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Both of these generate video from a prompt, and both price it in credits that refill monthly once you pay. The numbers on the two cards are not the same currency, so the comparison that matters is not which count is larger. It is what each system lets you do before you pay, and what it costs to do one more generation after your allowance runs out.
What the table separates
The rows carrying a source are published figures with the page and the day each was read, all read on the same date. The rows marked Editorial call are our judgment, and each states what the judgment is a read of. We have not generated the same prompt through both and scored the output, so nothing here compares quality.
The free tiers are the first real difference
Runway's free plan grants 125 credits once, and its help article says free generations carry a watermark. Pika's free plan grants no monthly credits at all: its own card says 0 credits/month, packs only. That is a $0 account state with no included monthly generation credits, not a free generation allowance, and it is why this page does not call Pika's free plan generous. The free tiers need three rows instead of one.
The second split is on the paid entry. Runway's Standard at $15 refills 625 credits a month. Pika's Starter at $10 refills 900 credits a month. Those are both facts and neither is a comparison, because a credit is a vendor-specific accounting unit: Runway prints 625 credits as 52 seconds of Gen-4.5, and Pika prints 900 credits as about 7 clips from the Seedance 2.5 model at 720p. Saying 900 is more generous than 625 would be comparing units that do not convert.
What top-ups cost, and what happens to them
Runway's help center names credit purchases for paid plans, with a minimum of 1,000 credits, and says purchased credits never expire. Credit purchases are not available to Free plan users. Pika sells packs at a flat 60 credits per dollar, with preset buttons starting at $50 for 3,000 credits and a separate choose-an-amount control, and both its pricing page and its terms say those credits expire 365 days after purchase. Pika explicitly allows top-ups from the Free plan as a one-off purchase that does not start a subscription.
The commercial boundary decides which plan you need
Runway's terms of use say the company does not restrict commercial use of your outputs, and the pricing page repeats that you own full commercial rights. Pika's terms say the service is for personal, noncommercial use except where the plan expressly permits commercial use, and its plan table puts the Commercial license row as Not included on Free and Starter and included from Creator at $35. Commercial permission is separate from a clean frame and separate from credit purchases: Runway gives the permission on its plan-agnostic terms while watermark removal and additional-credit purchases are the paid boundaries, and Pika gates the permission at Creator while no plan carries a watermark.
Both lower plans carry their own caveat. Runway's free output is watermarked, its terms include a training clause, and Free users cannot buy more credits. Pika's free and Starter output is clean and your commercial rights begin a plan higher. Read the Runway review for the struck-through price and the license question, and the Pika review for the credit pack economics. The profiles carry the same figures: Runway and Pika, inside AI video.