Kling AI is an AI video and image generator at kling.ai that turns a text prompt or a still image into a clip of 3 to 15 seconds, with sound if you want it. The free Basic plan includes no monthly credits and no commercial use. Paid plans start at $6.99 for the first month, then $8.80 for 660 credits, and a 5-second 1080p clip with sound uses 60. Kling 4.0 is announced for October 2026 and was not generally available on 13 October.
Kling AI is an AI video and image generator: you give it a text prompt or a still image and it returns a video clip of 3 to 15 seconds, with generated sound if you switch it on. It runs at kling.ai and in apps for phone and desktop, has a limited free plan, and sells monthly credits from $6.99 for the first month.
Every Kling figure here was read on 13 October 2026 on Kling's own pages: the membership plans, VIDEO 3.0 model guide, release notes, Kling 4.0 release note, Credits Policy, Terms of Paid Service, Community Guidelines and API pricing. Prices are in US dollars at monthly billing and change with promotions and region.
Quick answer
- What it is: a text-to-video and image-to-video generator, with image generation and editing tools beside it.
- Where: kling.ai on the web, plus iOS, Android, macOS and Windows apps. Other domains with Kling in the name are not it.
- Free plan: no monthly credits included, 720p, watermark, one video at a time, no commercial use.
- Paid: $6.99 for the first month, then $8.80 a month for 660 credits. Larger plans cost less per credit.
- Cost of a clip: 5 seconds at 1080p with sound uses 60 credits, about $0.80 on Standard.
- Current models: the Kling 3.0 series. Kling 4.0 is announced for October 2026 and not generally available yet.
What is Kling AI, and which site is the real one?
Kling AI generates video from a description, from a still image, or from a mix of reference images and clips. The same account covers image generation, lip sync, video editing and Motion Control. Its Terms of Service name Kling AI Pte. Ltd., with a Singapore address, as the company you contract with. Wikipedia (read 13 October 2026) describes Kling as created by Kuaishou, the Chinese short-video company, with a first public version in June 2024.
The international site is kling.ai, and its footer links apps for iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. A search for the name also returns sites with Kling in the domain that belong to other companies, and resellers that offer Kling models inside their own subscriptions. Some are legitimate businesses. None of them is your Kling account, and credits bought there do not appear on kling.ai.
Which Kling model should you use?
| Model | What it does | Status on 13 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Kling VIDEO 3.0 | The default. Text or image to video, 3 to 15 seconds, start and end frames, Multi-Shot, optional native audio. | Available |
| Kling 3.0 Omni | Reference-heavy work built on Elements, plus editing of existing clips up to 15 seconds and 4K. | Available |
| Kling 3.0 Turbo | Faster generation at a lower cost per second, released 17 June 2026. | Available |
| Kling 3.0 Motion Control | Transfers movement and facial expression from a reference performance. | Available |
| Kling 4.0 | 3 to 30 seconds, up to 10 keyframe images, up to 15 reference items, 720p to 4K. | Announced 28 September; launch set for October |
| Kling 4.0 Flash | The faster 4.0 variant, built for frequent creation. | Limited early access |
Sources: the VIDEO 3.0 guide, release notes and Kling 4.0 release note. Build on VIDEO 3.0 today. Kling's own 4.0 vs 3.0 comparison says 3.0 "remains useful" for shorter generations and Multi-Shot content, which describes most social clips. Kling has not published a credit price for 4.0, so do not budget for it yet. We track the launch in our Kling 4.0 release guide.
Is Kling AI free?
Partly. The free plan is called Basic, and the comparison table on the membership page shows what it leaves out: no monthly credits included, no 1080p or 4K generation, no video extension, no watermark removal, and no commercial use. Basic makes one video per generation, where members can request up to four.
Credits on Basic come from claiming a free monthly grant at login, in an amount Kling does not publish. The Credits Policy describes daily login credits as something "Kling subscribers can claim", with amounts "subject to platform announcement". So treat the free plan as a way to test prompts at 720p, and plan on Standard before you publish anything. Our free AI video generator comparison sets Kling's free tier beside the others.
