Quick Answer Gen-2 by Runway was one of the first publicly available text-to-video AI models, launched in 2023. It is no longer available: Runway began removing access in mid-March 2025 and fully deprecated Gen-2 on May 11, 2025. Its replacement is Gen-4.5, released in December 2025, which ranked first on the Artificial Analysis text-to-video benchmark at launch. Runway plans start at $12/month billed annually, with a free tier of 125 one-time credits. Best for today: creators who want Runway's current models. Anyone searching for Gen-2 specifically should use Gen-4.5 or an alternative below.
This Gen-2 by Runway review explains what Gen-2 could do, why Runway retired it, how it compares with Gen-4.5, what Runway costs in 2026, and which AI video generators to consider instead. Our verdict: Gen-2 was a milestone model, but in 2026 there is no way to use it, and Runway's current models are far better at motion, realism and prompt accuracy.
Gen-2 by Runway at a glance
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it was | Text-to-video and image-to-video AI model |
| Developer | Runway (Runway AI, Inc.), New York, founded 2018 |
| Announced | March 2023 |
| Clip length | 4 seconds at launch; up to 18 seconds from August 2023 |
| Key controls added | Director Mode camera controls (2023), Motion Brush (November 2023), Multi Motion Brush (January 2024) |
| Status | Deprecated May 11, 2025 |
| Replaced by | Gen-3 Alpha (June 2024), Gen-4 (March 2025), Gen-4.5 (December 2025) |
| Current Runway pricing | Free (125 one-time credits), Standard $12/mo, Pro $28/mo, Max $76/mo, billed annually |
Gen-2 by Runway Review Summary: Key Takeaways
- Gen-2 is discontinued. Runway fully deprecated it on May 11, 2025, and it does not appear on Runway's 2026 pricing page.
- It mattered historically. Gen-2 brought text-to-video to the public in 2023, a year before most competitors shipped comparable tools.
- Its limits were real. Short clips, unstable motion and weak prompt adherence meant most output needed heavy editing.
- Gen-4.5 is the replacement. Runway's current flagship improves physics, human motion and detail consistency, and costs 60 credits per 5 seconds.
- Runway still suits creators and filmmakers, but credit costs add up fast. Compare alternatives such as Kling, Veo and Luma before paying for high-volume work.
What Was Gen-2 by Runway?
Gen-2 by Runway was a generative AI video model that created short video clips from a text prompt, an image, or a combination of both. Runway, a New York-based AI company founded in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Alejandro Matamala and Anastasis Germanidis, announced Gen-2 in March 2023 as the follow-up to Gen-1, which could only restyle existing video.
Gen-2 was important because it let anyone generate video from text alone in a browser, without a GPU or coding skills. At launch it produced 4-second clips. By August 2023, users could extend clips to 18 seconds, and Runway kept adding controls through late 2023 and early 2024.
Gen-2 worked in several modes:
- Text to video: generate a clip from a written prompt
- Image to video: animate a still image
- Text and image to video: use an image as a visual reference for a prompt
- Stylization: apply the look of a reference image or preset to the output
Is Runway Gen-2 Still Available in 2026?
No. Runway's help center states that Gen-2 access began to be revoked in mid-March 2025 and that the model was fully deprecated on May 11, 2025. Gen-2 is not listed among the models on Runway's current pricing page, and Runway recommends Gen-4.5 as its most advanced video model.
If you have old Gen-2 clips saved in your Runway assets, download them and keep local copies. To improve their resolution for reuse, an upscaler such as Topaz Video AI can help.
Gen-2 Features: What It Could Do
Text-to-video and image-to-video generation
Gen-2's core feature turned a text prompt or a still image into a short clip. Image-to-video gave far more consistent results than text alone, because the first frame fixed the composition, colors and subject.
Clip extension up to 18 seconds
In August 2023 Runway let users extend a Gen-2 clip in steps up to 18 seconds. Longer clips tended to drift: faces and objects changed shape as the extension went on, so most creators kept to the first few seconds.
Director Mode camera controls
Director Mode, added in 2023, let users set camera zoom, pan, tilt and roll for each generation. In November 2023 Runway added fractional values, so you could ask for a slight push-in rather than a strong one.
Motion Brush and Multi Motion Brush
Motion Brush, released in November 2023, let you paint over part of an image and tell Gen-2 to move only that area, such as water in a river or smoke from a chimney. Multi Motion Brush followed in January 2024, allowing several regions to move independently in one clip.
Style presets
The November 2023 update added 26 curated style presets, including Anime, Cinematic, Pixel Art and 3D Render, for consistent looks across a series of clips.
