Wan 3.0 Explained: Features, Specs, Open Weights and Price
Wan 3.0 is the newest model in Alibaba’s Wan family of AI video generators. It became generally available on Alibaba Cloud in August 2026. The headline change is length: one generation can now run up to 30 seconds, with native dialogue, music and sound effects, at up to 1080p. Wan 3.0 isn’t open weights. You can use it only through an API or hosted apps. This guide covers what it does, the specs, Wan 3.0 Prime, pricing, current promos and where it fits for filmmakers.
Quick answer: what is Wan 3.0?
- What it is: Alibaba’s all-in-one video model for text-to-video, image-to-video, reference-based video, video editing and extension.
- Key specs: 2 to 30 seconds per generation, 480p to 1080p, 30 fps, audio on by default and up to 20 reference files per request.
- Open weights? No. Alibaba hasn’t released Wan 3.0 weights, so you can’t download and run it yourself.
- Price: from $0.05 per second at 480p up to $0.20 per second at 1080p on Alibaba Cloud, before promos.
- On CinemaDrop? Coming soon to CinemaDrop.
What is Wan 3.0?
Alibaba introduced Wan 3.0 on its Model Studio platform in August 2026 (Alibaba Cloud blog, Aug 13, 2026) and announced general availability on its international channels later that month, with a time-limited launch offer (Alibaba Cloud blog, Aug 27, 2026).
Alibaba describes it as an “all-in-one” model. A single model name covers text-to-video, image-to-video with a first frame or first and last frames, generation from reference images, video and audio, video editing and extension. It picks the task from the inputs you send and what your prompt asks for.
Wan 3.0 specs at a glance
From Alibaba’s Model Studio guide, last updated October 11, 2026 (Wan3.0 video generation guide):
| Spec | Wan 3.0 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 2–30 s, or smart duration (defaults to 5 s). With a video input, input plus output can’t exceed 30 s |
| Resolution | 480p, 720p, 1080p (default) |
| Format | MP4 at 30 fps |
| Aspect ratios | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16, plus 21:9 for text-to-video |
| Audio | Native dialogue, background music and sound effects, on by default |
| References | Up to 10 images, 5 videos and 5 audio clips (20 in total), plus one document or one web page |
| Document inputs | docx, doc, xlsx, xls, pptx, ppt, pdf, txt, md |
| Frame control | First frame, or first and last frame |
| Multi-shot prompts | Storyboard-style prompts with timestamps, about 4–6 seconds per shot |
| Output links | Expire after 24 hours |
Wan 3.0 vs Wan 3.0 Prime
Wan 3.0 Prime is what Alibaba calls the “accelerated version” of Wan 3.0, with “significantly faster generation speed while maintaining high-quality output.” Alibaba doesn’t publish a speed figure. Prime takes the same kinds of input, outputs 480p to 1080p and runs up to 30 seconds (Model Studio, wan3.0-video-prime).
The catch is price. Prime costs about 27% more per second than standard Wan 3.0 in most regions. Choose standard for the lowest cost per clip, and Prime when turnaround matters more than price.
Is Wan 3.0 open source?
No. As of October 20, 2026, Alibaba’s official Wan-AI page on Hugging Face lists no Wan 3.0 files, and its Wan-Video GitHub organization has no Wan 3.0 repository. There is an AlibabaCloud-Official/Wan3.0 repository on GitHub, but it contains only a README and an Apache 2.0 licence file, with no model weights or inference code. A licence file doesn’t make weights downloadable when there aren’t any.
If you want a model you can run on your own GPU, see our guide to open-source AI video generators.
Be careful with sites offering a “Wan 3.0 download.” Several unofficial Wan 3.0 sites rank highly in search. They aren’t Alibaba, and there’s no official file to download.
Wan 3.0 pricing
Alibaba’s list prices per generated second, as shown on October 20, 2026. Prices exclude promos, and Prime varies by region:
| Resolution | Wan 3.0 | Wan 3.0 Prime (US, Tokyo, Frankfurt) | Wan 3.0 Prime (Singapore) | 10 s clip, Wan 3.0 | 30 s clip, Wan 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 480p | $0.05 | $0.0636 | $0.068 | $0.50 | $1.50 |
| 720p | $0.10 | $0.1272 | $0.14 | $1.00 | $3.00 |
| 1080p | $0.20 | $0.2544 | $0.28 | $2.00 | $6.00 |
Standard rates are from Alibaba’s launch and general-availability posts. Prime rates are from the Model Studio Prime page. A sensible pattern is to draft at 480p, at $1.50 per 30-second take, and render only the keepers at 1080p.
Where to use Wan 3.0, and current promos
- Alibaba Cloud Model Studio API (models wan3.0-video and wan3.0-video-prime). Fine-tuning isn’t supported.
- Hosted on third-party platforms, including fal, Replicate, Runway, Higgsfield, Picsart and Krea.
