WAN 2.1 vs. Kling AI vs. Hailuo Minimax: Best AI Video Generator Comparison

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational and comparative purposes only. The opinions expressed here are based on the author’s independent testing and research. As AI technology evolves rapidly, features and pricing models for the tools mentioned (WAN 2.1, Kling AI, and Hailuo Minimax) are subject to change. Please refer to each platform's official website for the most current information.

Is WAN 2.1 the Best AI Video Generator? A Head-to-Head Comparison with Kling AI and Hailuo Minimax

The world of AI-generated video is evolving at an incredible pace, and one of the most exciting recent developments is the release of the WAN 2.1 model by Alibaba. It's quickly turning heads with its stunning image-to-video capabilities. But how does it really stack up against the competition? To find out, we put WAN 2.1 through its paces against two of the most advanced AI video generators available: Kling AI and Hailuo Minimax.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what makes each of these tools unique. We’ll compare their ability to capture nuanced human emotions, respond to camera movements, and create high-quality animations. By the end, you'll have a clear idea of which one might be the best fit for your needs—and we'll even break down the costs.

Capturing Human Emotions

One of the biggest challenges for AI is animating believable human emotions. It’s a vital skill for any storytelling tool, so we tested each model to see how well it could handle complex facial expressions.

Kling AI

For a while now, Kling AI has been a leader in this space. When we gave it a prompt asking for a subtle smile, raised eyebrows, and widened eyes, it handled the request with impressive precision. It accurately captured these expressions, even for more complex emotions. However, we did notice that it sometimes animated characters talking or moving their mouths even when the prompt didn't ask for it.

WAN 2.1

When we ran WAN 2.1 on an open-source platform, we found that its animations were sometimes a little choppy due to a lower frame rate. This is an easy fix with external tools, but it's worth noting. While the results were impressive, WAN 2.1 wasn’t always as precise as Kling AI. For example, it struggled to fully animate expressions like widened eyes or raised eyebrows. On the plus side, we found that WAN 2.1 avoids the issue of unwanted mouth movements that we sometimes saw with Kling AI.

Hailuo Minimax

Hailuo Minimax tends to be overly expressive with its characters, which can sometimes look a bit exaggerated. We found that it often made characters look like they were talking too much. While it did a good job with some specific expressions, like a clenched jaw, its tendency to over-animate can make the emotions feel less natural.

Handling Full-Body Movement and Camera Control

We also tested how well each AI generator handled full-body animations and camera movements—two crucial elements for creating dynamic scenes.

Full-Body Animation

For this test, we prompted each AI to animate a character picking up a bouquet of flowers and spinning while dancing.

 • Kling AI was the most dynamic, with the character spinning multiple times.

 • Hailuo Minimax was more static and less fluid in its movement.

 • WAN 2.1 was impressive with its natural motion patterns, though it sometimes created new elements, like flowers, that appeared suddenly instead of being picked up smoothly.

Camera Motion

Camera control is key for a polished look.

 • Kling AI provides excellent control, allowing for complex zooms, pans, and rotations.

 • WAN 2.1 struggled here. It often failed to respond accurately to prompts for panning and zooming.

 • Hailuo Minimax recently introduced a “Director Mode” for more precise control. However, we found that the sharpness of the video sometimes suffered when using this feature.

Creative Animation and Character Consistency

To see how creative each model could be, we prompted it to animate a hand writing the word “PROMPT” on a wall.

 • Kling AI created random scribbles instead of recognizable letters.

 • Hailuo Minimax correctly displayed the word, but it had an unnatural LED sign effect.

 • WAN 2.1 was the most successful, forming recognizable letters, even if they weren't always spelled correctly.

We also tested how well each platform handled adding new characters to a scene while maintaining a consistent visual style. Both Kling AI and WAN 2.1 preserved the style effectively, while Hailuo Minimax struggled, often making the new characters look out of place.

A Look at the Cost

Here’s a breakdown of the costs for each platform, based on a 5-second video:

 • WAN 2.1: It's open-source and free if you have an 8GB VRAM setup. If you use a paid service, like Fal.ai, it costs around $0.40 per video.

 • Hailuo Minimax: This service offers an unlimited plan, but its cheaper plans range from $0.23 to $0.33 per video.

 • Kling AI: There is no unlimited plan, and the cost is around $0.33 per video.

Final Verdict: Who Comes Out on Top?

For now, Kling AI remains the top choice for precise emotion rendering and camera motion. However, WAN 2.1 is a strong competitor, offering impressive quality and the benefit of being open-source. With improvements to its camera controls, it could soon rival Kling AI. Hailuo Minimax is great for creative direction, but it needs to improve its balance between expressiveness and motion accuracy.

As AI video generation continues to evolve, we can expect these tools to get even better. What do you think? Which one would you choose for your next project?