Written by the people who make AI Canvas, one of the apps on this page
Best AI video generator app: which one to install
An AI video app takes a photo or a written description and gives you back a short video clip. There are many of them on the App Store, and several use the name of a famous AI model without being made by the company behind it. This page lists the apps we know are genuine, who publishes each one, and what to check before you pay. For which AI engine to use for a particular photo, see the main guide.
In one line. If you already have a video and want to add effects to it, CapCut. If you want a particular company's AI, install that company's own app: Kling AI, Runway, Luma or Pika. If you want many of those AIs in one app on an iPhone, AI Canvas, which we make. In every case, read the publisher's name on the store page before you install.
What to check on the App Store page before you subscribe
- 1
The publisher, shown under the app name
Kling AI is published by KLING AI PTE. LTD., Runway by Runway AI, Inc., Luma Dream Machine by Luma AI, Inc., Pika by Mellis, Inc., CapCut by BYTEDANCE PTE. LTD., AI Canvas by Engcraft, LLC. If an app carries one of those names and a different publisher, it is not the company's own app.
- 2
The number of ratings, next to the stars
The apps in the table had between about 1,700 and over a million ratings on 23 September 2026. An app with a well-known name and a few dozen ratings is new, whoever made it.
- 3
The In-App Purchases list
It is further down the store page. Many AI video apps sell a weekly subscription, and a weekly price looks small until you multiply it by 52. Note the weekly, monthly and yearly figures before you tap anything.
- 4
What a subscription means here
A subscription is a repeating charge through your Apple account. Credits are the app's own currency: you buy or receive a number of them and each clip uses some. A watermark is the app's logo printed on your clip. The store page and the app's first screen tell you which of these apply.
- 5
Where the clip goes
After you make a clip, save it to your camera roll straight away. Apps keep clips inside their own library for different lengths of time, and you may not be able to get one back later.
- 6
How to cancel
For subscriptions bought through Apple, cancelling is done in the iPhone Settings app, under your name, then Subscriptions, not inside the video app. Apple's rule is that you keep access until the end of the period you already paid for.
The apps, with their publishers
The publisher, the minimum iPhone software version and the ratings below come from Apple's US App Store search on 23 September 2026. Ratings move every day. The "what it is for" column is our own view.
| App | Publisher | What it is for | Needs | Ratings on that day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kling AI: AI Image&Video Maker | KLING AI PTE. LTD. | Kling's own AI, for turning a photo or a description into a clip | iOS 14 or later | 4.7 from about 31,000 |
| Runway: AI Image & Video | Runway AI, Inc. | Runway's own AI; the company also makes a video editor for computers | iOS 16.4 or later | 4.5 from about 15,500 |
| Luma Dream Machine | Luma AI, Inc. | Luma's own AI | iOS 17 or later | 4.5 from about 1,800 |
| Pika - AI Video | Mellis, Inc. | Pika's own AI, known for effects and transformations | iOS 17 or later | 4.7 from about 4,100 |
| CapCut: Photo & Video Editor | BYTEDANCE PTE. LTD. | A video editor first, with AI effects you can add to footage you already have | iOS 15 or later | 4.6 from over a million |
| invideo AI: AI Video Generator | Invideo Inc | Longer videos built from a written script, aimed at marketing | iOS 16 or later | 4.5 from about 27,700 |
| AI Canvas - AI Image Generator | Engcraft, LLC, which is us | 48 different companies' video AIs available in one app | iOS 17 or later | 4.6 from about 1,700 |
Apps that share a name with a model
The same searches returned other apps. Searching "sora openai" returned SorAI - AI Video Generator, published by DES GRADNJE d.o.o., and the ChatGPT app, published by OpenAI OpCo, LLC; no app named Sora published by OpenAI appeared. Searching "hailuo ai" returned Hailo AI: AI Video Generator (publisher Oleh Iskrenko), HailuoPic (Malik Noman) and Hailuo Ai - Video Generation (STIKLITA VILNIUS, UAB). Searching "pixverse" returned PixVideo AI (FOODYAPP LTD), PixVerse Lite (AIVORA PTE. LTD.) and PixMove (100 YEARS LATER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD).
We have not tested those apps and are not saying anything about how they work. We list the publisher names so that you can see, on the store page, whether the app you are about to install is made by the company whose name it uses.
Which one to install
If you already have a video and want to add AI effects, captions or cuts to it, CapCut is a video editor with those features built in.
If you want one particular company's AI, the simplest thing is that company's own app: Kling AI, Runway, Luma Dream Machine or Pika. Each is published by the company that makes the AI, and that is where its newest version appears first.
If you want to try several companies' AIs without installing several apps, that is what AI Canvas does. We make it, so here is the plain version. It offers 48 video models from different companies, including Sora 2, Veo 3.1, Kling v3 and Seedance 2.5, and you choose one from a list. It is only available on iPhone. It is free to install, with no free clips; you pay through a subscription that gives 500 credits a week, or credit packs from $4.99, and each clip uses between 15 and 500 credits depending on which AI you choose, more if you turn sound on. If you make a great many clips, a flat monthly plan from one of the single-company apps may cost less.
If you want a longer video assembled from a script, with narration, invideo AI is built for that and the single-clip apps are not.
For which AI engine suits which kind of photo, see our other page, bestimagetovideoai.com; this page is only about which app to put on your phone.
What "free" can mean
Every app here is free to install. Beyond that, the free part varies: a number of credits, a daily allowance, a trial period, or nothing at all, and it changes often enough that we do not list it here. The In-App Purchases section of the store page shows what the app sells. The app's first screen usually shows what it gives away.
Two prices we could verify on the companies' own websites on 20 September 2026, for their web plans rather than the iPhone apps: Runway from $12 a month billed yearly, and Pika from $10 a month. In-app prices can differ from web prices.
Keeping what you make
Save each clip to your camera roll as soon as it is finished. The apps keep clips in their own libraries for different lengths of time, and we cannot tell you each one's rule. In AI Canvas, a clip can be saved to the camera roll or shared to Instagram and TikTok from inside the app.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI video generator app for iPhone?
For adding effects to a video you already have, CapCut. For a particular company's AI, that company's own app: Kling AI, Runway, Luma Dream Machine or Pika. For many of those AIs in one iPhone app, AI Canvas, which we make. The publisher name to look for is listed for each in the table.
Is there an official Sora app?
A search of the US App Store for "sora openai" on 23 September 2026 returned no app named Sora published by OpenAI. The ChatGPT app, published by OpenAI OpCo, LLC, was in the results. Before installing anything called Sora, check that the publisher is OpenAI.
Are AI video generator apps free?
They are free to install. What you can make before paying differs by app and changes often, so the store page's In-App Purchases list and the app's first screen are the places to check. Our own app is free to download but has no free clips; a video needs a subscription or a credit pack.
Why do several apps have the same name?
The names of well-known AI models are searched a lot, and an app's name is chosen by its publisher. The way to tell the company's own app from the others is the publisher line under the app name.
Which app has the most AI video tools?
Of the apps on this page, AI Canvas, with 48 video models available in one app. We make it, so weigh that accordingly; the list of models is on its App Store page and website.
AI Canvas
Image to video with 48 models in one picker, including Sora 2, Veo 3.1, Kling v3 and Seedance 2.5, plus frame to frame, extension and 4K upscaling. Export to the camera roll or straight to Instagram and TikTok.
Free to download · subscription or credit packs · iOS 17 or later