Hailuo AI (MiniMax) vs HunyuanVideo
A spec-by-spec comparison of Hailuo AI (MiniMax) and HunyuanVideo: pricing, free tier, clip length, resolution, watermark, commercial use and API access.
Key differences
- HunyuanVideo is open source and can run locally; Hailuo AI is a hosted service.
- Free tier: Hailuo AI — Free credits for new users; HunyuanVideo — Free to download and run locally (Tencent Hunyuan Community License).
- Max length: Hailuo AI — 15s per generation (MiniMax H3); HunyuanVideo — 121 frames by default.
- Max resolution: Hailuo AI — 2K (MiniMax H3); HunyuanVideo — 720p native, 1080p via super-resolution model.
- Commercial use: Hailuo AI — Paid plans; HunyuanVideo — Check license (Tencent Hunyuan Community License; not valid in EU, UK, South Korea).
| Hailuo AI (MiniMax) | HunyuanVideo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan · from $14.99/mo | Open source |
| Free tier | Free credits for new users | Free to download and run locally (Tencent Hunyuan Community License) |
| Max clip length | 15s per generation (MiniMax H3) | 121 frames by default |
| Max resolution | 2K (MiniMax H3) | 720p native, 1080p via super-resolution model |
| Watermark on free plan | Yes | |
| Commercial use | Paid plans | Check license (Tencent Hunyuan Community License; not valid in EU, UK, South Korea) |
| Developer API | Yes | |
| Open source | No | Yes |
Hailuo AI is MiniMax's consumer app for generating video and images, now built around the MiniMax H3 and H3 Max models with multi-reference inputs. It also offers an agent mode and audio tools. It targets social creators and marketers, while developers can reach the same models through the MiniMax API platform.
- H3 model supports 4 to 15 second clips and up to 2K output
- Higher tiers (Ultra, Max) include unlimited use of older Hailuo models
- Same models available to developers via the MiniMax API
- Watermark-free downloads and commercial rights require a paid plan
- Buying credit packs alone does not remove watermarks
- Standard list price is $14.99/month; lower prices are temporary promotions
HunyuanVideo is Tencent's open-weight video generation family. The current 1.5 release is an 8.3B-parameter diffusion transformer for text-to-video and image-to-video at 480p and 720p, with a separate super-resolution model that upscales to 1080p. Tencent has also released training and LoRA fine-tuning code. It targets developers and hobbyists who want to generate video locally on consumer hardware.
- Relatively small 8.3B model; minimum 14GB GPU memory with offloading
- Step-distilled 480p I2V model generates in about 75 seconds on a single RTX 4090 (per Tencent)
- Training code, LoRA tuning scripts and Diffusers support are available
- License excludes the EU, UK and South Korea, and companies with over 100M monthly active users need a separate license
- Native generation is limited to 480p/720p; 1080p requires an extra super-resolution pass
- Not an OSI open-source license; usage is bound by Tencent's acceptable use policy
Specs last verified 2026-10-23 (Hailuo AI (MiniMax)) and 2026-10-23 (HunyuanVideo). See each tool page for sources.