Layer
Concept art & 2D assets · Free tier + paid- Commercial use
- Commercial use allowed
- Free plan
- Free planStart for free (scope unverified)
- Ship free-plan output?
- Yes
- Engines
- Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Layer vs Runway
Facts from each vendor's published pages, checked . Compare different tools →
Our ranking
In Concept art & 2D assets, Layer ranks #4 and Runway ranks #8. No independent quality tests found. Ranked on game-dev fit: commercial use allowed; no engine integration stated; API and official MCP server. Mostly runs other companies' image models, so their leaderboard results don't count for it.
Runway
Trailers & marketing · Free tier + paid- Commercial use
- Commercial use allowed
- Free plan
- Free trial or credits only125 one-time credits
- Ship free-plan output?
- Yes (free option is a trial or credits)
- Engines
- Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Bottom line for game devs
- Commercial use: both commercial use allowed (Layer terms; Runway terms).
- Free plan: Layer: free plan (Start for free (scope unverified)) pricing. Runway: free trial or credits only (125 one-time credits) pricing.
- Shipping free-plan output in a paid game: both allow it, per their published terms.
- API and MCP: both: public API, official MCP server.
- Engine integrations stated by the vendor: both: none stated (standard file export).
Best for
Style-consistent game art and marketing creatives
Trailer and teaser video shots
What it does
Generative content platform aimed at game studios: style-trained models, concept art, marketing creatives and asset variations with team workflows.
AI video, image and audio generation (Runway Gen-4.5 plus third-party models), usable for trailer shots, teasers and marketing material.
Verdict
For studios that want style-trained generation with no per-seat fees; the pricing page lists a commercial licence for all users.
For generating trailer and teaser shots; the terms don't restrict commercial use of outputs, but Runway may train on your inputs and outputs.
Tasks●
Concept art & 2D assets, Textures & materials, Trailers & marketing
Trailers & marketing, Concept art & 2D assets
Engines
Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Free plan●
Free plan Start for free (scope unverified)
Free trial or credits only 125 one-time credits
Pricing
Start for free. Subscriptions begin at US$10/month for 300 Creative Units, increasing by US$60 per 1,000 CUs; US$0 per seat. source
Free $0 (125 one-time credits). Standard US$12/month, Pro US$28/month and Max US$76/month, billed annually (US$15, US$35 and US$95 billed monthly). Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits per second of video. source
Export formats
Not stated by vendor
Not stated by vendor
Commercial use
Commercial use allowed
Pricing page lists "Commercial license for all users". Free-tier scope: unverified. source
Pricing page lists "Commercial license for all users". Free-tier scope: unverified. source
Commercial use allowed
Terms of Use 4.4: Runway does not claim ownership of Inputs or Outputs and does not restrict your commercial use of Outputs. Inputs and Outputs may be used to train its models. source
Terms of Use 4.4: Runway does not claim ownership of Inputs or Outputs and does not restrict your commercial use of Outputs. Inputs and Outputs may be used to train its models. source
Revenue share / caps
Not stated by vendor
Not stated by vendor
MCP server
Official MCP server. Hosted MCP server source
Official MCP server. Runway Dev MCP server (OAuth) source
Last checked
Rows marked ● differ between the two tools. Licence badges: green = commercial use allowed (including any free plan or trial), amber = paid plans only, restricted, or allowed but with no free plan, red = not allowed, grey = not stated by vendor or not applicable. Read the vendor's current terms before you ship.