What Is Hailuo AI? The Complete 2026 Guide (Plus How to Use It Step by Step)

August 6, 2026 · Team HeloAITools · 10 min read

If you’ve seen an eerily realistic AI-generated video pop up on your feed lately, there’s a good chance it came from Hailuo AI. It’s one of the fastest-growing AI video generators of 2026, and a huge number of people searching “what is Hailuo AI” still aren’t totally sure what it does, who’s behind it, or how to actually use it without wasting their free credits.

This guide answers all of that in one place: what Hailuo AI is, who owns it, exactly how to use it (text-to-video and image-to-video), how the credit system works, and how to cancel your subscription if it’s not for you.

📌 Quick answer: Hailuo AI is a free-to-start text-to-video and image-to-video generator built by MiniMax. Type a prompt or upload a photo, and it renders a short, realistic video clip in under two minutes.

In this guide:

What Is Hailuo AI?
Who Owns Hailuo AI?
How to Use Hailuo AI (Step-by-Step)
How to Create an AI Video With Hailuo AI
How to Use Hailuo AI Image-to-Video
How Many Credits Does a Video Cost?
How to Get Free Credits
How to Cancel Your Subscription
FAQ

What Is Hailuo AI?

Hailuo AI is an AI-powered text-to-video and image-to-video generator built by MiniMax, a Shanghai-based AI company. In plain terms, you type a description (or upload a photo) and Hailuo turns it into a short, realistic video clip — no filming, no editing software, and no animation skills required.

It launched in 2024 and went viral almost immediately for how physically realistic its motion looked compared to earlier AI video tools — things like fabric movement, liquids, and facial expressions came out noticeably smoother and more lifelike. Since then, MiniMax has kept releasing new versions (Hailuo 02, and the current flagship Hailuo 2.3), each one faster and more accurate than the last.

Today, Hailuo AI is used for:

Short-form social content (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts)
Product demo and ad videos for ecommerce and marketing teams
Concept and storyboard visuals for filmmakers and animators
Meme-style and creative clips for personal use

It’s available on the web, iOS, and Android, and it competes directly with tools like Runway, Kaiber, and other generative video tools — usually winning people over on price and speed rather than raw cinematic polish.

🎬 Try it yourself: See pricing, sample outputs, and full specs on our Hailuo AI tool page →

Who Owns Hailuo AI?

Hailuo AI is owned and developed by MiniMax, a Chinese artificial intelligence company founded in December 2021 by Yan Junjie along with co-founders including Zhou Yucong. Yan previously spent years at SenseTime, a well-known Chinese computer-vision AI company, before starting MiniMax.

MiniMax went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026, raising roughly $618 million and reaching a valuation of around $4 billion, with backing from investors such as Alibaba and Tencent. Beyond Hailuo (video), MiniMax also builds other AI products, including an AI companion app and speech and music generation models. So when you use Hailuo AI, you’re using one product from a much larger, now publicly traded AI company — not a small independent startup.

How to Use Hailuo AI (Step-by-Step)

Getting started with Hailuo AI takes just a few minutes. Here’s the fastest way to create your first video.

Step 1: Create an account

Go to Hailuo AI’s official site and sign up with your email, Google, or Apple account. You’ll land on the dashboard with a prompt box front and center.

Step 2: Choose text-to-video or image-to-video

Text-to-video: Type a written description of the scene you want.
Image-to-video: Upload a photo and let Hailuo animate it (covered in detail below).

Step 3: Write a clear, specific prompt

The more concrete your prompt, the better your result. Instead of “a dog running,” try something like “a golden retriever running across a beach at sunset, camera tracking alongside it, cinematic lighting.” Include subject, action, setting, and camera movement where relevant.

Step 4: Pick your model and settings

Select a model version (for example, the physics-focused 2.3 model for realistic movement, or a faster/cheaper variant if you’re just testing ideas), then choose resolution and clip length if your plan allows it.

Step 5: Generate and review

Hit generate and your clip will render — usually in well under two minutes. Review the result, and if it’s not quite right, tweak your prompt and regenerate rather than starting from scratch.

Step 6: Download or share

Once you’re happy with the clip, download it directly or share it straight to social platforms from the dashboard. Free-tier videos are typically watermarked; paid plans remove the watermark and unlock commercial usage rights.