How much does Kling AI cost?
| Plan | First month, then monthly | Credits a month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | None included | 1 video per generation, no 1080p or 4K, watermark, not for commercial use |
| Standard | $6.99, then $8.80 | 660 | 1080p and 4K, no watermark, commercial use, 4 videos per generation |
| Pro | $25.99, then $32.56 | 3,000 | Standard benefits plus priority access to new features |
| Premier | $64.99, then $80.96 | 8,000 | Same benefits as Pro with more credits |
| Ultra | $127.99, then $159.99 | 26,000 | Pro benefits plus beta test invites |
Read on the membership page, which also showed yearly billing at 34% off. Credits from a subscription are valid for one month. You can top up at $1 for 66 credits, valid for two years, but the Credits Policy says bought credits do not unlock member features such as 1080p or watermark removal. Fees are non-refundable once a plan is active, and credits are returned only when a generation fails.
What a clip costs in credits
Kling VIDEO 3.0 charges by the second. These are the rates in its model guide:
| Mode | 720p | 1080p |
|---|---|---|
| No native audio | 6 credits a second | 8 credits a second |
| Native audio | 9 credits a second | 12 credits a second |
| Voice tone control, added to native audio | +2 credits a second | +2 credits a second |
The 4K mode costs 30 credits a second, per Kling's credit cost guide. In practice, on the Standard plan at its $8.80 renewal price:
Source: Calculated: $8.80 divided by 660 credits, times the credits per clip. Rates from Kling's VIDEO 3.0 guide and credit cost guide, read 13 October 2026.
Standard's 660 credits cover 22 five-second 720p silent clips, or 11 five-second 1080p clips with sound. Those are attempts, not finished clips: if you keep one in three, divide by three. To price your own mix of lengths and settings, use the free Kling AI credit calculator; every plan is broken down in Kling AI pricing.
How to use Kling AI: image to video, step by step
Image to video is the mode most creators start with, because the still fixes the look and the prompt only has to describe motion.
- 1Prepare the image
JPG, JPEG or PNG, at least 300 pixels on each side and no larger than 10 MB. Compose it 9:16 if the clip is for Reels, TikTok or Shorts.
- 2Sign in at kling.ai and check your credits
The balance sits in the left sidebar. Open video generation and pick VIDEO 3.0, or 3.0 Omni for reference-heavy shots.
- 3Upload it as the Start Frame
The start frame becomes the opening shot. Add an End Frame only if the clip must finish on a set pose.
- 4Bind an Element for a recurring character
Use "Bind Subject to Enhance Consistency" with an Element built from 2 to 4 reference images or a short character video.
- 5Write the motion, then set length, resolution and audio
Say what moves and how. Start at 5 seconds and 720p with audio off while you test.
- 6Generate, review, then raise the settings
Check the face, hands and background. Credits are deducted at generation and returned only if it fails, so move to 1080p once the motion is right.
Image limits come from Kling's image-to-video walkthrough. Kling animates what is in the frame, so a defect in the still, such as an extra finger or a soft eye, carries into the video. Fix it before you spend credits. For a recurring AI character, generate the stills from a trained LoRA first; our LoRA training guide covers that stage, and the AI Influencers program covers the full look-development and motion pipeline.
How to write a Kling prompt
Kling's image-to-video guide gives one formula: subject plus movement, then background plus movement. The image already shows what the subject looks like, so the prompt describes only what happens. Its example is exact: "wear sunglasses" confuses the model, while "Mona Lisa puts on sunglasses with her hand" works.
- One main action per clip. Kling's guide to AI video limitations recommends keeping each shot centered on one main action and using shorter clips for complex scenes.
- Simple words, physical movements. The guide warns that a description far from the image "may cause a camera cut or transition".
- Say what stays still. "Static camera" and "keep her face and outfit unchanged" prevent drift.
- For speech, quote the line and name the language. VIDEO 3.0 speaks Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.
- Change one phrase per retry, so you know what fixed the result.
Three prompts to adapt. Push-in portrait: "She slowly turns her head toward the camera and smiles. A light breeze moves her hair. The camera pushes in slowly." Talking hook, audio on: "She looks up from her phone and says in English: 'Three things I wish I knew before I started.' Static camera." Walk toward camera: "He walks toward the camera along the sidewalk at a relaxed pace. The camera tracks backward in front of him."
- "Make it cinematic and beautiful"
- Describes the look the image already has
- Three actions in one clip
- No word on the camera
- "She lifts the cup and takes a small sip. Steam rises."
- Describes only the motion
- One action, 5 seconds
- "Static camera, shallow depth of field"
Limits and rules to know before you publish
- Length: 3 to 15 seconds per generation on VIDEO 3.0. Multi-Shot places several shots inside that window.
- Commercial use: members only. The Terms of Paid Service allow members "any commercial purpose" except building products that compete with Kling, and require non-members to keep the Kling brand on their output.
