Key takeaways
Melius tops this list because Ditto applies as many as 30 reference-image swaps in one generation, and the same canvas offers three other edit models plus a Stitch node for joining the results.
Runway's Aleph 2.0 accepts clips up to 30 seconds at 1080p and can apply one change across several shots, but the 625 credits on its Standard plan stretch to roughly 22 seconds of edited footage.
Luma's Ray3.2 Modify keeps the original audio and tracks up to 8 faces, but costs 144 credits per second at 1080p.
Most edit models accept short inputs, usually 10 to 30 seconds, so longer footage needs cutting into sections first.
Decide whether you need a small local fix, such as one swapped prop, or a full restyle, because the tools lean one way or the other.
How we ranked
Video-to-video means giving an AI model a finished clip and getting back a changed version. We ranked tools on the range of changes they can make (swaps, restyling, relighting, motion transfer), how long a clip they accept, how well they hold a subject steady across frames, what happens to the original audio, and then on price and rights. Plans and features come from each company's own pages on November 11, 2026.
Video-to-video generators at a glance
Tool | Main video-to-video features | Longest input clip | Cheapest paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|
Melius | Ditto swaps, Kling 3.0 Omni, Luma Ray 3.2, Flux 3 Edit | About 15 to 18 s, depending on the model | Creator $17/mo billed yearly |
Runway | Aleph 2.0 prompt edits, Act-Two performance transfer | 30 s | Standard $12/mo billed yearly |
Luma | Ray3.2 Modify Video | 20 s at 24 fps | Plus $25/mo billed yearly |
Kling | Video 3.0 Omni and Kling 4.0 edits, Motion Control | 10 s on Video 3.0 Omni | Standard $10/mo list price |
Decart | Lucy 2.6 edits, Lucy Restyle 2 | Restyle up to 30 min | Pay as you go, $0.04 per second |
Pika | Swap Anything, Motion Transfer | Not published | Starter $8/mo billed yearly |
Wan | Instruction-based video editing, open-weight Animate and VACE | Not published | Pro $5/mo billed yearly |
Adobe Firefly | Video to Video | 20 s | Standard $9.99/mo |
1. Melius: Best overall video-to-video generator
Melius describes itself as the AI-native operating system for creatives, with AI agents for creative work that assemble each video job on a canvas of linked nodes.
What works: Ditto takes a reference image for every character, prop or background you want changed, up to 30 in a single request, and applies them together to one output while keeping the clip's own audio unless you choose to mute it. For prompt-driven edits the canvas also offers Kling 3.0 Omni, Luma Ray 3.2 and Flux 3 Edit, which keeps the motion, timing and framing of the source while restyling it, so a summer street can turn into a snowy one. Tell the Melius agent what to change and it builds the nodes and assigns a model to each, leaving every prompt editable. A Stitch node joins edited sections back together, and the built-in editor trims the result. Creator is $17/mo billed yearly.
What doesn't: Edit nodes take roughly 15 to 18 seconds of source video depending on the model, which is shorter than Runway's 30. Flux 3 Edit costs 36 credits per second of source footage, so a few long clips use up a month's allowance quickly.
Best for: Creators and teams who want to swap several things at once, or try more than one edit model on the same clip.
2. Runway: Best for longer single-clip edits
Runway's Aleph 2.0 is an in-context editing model that powers its Edit Studio.
What works: You describe a change, such as new lighting, a different background or a recolored product, and Aleph 2.0 applies it through the clip. It accepts up to 30 seconds at 1080p and can carry an edit across several shots in a multi-cut sequence. Edit Studio shows a still preview of the change before you spend credits on the full clip. Act-Two is the separate tool for moving a performance onto another character. Standard costs $15 a month or $12 billed yearly.
What doesn't: In the app, Aleph 2.0 spends 140 credits for every 5 seconds, which makes a month of Standard's credits roughly 22 seconds of finished edits.
Best for: Editors who need to change one longer shot without reshooting it.
3. Luma: Best for relighting and keeping audio
Luma's Ray3.2 Modify Video is built for changing footage you already shot.
What works: It can swap an environment or a product, relight a scene, transfer motion from one clip to another and track expressive faces on up to 8 people, and it leaves the original audio in place. Clips run up to 20 seconds at 24 frames per second, or 15 seconds at 30 and 7 at 60. Plus is $30 a month or $25 billed yearly and includes commercial use.
What doesn't: Modify at 1080p costs 144 credits per second, so Plus's 10,000 monthly credits cover about 69 seconds. Luma's own guidance says heavy camera shake and chaotic action break the results, and the pricing page shows no free plan.
Best for: Filmmakers working on clean, steady footage who care about lighting and sound.
4. Kling: Best for moving a performance onto a character
Kling, from Kuaishou, offers editing through Video 3.0 Omni and its newer Kling 4.0 model.
What works: Kling 4.0 is pitched for targeted edits that add, remove or replace subjects, backgrounds and products from a prompt and reference images. Motion Control is a separate feature that copies the movement and facial expressions from a reference clip onto a still character image, whether the character is a person, an anime figure or a 3D model. Standard is $10 a month at list price, with promotional first-month discounts, and the plan notes say generated content can be used commercially.
