I Tried Bing’s Free AI Video Generator, and It’s No Match for the Paid Options
Free AI video generators have a long way to go.
AI video generation is a rapidly developing field, with the likes of Google's Veo and OpenAI’s Sora constantly out-doing each other. We are approaching the time when it might be difficult to discern some AI generated video content from reality. But all those gains are limited to the top-tier paid services. To get access to Google’s flagship Veo 3 model (which can now generate dialogue), you need to fork over $250 a month. Until now, no one has really tried to make free AI video generation a thing, given just how resource intensive it is. But now, Microsoft's stepping up to the plate.
Of all things, the Bing app is integrating a free video creator, that while limited, generates short videos for free using OpenAI’s Sora model. But is it worth your time? And how does it compare to Gemini’s Veo 2, which requires Google’s $20/month AI Pro subscription?
How Bing's free AI videos work
Microsoft is rolling out its Video Creator feature first on the Bing iPhone and Android apps, with web and desktop versions to follow soon. It’s completely free to use, but is quite limited.
The feature is built on OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video platform that’s still in public beta, and is normally part of the $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscription. In Sora, you are able to edit and adjust videos after creation, but there’s no such option in Bing Video Creator.
Bing Video Creator also limits you to 5 second videos at 480p resolution, and only in a portrait 9:16 aspect ratio (landscape aspect ratios are coming soon).
Because the platform is free, it revolves around Fast Generation credits. When you first start using Video Creator, you’re handed 10 such credits, which you can spend to generate videos in just a couple of seconds. After you run out, you’ll have to wait a couple of hours for each video you generate (the app will send you a notification when a video is ready). Unfortunately, there’s no direct way to buy more credits, but you can redeem 100 Microsoft Rewards Points for future quick generations.
How to generate free short AI videos using Bing Video Creator
To get started with Bing Video Creator, first download the Bing app on your smartphone, then tap the Menu button from the right edge of the toolbar. Here, choose the Video Creator feature.
You’ll see a text box where you can enter your prompt, alongside a Settings icon for changing your aspect ratio, the duration of the video, and generation speed. Microsoft will flesh out those first two options in the future, but for now, you can set your generation speed to Standard to avoid spending a fast generation credit. When you're ready, click create to start generating your video.
Once it’s done, your video will be saved in a gallery, and you'll have 90 days to share or download it.
How does Bing’s free AI video generator compare to the paid options?
As I mentioned above, completely free AI video tools are mostly unheard of, or are supremely limited. Canva offers 5 video generations for free, but then requires an upgrade to Canva Pro. Runway does have a free plan that offers 125 credits, but in my testing, I found that I couldn’t use it to generate videos—only images.
I generated three videos using Bing’s free video generator and was happy with the output of one of them. My prompt of a bride in a wedding dress resulted in a video of a bride twirling her body in front of a mirror, but not her head. Eerie.
Next, I asked it to generate a video of someone removing a carrot cake from an oven (not at all related to my sugar fast), and it just couldn’t nail the motion of the person moving a physical object with their hand.
It did well in one task though: a video of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, with people in the background.
Canva’s output was equally jarring. There's a nice moment with a camera flash, but the hands are like putty, and the facial expressions are really far off.
Google’s Veo 2 did much better. It showed a bride smiling away in her new white dress. The view was too cropped in for my liking, but at least there’s no dislocated elbows or necks.
As it stands, the video quality of paid AI video generators is still quite a bit better, and free options are akin to the early days of DALL-E, where AI couldn’t really nail down fingers and hands.
If you want to generate a short video to share on your company’s page, or just as a gag, sure, go ahead, try it out. For anything else, it might be best to try Google's Veo, which is currently the best AI video generator out there, at least based on the testing conducted by my colleague, David Nield.
