Rankings · October 2026

The October verdict

11 video prompts × 3 models and 8 image prompts × 2 models. That's 49 outputs, generated with the same settings and scored by our editors using a fixed rubric. Total cost to make them: $18.48.

Video

AI video generators

T-1 (tie)

Kling 3.0

2 prompt wins · $0.52 per 4s clip ($0.13/s) · with audio

T-1 (tie)

Veo 3.1 Fast

5 prompt wins · $0.60 per 4s clip ($0.15/s) · with audio

Runway Gen-4.5

3 prompt wins · $0.48 per 4s clip ($0.12/s) · no audio

⚖️

Tie at the top: Kling 3.0 (7.18) and Veo 3.1 Fast (7.16) are 0.02 points apart, which is within the noise of a single editorial pass. Veo 3.1 Fast won more prompts outright (5 vs 2). Veo 3.1 Fast has the best visual quality, and Kling 3.0 has the fewest artifacts. Runway Gen-4.5 is the cheapest per clip.

Image

AI image generators

Nano Banana 2.1

5 prompt wins · $0.04 per image

Ideogram 4.0

2 prompt wins · $0.07 per image

Category winners

Category	Video winner	Image winner
Prompt adherence	Veo 3.1 Fast(7.4)	Nano Banana 2.1(9.0)
Motion / physics	Kling 3.0(6.8)	n/a
Visual quality	Veo 3.1 Fast(7.8)	Nano Banana 2.1(9.0)
Artifacts (hands/text, higher = cleaner)	Kling 3.0(7.1)	Nano Banana 2.1 = Ideogram 4.0(8.6)
Cheapest	Runway Gen-4.5 ($0.48 / 4s, no audio)	Nano Banana 2.1 ($0.04 / image)