How to Create an AI Video With Hailuo AI (Full Tutorial)

If your goal is a specific, polished video rather than just experimenting, follow this workflow:

Start with a reference image if consistency matters. Hailuo’s Subject Reference feature lets you upload a photo of a character, product, or object and keep its appearance consistent across multiple generated clips — useful for building a short story or a multi-scene ad.
Use Director Mode for camera control. Instead of leaving camera movement to chance, Hailuo lets you specify pans, zooms, and tracking shots so the output feels intentional rather than random.
Generate in short segments. Rather than trying to get one long, complex clip right on the first try, generate several short segments and stitch them together in a basic video editor — DaVinci Resolve and Wondershare Filmora both work well for this — for a cleaner final result.
Iterate on the prompt, not just the seed. If a generation misses the mark, rewrite the prompt to be more specific about action and camera angle before you try again — this saves credits compared to blindly regenerating.
Export at the highest resolution your plan supports. Paid tiers typically unlock 1080p (and higher-resolution options on top plans), which matters if the video is going anywhere public-facing.

Once you’ve got a finished clip, tools like Klap or Munch can help you repurpose it into multiple short-form cuts for different platforms.

Image credit: hailuoai.video

How to Use Hailuo AI Image-to-Video (2026 Guide)

Image-to-video is one of Hailuo’s most popular features because it lets you bring a still photo to life instead of generating a scene from scratch.

Open the image-to-video tool from the main dashboard.
Upload a clear, high-resolution photo — product shots, portraits, and landscapes all work well.
Add a short prompt describing the motion you want (for example, “slow zoom in, hair moving gently in the wind”).
Optionally set a start and end frame if you want more control over how the motion unfolds.
Generate, review, and download.

This feature is especially useful for ecommerce (turning static product photos into scroll-stopping video ads) and for animating portraits or illustrations without touching traditional animation software. If you’re working from AI-generated stills rather than photos, pairing Hailuo with an AI image editor first can help you get a cleaner source image before animating it.

How Many Credits Does a Video Cost on Hailuo AI?

Hailuo AI runs on a credit-based system: every plan gives you a monthly (or daily, on the free tier) credit allowance, and each video generation deducts credits based on the model, resolution, and length you choose. As a rough guide:

Free tier: A small daily credit allowance, typically enough for a couple of short, lower-resolution, watermarked clips per day.
Paid tiers: Higher monthly credit pools that unlock 1080p output, longer clips, and no watermark — but note that a single higher-resolution clip can use up a meaningful chunk of your monthly credits.

Exact credit costs per video change as MiniMax updates its models and pricing, so before committing to a plan, generate a couple of test videos on the free tier first and check the live credit cost shown next to each model in your dashboard — it’s the most reliable way to estimate how many videos your plan will actually get you. Full plan-by-plan pricing is on our Hailuo AI tool page.

How to Get Free Credits on Hailuo AI

A few reliable ways to stretch your credits without paying:

Claim your daily free-tier credits. The free plan resets a small credit bundle every day rather than all at once — log in daily rather than trying to batch everything into one session.
Watch for new-user bonus credits. Hailuo commonly grants a one-time bonus credit pack to new sign-ups — use these on your most important prompts first.
Check for referral or promotional bonuses. MiniMax periodically runs promotions that add bonus credits for referrals or specific campaigns — these show up in-app or via email, so keep notifications on if you’re trying to maximize free usage.
Use lower-cost model variants for testing. Faster/lighter model versions typically cost fewer credits per generation, so use them to nail down your prompt before spending higher-cost credits on a premium model render.

How to Cancel Your Hailuo AI Subscription

If you decide a paid plan isn’t for you, cancelling is straightforward:

Log in and go to your Account or Subscription/Billing settings.
Find your current plan and select Cancel Subscription (or Manage Plan, depending on the current dashboard layout).
Confirm the cancellation.

A few things worth knowing before you cancel:

Cancellation typically takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle, not immediately — you’ll keep access until then.
Refunds are generally not issued for payments already made, so time your cancellation to land before your next renewal date if you want to avoid being charged again.
If you’re on an annual plan or paid through a third-party app store, double-check that cancelling in Hailuo’s dashboard actually stops billing — some users have reported charges continuing when a subscription was purchased through a different payment method than the one they cancelled from. If that happens, contact your card provider or app store directly to dispute the charge.

Hailuo AI FAQ

What is Hailuo AI used for?

Mainly generating short AI videos from text prompts or images — for social content, ads, product demos, and creative projects.

Is Hailuo AI free to use?

Yes, there’s a free tier with a small daily credit allowance for short, watermarked, lower-resolution clips. Paid plans remove the watermark and unlock higher resolution and longer clips.

Who owns Hailuo AI?

MiniMax, a Shanghai-based AI company founded by Yan Junjie in 2021, which went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026.

Can Hailuo AI generate video from an image?

Yes — upload a photo, add a short motion prompt, and Hailuo animates it into a video clip.

How long does it take to generate a video on Hailuo AI?

Generation is generally fast, often well under two minutes per clip, though times vary with model choice, resolution, and current server load.

Can I cancel Hailuo AI anytime?

Yes, you can cancel at any time from your account settings, but the cancellation applies at the end of your current billing period rather than instantly.