What it is
Wan 3.0 is Alibaba's newest video model, which Alibaba opened as a public beta in early August 2026 and made generally available later that month; it is listed on Qwen Cloud as wan3.0-video. It accepts text, image, audio and video inputs and generates clips with sound of up to 30 seconds at 480p, 720p or 1080p, with reference, editing, replication and driving modes.
Despite the Wan family's open-source history, Wan 3.0 is a hosted API model. Alibaba's last open-weights Wan releases were Wan 2.1 and 2.2 under Apache 2.0; versions 2.5 to 2.7 were API-only, and no Wan 3.0 weights, technical report or parameter count have been published.
Our review
Wan 3.0 leads the Artificial Analysis text-to-video board, which scores video with audio, at 1175 Elo, ahead of Utopai X (1167), HeyGen Video (1160) and MiniMax H3 and Seedance 2.5 (both 1158). Its rank range is first to second, so the lead is real but small. On the silent-video board it drops to second, behind HeyGen, which suggests part of the edge comes from its sound.
The price is where it beats the closed rivals clearly. Artificial Analysis lists 1080p at $12 a minute, a third of Seedance 2.5's $34.12, and Qwen Cloud currently shows a 30% discount that brings it to $8.40. MiniMax H3 is cheaper still at $4.80 a minute, but at 768p and with 15-second clips against Wan's 30.
What buyers get in documentation is thin. The Qwen Cloud listing gives inputs, resolutions, prices and rate limits but no architecture, parameter count or technical report, and Kingy AI traced the widely repeated claims of 4K output, Apache-licensed weights and a 60B mixture-of-experts design to sources with no first-party backing. Treat any spec beyond the listing as unconfirmed.
The rate limits are tight for a production pipeline: five concurrent jobs, a 500-task queue and 300 requests a minute on Qwen Cloud. A team rendering hundreds of 30-second clips will feel the concurrency cap long before the per-minute one, and Runway's copy of the model, at the same list price, is the obvious second route.
Where it earns its place
A brand studio delivering 30-second social spots
Generate a full-length spot with sound in one pass instead of stitching 10-second clips
Submit an async job to wan3.0-video at 1080p: 30 seconds costs $6 at list or $4.20 with the current discount. With five concurrent jobs, a batch of 100 spots queues rather than runs in parallel.
A creative-tools developer adding video generation to an editing app
Offer reference-driven video from a user's image, voice clip or footage
Call the DashScope async API with image, audio or video references; the listing exposes reference, editing, replication and driving modes. At 720p, 1,000 ten-second user clips a month cost about $1,000 at list.
A head of content at a mid-size e-commerce brand
Choose between Wan 3.0, Seedance 2.5 and MiniMax H3 for product videos
Wan wins on blind votes and clip length, H3 on price per second, and Seedance costs about three times as much as Wan per minute at 1080p for a similar Elo. Run the same briefs through each before committing, since the top five sit within about 20 points.
Before you commit
- Setup
- Qwen Cloud or Alibaba Cloud Model Studio account; jobs run asynchronously through the DashScope API (X-DashScope-Async: enable). Runway exposes it as wan3 and wan3_prime.
- Integrations
- DashScope async API on Qwen Cloud, Runway API and plans, and Alibaba's wan.video consumer app.
- Data and privacy
- The Qwen Cloud listing publishes no retention or training terms for inputs or outputs; its sample endpoint is in Singapore (ap-southeast-1). No weights are available to self-host.
- Cost at scale
- 1,000 thirty-second 1080p clips a month is 30,000 seconds: $6,000 at list or $4,200 at the current discount; the same volume at 720p is $3,000 list. Runway charges the same list rates, and $0.28 a second at 1080p for wan3_prime.
- Limits
- Up to 30 seconds per clip at 480p, 720p or 1080p; no 4K. Qwen Cloud allows 5 concurrent jobs, a 500-task queue and 300 requests a minute.
What's good
- Top of Artificial Analysis's with-audio video board at 1175 Elo
- Clips up to 30 seconds in one generation
- $12 a minute at 1080p list, a third of Seedance 2.5
- Accepts audio and video as references
What's not
- No open weights, unlike Wan 2.1 and 2.2
- No technical report, parameter count or 4K tier
- Five concurrent jobs on Qwen Cloud
- Second, not first, on the silent-video board
Best for
Creators and developers who want leading video quality and long takes without premium pricing.
Alternatives
Wan 3.0: common questions
- Is Wan 3.0 worth it?
- Wan 3.0 wins the blind votes by a hair and runs to 30 seconds a clip, but Alibaba has kept its weights and its technical details to itself. We rate it 4.5 out of 5.
- How much does Wan 3.0 cost?
- Qwen Cloud: $0.05/second at 480p, $0.10 at 720p, $0.20 at 1080p list ($12 per minute at 1080p), currently shown 30% off. Runway: same rates, or $0.068 to $0.28 for the wan3_prime variant.
- What are the downsides of Wan 3.0?
- No open weights, unlike Wan 2.1 and 2.2; no technical report, parameter count or 4K tier; five concurrent jobs on Qwen Cloud; second, not first, on the silent-video board.
- Who is Wan 3.0 best for?
- Creators and developers who want leading video quality and long takes without premium pricing.
- How much does Wan 3.0 cost for a team or in production?
- 1,000 thirty-second 1080p clips a month is 30,000 seconds: $6,000 at list or $4,200 at the current discount; the same volume at 720p is $3,000 list. Runway charges the same list rates, and $0.28 a second at 1080p for wan3_prime.
- Is Wan 3.0 safe for company data?
- The Qwen Cloud listing publishes no retention or training terms for inputs or outputs; its sample endpoint is in Singapore (ap-southeast-1). No weights are available to self-host.
- What are the best Wan 3.0 alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are Seedance 2.5, MiniMax H3 (Hailuo 3.0), FLUX 3 and Gemini Omni Flash 1.1.
Answers checked Oct 23, 2026.
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