Runway's Unlimited plan ends November 30. Here is what to do before then.

Runway is replacing Unlimited and its relaxed Explore Mode with a credit-capped Max plan at the same $95 a month. What you lose, what each Runway plan buys now, and when switching to Pro or another video tool makes sense.

If you pay for Runway's Unlimited plan, you have until November 30. Runway confirmed in its help center that Unlimited is being replaced by a new top tier called Max. The change was first announced for September 1, then pushed back: Runway is "extending Unlimited access for eligible legacy Unlimited subscriptions through November 30th, 2026." New customers have not been able to buy Unlimited since June.

The price stays the same. What goes away is the feature that made the plan worth it for heavy users.

What you lose

Unlimited cost $95 a month and came with 2,250 credits plus Explore Mode: unlimited generations at a relaxed, queued speed. That relaxed queue was the point. Creators could draft dozens of variations of a shot without watching a credit counter. Max has no Explore Mode. Runway's stated reason is speed:

"Its relaxed speeds often led to queuing. In order to offer the fastest possible generation times for all our plans, we're moving to a clearer credit-based structure." - Runway

Runway's plans now

Plan	Monthly	Billed yearly	Credits per month	About this much Gen-4.5 video
Free	$0	-	125 (one-time)	10 seconds
Standard	$15	$12/mo	625	52 seconds
Pro	$35	$28/mo	2,250	187 seconds
Max	$95	$76/mo	9,500	791 seconds

Source: Runway's pricing page. Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second; cheaper models such as Gen-4 Turbo stretch credits further. Max adds one month of credit rollover, 20 parallel generations and early access to new models.

One detail stands out: Pro now includes the same 2,250 credits that Unlimited had, for $60 a month less. If you never used Explore Mode much, you have been overpaying.

Nov 30 last day of Runway's legacy Unlimited plan

What to do before November 30

Check how you actually used Unlimited. If most of your output came from paid credits rather than Explore Mode drafts, downgrade to Pro and keep the same credits for $35.
If you lived in Explore Mode, do the math on Max. 9,500 credits is roughly 13 minutes of Gen-4.5 video a month. Heavy drafters will burn through that quickly, and top-ups start at 1,000 credits.
Monthly subscribers: you move to Max automatically at the same $95 unless you cancel or change plans.
Annual subscribers: Runway will ask you in November to choose between a refund for your remaining months and moving to Max with a credit bonus. Runway has not said how big the bonus is, so wait for the offer before deciding.

Where else to generate video

No major competitor offers an uncapped relaxed queue either, so the comparison is credits per dollar on the model you need. Current entry and mid tiers from the official pricing pages:

Tool	Plans
Pika	Starter $10/mo (900 credits), Creator $35/mo (3,150), Fancy from $95/mo; no free monthly credits
Luma Dream Machine	Plus $30/mo (10,000 credits), Pro $90/mo (40,000), Ultra $300/mo; about 20% off yearly
Google Flow (Gemini plans)	AI Pro $19.99/mo with 1,000 Flow credits; AI Ultra from $99.99/mo with 10,000

Credits are not comparable across tools, since each prices its models differently, so run the same three test prompts on a free or cheapest tier before moving a workflow. Runway itself now offers third-party models such as Kling 3.0 inside its plans, which may cover what you would otherwise leave for.

If your videos are presenter-led (training, explainers, sales messages) rather than generated scenes, a different category fits better. Avatar tools such as HeyGen (Creator $29/month) and Synthesia (Starter $29/month) are built for that job; our HeyGen vs Synthesia comparison covers the differences. For generative video, see Pika vs Runway and our best AI video tools ranking.