- Content: the Community Guidelines prohibit sexually explicit content, any sexualized content involving minors, and content that infringes another person's likeness or privacy. Animate characters you created or have permission to use.
- Disclosure: social platforms set their own rules for realistic AI video. Instagram's are in our Instagram AI label rules guide.
- API: billed separately in prepaid units from $700, at a list price of $0.14 a unit. The pricing page says these packages "currently don't support Kling 4.0".
Kling AI vs Runway and Hailuo
Each row is the vendor's entry paid plan and flagship model, from its own pages on 13 October 2026. The last column is one 5-second clip: plan price divided by plan credits, times the credits the clip uses.
| Tool | Clip length | Resolution | Sound | Entry plan, monthly | 5-second clip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kling VIDEO 3.0 | 3 to 15 seconds | 720p, 1080p, 4K mode | Native audio, optional | $8.80 for 660 credits | $0.80 at 1080p with sound |
| Runway Gen-4.5 | 2 to 10 seconds | 720p, upscaled to 4K | None on Gen-4.5 | $15 for 625 credits | $1.44 at 720p, silent |
| Hailuo, MiniMax H3 | 4 to 15 seconds | 768p or 2K | Native stereo sound | $10.50 for 1,000 credits | $0.63 at 2K with sound |
Kling is the lowest monthly bill and the only one of the three with a native 4K mode. Hailuo is cheaper per clip with sound. Runway costs more per generated clip but bundles other labs' models, Kling 3.0 among them, and stronger editing. The full tables, with sources for every cell, are in Kling vs Runway and Hailuo vs Kling. For the wider field, see image-to-video AI tools compared, and for the tools that make the still in the first place, the AI influencer generator roundup.
Kling AI: FAQ
What is Kling AI?
Kling AI is an AI video and image generator. You give it a text prompt, an image or reference clips, and it returns a short video, with sound if you choose. It runs on the web at kling.ai and in apps for iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. Its terms name Kling AI Pte. Ltd. as the operator, and Wikipedia credits the Chinese company Kuaishou as its creator.
Is Kling AI free?
There is a free Basic plan, but it is limited. The plan table read on 13 October 2026 lists no monthly credits for Basic, one video per generation, no 1080p or 4K, a Kling watermark and no commercial use. Free credits can be claimed at login in an amount Kling does not publish. Daily credits are a subscriber benefit.
How much does Kling AI cost?
On 13 October 2026 the monthly plans were Standard at $6.99 for the first month and then $8.80 for 660 credits, Pro at $25.99 then $32.56 for 3,000, Premier at $64.99 then $80.96 for 8,000 and Ultra at $127.99 then $159.99 for 26,000. Yearly billing was shown at 34% off. A 5-second 1080p clip with sound uses 60 credits.
Which is the real Kling AI website?
The international site is kling.ai, and its footer links the official iOS, Android, macOS and Windows apps. Search results also show sites with Kling in the domain that are run by other companies, and resellers that offer Kling models inside their own products. Create your account and pay only on kling.ai or in the official apps.
What is the latest Kling AI model?
Kling 4.0, announced on 28 September 2026 with launch set for October. On 13 October the release notes still listed it as upcoming, with Kling 4.0 Flash open to a limited group. The models you can use today are Kling VIDEO 3.0, 3.0 Omni, 3.0 Turbo and 3.0 Motion Control.
How long can a Kling AI video be?
Kling VIDEO 3.0 generates 3 to 15 seconds in one pass, at 720p or 1080p, with a 4K mode for members. Kling specifies 3 to 30 seconds for Kling 4.0. For anything longer, generate several shots and join them in an editor, or use Multi-Shot to place several shots inside one 15-second generation.
Can I use Kling AI videos commercially?
On a paid plan, yes. Kling's Terms of Paid Service say members may use output "for any commercial purpose", except to build products that compete with Kling. The plan table marks commercial use as a member benefit, and the same terms require non-members to keep the Kling brand on what they generate.
Free · no card needed
Start with the free Starter Kit.
An AI character bible from AI Influencers, plus four more working files.
Kling is the motion step. The character comes first.
AI Influencers, included in All Access, covers creating the persona, keeping the face consistent, motion pipelines that include Kling, and platform rules. All Access adds the other three programs, live coaching and the private community in one subscription.
Work out your credits before you subscribe
Enter your clip lengths and settings to see which Kling plan covers a month of posting, and follow the free Telegram channel for model and price changes.