Wan vs Hailuo AI 2026: Which Budget AI Video Tool Is Better?

by Jordan · AI Video Desk — Jordan is a pen name used by a Zic Digital editor who runs the AI Video Desk. About us

Alibaba’s Wan 3.0 tops the leaderboard, makes clips up to 30 seconds and charges per second from $0.05, but is harder to use; Hailuo AI (MiniMax H3) is an easy web app for lively 4–15 second clips, from $14.99/month.

Wan (Alibaba) vs Hailuo AI

Both Chinese tools sit near the top of Artificial Analysis’s text-to-video leaderboard (October 2026), but they serve different people: Wan for those willing to do a bit of setup for the lowest price, Hailuo for those who want to open a website and start.

Choose Wan (Alibaba) if

You want No. 1 quality at the lowest price per second
You need clips up to 30 seconds in one pass
You can use an API or partner platform, or want to self-host open-weight Wan 2.2

Choose Hailuo AI if

You want a simple web app you can use right after signing up
You make short 4–15 second clips with expressive faces and lively motion
You prefer a fixed monthly plan with clear credits

Cost

Wan 3.0 is priced per second: about $0.05 (480p), $0.10 (720p) and $0.20 (1080p); a 10-second 720p clip costs about $1. Hailuo: about 200 trial credits, Standard $14.99/month (1,000 credits), Pro $54.99/month (4,500 credits); each H3 clip uses roughly 30–80 credits.

Quick comparison

Maker: Wan comes from Alibaba; Hailuo from MiniMax.
Models: Wan 3.0 (August 2026) plus the open-weight Wan 2.2. Hailuo runs MiniMax H3 (July 2026) and the faster, cheaper Hailuo 2.3.
Clip length and resolution: Wan 3.0 makes up to 30 seconds at up to 1080p. Hailuo H3 makes 4–15 seconds at 768p or 2K.
How you pay: Wan per second of video; Hailuo through monthly credit plans.
Getting started: Hailuo is a web app with trial credits. Wan 3.0 goes through Alibaba Cloud Model Studio or a partner such as Runway.
Keeping a character: Hailuo's Omni Reference uses one reference image. Wan 3.0 can start from a first frame, first and last frames, or references.
Running it yourself: only Wan 2.2 (Apache-2.0), on a GPU with at least 24 GB of VRAM.
Help with ideas: Hailuo Agent plans a video from a request, and Hailuo has photo-to-video templates.

Which one for which video

Long single shots up to 30 seconds: Wan.
Quick fun clips from one photo: Hailuo's templates.
Expressive faces and lively motion in short clips: Hailuo H3.
Many clips on a tight budget: Wan — test at 480p (about $0.05 per second) and render only the final version at 1080p.
A clear commercial licence: self-hosted Wan 2.2 under Apache-2.0. For Wan 3.0 and Hailuo's paid plans, read the terms — see free plans, watermarks and commercial use.
No cloud console: Hailuo, or Wan through Runway.

Quick answers

What does a 10-second 1080p clip cost on Wan? About $2 at $0.20 per second (12 CNY at Alibaba Cloud's list price). The same clip at 480p costs a quarter of that, so test low first.

How do I go past 15 seconds in Hailuo? Generate several clips with the same reference image so the character stays the same, then join them in CapCut or DaVinci Resolve.

Does Hailuo make 4K? No, it tops out at 2K. To deliver a sharper file to YouTube, see how to export and upscale AI video.

Verdict

Want the cheapest top-ranked quality and don’t mind some technical setup: Wan. Want ease of use and quick, lively short clips: Hailuo AI. Wan is also available on Runway, so API-shy users can try it there.

Comparison based on official sites, pricing pages, the Artificial Analysis leaderboard and comparison sites, checked October 30, 2026 — no affiliate links.

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