WAN 2.1 vs. Kling AI vs. Hailuo Minimax: Best AI Video Generator Comparison
Is WAN 2.1 the Best AI Video Generator? Comparing It to Kling AI and Hailuo Minimax!
Artificial Intelligence in video generation has seen massive updates recently, and one of the most exciting developments is the release of the WAN 2.1 model from Alibaba. This AI model is producing some of the most impressive image-to-video generations seen so far. To determine how it stacks up against the competition, we are comparing WAN 2.1 with Kling AI and Hailuo Minimax, two of the most advanced AI video generators available today.
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This article takes a deep dive into the differences between these AI video tools, analyzing their ability to generate human emotions, respond to camera motions, and produce high-quality animations. By the end, we’ll also break down the pricing to see which platform offers the best value for users.
Human Emotions
Respond to Camera Motions
Testing Human Emotions in AI Video Generation
One of the most crucial aspects of AI video is how well it can animate human emotions, which play a vital role in storytelling.
Kling AI
Prompt: Her eyes widen with a subtle smile, eyebrows gently raised—she radiates happiness and contentment, yet a hint of shyness lingers. One corner of her mouth lifts slightly, her eyes narrowing with suspicion as she tilts her head ever so slightly.
Kling AI has been one of the leading platforms for a while. When prompted for specific facial features like wide eyes and a subtle smile, the AI correctly captured these expressions. It animated the eyebrows raising and eyes widening with precision.
Prompt: he is suddenly suprised, his eyes widen, raised eyebrows, open mouth, slight head tilt. He covers his mouth with his hand.
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WAN 2.1
Running WAN 2.1 on an open-source platform (Try WAN 2.1 on Fal.ai Model Open-Source Platform) provided slightly lower frame rates (16 FPS), making the animations appear a bit choppy. However, this was easily fixed by increasing the frame rate using tools like Flow Frames. Wan-2.1 is a image-to-video model that generates high-quality videos with high visual quality and motion diversity from images. When comparing WAN 2.1 to Kling AI, the results were impressive but not always as precise. For example, when asked to widen the eyes and raise the eyebrows, WAN 2.1 struggled to fully animate these expressions.
One of the positives of WAN 2.1 is that it avoids the issue of unwanted mouth movements, which sometimes occurs in Kling AI-generated videos.
Example of WAN 2.1 Working Better than Kling AI
In the Prompt: Tightened lips, narrowed eyes, furrowed eyebrows, he clenches his jaw as he looks up
In the WAN 2.1 Video generation, you clearly see him clenches his his eyebrows while in kling AI is eyebrows stay flat and are much less expressive.
Hailuo Minimax
Hailuo Minimax tends to overly animate characters, making them appear to talk too much. The emotions can sometimes be exaggerated, but it does well with certain expressions, like a clenched jaw for a suspicious look.
Example of Video showing emotion too expressive in Hailuo Minimax
Prompt: He is suddenly surprised, his eyes widen, raised eyebrows, open mouth, slight head tilt. He covers his mouth with his hand
Prompt: Tightened lips, narrowed eyes, furrowed eyebrows, he clenches his jaw as he looks up
Testing Full-Body Movements
Next, we tested how well each AI video generator handled full-body animations. For this, we prompted the AI to animate a character picking up a bouquet of flowers and spinning while dancing.
- Kling AI added more dynamic motion, spinning the character multiple times.
- Hailuo Minimax was more static, with less fluid movement.
- WAN 2.1 impressed with natural motion patterns, though new elements like flowers sometimes appeared suddenly rather than being naturally picked up.
Camera Motion and AI Control
Camera motion is a critical aspect of AI-generated films.
- Kling AI provides great control, allowing for complex motions like zooming, panning, and rotating around a subject.
- WAN 2.1 struggles with camera motion, often failing to respond accurately to panning and zooming prompts.
- Hailuo Minimax recently introduced a “Director Mode,” allowing precise control over camera movement. However, the sharpness of the details sometimes suffers.
Creativity in Animation
To test the creativity of each AI model, we prompted them to animate a hand writing the word “PROMPT” on a wall.
- Kling AI produced random scribbles rather than actual letters.
- Hailuo Minimax correctly displayed the word but with an unnatural LED sign effect.
- WAN 2.1 managed to form recognizable letters, though they weren’t always spelled correctly.
We also tested how well each platform handled introducing multiple new characters into a scene.
- Kling AI and WAN 2.1 preserved the visual style effectively.
- Hailuo Minimax struggled, often making added characters look out of place.
Cost Comparison
Here’s how much each AI model costs to use:
- WAN 2.1 – Open-source and free to run with an 8GB VRAM setup. Using a paid website like File.a costs about $0.40 for a 5-second video.
- Hailuo Minimax – Offers an unlimited plan but with cheaper plans costing $0.23 to $0.33 per 5-second video.
- Kling AI – No unlimited plan and costs around $0.33 per 5-second video.
Conclusion: Which AI Video Generator is Best?
Right now, Kling AI is still the best AI video generator for precise emotion rendering and camera motion. However, WAN 2.1 is emerging as a strong competitor, offering impressive quality and open-source accessibility. With improvements in camera controls, it could soon rival Kling AI. Hailuo Minimax is great for creative direction but needs improvement in balancing expressiveness and motion accuracy.
As AI video generation technology evolves, these tools will only get better. Stay tuned for updates, and let us know which AI video generator you think is best!