What Gen-2 did not include
Gen-2 was a generation model inside Runway's web app. It did not include team collaboration, Slack or Zapier integrations, subtitle translation or a developer API of its own. Runway's broader platform offered editing tools, and Runway's API launched later with newer models.
Gen-2 Limitations: Why Runway Replaced It
- Short, unstable clips. Motion often warped after a few seconds, especially for faces and hands.
- Weak prompt adherence. Complex prompts with several subjects or actions were often ignored or merged.
- Poor physics. Objects could pass through each other, and water, fabric and hair moved unnaturally.
- Low consistency. The same character rarely looked the same across two clips, which made storytelling hard.
Each later model targeted these problems. Gen-3 Alpha (June 2024) improved fidelity and motion. Gen-4 (March 2025) added consistent characters and objects across shots from reference images. Gen-4.5 (December 2025) focused on physics, human motion and fine detail such as hair and fabric.
Gen-2 vs Gen-4.5: What Changed| Gen-2 (2023 to 2025) | Gen-4.5 (current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Deprecated May 11, 2025 | Runway's flagship video model |
| Inputs | Text, image, or both | Text and image |
| Motion quality | Frequent warping after a few seconds | Improved physics and human movement |
| Character consistency | Low | Much stronger, building on Gen-4 references |
| Camera control | Director Mode, Motion Brush | Prompted camera direction with higher accuracy |
| Benchmark standing | Early leader in 2023 | Ranked #1 on Artificial Analysis text-to-video (1,247 Elo) at launch |
| Credit cost | Not available | 60 credits per 5 seconds |
See our Runway Gen-4 tool page for scores and specs, or read about Runway's performance-capture model in our Act-One by Runway review.
Runway Pricing in 2026 (What Gen-2 Users Pay Now)
Gen-2 has no price of its own anymore. Former Gen-2 users now pay for Runway's credit-based plans, which include access to Gen-4.5 and Runway's other models.
| Plan | Annual billing (per mo) | Monthly billing | Credits | Approx. Gen-4.5 video per month | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 125 one-time | About 10 seconds | Testing Runway |
| Standard | $12 | $15 | 625 per month | About 52 seconds | Hobbyists and occasional creators |
| Pro | $28 | $35 | 2,250 per month | About 3 minutes | Freelancers and regular creators |
| Max | $76 | $95 | 9,500 per month | About 13 minutes | Studios and heavy users |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Teams needing admin controls |
Prices in USD from Runway's pricing page, checked September 30, 2026. Video estimates assume Gen-4.5 at 60 credits per 5 seconds and exclude failed or discarded generations.
What paid plans include
- Standard: all video and image models, no watermarks, 4K upscaling, 5 parallel generations, 20 GB storage
- Pro: everything in Standard, plus 15 parallel generations, a Brand Kit, a custom voice clone and 100 GB storage
- Max: early access to new models, 20 parallel generations, one-month credit rollover, HDR and ProRes export, and 500 GB storage
Is Runway expensive?
For heavy use, yes. The Standard plan gives under a minute of Gen-4.5 video per month, and most usable shots take several attempts. Runway works out best for short, high-impact clips such as ad shots, music video inserts and film previsualization. If you need longer or bulk output, compare credit costs in our guide to the cheapest AI video generators. For a full cost breakdown, see our Runway pricing, features and alternatives guide.
See Runway's current score and specs →
Pros and Cons of Gen-2 (Looking Back)
Pros
- First widely available text-to-video model, open to the public in 2023
- Image-to-video mode gave usable, consistent results from a still image
- Motion Brush and Director Mode introduced fine motion and camera control that later tools copied
- Browser-based, with no hardware or coding needed
Cons
- Short clips that degraded quickly when extended
- Unstable motion and physics, especially for people
- Weak prompt adherence on complex scenes
- Discontinued in May 2025, so it cannot be used today
Who Should Use Runway Now That Gen-2 Is Gone?
Runway is a good fit for
- Filmmakers and directors who need previsualization and short cinematic shots
- Advertising and social teams creating short, high-impact clips
- Artists and music video creators who want strong visual styles and camera control
- Former Gen-2 users who liked Runway's interface and want the same workflow with a better model
Consider an alternative if you
- Need talking-head or presenter videos: avatar tools such as Synthesia or HeyGen are built for that
- Produce long or high-volume video on a tight budget: credit costs make Runway expensive per minute
- Want native audio generated with video: compare Veo 3.1, which generates video and sound together
Best Gen-2 Alternatives in 2026
| Tool | Best for | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Runway Gen-4 | Direct Gen-2 replacement inside Runway | Runway review |
| Veo 3.1 | Video with native audio | Veo 3.1 vs Runway |
| Sora 2 | Realistic scenes and physics | Sora 2 vs Runway |
| Kling 3.0 | Long, realistic human motion | Kling 3.0 tool page |
| Luma Dream Machine | Fast, affordable cinematic clips | Luma Dream Machine pricing |
| Pika 2.2 | Quick social clips and effects | Hailuo AI vs Pika 2.2 |
| Hailuo AI (MiniMax) | Budget-friendly text-to-video | Hailuo AI review |
| Wan 2.6 | Low-cost generation from Alibaba | Wan 2.6 review |
Runway Gen-4 (the direct replacement)
If you liked Gen-2's workflow, Runway's current models are the easiest switch. You keep the same interface, plus reference-based character consistency and much better motion. Best for: existing Runway users and filmmakers.
