Pika
Text- and image-to-video generator, metered in credits
Profile researched and drafted with AI assistance from published sources; edited and published by NorwegianSpark SA (editorial policy).
Official website: pika.art
About Pika
Pika generates short videos from text prompts and images and edits existing clips with AI. Its pricing page (read 16 October 2026) lists four tiers, all with access to every model and no watermark: Free at $0, which includes no monthly credits — you buy credit packs instead; Starter at $10 a month, or $8 billed annually, with 900 credits a month but no commercial licence; Creator at $35, or $28 billed annually, with 3,150 credits and a commercial licence; and Fancy from $95 a month ($76 annually), rising with the credit amount to $880, with early access to new models from the $440 tier. Annual billing takes 20% off, and the plan cards and comparison table differ slightly on some figures, so check at checkout. The licence line is the one to read: only Creator and Fancy include commercial use, so client work and monetised content need at least Creator. The limits: every generation and retry spends credits, clips are short, and the Free plan is a way to buy credits rather than a free allowance. Runway on this site is the established professional option with a free credit grant, PixVerse is another social-first generator, and Synthesia makes presenter videos instead. Verdict: a reasonable mid-priced generator for social clips — choose Creator if anything you make is for business.
Best For
Social media managers and creators who need short generated clips regularly. Not for anyone publishing commercially on the Starter plan, for long continuous scenes, or for presenter-led explainer videos.
Key Features
- Free: no monthly credits; buy credit packs
- Starter $10/mo ($8 annual): 900 credits, no commercial licence
- Creator $35/mo ($28 annual): 3,150 credits, commercial licence
- Fancy from $95/mo: 8,550+ credits, early model access
- Every model and no watermark on all plans
- Annual billing 20% off
Category
Image & Video →How Pika compares in Image & Video
The 9 image & video agents we track, listed alphabetically. 8 of the 9 publish a free tier. Prices are the vendor’s own published starting figure and change without notice — check the vendor’s pricing page before committing.
The bar under a price compares that plan with the dearest monthly plan in this table (5 of the 9 rows are flat monthly prices). Custom, per-seat, per-usage and annual prices are not on the same scale, so they carry no bar — a missing bar does not mean cheaper.
| Tool | Starting price | Pricing model | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
 Canva AI | US$144/yr | Freemium | Yes |
 Descript | $16/mo | Freemium, per person | Yes |
 ElevenLabs | $5/mo | Freemium | Yes |
 HeyGen | $29/mo | Freemium | Yes |
| Midjourney | $10/mo | Subscription, GPU-time metered | No |
 Pika (this page) | $8/mo (billed annually) | Freemium, credit-metered | Yes |
 Runway | $12/mo (billed annually) | Freemium, credit-metered | Yes |
 Suno | $8/mo | Freemium, credit-metered | Yes |
 Synthesia | $18/mo (billed yearly) | Freemium, credit-metered | Yes |
