Haiper AI was one of the most talked-about AI video generators — fast, easy to use, and free to try. Launched in 2023, it let anyone turn a text prompt or image into a short video clip in seconds, no editing skills needed. At its peak it attracted over 4.5 million users worldwide.
But if you’ve tried to visit haiper.ai recently, you’ve found it offline. The consumer app shut down in February 2025, and the service has not returned since.
This guide covers everything you need to know: what Haiper AI was, how it worked, why it shut down, and the best alternatives you can use today to replace it.
What Was Haiper AI?
Haiper AI was a generative AI video platform built by a team of researchers specialising in AI and computer vision, founded by Yishu Miao and Ziyu Wang. It was designed to make video creation accessible to anyone — content creators, teachers, marketers, and social media users — without requiring expensive equipment or video editing expertise.
The platform ran in a browser and required no downloads. Users typed a text prompt or uploaded an image, and Haiper’s models produced a short video clip within seconds. The free tier gave everyone a starting allocation of credits to experiment with, and a paid plan removed watermarks and unlocked higher resolution.
At its core, Haiper’s technology was built on foundation models trained on large visual datasets and physics simulations to produce realistic motion, depth-of-field effects, and scene transitions that felt more natural than many early competitors.
Key Features Haiper AI Offered
Before it shut down, Haiper AI offered a range of video creation and editing capabilities:
|
Feature |
What It Did |
|
Text-to-Video |
Generated short video clips from a natural-language text prompt. |
|
Image-to-Video |
Animated a still image into a moving video with realistic motion. |
|
Video Repainting |
Restyled existing footage in visual themes like Cinematic, Anime, Watercolor, Cyberpunk, Ghibli, and Steampunk. |
|
Video Enhancement |
Upscaled video resolution and improved colour accuracy. |
|
Duration Extension |
Extended an existing video clip by generating additional frames. |
|
Text-to-Image |
Produced four images per prompt that could also be used as video starting frames. |
|
Style Templates |
Pre-built Hot, Meme, and Portrait templates for faster creation. |
How Haiper AI Worked
Haiper AI was designed to be as simple as possible. There were just three steps:
Step 1 — Sign up and get credits. New users received a free credit allocation without needing a credit card. Credits were spent each time you generated a video, with the cost depending on clip length and resolution.
Step 2 — Enter a prompt or upload an image. For text-to-video, you typed a description of what you wanted to see — for example, ‘a golden retriever running through autumn leaves in slow motion.’ For image-to-video, you uploaded a still photo and the AI brought it to life.
Step 3 — Preview, edit, and export. The generated clip appeared within seconds. You could then apply a visual style, extend the duration, upscale the resolution, or download the final video.
The free tier produced watermarked clips at 720p. The paid plan removed watermarks, unlocked 1080p upscaling, and provided priority processing during peak times.
Haiper AI Pricing — What It Was
⚠️ Haiper AI is no longer available to the public. The pricing below is historical information only. You cannot sign up or purchase any plan today.
When Haiper AI was live, it used a credit-based pricing system:
|
Plan |
Monthly Price |
Credits |
Key Features |
|
Free |
$0 |
300 (one-time) |
720p output, watermarked, basic models |
|
Explorer |
$10/mo ($8/mo annual) |
1,500/month |
All video models, higher quality output |
|
Pro |
$24/mo ($20/mo annual) |
5,000/month |
Watermark-free, commercial use rights, priority processing, latest models |
|
Enterprise |
Custom |
Custom |
API access, volume discounts, dedicated support |
Credit costs varied by model and output quality. The Video 1.5 model consumed approximately 5 credits per second, Video 2.x used around 8 credits per second at 720p, and 1080p upscaling added around 10 credits per second.
What Happened to Haiper AI?
Haiper AI shut down its consumer product in February 2025. The closure was sudden — users received no advance warning, no email notification, and no migration path for their content or credits. The website simply went offline.
Here is the confirmed timeline:
2023: Haiper AI launches publicly, raises $32 million in funding, and grows to over 4.5 million users.
February 2025: The consumer web app goes offline without public announcement.
March 2025: Co-founders Yishu Miao and Ziyu Wang, along with lead ML researcher Edward Hayes, join Microsoft AI in senior technical roles.
Mid-2025: Haiper’s core video generation models — including Text2Video 2.0 — are acquired by NetMind.AI, a decentralised AI compute company. The technology is integrated into NetMind’s enterprise B2B infrastructure.
Today: The consumer product remains permanently offline. Haiper’s technology is accessible only through NetMind’s enterprise API and is not available to individual users.
