Wan 3.0 is Alibaba's newest video model. It entered public beta on August 6, 2026 and was officially rolled out on August 24, 2026. It makes 2- to 30-second clips at up to 1080p with dialogue, music and sound effects. It has no open weights: unlike Wan 2.2 (Apache 2.0), Wan 3.0 runs only on Alibaba's servers, through the Wan app (free daily check-in credits, paid plans from $6.50 a month), the Model Studio API ($0.05 to $0.20 a second at list price) and ComfyUI Partner Nodes. Wan 2.2 users should keep it for local and LoRA work and call Wan 3.0 for shots that need its length or audio.
Checked on October 1, 2026 against Alibaba Cloud's Wan 3.0 announcements, Model Studio guide, API reference and pricing, the Wan app's pricing page, Wan's Hugging Face and GitHub organizations, Comfy's documentation and Reuters.
Wan 3.0 is out, but not as a download. Alibaba opened a public beta on August 6, 2026 and officially rolled the model out on August 24, and as of October 1 there are still no weights, inference code or model license. You can use Wan 3.0 only on Alibaba's servers: in the Wan app, through the Model Studio API, or through ComfyUI's paid Partner Nodes. Wan 2.2, released under Apache 2.0 in July 2025, remains the newest general-purpose Wan model you can run yourself.
Wan 3.0 release date
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| August 6, 2026 | Public beta; testers applied for access on Model Studio and Qwen Cloud | Alibaba Cloud, Reuters |
| August 13, 2026 | Alibaba Cloud announces Wan 3.0 on Model Studio with per-second API prices | Alibaba Cloud blog |
| August 24, 2026 | Official rollout | Reuters |
Sources: Alibaba Cloud's beta announcement and Model Studio launch post, and Reuters. Alibaba's API reference, last updated September 28, still says the model is "currently in preview."
Wan 3.0 AI video: what the model does
From Alibaba's Model Studio guide and API reference:
- Length: 2 to 30 seconds per generation, or a "smart duration" setting that lets the model choose. The API default is 5 seconds.
- Output: 480P, 720P or 1080P MP4 at 30 fps, in 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 or 9:16, or an adaptive ratio that follows your inputs.
- Audio: dialogue, background music and sound effects, on by default. Turning audio off does not change the price.
- Inputs: text; a first frame or first and last frames; or up to 20 references per request, including up to 10 images, 5 video clips and 5 audio clips (videos and audio each 15 seconds in total), plus one document or web page.
- Editing: change elements, lighting or dialogue in an existing clip, or extend it forward or backward.
- Two models: wan3.0-video, and wan3.0-video-prime, which Alibaba calls a "high-speed version with capabilities aligned to the standard version."
Alibaba lists its own weak spots: "audio texture and on-screen text rendering accuracy are improving but not yet where we want them."
Does Wan 3.0 have open weights?
No, and nothing official says it will. The evidence as of October 1, 2026:
- Hugging Face: the Wan-AI organization lists 27 models, all Apache 2.0, and none is Wan 2.5 or later. The newest are the Wan Animate 2 checkpoints and Wan-Dancer-14B.
- GitHub: the Wan-Video organization has six repositories: Wan2.1, Wan2.2, Wan-Animate-2, Wan-Dancer, Wan-skills and a diffusers fork.
- Announcements: Alibaba's Wan 3.0 posts describe Model Studio access and prices, with no mention of weights, a license or a repository.
- Lookalikes: a GitHub repository named AlibabaCloud-Official/Wan3.0 has an Apache 2.0 license file but only a README, with no weights or code, and it sits on a personal account, not the Wan-Video organization.
Wan 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 were also hosted-only, so Wan 2.2 is the last flagship Wan with downloadable weights. Treat any "Wan 3.0 download" or checkpoint as unofficial; there is no Alibaba file to download.
