Is Hailuo AI free? Only for a trial. Here's the catch

Is Hailuo AI free? Only as a trial. Hailuo AI, MiniMax's video generator at hailuoai.video, has a $0 Free plan, but it comes with 0 monthly credits: you get a one-time pack of trial credits that Hailuo's terms say expires three days after it's granted. Free downloads carry a watermark, and Hailuo's terms spell out commercial-use rights only for content made on a paid plan. Checked 29 October 2026 on Hailuo's and MiniMax's own pages.

Official free ways to use Hailuo

There's one official free route: a free account on hailuoai.video, the site MiniMax itself links to. Here's what Hailuo's own pages say it includes.

• The Free plan. Hailuo's plans page lists Free at "$0.00/month" with "0 credits monthly", "One-time free trial credits" and "Hailuo models only".
• A one-time welcome pack, not a monthly allowance. Hailuo's Terms of Paid Service say new users "will receive a one-time welcome package of free credits. These credits will expire three days after being granted. This offer is limited to one package per user." Hailuo doesn't publish the size of that pack, and sign-up promotions change, so check the amount in your own account.
• Promotions come and go. On 29 October the site's top banner offered 3,000 free credits for downloading MiniMax Design, MiniMax's separate creative app. That's a promotion, not part of the Free plan.

What the free plan can't do

Hailuo's plan comparison table lists 6-second clips at up to 768p for Hailuo 2.3 on Free, and marks Sora 2 and Veo 3.1 as paid-only. The 1080p and 10-second Hailuo settings start at the paid tiers. Free accounts can queue 4 tasks and run 1 at a time.

The bigger catches are the watermark and the licence. Hailuo's Terms of Paid Service say: "Free Users: Video downloads will include a watermark." On ownership, the same terms say "We do not claim ownership over content you generate and download while on a paid subscription plan", including "the right to use it for commercial purposes". They don't say the same for free accounts. Hailuo's general Terms of Service also say you "must not remove, obscure, alter, or disable any watermark" applied to mark content as AI-generated.

So a free Hailuo clip is a short, watermarked trial clip. That's fine for testing prompts. It isn't fine for a client video or an ad.

Paid routes compared

Two legitimate ways to pay for Hailuo: MiniMax's own Hailuo membership, or a platform that licenses MiniMax models alongside others. Prices below are dated and sourced; both vendors change them often.

Hailuo's own plans

From Hailuo's plans page on 29 October 2026, monthly billing. Hailuo shows a crossed-out list price next to a discounted one; we list both. Yearly billing is cheaper per month.

Hailuo's plan FAQ prices Hailuo 2.3 and Hailuo 2.0 at 25 credits for a 6-second 768p clip, 80 credits at 1080p and 50 credits for 10 seconds at 768p. Hailuo 2.3-Fast is cheaper at 15 credits for 6 seconds at 768p. For MiniMax H3, the plans page shows an equivalent per-second rate on each tier. Paid plans also include watermark-free downloads; the same FAQ says "Any videos you can download without watermarks are yours", for commercial use too.

Which Hailuo model is current

MiniMax's blog post of 31 July 2026 launched MiniMax H3 and describes it as the next step "From Hailuo 01 and Hailuo 02 to H3". MiniMax says H3 generates video with native stereo sound, "up to 15 seconds at 2K resolution". On hailuoai.video, H3 now leads, and Hailuo 2.3, 2.3-Fast, 2.0 and 1.0 are still in the model list.

Hailuo inside Higgsfield

Higgsfield is a separate platform that runs MiniMax models next to models from other companies under one credit plan. On 29 October 2026 its video model list included MiniMax H3, MiniMax H3 Max, Minimax Hailuo 2.3, Hailuo 2.3 Fast, Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 02 Fast, alongside Kling, Google Veo and Seedance. Its Generate button priced a 5-second MiniMax H3 clip at 2K at 10 credits during a discount (20 listed), and a 6-second Hailuo 2.3 clip at 768p at 6 credits. Higgsfield credits and Hailuo credits are different currencies, so those numbers don't compare one to one.

Which one is cheaper depends on how you work. If you only ever use Hailuo, MiniMax's own plan is the direct route, and Max is the only tier with unlimited Hailuo 2.0 and 2.3. If you also want Kling, Seedance or Higgsfield's own camera and character tools in the same place, one Higgsfield plan can replace several subscriptions. It isn't automatically the cheaper option per clip. Higgsfield credits explained shows how its credits work, and Seedance on Higgsfield covers the model Higgsfield leads with.

Official site vs look-alike sites

Search "hailuo ai" and the results mix MiniMax's own site with domains that use the Hailuo name. In late October 2026 Bing's top results included hailuo.eu, ai-hailuo.com, hailuolabs.ai and hailuo3.app. None of them is hailuoai.video, so none of them is Hailuo's official site. hailuolabs.ai says so itself: its FAQ calls it an independent studio "not affiliated with MiniMax". We aren't saying what those sites do with your money or data; we're saying they aren't MiniMax.

How to spot the real one:

• Check the domain. MiniMax's own H3 announcement sends readers to hailuoai.video. hailuoai.com is Hailuo's Chinese-language site, and it links to MiniMax's Chinese domain.
• Check who you're paying. Hailuo's Terms of Service for hailuoai.video are with Nanonoble Pte. Ltd. A checkout under a different company name on a "Hailuo" site is a sign you're somewhere else.
• Be wary of "free unlimited Hailuo". Hailuo's own Free plan has 0 monthly credits, and unlimited Hailuo 2.0 and 2.3 generation is a Max-plan feature. A site promising unlimited free Hailuo isn't describing MiniMax's plan.

The short version: Hailuo is free to try with a one-time, three-day pack of trial credits, and real use starts at Standard. Comparing free plans? Is Kling AI free covers Kling's Basic plan, and is Veo 3 free covers Google's free route.