Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax)
MiniMax's video generator: fast, cheap, strong on physics
Overview
MiniMax's text- and image-to-video generator, known for fluid physics simulation and character consistency via Subject Reference. Backed by MiniMax's January 2026 Hong Kong IPO, it undercuts Runway and Sora on price with a credit-based web app and developer API.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 12 Jul 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- Limited trial credits
- 768p, 6s clips
- Watermarked output
- Lowest queue priority
- 1,000 credits/mo (~40 videos)
- 6s clips, one at a time
- Watermark removed
- Commercial use rights
- 4,500 credits/mo (~180 videos)
- 10s 1080p output
- 2 clips rendered in parallel
- 10,000 credits/mo (~400 videos)
- 12,000 credits/mo (~480 videos)
- 20,000 credits/mo (~900 videos)
What you can produce with Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax)
- Text-to-video and image-to-video generation
- Subject Reference for character consistency across shots
- Lip-sync / talking-character video generation
- Director Mode cinematic camera presets
- Start/end-frame conditioning and style transfer
- Host-your-own-account and pay-as-you-go developer API
- 10-second 1080p output on Pro+ tiers
- Watermark removal and commercial-use rights on paid plans
ASEAN Perspective
Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax) in Southeast Asia
ASEAN-region availability and pricing notes coming soon. Drop the editorial team a note via /contact/ if you can supply local context (Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia/Thailand/Vietnam).
Hailuo earns its reputation on physics: fluid biological motion, believable cloth and camera work, delivered fast and at roughly a quarter of Runway's per-clip cost. Subject Reference holds a character's look across multiple shots without manual keyframing, and lip-sync is solid for talking-head clips. MiniMax's January 2026 Hong Kong IPO gives the company runway most rivals lack.
The catch is everything downstream of generation. Trustpilot reviews for hailuoai.video sit around 1.4 out of 5 across dozens of complaints, mostly billing: charges continuing after cancellation, refunds stuck in 30-day limbo, and support replies that read like the same canned message. MiniMax has also trimmed free daily credits, cutting roughly 3,000 credits a month from what free users used to get. Fine for a fast, disposable clip; budget time for support friction if you're paying.
What people say
MiniMax listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026, raising roughly US$538 million at the top of its marketed range, a vote of confidence that put real money behind Hailuo, the video arm that reportedly generated about a third of the group's 2025 revenue (Talkie, MiniMax's companion-chat app, contributed more). By MiniMax's own count, its video models had produced more than 600 million clips for creators worldwide by the end of 2025, and Hailuo's monthly site visits reportedly jumped over 2,700% year-on-year through October 2025 to 11.7 million.
The draw is speed and cost. Trade-press cost comparisons put Hailuo at roughly $0.30 for a 10-second 1080p clip against about $1.20 on Runway and $3.50 on Sora. Testing writeups consistently single out physics simulation, fluid single-subject motion, cloth, camera moves, as the model's strongest suit, with the caveat that complex multi-subject scenes still trip it up. Subject Reference (upload one character image, reuse it across shots) and Director Mode (camera-move presets) are the features reviewers cite most.
Where it falls down is the business side. Trustpilot puts hailuoai.video at roughly 1.4 out of 5 stars across 89-plus reviews, and the recurring complaint isn't quality, it's billing. Multiple reviewers describe being charged after cancelling, refund requests stuck "under review" for 30-plus days, and support responses that cycle through the same templated reply regardless of the question asked. Reddit threads separately flag a pricing change that quietly dropped a daily 100-credit free allotment, a roughly 3,000-credit-a-month cut for users who weren't paying anything to begin with.
Free accounts are capped at 768p, 6-second clips, watermarked, with lowest generation priority; every paid tier removes the watermark and adds commercial rights, but tier choice matters, since only Pro and above unlock 10-second 1080p output and parallel rendering. For ASEAN creators the web app and API are both reachable without a VPN, which isn't true of every Chinese video model, and the price gap versus Runway and Sora is large enough to make Hailuo worth the workaround on refund policy for anyone doing high-volume work.
Summary of public user & expert reviews, compiled by RECATOOLS.
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax)'s official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax) unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
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