Runway Free Plan 2026: 125 Credits, Watermark, and What They Buy
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Runway calls Free a plan, but its 125 credits are a one-time balance — not a recurring monthly allowance. We checked Runway’s current pricing page, Free-plan documentation, and official credit table on August 11, 2026. They also document a Runway watermark on every Free-plan video. We did not create an account or inspect a downloaded file, so that watermark result is reported rather than firsthand.
The Short Answer
- Runway — Runway gives Free accounts 125 non-renewing credits and documents a watermark on every free-plan video; Standard is its first listed clean-export tier.
| Tool | Best for | From | Clean export from | Free video/mo | Free export |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runway | Documented Free-Plan Limits | $12/mo (annual) | $12/mo (annual) | 0s recurring | Watermarked * |
125 Credits Are a Trial Balance, Not a Monthly Free Tier
Runway’s Free plan includes 125 credits once. The vendor says that deposit does not expire, but does not renew or refresh after it is spent. Free users also cannot purchase more credits. That means the recurring monthly allowance is zero, even though the initial balance can remain available until you use it.
It would be misleading to convert the 125 credits into a promised Free-video duration. Runway says its Free-model selection changes and directs users to sign in to see current availability. The public credit table publishes rates for models, but not which of those models a particular Free account can currently use. The credit balance is documented; a durable Free-plan seconds claim is not.
Watermark: A Documented Policy, Not Our Export Test
Runway’s Free-plan Help Center article says that all videos generated on Free carry a Runway watermark. It names Standard and higher as the path to generating without one. This is stronger than an inference from a feature table, but it is still the vendor’s policy rather than our own file inspection.
Our methodology keeps those evidence types separate. A Free-plan file must be
generated, downloaded, and inspected before the site’s status can become firsthand. Until that
happens, the Runway verdict remains reported, even though the documentation is explicit.
The First Listed Clean-Export Step
Runway lists Standard at $15 per month, or $12 per month billed annually. Standard includes
625 credits each month, access to all AI image and video models, and no watermarks. The official
credit table prices Gen-4.5 at 12 credits per second, so 625 ÷ 12 yields about 52 seconds of
Gen-4.5 video per month.
Runway’s pricing page also presents a 104-second Gen-4 Turbo yield for those same 625 credits, while its credit table lists Gen-4 Video Turbo at 5 credits per second. We preserve both vendor figures instead of silently choosing one: the public rate arithmetic would be 125 seconds, but the plan card says 104 seconds. If that difference determines a purchase, verify the current in-product quote before subscribing.
Documented Free-Plan Limits
1. Runway — Documented Free-Plan Limits
For readers who need a recurring free allowance, Runway is not comparable to a tool that grants new credits each month. Its documented value is a persistent one-time trial, with an equally clear documented watermark policy. The paid comparison is clearer: Standard is the first listed watermark-free plan, but credit yields depend on the selected model and the vendor’s current rates.
From $12/mo (annual). Free plan: 125 one-time credits that never refresh; the flagship Gen-4.5 model requires Standard or higher.
- Standard — $15/mo, or $12/mo billed annually · 1 seat
- Pro — $35/mo, or $28/mo billed annually · 1 seat
- Max — $95/mo, or $76/mo billed annually · 1 seat
Free-tier export Not tested yet
Reported (not verified by us): Watermarked — Runway's own help center states every free-plan video carries a Runway watermark, with Standard the first watermark-free plan. Runway Help Center — Free plan details . We'll replace this the moment we run our own export test.
Watermark-free from Standard ($12/mo (annual))
Free tier: 0s recurring
Standard: ~52s
Pros
- One subscription covers Runway's own models plus hosted third-party ones (the pricing page lists Gen-4.5, Nano Banana Pro, Aleph, Veo 3.1)
- Publishes exact per-second credit rates for every model, so costs are predictable before you generate
- 4K upscaling included from the Standard plan up
Skip it if
- You want to try the flagship model before paying — Gen-4.5 requires Standard or higher, so the free credits can't touch it
- You expect free credits to refresh — the 125 credits are one-time and can't be topped up on a Free plan
- You're optimizing for footage volume — 625 Standard credits are 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Runway's 125 free credits renew every month?
No. Runway's Free plan includes a one-time deposit of 125 credits. Its Help Center says the deposit does not expire, but it does not renew or refresh after it is spent. Runway also says Free users cannot buy extra credits, so this is a trial balance rather than a monthly allowance.
Are videos from Runway Free watermarked?
Runway's Help Center says every video generated on the Free plan has a Runway watermark and that Standard or higher can generate without one. We have not downloaded a Free-plan file ourselves, so this site records the result as vendor-reported rather than a firsthand export test.
What is Runway's cheapest listed watermark-free plan?
Runway lists Standard at $15 per month, or $12 per month billed annually, and includes 'No watermarks' in its plan features. The page also lists 625 monthly credits for Standard. Those are listed prices and features checked on August 11, 2026; availability and promotions can change.
How much Gen-4.5 video does Runway Standard include?
Runway lists 625 Standard credits per month and prices Gen-4.5 at 12 credits per second. That is about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5 video. The same pages say model availability on Free can change, so the 125-credit Free balance should not be treated as a guaranteed number of seconds on a named model.
How We Keep This Updated
We re-check pricing and re-run the free-tier export test on every tool in this list. Every change is logged here. Our full procedure is on the methodology page, and if anything above is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-11 — First published after checking Runway's pricing page, Free-plan Help Center article, and official credit table. Watermark status is vendor-reported; no Free-plan export was downloaded by us.