Seven AI tools that animate a character you designed and keep it consistent from clip to clip, from Mage and Kling to Vidu, Runway, Hedra, Hailuo and Google Flow, with reference limits, voices and prices.
Mage is the best tool for turning a character into a video. You build a Character once, then call it in clips on its video models, with a reusable voice, and unlimited video starts at $30 a month.
Kling 3.0 is the strongest alternative, with character Elements that carry a look and a voice, lip sync in five languages and multi-shot 15-second clips.
Vidu Q4, launched in preview this week, takes up to 15 reference images per scene, and Runway's Act-Two animates your character with your own acted performance.
Hedra is the pick for talking characters, with lip-synced videos of up to 10 minutes from one image.
OpenAI's Sora, with its Characters feature, has been discontinued: the app closed in April and the API in September 2026.
We ranked each tool on how well it keeps a character's face and look consistent across clips, how many reference images it takes, voice and lip sync, clip length and quality, and what regular use costs.
Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
Mage | Best overall | $10/mo (Basic), unlimited video from $30/mo |
Kling | Character Elements with voices | Standard $6.99 first month |
Vidu | Many references per scene | Paid plans |
Runway | Acting out your character's performance | Free credits, Standard $15/mo |
Hedra | Talking and singing characters | Basic $20/mo |
Hailuo | Multi-reference clips | Standard $14.99/mo |
Google Flow | Google's video models | Google AI plans |
Mage is a browser-based image and video platform where one Character works across both, so the hero you designed in an image can star in a clip.
What works: You build a Character from a reference portrait and call it by its handle in a video prompt. It works on Mage's video models, including the Mage-exclusive Cherry 2 Pro, which takes up to 50 reference images, Lemon (10), MiniMax-H3 (9) and Melon (7). Character Voices attach a voice to the Character so it sounds the same from clip to clip, and models like Lemon, MiniMax-H3 and Plum generate sound. Video is unlimited from the $30 Pro plan, including MiniMax-H3 Turbo clips of up to 15 seconds at 480p, and Character creation is unlimited from Pro too. You can use what you make commercially on every plan, and creations are private by default.
What doesn't: On Lemon, Melon, MiniMax-H3, Berry and Plum, a generation uses either a first or last frame or Characters, not both. Cherry 2 Pro is unlimited only on the $200 Max plan, at 480p and four seconds, and longer or higher-resolution clips cost Gems.
Best for: Creators who want the same character, face and voice across images and a series of clips.
Kling 3.0, released in February 2026, builds characters as reusable Elements that carry both a look and a voice.
What works: An Element can come from two to four images or a 3- to 8-second clip of a character, and Kling extracts the voice too, or you can bind one from audio or its voice library. Kling 3.0 Omni takes up to seven images or Elements per video, or four if you add a video. Lip sync works in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish with several speakers, and one 15-second generation can hold several cuts, each with its own prompt, at 1080p. Paid plans include commercial use.
What doesn't: Pricing has shifted to a discounted first month: Standard is $6.99 the first month, then $8.80, and its 660 monthly credits cover roughly a minute or two of 3.0 Omni video. With a start frame, only three Elements can be bound.
Best for: Character videos with dialogue and multiple shots.
Vidu Q4 from Shengshu, launched as Vidu Q4 Preview on October 7, 2026, builds scenes from up to 15 reference images.
What works: You can combine 15 references for characters, props and settings in one scene, keep a character's voice consistent with a reference voice, and output up to 4K. Its reference-to-video tool is built for keeping multiple characters consistent.
What doesn't: It's brand new, so expect changes. Vidu's consumer plans weren't clearly published at the time of writing, though its API runs from $0.045 a second at 540p to $0.39 at 4K.
Best for: Scenes with several recurring characters and props.
Runway's Act-Two animates a character image or video with a performance you record yourself.
What works: Film yourself acting out a scene and Act-Two transfers your expressions, movement and gestures to your character, for 3 to 30 seconds at 5 credits a second. Gen-4 References keeps a character consistent in still images, which you can then animate with Gen-4.5. Standard costs $15 a month for 625 credits.
What doesn't: Runway's own References is an image tool, so keeping a character consistent on Gen-4.5 takes an extra step, though third-party models on Runway, such as Wan 3.0, take references directly. Credits run out quickly on Gen-4.5, at 60 credits per 5 seconds.
Best for: Animators and filmmakers who want to direct a character's performance by acting it out.
Hedra's Character-3 model turns one image and an audio track into a lip-synced talking or singing video.
What works: It makes talking-character videos up to 10 minutes long from a single image plus audio or text, which suits mascots, AI hosts and explainer characters. It also runs Kling, MiniMax and Wan models for other shots. Basic costs $20 a month, and every paid plan includes commercial use.
What doesn't: Character-3 is built for talking heads rather than action scenes, and full-motion clips use the outside models at their credit rates.
Best for: Talking mascots, AI presenters and music videos.
Hailuo runs MiniMax's H3 model, which takes up to 12 references per generation through its Omni Reference tool.
What works: You can combine images, video and audio references to keep a character consistent, with output up to 2K. Standard costs $14.99 a month, or $8.40 billed yearly.
What doesn't: Higher tiers get expensive, with Master at $119.99 a month. MiniMax-H3 also runs on Mage, unlimited from Pro, though with up to 9 references and 768p rather than Hailuo's 12 and 2K.
Best for: Users who want H3's reference tools directly from its maker.
Flow is Google's filmmaking app, with Gemini Omni Flash and Veo 3.1 for turning reference "ingredients" into video.
What works: Gemini Omni Flash, announced in May 2026, turns references into 4- to 10-second clips and edits existing video. Veo 3.1 can also build an 8-second clip from up to three reference images. Flow comes with Google's AI plans, and AI Ultra now starts at $100 a month, after Google cut its top tier from $250 to $200 in May.
What doesn't: Google's docs disagree on which Veo 3.1 tiers support references, clips are short, and the strongest features sit on expensive tiers.
Best for: Creators already paying for Google's AI plans.
OpenAI discontinued the Sora app and website on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API on September 24, 2026, with no named successor. Its Characters and cameo features went with it. If you made characters in Sora, OpenAI's export page lets you download your content for now, so export it soon, and Mage, Kling or Vidu can rebuild them from your images.
Mage, for most creators. You build a Character once, use it in images and on its video models, attach a consistent voice, and get unlimited video from $30 a month. Kling 3.0 is the strongest alternative for dialogue scenes.
Use a tool with a character feature rather than plain image-to-video. Mage Characters, Kling Elements and Vidu's reference-to-video all carry the same face across clips, while a single start frame only fixes the first moment.
Yes. Hedra's Character-3 lip-syncs a character to any audio for up to 10 minutes, Kling 3.0 lip-syncs in five languages, and Mage's Character Voices keep the same voice across clips.
No. OpenAI shut the Sora app on April 26, 2026, and the API on September 24, 2026.