How to use Wan 3.0: app, API and ComfyUI
| Route | Price on October 1, 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wan app (create.wan.video) | Free plan with daily check-in credits. Pro: $6.50 a month for 300 credits (list $10). Premium: $26 a month for 1,200 credits (list $40). Yearly billing: $5 and $20 a month | Paid plans add 1080p, 10- to 30-second clips and watermark-free downloads. The generator priced a default 5-second 720p Wan 3.0 clip at 15 credits |
| Model Studio API (Singapore) | wan3.0-video list price: $0.05, $0.10 or $0.20 a second at 480P, 720P or 1080P, with a limited-time 30% discount. Prime: $0.068, $0.14 or $0.28 | Bills input video plus output seconds. 30-second free quota, valid 90 days |
| ComfyUI Partner Nodes | Comfy credits per second of output | Text, image and reference to video templates; jobs run on Alibaba's servers |
Sources: the Wan app pricing page, Alibaba Cloud's Model Studio pricing and Comfy's Wan 3.0 Partner Node guide. Model Studio regions outside Singapore, including US (Virginia) and Germany (Frankfurt), list lower prices, about $0.083 a second at 720p, but no free quota. Alibaba's own example: a 30-second 1080p clip costs $6.00 at list price and a 30-second 480p draft $1.50. The app subscription covers create.wan.video only; the API is billed separately.
Is Wan 3.0 free?
Only in small amounts:
- Wan app free plan: daily check-in credits and one video at a time, in a generator whose default model is Wan 3.0. 1080p, 10- to 30-second clips and watermark-free downloads are listed only on paid plans.
- Model Studio free quota: 30 seconds of combined input and output video in the Singapore region, valid for 90 days from activation, model release or application approval, whichever is later.
- No free local option: without weights, you cannot run Wan 3.0 on your own GPU. Unlimited free local generation means Wan 2.2.
Sites with "Wan 3.0" in their domain names that sell credits are not Alibaba's official app, which is create.wan.video. Check who runs a site before you pay.
What Wan 2.2 users should do
- Keep Wan 2.2 for local work. Its weights are Apache 2.0, your LoRAs keep working, and there is no per-second bill. Comfy says the 5B model fits in about 8 GB of VRAM with ComfyUI's offloading (Comfy's Wan 2.2 guide).
- Animate characters with Wan Animate 2, released on August 7, 2026 under Apache 2.0. Our Wan 2.2 Animate tutorial covers both Animate versions in ComfyUI.
- Call Wan 3.0 only for shots that need it: single takes up to 30 seconds, 1080p or generated dialogue. With Partner Nodes, a still from your local pipeline can be the first frame in the same ComfyUI graph.
- Expect your LoRAs to stay behind. The Wan 3.0 API has no LoRA input; reference images, up to 10 per request, are how you keep a character consistent. Build those stills with a character LoRA first; see our LoRA training guide.
- Need open weights with audio? MiniMax H3 is one option, with license limits covered in our MiniMax H3 ComfyUI guide. Our best ComfyUI models guide lists the other local video models, including LTX-2.5.
Wan 3.0 vs MiniMax H3
Official specs side by side, as of October 1, 2026:
| Spec | Wan 3.0 | MiniMax H3 |
|---|---|---|
| Released | Beta August 6, 2026; official rollout August 24 | Announced July 31, 2026; weights August 3 |
| Open weights | None | H3-Base on Hugging Face, 768p output |
| License | No model license; Alibaba Cloud and Wan app terms apply | MiniMax H3 Community License, which excludes the US, EU, UK and South Korea |
| Clip length | 2 to 30 seconds | 4 to 15 seconds |
| Resolution | 480P, 720P, 1080P | 768p; 2K through the API |
| Frame rate | 30 fps | 24 fps |
| Audio | Dialogue, music and effects, on by default | 32 kHz stereo, always on |
| References | Up to 20, including 10 images, 5 videos, 5 audio clips and a document or web page | Up to 12 files: 9 images, 3 videos, 3 audio clips |
| API list price | $0.05, $0.10 or $0.20 a second at 480P, 720P or 1080P | $0.08 a second at 768p, $0.13 at 2K |
| Consumer app | Wan app: $6.50 a month for 300 credits (list $10) | Hailuo: $10.50 a month for 1,000 credits (list $14.99) |
| ComfyUI | Paid Partner Nodes only | Native local nodes, plus paid API nodes |
| Your own LoRAs | No | Yes, locally, where the license allows |
Sources: the Alibaba pages above, MiniMax's H3 model card and API pricing, and the Hailuo plans page.
