The first model to unify video and native audio generation in a single forward pass. Beats Sora, Seedance 2.0, Runway Gen-4, and more. API launching April 30, 2026.
Estimate Your Video Costs ↓Estimate and compare costs across top AI video generators
Side-by-side comparison of features, quality rankings, and pricing across leading models in 2026
| Model | Quality Rank | Native Audio | Max Resolution | Lip-Sync | Est. Price / 10s | Open Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HappyHorse 1.0 Alibaba |
#1 | ✓ Full | 1080p native | ✓ | ~$0.10 (est.) | ✓ Planned |
| Seedance 2.0 ByteDance |
#2 | ● Limited | 1080p | ✓ | ~$0.15 | ✗ |
| Sora OpenAI |
#3 | ✗ No | 1080p | ✗ | ~$0.20 | ✗ |
| Runway Gen-4 Runway |
#4 | ✗ No | 1080p (upscaled) | ✗ | ~$0.25 | ✗ |
| Kling 3.0 Kuaishou |
#5 | ● Basic | 1080p | ● Basic | ~$0.12 | ✗ |
| Veo 3.1 Google DeepMind |
#3 | ✓ Yes | 1080p | ✓ | ~$0.18 | ✗ |
* Prices are estimated based on publicly available information and beta pricing. Actual pricing may vary at launch.
What makes Alibaba's AI video generator the new industry leader
Industry-first single forward pass that generates both video and synchronized audio simultaneously. No separate audio model or post-processing needed.
Automatic lip synchronization for speaking characters and contextual sound effects. Supports dialogue, ambient sounds, and music generation.
Generate videos with natural speech in 7 languages without translation pipelines. Native pronunciation and intonation in each language.
True 1080p Full HD output generated natively, not upscaled from lower resolution. Sharp details and clean output without artifacts.
Powerful yet efficient architecture with approximately 15 billion parameters across a 40-layer Transformer. Optimized for both quality and speed.
#1 ranked on Artificial Analysis leaderboard for both text-to-video and image-to-video generation. Versatile input support for all workflows.
Model weights and code will be released publicly, following Alibaba's Qwen open-source tradition. Run locally or fine-tune for specific use cases.
Expected to be available through Alibaba Cloud with competitive pricing. API access anticipated around April 30, 2026.
Alibaba is known for aggressive pricing on AI services. HappyHorse 1.0 is expected to undercut Sora and Runway significantly on per-video cost.
Key dates from anonymous debut to public API launch
HappyHorse 1.0 appeared anonymously on the Artificial Analysis video leaderboard, immediately claiming the #1 spot in both text-to-video and image-to-video categories.
Alibaba's Token Hub / ATH AI unit officially confirmed they are behind HappyHorse 1.0. Technical details revealed: ~15B parameters, 40-layer Transformer, unified audio+video generation.
Closed beta with select partners and developers. Performance validation and API design finalization ongoing.
API access expected to go live with competitive pricing. Both text-to-video and image-to-video endpoints anticipated.
Full model weights and inference code to be released publicly. Community can self-host the ~15B parameter model.
Expected improvements in video length, resolution (4K), and additional language support. Integration with Alibaba Cloud's broader AI ecosystem.
Everything you need to know about Alibaba's top AI video model