Hailuo AI / 海螺 AI
MiniMax’s consumer AI platform offering conversational AI, industry-leading AI video generation, and music creation capabilities.
Overview
MiniMax’s Hailuo AI has gained international attention primarily through its video generation capabilities, which rival Runway and Sora. The platform also offers a conversational AI assistant and music generation. MiniMax operates one of China’s most technically advanced model labs, with the Hailuo Video model becoming one of the most viral AI video tools globally.
Key Features
- ✓ High-quality AI video generation rivaling Sora and Runway
- ✓ Conversational AI assistant with strong reasoning
- ✓ AI music generation capabilities
- ✓ API access for developer integration
Where it holds
- • Video generation quality among the best globally
- • Free tier includes video generation credits
- • Accessible internationally without VPN
- • Rapid model improvements and feature updates
Where it breaks
- • Video generation queue times can be long during peak hours
- • Conversational AI less capable than focused chatbot competitors
- • Pricing for heavy video usage can add up
My Take
Hailuo’s video generation is the real story here. It produces results that genuinely compete with Runway and Sora, and the fact that you can access it internationally with a free tier is remarkable. For content creators in Africa looking for affordable AI video production, this is a serious option that most people outside China’s tech ecosystem do not yet know about.
Quick Info
- Pricing:
- freemium
- Openness:
- Proprietary
- Starting at:
- Free tier available, paid plans for higher limits
- Added:
- Feb 2026
Use Cases
Judge it on your own work
The notes above say where Hailuo AI / 海螺 AI holds and where it breaks. The fastest check is your own workload.
Visit website ↗Frequently Asked Questions
Can I access Hailuo AI video generation from outside China?
Yes, Hailuo AI’s video generation is accessible internationally through hailuoai.com. You can sign up with an email address without needing a Chinese phone number. The international version provides access to video generation, though some features may differ from the Chinese domestic version.
How does Hailuo video compare to Runway or Sora?
Hailuo’s video generation produces results comparable to Runway Gen-3 and OpenAI’s Sora in many scenarios, with particularly strong performance on character consistency and natural movement. The main advantage is pricing: Hailuo offers a free tier and lower paid pricing than Western competitors.
Alternatives to Hailuo AI / 海螺 AI
Kling AI / 可灵
freemiumKuaishou’s AI video and image generation platform that has gained global recognition for producing high-quality, realistic AI videos from text and image prompts.
Jimeng AI / 即梦AI
freemiumByteDance’s AI image and video generation platform integrated with Jianying (CapCut’s Chinese version), offering creative content generation tools.
Runway
freemiumVideo generation and in-context editing platform built on Gen-4.5 and Aleph 2.0, with a developer API fronting third-party models and a robotics simulation toolkit on top of GWM-1.
Google Veo 3.1
paidGoogle's video model with native synchronized audio, billed per output second through the Gemini API and Vertex AI, with consumer access in Flow and the Gemini app.
Wan 2.2
open-sourceAlibaba Tongyi Lab's open-weight video generation family (通义万相 Wan). Apache 2.0 mixture-of-experts checkpoints you can download and fine-tune, separate from the closed Wan 3.0 API.