Promos change fast, so here they are with dates:
- Higgsfield: its October 13 changelog announced a free week of Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime for Pro-and-up subscribers and 60% off the API until October 31, 2026. On October 20, its API page listed Wan 3.0 from $0.020 per second (normally $0.050) and Prime from $0.027 per second (normally $0.068). That offer ended October 31, 2026 (Higgsfield changelog).
- Runway: its pricing page showed Wan 3.0 and 3.0 Prime as unlimited in Tool Mode until October 18. That offer has ended.
What it means for filmmakers
Thirty seconds in one pass, with timestamped multi-shot prompts, means you can generate a whole short scene rather than stitching single shots. You can even pass in a treatment or pitch deck as a document. The more a single generation does, though, the more the plan matters. Shot order, characters and camera angles still need deciding before you prompt.
You can build that habit on CinemaDrop today. Break the scene into shots in the free AI storyboard creator, keep characters consistent with Elements, then turn storyboard frames into video with Seedance 2.5 on Plus and up or Kling 4.0 on Basic and up. Wan 3.0 is coming soon to CinemaDrop. Compare the options on our text-to-video generator page and check CinemaDrop pricing.
How to prompt Wan 3.0 like a shot plan
A 30-second, multi-shot generation is closer to directing a short scene than asking for a single clip, so write the prompt the way you’d brief a crew.
- Lock the cast and location first. Name each character with the same short description every time (“Mara, 30s, red raincoat”) and set the place once, so the model has a fixed reference to keep consistent.
- Break the time into beats. Give each beat its own line with its time range, shot size and one main action, for example “0–8 s: wide shot, Mara steps off the night bus.” One action per beat is easier for the model to follow than three.
- Describe what the camera sees, not feelings. “She grips the strap and glances back” works better than “she feels uneasy.”
- Keep camera moves simple. One move per beat (a slow push-in, a pan) is more reliable than stacking several.
- Write the sound you want. Because audio is generated with the picture, say what we should hear in each beat: rain on the shelter roof, a bus pulling away, a line of dialogue in quotes.
- Review, then fix one thing at a time. If a beat fails, change only that line and regenerate, so you can tell what made the difference.
Cast: Mara, 30s, red raincoat. Location: a rain-soaked bus shelter at night.
0–6 s: wide shot, Mara steps off the night bus. Sound: rain on the shelter roof.
6–11 s: medium shot, she grips her bag strap and glances back. Slow push-in.
11–16 s: close-up of her face under the shelter light. Sound: the bus pulling away.
16–21 s: [shot size], [one action]. [one camera move]. Sound: [what we hear].
21–26 s: [shot size], [one action]. Sound: [what we hear].
26–30 s: close-up, Mara says "[one line of dialogue]".
Until Wan 3.0 arrives on CinemaDrop, the same habits work with Seedance 2.5 and Kling 4.0, which also run up to 30 seconds there: plan the beats as storyboard shots first. For more patterns, see our AI video prompts guide.
Limits and open questions
- Alibaba’s own caveat: “audio texture and on-screen text rendering accuracy are improving but not yet where we want them.”
- No weights and no fine-tuning, so you depend on Alibaba or a host’s API.
- Quality claims are mostly Alibaba’s own. In a preliminary snapshot of the Artificial Analysis image-to-video arena published by fal, Wan 3.0 scored 1,127 Elo, roughly 12 to 14 points behind the leading group (1,139–1,141). That puts it near the top tier, not at #1.
- Output links expire after 24 hours, so save your files.
FAQ
What is Wan 3?
Wan 3 (Wan 3.0) is Alibaba’s third-generation Wan video model. It makes up to 30-second clips with sound from text, images, video, audio, documents or web pages, and it can edit and extend video.
How much does Wan 3.0 cost?
On Alibaba Cloud, $0.05, $0.10 or $0.20 per second at 480p, 720p or 1080p. Wan 3.0 Prime costs more. Hosts like Higgsfield run their own discounts.
Will Wan 3.0 be open source?
Nothing official says so. The only official Wan 3.0 GitHub repository holds a README and a licence file, with no weights.
Can you run Wan 3.0 locally?
No. No Wan 3.0 weights have been released, so it runs only through Alibaba’s API and hosted apps.
Is Wan 3.0 good?
On paper it’s a big step up: 30-second clips, native audio and 20 references. In the preliminary arena snapshot it sits just behind the leaders, and Alibaba admits audio texture and on-screen text still need work.
The bottom line
Wan 3.0 makes clips of up to 30 seconds with sound, takes documents and web pages as references, and can edit and extend video, at clear per-second prices. It isn’t open weights, and it’s coming soon to CinemaDrop. If you want to plan and generate scenes in one place today, start with a storyboard and Seedance 2.5 or Kling 4.0 on CinemaDrop. See also our Kling 4.0 guide for another new model.
