Hailuo
“The Chinese AI that excels at short video” — a cameraperson who turns out short shots fast
What is Hailuo?
Hailuo is a video generation service from China’s MiniMax. It quickly turns text or a single photo into a clip a few seconds long, and its plans are priced in published credits.
- 1Turn a single photo into a few-second clip
- 2Plans and credits are published in the official terms
- 3The operating entity is a Singapore-registered company
What sets it apart
These are the differences we found by running the same material through several tools in our training sessions.
Start with one photo, get finished shots
Upload a product or background photo, describe the motion, and you get a video a few seconds long. You can test scenes without any filming equipment or actors, which suits a workflow of producing several drafts and picking the best one.
Pricing is listed in the official terms
The official subscription terms list plans and credits side by side, from Standard at $14.99/month (1,000 credits/month) to Max at $199.99/month (20,000 credits/month). It’s one of the video tools whose pricing you can verify in writing, so budgeting is easier.
The operating entity is disclosed in its documents
The official privacy policy names the operator as Nanonoble Pte. Ltd., registered in Singapore, and even lists its address. The same document also says that, in principle, personal data is not transferred outside Singapore, which gives you a source to cite when preparing an internal review.
⚖️ The weaknesses are clear, too
The official terms state that payments, once made, are non-refundable. Because it runs on credits, costs add up quickly if you generate freely, and there is no way to undo them. Use a lower tier for a month before upgrading. It is not yet suited to making long videos or continuous storylines.
💡 In plain EnglishIt’s less a production house shooting a finished ad than an on-site cameraperson who brings back the short clips you need, when you need them.
A few seconds of video for a product page or internal announcement is too small a job to outsource and too much hassle to shoot yourself. Once you see how well these tools now fill that gap, a PR manager’s day looks different.
Same job, different approach
You need product video clips for your online store’s product detail pages
The old way
- Book a studio and ship the product
- Receive the footage and pick the usable shots
- Schedule another round whenever revisions come up
- Changing a single shot takes a week
With Hailuo
- Upload one product photo and describe the motion
- Generate several drafts at low resolution and pick the best
- Re-render only the chosen shots at high resolution
- Add subtitles and music in an editing tool
Common uses
Product shots for detail pages
Pull short motion shots from product photos. Don’t use staging that misrepresents the product’s actual performance.
Internal announcements and event inserts
Create background clips to place between announcement videos. Never use a person’s face without their consent.
Create drafts at the planning stage
Generate several scene options before the shoot to get stakeholders on the same page. The final cut still comes from a real shoot.
Who it’s for
Best for
- ✓Online store managers who often need short clips for product pages and social media
- ✓Planners who want to test scenes before shooting
- ✓PR managers with a steady stream of small video jobs too minor to outsource
Better served by other tools
- –Work that needs a continuous story several minutes long
- –Videos that must feature a real person’s face
- –Organizations that need a fixed monthly cost
Can we use it at work?
The questions that adoption leads and security teams ask first.
Note: The official privacy policy states that the operating entity is Singapore-registered Nanonoble Pte. Ltd. and that, in principle, personal data is not transferred outside Singapore, but it does not specify which country’s servers actually store the data. The parent company is Chinese. A legal review is needed before internal adoption.
10-minute quick start
- 1
Sign up at hailuoai.video and explore the interface.
- 2
Pick one photo you hold the rights to and upload it (avoid photos of people).
- 3
Describe the motion in one sentence and render at low resolution first.
- 4
Re-render only the usable drafts at high resolution.
Copy-and-paste prompts
Replace only the [bracketed] parts, then paste it in.
Show the [product] in the uploaded photo from a slow orbiting point of view. Keep the background as is and let only the lighting flow softly. Don’t add any text or marks. Length: 6 seconds.
Early morning light streaming in through an office window. No people; only dust drifting in the light above a desk. The camera moves very slowly to the right. Length: 6 seconds.
Show the same place as in the uploaded photo in [season]. Keep the composition and building shapes as they are, and change only the light, colors, and weather. Do not add any people. Length: 6 seconds.
Make three versions of the same scene, changing only the mood: ① calm and bright ② dark and weighty ③ fast and upbeat. Use a different camera movement for each. All 6 seconds.
In the uploaded photo, never change the shape or color of [the part with the product or logo]. Apply motion only to the background and lighting. Do not generate any text on screen, and do not generate any human faces.
Using it with other tools
Linking two or three tools changes your work more than any single tool does.
One product detail-page video (half a day)
Event promo bundle (one day)
Before you start
- The official terms state that payments already made are non-refundable. Start with a lower tier.
- Run drafts at low resolution and render only the ones you pick at high resolution. Credits run down quickly.
- Never upload photos of people’s faces without their consent. Image-rights claims are the most common problem.
- Don’t use footage in ads that misrepresents how the product actually performs. It can create labeling and advertising compliance problems.
Pricing: personal use and work use
Plans that individuals pay for are different from plans that organizations contract for by member.
For individual use
1,000 credits/month
4,500 credits/month
10,000 credits/month
12,000 credits/month
20,000 credits/month · keep generating in relaxed mode after credits run out
Using it at work
3,760 video points
9,920 video points
18,900 video points
26,780 video points
Checked 21 Sep 2026 · These are the US dollar amounts shown in Hailuo’s official subscription terms and MiniMax’s official developer documentation. Credit use varies by resolution, length, and model, so the number of videos you can make differs even on the same plan. Prices change without notice — confirm on the official pages before you pay. Hailuo official subscription terms ↗ · Hailuo official privacy policy ↗ · MiniMax official video package pricing ↗
Where Hailuo falls short
We don’t just list the positives. Here is what fell short when we used it.
- Six seconds is too short
One shot may look great, but telling a story means generating several and stitching them together. Color and mood differ subtly between adjacent shots, so you end up spending more time in editing.
- The same scene comes out different every time
Even with an identical prompt, the product’s shape or the number of fingers shifts slightly each time. By the time you’ve re-run it enough to get one usable clip, your credits are gone.
- Payments cannot be reversed
Even if you try it for a month and decide it is not for you, you cannot get back what you have already paid. You hesitate at every tier upgrade, and end up switching it on only in the months you need it.
Tools to compare
KlingVersatile, with a wide feature set→
SeedanceImpressive performance→
RunwaySpecialist in image-to-video→
CapCutExceptionally easy to use→
LumaBest for transforming objects and spaces→FAQ
Last updated 22 Sep 2026 · The ratings on this page come from John Kim, CEO of Nanum Consulting, who has used these tools firsthand in training and real work.
Building Hailuo into your team’s skills
Send us a message and we’ll reply within 24 hours. We’ll propose a curriculum tailored to your industry and job roles.
Courses covering this fieldAI Video Production