Pick Wan 3.0 for single takes longer than 15 seconds, 1080p delivery or turning a document into video. Pick H3 for 2K output or, outside its excluded regions, local control in ComfyUI with LoRAs. On price, a 10-second clip at list rates costs $1.00 on Wan 3.0 at 720p and $0.80 on H3 at 768p, or $2.00 at 1080p against $1.30 for H3 at 2K, before Alibaba's discount. Both generate audio and accept reference images for character consistency. For how they place on blind-vote leaderboards, see our AI video generator ranking.
How to prompt Wan 3.0
Alibaba's Wan 3.0 prompt guide recommends this formula, skipping any part you do not need:
Prompt = [Overall description] + [Reference material citation: Image N / Video N / Audio N] + [Shot N (start-end seconds): Subject + Scene + Motion + Aesthetic control] + [Dialogue: xx says: "xxxx"] + [Sound effect / BGM] + [Style / Mood] + [Negative prompt list]
References are numbered by type in upload order (Image 1, Video 1, Audio 1); Comfy's nodes use tags such as @Image1. Prompt rewriting is on by default, so turn it off when you need your exact wording. Alibaba also offers a wan3-pe prompt skill for AI chat tools.
Plan the pipeline around the model you can keep
A hosted model's price, terms and availability are set by its provider; your character and workflow are yours to keep. Our AI Influencers course covers that pipeline: character consistency with LoRAs in ComfyUI, motion with Wan 2.2, Kling and Runway, and a module on model licenses, likeness and disclosure.
AI Influencers Academy
ComfyUI look-dev, LoRA training, motion workflows and the licensing and disclosure rules for a consistent AI persona.
Get AI Influencers →Wan 3.0 FAQ
When was Wan 3.0 released?
Alibaba opened a public beta on August 6, 2026, published Model Studio API prices on August 13 and officially rolled Wan 3.0 out on August 24, 2026, according to Reuters. Alibaba Cloud's API reference still called it a preview in late September 2026.
Is Wan 3.0 open source?
No. As of October 1, 2026 Alibaba has published no Wan 3.0 weights, inference code or model license. Its Wan-AI organization on Hugging Face lists 27 models, none of them Wan 2.5 or later, and its Wan-Video GitHub organization has no Wan 3.0 repository.
Is Wan 3.0 free?
Only in small amounts. The Wan app's free plan gives daily check-in credits, and Alibaba Cloud Model Studio gives a 30-second free quota in its Singapore region for 90 days. After that, Wan app plans start at $6.50 a month, or $5 a month billed yearly, and the API at $0.05 a second at list price.
Can I run Wan 3.0 in ComfyUI?
Only through paid Partner Nodes, which send each job to Alibaba's servers and bill Comfy credits. There is no Wan 3.0 model file to load locally. For local generation in ComfyUI, use Wan 2.2 or Wan Animate 2, both Apache 2.0.
Wan 3.0 vs MiniMax H3: which should I use?
Wan 3.0 for single clips longer than 15 seconds, 1080p output or document input. MiniMax H3 for 2K output, stereo audio or local runs with LoRAs, where its license allows. At list API prices, Wan 3.0 costs $0.10 a second at 720p and H3 $0.08 a second at 768p.
Will Alibaba release Wan 3.0 weights?
Alibaba has not said. Its Wan 3.0 announcements do not mention open weights, a license or a repository, and Wan 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 also shipped without weights. The Wan team still releases smaller Apache 2.0 models, most recently Wan Animate 2 in August 2026.