Hailuo AI

MiniMax's low-cost AI video maker: 2K clips with sound from a prompt or photo.

3.7our ratingNo community reviews yet. Add yours

FreemiumFrom $10.50/moWorks with Claude Code

Quick take

One of the cheapest ways to make good AI video, at roughly 8 to 13 US cents a second for 2K clips with sound.
MiniMax H3 is good, but reviewers rank it a step behind Seedance and Kling on action and multi-shot scenes.
Free credits are a one-off, not daily. Standard at $10.50 a month buys about 80 seconds of 2K video.
Subscriptions aren't refundable and there's an open copyright case from Disney and Universal. Keep it to original content.

What is Hailuo AI?

Hailuo is the video app from MiniMax, a Chinese AI company listed in Hong Kong. Its newest model, MiniMax H3 (July 2026), makes clips of up to 15 seconds at 2K with dialogue, sound effects and music, from a text prompt or up to nine reference images. There are also one-tap templates for social trends like hugs, dances and transformations, plus image generation.

The reason to pick it is price. On a yearly Pro plan, H3 video works out to about 8 US cents a second, well under Veo or Seedance. Quality is good but a step behind the leaders: reviewers find action scenes and multi-shot stories break down more often. Kling has more control for about the same money; Hailuo is the pick for volume.

MiniMax also makes the M3 language models, MiniMax Speech, MiniMax Music and the Talkie chat app. Free credits are a one-off, subscriptions aren't refundable, and Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. are suing MiniMax over Hailuo's training and outputs, so keep it away from anything that looks like a famous character.

Who's using it, and who it's for

Content creators
Social media managers
Small businesses
Meme makers

Creators and social teams who need a lot of short AI clips for little money.

Key features

MiniMax H3
Clips up to 15 seconds at native 2K, with dialogue, sound effects and music in 11 languages.
References
Feed it up to nine photos, plus video and audio clips, to keep people and products consistent.
Trend templates
One-tap effects for hugs, dances, kung fu fights and body transformations.
Image generation
Make the first frame here, with models like Nano Banana, then animate it.
Open weights
A smaller version of H3 can be downloaded and run on your own hardware, under a restrictive licence.
MiniMax API
Developers can generate video, speech and music from the same company's API.

How we rate it

3.7overall, out of 5

Our rating, from using the tool ourselves. Each score is out of 5.

Ease of use: 4.0
Features: 3.5
Output quality: 4.0
Value for money: 4.0
Speed & reliability: 3.0

Community rating

No community reviews yet. Be the first to leave one.

Hailuo AI pricing

Free
Free
Seeing what it can do.
- A one-off batch of trial credits
- Watermarked clips
- One generation at a time
Standard
$10.50/mo, or $8.40/mo billed yearly
Occasional clips.
- 1,000 credits a month (about 80 seconds of 2K H3)
- No watermark
- Faster queue
Our pick
Pro
$38/mo, or $30.40/mo billed yearly
Regular social content.
- 4,500 credits a month (about 375 seconds of 2K H3)
- Lower cost per second
- Unlimited image generation
Master
$89/mo, or $71.20/mo billed yearly
Daily creators and small agencies.
- 10,500 credits a month
- Same per-second rate as Pro
Max
$216/mo, or $184/mo billed yearly
High-volume production.
- 27,000 credits a month
- Unlimited slower-queue clips on older Hailuo models after credits run out

Which plan should you pick?

Pro is the sweet spot because it drops the per-second price by about a fifth compared with Standard. Prices on the site are promotional and change often, so check the checkout figure before you commit to a year.

Prices in USD unless noted, checked 21 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Best use cases

Ways Hailuo AI can slot into your week.

1
Volume social content
Generate a week of short clips for Reels and TikTok without blowing the budget.
2
Animate customer or product photos
Bring a still image to life with movement and sound.
3
Draft before you splurge
Rough out shots cheaply here, then remake the hero shot in Veo or Kling.
4
Trend posts
Use the templates to jump on a trend quickly.

How it fits your tech stack

Use Hailuo as the cheap clip engine and finish in CapCut or Descript. MiniMax's H3 model also appears inside Luma and Pika, so compare prices there if you already pay for one of those.

Connects to

MiniMax API
Luma AI
Pika
ComfyUI

Pros and cons

Pros

Among the lowest prices per second of good AI video
2K output with dialogue and sound in one step
Easy templates for social trends
Open-weight version for teams that want to run it themselves

Cons

A step behind Seedance and Kling on action, physics and multi-shot scenes
Free credits are a one-off and subscriptions aren't refundable
Frequent failed generations, strict moderation and server errors, plus complaints about billing and slow support
Characters tend to stare at the camera, and teeth, eyes and textures can flicker
Data is processed in China and there's an open studio copyright lawsuit

Hailuo AI alternatives

The closest alternatives to Hailuo AI in the library, best rated first.

ElevenLabs4.6/5· best for video voiceoversHailuo AI vs ElevenLabs
TurboScribe4.4/5· best for interview and research transcriptsHailuo AI vs TurboScribe
OpusClip4.3/5· best for turning podcasts into shortsHailuo AI vs OpusClip
Moises4.2/5· best for practising with the part you play mutedHailuo AI vs Moises

Why it made the list

It's one of the most-paid-for AI video apps, and H3 gives near top-tier quality at a budget price.

Not sure Hailuo AI is the one?

Put it next to a similar tool and see the differences side by side.

Compare Hailuo AI

Hailuo AI FAQ

How much does Hailuo AI cost?

There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10.50/mo. Prices checked 21 October 2026 against Hailuo AI's pricing page.

Is Hailuo AI free?

Yes, Hailuo AI has a free option. Pro is the sweet spot because it drops the per-second price by about a fifth compared with Standard. Prices on the site are promotional and change often, so check the checkout figure before you commit to a year.

What is Hailuo AI best for?

Hailuo AI is best for high volumes of short social clips, animating photos cheaply and trend templates like hugs and dances. Creators and social teams who need a lot of short AI clips for little money.

What are the best Hailuo AI alternatives?

The closest alternatives are ElevenLabs, TurboScribe, OpusClip and Moises. ElevenLabs is best for video voiceovers.

Community reviews

Nobody has reviewed Hailuo AI here yet. If you use it, your take helps everyone else choose.