# Clueso vs Runway API

> Runway scores 60.8 (C) to Clueso's 36 (F) for video edit. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.
- Updated: 2026-10-19

Runway API scores 60.8 (C) on agent readiness against Clueso's 36 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Clueso leads on payments & pricing. Both do video edit.

- Clueso: grade F, 36/100, rank #1095 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clueso-video.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clueso-video.json
- Runway API: grade C, 60.8/100, rank #548 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/runway.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/runway.json
- Best video generation for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/video-generation/index.md
- All 131 video comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/video-generation/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Clueso (F)

Good for: Clueso creates editable videos and supporting articles from agent instructions.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Runway API loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Large schema inventory in the historical Anchor check

### Runway API (C)

Good for: Agents that want one key for Runway's own editing models (Aleph 2.0, Act-Two) and a menu of third-party models with one billing system.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 15
- Schema & documentation, 93 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 50
- Security & auth, 51 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 62 against 15
- Transparency & trust, 53 against 45

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.0 against 2.8 out of 5

Watch for: Gen-3 Alpha Turbo and Gen-4 Aleph were removed on 2026-07-30 with no prior notice in the changelog


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Clueso | Runway API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 75 | Runway API +60 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 93 | Runway API +33 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 50 | 75 | Runway API +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 35 | 51 | Runway API +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | Clueso +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 15 | 62 | Runway API +47 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 53 | Runway API +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **36 · F** | **60.8 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clueso | Runway API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | Model API |
| Vendor | Desklamp, Inc. | Runway |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://connect.clueso.io/mcp` | `https://api.dev.runwayml.com/v1` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service; see governing terms and the access limitations below. | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.clueso/video` | not listed |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-08 | 2026-09-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-08 | 2026-05-11 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 13 stars | 20 stars, 56k npm/wk, 67k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 4/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Clueso.** Editable projects and articles through official MCP. Large schema inventory in the historical Anchor check.

**Runway API.** OpenAPI 3.1, llms.txt and Markdown copies of every docs page. Gen-3 Alpha Turbo and Gen-4 Aleph were removed on 2026-07-30 with no prior notice in the changelog.

## Before you call either

### Clueso

1. Keep the existing clueso-video identity when configuring or linking the connector.
2. Generate narration before timing visual elements.
3. Duplicate a project before destructive edits and confirm export costs.

### Runway API

1. Send `X-Runway-Version: 2024-11-06` on every request or it fails
2. Use the SDK's wait-for-output helper or poll GET /v1/tasks/{id} until SUCCEEDED or FAILED
3. Don't retry a SAFETY.* failure unchanged. It's moderation, not an outage
4. Take model IDs from the models page, not memory. Two were removed without notice on 2026-07-30
5. Copy outputs to your own storage. URLs expire within 24 to 48 hours

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Clueso or Runway API?

Runway API scores 60.8 (C) on agent readiness against Clueso's 36 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Clueso leads on payments & pricing.

### Do Clueso and Runway API need an API key?

Clueso uses an OAuth sign-in. Runway API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Clueso and Runway API without installing anything?

Yes. Clueso has a hosted endpoint at https://connect.clueso.io/mcp and Runway API at https://api.dev.runwayml.com/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-runway.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "clueso-video", "b": "runway"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clueso-video runway`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clueso-video.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/runway.json

## Other comparisons with Clueso or Runway API

- [Alibaba Wan (Model Studio) vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alibaba-wan-vs-runway.md)
- [fal video models vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-video-vs-runway.md)
- [Google Veo vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-veo-vs-runway.md)
- [Higgsfield API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/higgsfield-vs-runway.md)
- [HyperFrames vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperframes-vs-runway.md)
- [Kling AI API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kling-vs-runway.md)
- [Luma AI API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/luma-vs-runway.md)
- [MiniMax Video API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-video-vs-runway.md)
- [OpenAI Sora API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-sora-vs-runway.md)
- [Pika API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pika-vs-runway.md)
- [PixVerse API vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pixverse-vs-runway.md)
- [Popcraft MCP vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/popcraft-mcp-vs-runway.md)
- [Replicate video models vs Runway API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/replicate-video-vs-runway.md)
- [Runway API vs Seedance on BytePlus ModelArk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/runway-vs-seedance-on-byteplus-modelark.md)
- [Runway API vs Vidu API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/runway-vs-vidu.md)
- [Alibaba Wan (Model Studio) vs Clueso](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alibaba-wan-vs-clueso-video.md)
- [Clueso vs fal video models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-fal-video.md)
- [Clueso vs Higgsfield API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-higgsfield.md)
- [Clueso vs Kling AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-kling.md)
- [Clueso vs Luma AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-luma.md)
- [Clueso vs MiniMax Video API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-minimax-video.md)
- [Clueso vs Pika API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-pika.md)
- [Clueso vs PixVerse API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-pixverse.md)
- [Clueso vs Replicate video models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-replicate-video.md)
- [Clueso vs Seedance on BytePlus ModelArk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clueso-video-vs-seedance-on-byteplus-modelark.md)

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