Playground vs Runway: which is better? Comparison 2026
By our public methodology Playground scores 66 out of 100 and Runway scores 63. Below: the factors and facts where they differ, each fact with its source.
Score breakdown
| Playground | Runway | |
|---|---|---|
| Rights & Privacy | 50 | 50 |
| Features | 97 | 67 |
| Price | 70 | 70 |
| User reputation | 83 | 67 |
| Transparency | 0 | 75 |
Pros and cons
Playground
- Highly rated by App Store users
- Very high output resolution
- Free plan available
- Images from a paid plan can be used commercially
Runway
- Free plan available
- Images from a paid plan can be used commercially
- Images from the free plan can be used commercially
- Labels generated images (Content Credentials or a watermark)
Facts side by side
| Fact | Playground | Runway |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial use on a paid plan | Yes playgroundai.com | Yes runway.com |
| Commercial use on the free plan | Yes playgroundai.com | Yes runway.com |
| Max resolution, px on the long side | 3,840 playgroundai.com | Not verified |
| Image editing (inpainting) | Yes playgroundai.com | Yes dev.runwayml.com |
| Developer API | Yes playgroundai.com | Yes dev.runwayml.com |
| Free plan | Yes playgroundai.com | Yes runway.com |
| Cheapest paid plan per month | $15.00 playgroundai.com | $15.00 runway.com |
| App Store rating | 4.9★ itunes.apple.com | 4.5★ itunes.apple.com |
| App Store ratings | 5,980 itunes.apple.com | 18,744 itunes.apple.com |
| AI image labelling (C2PA / watermark) | Not verified | Yes runway.com |
| Publishes model documentation | Not verified | Yes runway.com |
| Company | Not verified | Runway AI, Inc. runway.com |
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