What doesn't: Video 3.0 Omni takes input of 3 to 10 seconds in Kling's own guide, and the feature page for Kling 4.0 doesn't publish edit limits. Promo prices change often, so the cost you pay may not match the list price.
Best for: Creators animating characters from a reference performance.
5. Decart: Best for developers and live edits
Decart's Lucy 2.6 model arrived on November 5, 2026 and does video edits from a prompt, a reference image or both.
What works: It handles character swaps, clothing changes, background replacement, object removal and style changes while preserving the motion and structure of the clip. Lucy Restyle 2 restyles whole videos of up to 30 minutes, and live streams can be edited in real time. There's no subscription. Video edits are billed at $0.04 per second at 720p.
What doesn't: It's built for developers, with an API and demo rather than a timeline, and video edits top out at 720p. Decart's pages don't say how it treats audio.
Best for: Developers building edit features and live-commerce teams.
6. Pika: Best for quick swaps
Pika is a creative video app that now runs several third-party models alongside its own tools.
What works: Swap Anything changes characters, outfits, locations or products in an uploaded video from a prompt or reference, leaving the original performance and timing in place. Motion Transfer pairs one character photo with a clip of the movement you want. Starter is $10 monthly or $8 billed annually, with a commercial license and no watermark. The free plan also has no watermark, but it doesn't include a commercial license.
What doesn't: The Swap Anything page doesn't state a clip length, resolution or file size.
Best for: Social creators making fast outfit and character swaps.
7. Wan: Best for open-weight experiments
Wan is Alibaba's video model family, with a hosted creator site and downloadable weights.
What works: The create.wan.video site offers instruction-based editing from a prompt, and Pro costs $10 monthly or $5 billed yearly, with watermark-free 1080p downloads. Wan2.2-Animate and Wan2.1-VACE are open-weight releases under the Apache-2.0 license, so people can run character replacement and video-to-video editing on their own machines, including in ComfyUI.
What doesn't: Free downloads on the hosted site are watermarked, and we couldn't find published input limits for the editor. Running the open models locally means owning a capable GPU.
Best for: Technical creators who want to run video-to-video locally.
8. Adobe Firefly: Best for restyling from a reference clip
Adobe Firefly's Video to Video feature treats an uploaded clip as a blueprint.
What works: It reads the pacing, composition and camera movement of your clip and re-renders it from a prompt, including reframing requests such as a wider shot. Uploads must be MP4 or MOV files under 200 MB and 5 to 20 seconds long, and the free plan includes daily generations to try it. Output is 1080p, with 4K through an upscaler. Adobe says content from its Firefly Video Model is safe to use commercially, and Standard is $9.99 a month.
What doesn't: It regenerates the clip from its structure, so it's less suited to changing a single object while leaving the rest untouched. The feature page doesn't name the model that runs it or say whether the original audio carries over.
Best for: Restyling a clip in a new look.
Changing a clip in Melius
Upload the clip and describe the change to the Melius agent, for example "Put the presenter in the red coat from this photo, turn the office into a beach at sunset and make the street scene snowy." The agent sets up a Ditto node for the coat and the beach and an edit-model node for the snow, with a model chosen for each. Open any node to rewrite its prompt, switch models or rerun just that step. If the source runs past the model's limit, split it first, edit the sections and join them with a Stitch node.
How to choose a video-to-video generator
Decide whether you need a local fix, such as swapping a prop, or a full restyle.
Check the maximum clip length against your footage before you pay.
Look at credit costs per second, since edits are priced by the second on most of these.
If audio matters, confirm the tool keeps it, as several don't say.
Test one real clip on each of two tools before you commit to a plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best video-to-video generator?
Melius is the best video-to-video generator in 2026, since Ditto swaps up to 30 characters, props and backgrounds in a single request and its canvas keeps other edit models alongside it. Runway suits longer single-clip edits, and Luma suits relighting footage while keeping its audio.
What is video-to-video AI?
It's AI that takes an existing video as input and returns a changed one, guided by a text prompt, reference images or another clip. Typical changes include swapping a person, restyling a scene, changing the weather or time of day and moving one performance onto another character.
Can video-to-video AI keep the original audio?
Some do. Luma's Ray3.2 Modify and Melius's Ditto both leave the clip's audio in place, though Ditto lets you mute it. Many tools don't state what happens to the sound, so test a short clip first.
Are there free video-to-video generators?
A few. Adobe Firefly offers daily free generations for its Video to Video feature, Pika's free plan exports without a watermark and Wan has a free tier with watermarked downloads. Wan's open-weight models are free to run yourself with a capable GPU.
Who owns the video I make with these tools?
It varies by tool and plan. Melius says: "You own the content you create on Melius and can use, publish, and distribute it commercially, subject to the underlying model providers' terms. Melius doesn't claim ownership of your work and doesn't use it to train AI models." Read the terms for your exact plan before publishing.