Credits make the real cost hard to predict, especially for longer videos
  • Avatars look less natural the longer they talk
  • Your own avatar needs good lighting and a careful recording to look right
  • Credits run out quickly and the free ones never refill
  • Clips are short and often need several attempts to get right
  • Veo clips come with sound built in; here audio is a separate step
  • Prompting well takes practice

Who each one is for

AttributeOpusClipHeyGenRunway
Best for
  • Turning podcasts into shorts
  • Editing talking-head videos
  • Auto captions and B-roll
  • Reframing to 9:16
  • Scheduling to every platform
  • Explainer and product videos
  • Translating your videos
  • Personalised sales videos
  • Training content at scale
  • B-roll and product clips
  • Editing existing footage with a prompt
  • Trying several video models in one place
  • Consistent characters across shots
You'll find it used by
  • Podcasters
  • YouTubers
  • Coaches
  • Marketing teams
  • Agencies
  • Founders
  • Marketers
  • Sales teams
  • Trainers
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Filmmakers
  • Content creators

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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