Veo 3.1
Google's Veo 3.1 generates video with synchronized audio, which removes a separate sound-design step. Best for: creators who want dialogue, effects and ambience in one generation. Read our Veo 3.1 review.
Sora 2
OpenAI's Sora 2 focuses on realistic physics and scene coherence. Best for: realistic narrative shots. Compare it head to head in Sora 2 vs Runway.
Kling 3.0
Kling is known for realistic human motion and longer clips than most rivals. Best for: character-driven scenes. See the Kling 3.0 tool page.
Luma Dream Machine
Luma offers fast, cinematic generations with competitive credit pricing. Best for: creators who iterate often. See Luma Dream Machine pricing.
Pika 2.2
Pika focuses on short, playful clips and effects for social media. Best for: TikTok and Reels creators. See Pika 2.2.
For a side-by-side view of every model, see our AI video generator comparison, our best AI video tools list, or browse the Video Generation category.
How We Evaluated Gen-2 by RunwayCompareBestAI scores every tool with the same framework, described in how we rank tools and our editorial guidelines. Because Gen-2 is no longer available, this review is a retrospective. We did not generate new Gen-2 clips for it.
We based it on:
- Runway's own research notes and product updates from 2023 and 2024, for feature and release dates
- Runway's help center, for the Gen-2 deprecation timeline
- Runway's pricing page, for current plans and Gen-4.5 credit costs (checked September 30, 2026)
- Independent coverage from technology publications, for clip length updates and the Gen-4.5 benchmark result
Where a figure comes from a third party, we name the source.
Gen-2 by Runway Review FAQs
Is Runway Gen-2 still available?
No. Runway began revoking Gen-2 access in mid-March 2025 and fully deprecated the model on May 11, 2025. It no longer appears on Runway's pricing page. Runway now recommends Gen-4.5 as its most advanced video model.
What replaced Runway Gen-2?
Gen-2 was followed by Gen-3 Alpha in June 2024, Gen-4 in March 2025 and Gen-4.5 in December 2025. Gen-4.5 is Runway's current flagship, with better physics, human motion and detail consistency, and it ranked first on the Artificial Analysis text-to-video benchmark at launch.
How much does Runway cost in 2026?
Runway has a free tier with 125 one-time credits. Paid plans cost $12, $28 or $76 per month billed annually ($15, $35 or $95 monthly) for Standard, Pro and Max, with 625, 2,250 or 9,500 monthly credits. Gen-4.5 uses 60 credits per 5 seconds.
How long could Gen-2 videos be?
Gen-2 produced 4-second clips at launch in 2023. From August 2023, users could extend a clip in steps up to 18 seconds. Quality usually dropped as clips got longer, with faces and objects changing shape.
Is Runway free to use?
Yes, with limits. The free plan gives 125 one-time credits, which is roughly 10 seconds of Gen-4.5 video. For regular use, the Standard plan at $12 per month billed annually gives 625 credits each month.
What is the best alternative to Runway Gen-2?
The closest replacement is Runway's own Gen-4.5, which keeps the same interface. Outside Runway, Veo 3.1 is strong for video with native audio, Kling 3.0 for realistic human motion, and Luma Dream Machine for fast, affordable iterations.
Final Verdict: Gen-2 by Runway in 2026
Gen-2 by Runway earned its place in AI video history. It put text-to-video and image-to-video in front of the public in 2023, and features like Motion Brush and Director Mode shaped how later tools handle motion and camera control. But Gen-2 was fully deprecated in May 2025, so there is no way to use it in 2026.
If you came here looking for Gen-2, the practical choice is Runway's current Gen-4.5 model, which fixes Gen-2's biggest weaknesses in motion, physics and consistency, starting at $12 per month billed annually. If Runway's credit costs don't fit your volume, compare Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0 or Luma Dream Machine first.
Verdict: Gen-2 is discontinued. Use Runway Gen-4.5 or a current alternative instead.
See Runway's current score and specs → · Compare Runway with other AI video tools →
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