Runway Gen-4.5 cost per second by plan vs Sume per-second rates

Runway's Max plan gives the cheapest Gen-4.5 second in this comparison at about 9.6 cents, if you use all 9,500 monthly credits. Standard works out to about 23 cents a second and Pro to about 15 cents, at annual prices and 12 credits a second. Sume's per-second rates for 720p to 1080p models sit between 10 and 25 cents, so Runway Max beats them on price and loses on flexibility.

How the Runway numbers are built

The pricing page lists Gen-4.5 Video at 60 credits for 5 seconds, which is 12 credits a second. Annual prices are $12 for 625 credits, $28 for 2,250 and $76 for 9,500 a month. The page's regular monthly prices are $15, $35 and $95.

Sume per-second rates for comparison

Runway's page lists one Gen-4.5 rate and no resolution, so none of the rows is matched on output size.

What decides it

A plan's cheap second only counts if you spend the whole month's credits, and unused credits are a cost. Max is $76 a month on annual billing, so a studio rendering around 800 seconds a month uses it fully, while a team rendering 60 seconds should compare against $0.0625 to $0.25 a second paid per job. Sume also does not run Runway's models, so the choice is also a choice of look.

Worked example

A team that needs 300 seconds of Gen-4.5 a month sits between Pro (2,250 credits, 187 seconds) and Max (9,500 credits, 791 seconds). It needs 3,600 credits, so Pro is too small and Max is the smallest plan that fits. That is $76 a month for 300 seconds, or $0.253 a second effective, because about 490 seconds of credits go unused. On Sume the same 300 seconds at $0.125 a second on Wan 3.0 at 720p is $37.50. Utilization matters more than the headline rate, so always divide the plan price by the seconds you really render.

Credits roll over according to Runway's own terms, which this comparison does not cover, so check the page before you plan around leftover credits.