The most likely cause of the shutdown was the financial pressure of running a free AI video platform at scale. High GPU costs, a large base of free-tier users, and better-funded competitors made the economics difficult to sustain with $32 million in total funding.
Haiper AI — What Users Said (When It Was Live)
Based on user reviews and independent testing from when the platform was active:
|
✅ What Users Liked |
❌ Common Complaints |
|
Very fast generation — clips produced in seconds |
Short clip lengths (8 seconds max on free tier) |
|
Realistic motion with good depth-of-field effects |
Occasional visual bugs and inconsistent quality |
|
Simple browser-based interface, no downloads needed |
Limited editing controls compared to professional tools |
|
Wide range of style filters and visual themes |
Output quality varied significantly with complex prompts |
|
Generous free tier for experimenting |
No advance warning given before shutdown |
Best Haiper AI Alternatives You Can Use Today
Since Haiper AI is no longer available, here are the best working alternatives for AI video generation in each category:
1. Runway — Best for Professional Creators
Runway offers the most comprehensive feature set of any AI video tool. It includes text-to-video, image-to-video, motion brush controls, camera presets, background removal, lip sync, and video extension. It targets professional creators and filmmakers who need precise control over their output. Pricing starts at $12/month (Standard) after a free trial.
2. Kling AI — Best for Realistic Motion
Kling AI from Kuaishou is one of the leading text-to-video generators for realistic motion quality. It supports up to 3-minute clips, offers a motion brush for controlling movement, and includes AI voiceover and sound effects. It is particularly strong for cinematic short-form content. Plans start at around $9.99/month.
3. Pika — Best for Stylised and Animated Content
Pika specialises in stylised video generation and is well-suited for social media content, animated visuals, and creative campaigns. It supports text-to-video, image-to-video, video inpainting to remove or replace objects, and lip sync. The interface is clean and beginner-friendly. A free tier is available; paid plans start at $8/month.
4. Sora (OpenAI) — Best for Cinematic Realism
Sora by OpenAI generates highly realistic videos up to 20 seconds long from text prompts and images. It includes Remix and Storyboard tools for editing and extending clips. Sora is available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, making it a natural fit if you already use OpenAI’s ecosystem.
5. HeyGen — Best for Avatar and Presenter Videos
HeyGen focuses on talking-head and avatar videos. It offers 100+ built-in AI avatars, support for 175+ languages, lip sync, and subtitle tools. It is the top choice for explainer videos, online courses, corporate training, and marketing content where a presenter on screen adds credibility.
Quick Comparison Table
|
Tool |
Best For |
Free Tier |
Starting Price |
Clip Length |
|
Runway |
Professional creators |
Yes |
$12/month |
4–16 seconds |
|
Kling AI |
Realistic motion |
Yes |
~$9.99/month |
Up to 3 minutes |
|
Pika |
Stylised, animated content |
Yes |
$8/month |
3–15 seconds |
|
Sora |
Cinematic realism |
No (ChatGPT Plus) |
$20/month |
Up to 20 seconds |
|
HeyGen |
Avatar and presenter videos |
Limited |
$24/month |
Varies |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Haiper AI still available?
No. Haiper AI shut down its consumer product in February 2025 and has not returned. The service is permanently offline for individual users. Its video generation technology was later acquired by NetMind.AI for enterprise B2B use only.
Why did Haiper AI shut down?
Haiper AI never issued a public statement about the closure. Industry analysts point to high GPU infrastructure costs, a large free-user base, and intense competition from better-funded tools as the main factors. The company raised $32 million in funding, which proved insufficient to sustain a free consumer AI video platform at scale.
What is the best Haiper AI alternative?
The best alternative depends on your use case. For professional video creation with full editing controls, Runway is the top pick. For fast realistic motion on a budget, Kling AI is excellent. For stylised and animated content, Pika is ideal. For avatar and presenter videos, HeyGen leads the market.
Can I still use Haiper’s AI video models?
Haiper’s core video models (Text2Video 2.0) were sold to NetMind.AI and are now part of NetMind’s enterprise B2B infrastructure. They are not available to individual users through a public interface. Enterprise customers can contact NetMind.AI directly to enquire about API access.
Was Haiper AI acquired by Microsoft?
Not exactly. Haiper’s co-founders (Yishu Miao and Ziyu Wang) and lead ML researcher joined Microsoft AI as individual hires in March 2025. This was a talent acquisition, not a corporate acquisition of the Haiper company. Separately, Haiper’s video generation models were acquired by NetMind.AI, not Microsoft.
