AI Tools · head to head
Cartesia vs Runway

Cartesia
AI Tools
Real-time voice AI platform for speech generation, transcription, and voice agents
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -

Runway
Social Media & Content
AI-powered creative tools for video and images
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cartesia instant and professional voice cloning are gated behind paid Pro and Startup tiers, unavailable on the free plan.; Runway the free tier is 125 one-time credits rather than a monthly allowance, so it runs out and does not refill
- They diverge on capability: Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Runway covers Gen-2 video generation.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cartesia and Runway actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Cartesia
- Sonic text-to-speech
- Ink speech-to-text
- Line voice agent platform
- Instant and professional voice cloning
- Flexible deployment
- Telephony integration
Only in Runway
- Gen-2 video generation
- Green screen
- Inpainting
- Super resolution
- Motion tracking
- Adobe Premiere
- Final Cut Pro
- API access
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cartesia
- Building low-latency voice agents for customer supportnot Runway
- Real-time transcription for conversational applicationsnot Runway
- Voice cloning for branded synthetic voicesnot Runway
- On-device or on-premise voice AI for regulated industriesnot Runway
Runway
- Generating video clips from text or image promptsnot Cartesia
- Extending or editing existing footage with generative modelsnot Cartesia
- Removing objects and backgrounds from videonot Cartesia
- Storyboarding and previsualisation for productionnot Cartesia
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Cartesia
- Instant and professional voice cloning are gated behind paid Pro and Startup tiers, unavailable on the free plan.
- Voice agent calls carry a separate per-minute usage fee ($0.06/minute) on top of subscription credits.
- Enterprise features like SSO and BAAs require a custom sales conversation rather than self-serve upgrade.
- Free tier concurrency limits (2 TTS, 8 STT concurrent requests) may be restrictive for testing production-like load.
Runway
- The free tier is 125 one-time credits rather than a monthly allowance, so it runs out and does not refill
- Outputs carry a watermark until the Standard plan at $12 a month
- Everything is metered in credits, and Gen-4.5 video costs 60 credits per 5 seconds, so a Standard plan covers roughly 125 short videos a year
- Only the Max plan at $76 a month rolls unused credits over, and only for one month
- The free tier gives a selection of models rather than the full set
Pricing, plan by plan
Cartesia
Free- FreeFree
- 20,000 credits/month
- TTS and STT included
- 2 concurrent TTS requests, 8 concurrent STT requests
- Pro$4/month
- 100,000 credits/month
- Commercial use license
- Instant voice cloning
- Startup$39/month
- 1.25M credits/month
- Professional voice cloning
- Organizations support
- Scale$239/month
- 8M credits/month
- Priority support
- High concurrency limits
Runway
Free- FreeFree
- 125 credits
- Basic tools
- 720p exports
- Standard$12/month
- 625 credits/month
- Gen-2 access
- 4K exports
- Pro$28/month
- 2250 credits/month
- All tools
- Priority processing
- Unlimited$76/month
- Unlimited generations
- Custom models
- API access
Which should you pick?
Choose Cartesia if
- You need sonic text-to-speech.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want ink speech-to-text.
Choose Runway if
- You need gen-2 video generation.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want green screen.
Questions people ask
- Is Cartesia or Runway better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cartesia starts at Free and Runway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cartesia or Runway?
- Cartesia starts at Free and Runway at Free.
- Does Cartesia or Runway run on more platforms?
- Cartesia runs on web, api. Runway runs on Web.
- Can I use Cartesia for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Cartesia best used for?
- Cartesia is most often used for building low-latency voice agents for customer support, real-time transcription for conversational applications, voice cloning for branded synthetic voices, on-device or on-premise voice ai for regulated industries. Of those, building low-latency voice agents for customer support and real-time transcription for conversational applications are not what Runway is typically brought in for.
- What can Cartesia do that Runway cannot?
- Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Ink speech-to-text, Line voice agent platform, Instant and professional voice cloning. Runway covers Gen-2 video generation, Green screen, Inpainting, Super resolution.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Cartesia: What does Cartesia cost?
Cartesia offers a free plan, Pro at $4/month, Startup at $39/month, Scale at $239/month, and custom Enterprise pricing, each including a monthly credit allotment, with annual billing saving 20%.
SourceCartesia: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
The Free plan includes 20,000 credits per month, both TTS (Sonic) and STT (Ink), 2 concurrent TTS requests, 8 concurrent STT requests, and 1 voice agent slot.
SourceCartesia: How is usage metered?
Usage draws down a monthly credit allotment, with voice agent calls additionally billed at $0.06/minute and telephony via Cartesia phone numbers at $0.014/minute.
SourceRelated pages
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- Runway vs DALL-E
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- Runway vs Mention
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- Runway vs Metricool
- Runway vs Sked Social
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