Head-to-head comparison
Midjourney Video vs Wan, comparison 2026
Midjourney Video
7.6/10
Midjourney
Image-to-video in the iconic Midjourney style — animate any image up to 21 seconds.
Wan
7.7/10
Alibaba (Tongyi Lab)
Alibaba's open-source video model with native audio — free to run locally under Apache 2.0.
TL;DR, key differences
| Attribute | Midjourney Video | Wan |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $10/mo | free |
| Pro / higher plan | $120/mo | n/a |
| English prompts | yes | yes |
| Native audio | no | yes |
| Image-to-video | yes | yes |
| Max clip length | 21s | 10s |
| Availability | worldwide | worldwide |
| Rating (our tests) | 7.6/10 | 7.7/10 |
Strengths
Midjourney Video, pros
- +Midjourney's distinctive artistic aesthetic, now in motion
- +Animate any image (from your gallery or your own upload)
- +Clips up to 21 seconds via 4x extension
- +Auto and Manual modes (option to edit the prompt before animating)
- +Lowest entry point at $10/mo (if you already use Midjourney for images)
Wan, pros
- +Open-source under Apache 2.0 — free locally with no fees or royalties
- +Native audio (dialogue, lip-sync, ambient sound) in one render
- +Full privacy and control when running locally
- +No generation limits with your own GPU
- +Also available via cloud APIs (fal.ai, DashScope) without your own hardware
Weaknesses
Midjourney Video, cons
- −Image-to-video only — no text-to-video
- −No audio — all clips are silent
- −No free tier — minimum $10/mo to generate anything
- −Video consumes Fast GPU hours (~10x the cost of an image); practically worthwhile from Pro/Mega
- −No precise camera control or lip-sync
Wan, cons
- −Local run requires a powerful GPU (min. 24 GB VRAM) and technical setup
- −Weaker rendering of hands, fingers, and on-image text
- −Audio sync can be imperfect (lips don't always match)
- −Higher barrier to entry for non-technical users than ready-made SaaS
- −Weaker in complex scenes with multiple characters
When to choose which tool
Choose Midjourney Video if
- →Animating artistic Midjourney images
- →Stylised, atmospheric clips for social media
- →Mood boards and visualisations in motion
- →Looping videos and backgrounds in the Midjourney style
- →Short animations for creators already using Midjourney
Choose Wan if
- →Free local video generation for technical users
- →Bulk content without monthly limits
- →Projects requiring full data privacy
- →Experiments and fine-tuning on your own hardware
- →Low-cost rendering via cloud API instead of subscriptions
Verdict
In our tests, Wan (7.7/10) outscores Midjourney Video (7.6/10) in overall quality. On price, Wan wins (from $0/mo). Wan includes native audio in a single render pass; the other option requires a separate audio tool. Choose Midjourney Video if you need: Animating artistic Midjourney images, Stylised, atmospheric clips for social media. Choose Wan if you need: Free local video generation for technical users, Bulk content without monthly limits.