How to Remove the Watermark from Your Runway Videos
If you’re on Runway’s Free plan, every video you generate comes out with a Runway watermark on it. There’s no hidden export toggle that removes it — the watermark is tied to your plan, not your render settings. This guide walks through the one official way to get clean, watermark-free exports, plus what your realistic options are for clips you’ve already made.
Why Your Runway Videos Have a Watermark
Every video generated on Runway’s Free plan carries a Runway watermark. This is intentional and account-level — it isn’t a rendering glitch or a setting you forgot to switch off. Because it’s tied to the plan tier, tweaking the generation options on a Free account will never produce a clean file. Knowing that up front saves you from burning credits hunting for a toggle that doesn’t exist.
Prerequisites
- A Runway account (free to create at runwayml.com)
- At least one video you’ve generated in Runway that currently shows the watermark
- A payment method, if you plan to upgrade to a paid tier
- For the optional editor method: a clip you actually own or have the rights to edit
Step 1: Confirm the Watermark Is Coming from the Free Plan
Before paying for anything, make sure the watermark is a plan artifact and not something else. On the Free plan you get a one-time deposit of 125 credits — they don’t expire, but they don’t refresh once spent, and you can’t buy more without upgrading. Free-tier video generation runs on Gen-4 Turbo (Image to Video), and every one of those outputs is watermarked. If that matches what you’re seeing, your plan tier is the source.
Step 2: Upgrade to Standard or Above
The official, supported way to generate videos without a watermark is to upgrade to the Standard plan or above. Once you’re on a paid tier, new generations export without the Runway watermark, and you also unlock the ability to purchase extra credits — something the Free plan doesn’t allow at all.
Tip: Upgrading is the clean route in more than one sense. You get output without the watermark, and you sidestep the grey area of stripping a mark off footage you may not have the rights to reuse.
Step 3: Re-Generate the Shots You Need Clean
Here’s the part people miss: upgrading changes future generations, not the files already sitting in your library. A clip you exported on the Free plan keeps its watermark baked into the frames. So once you’re on a paid tier, re-generate the shots you actually need using the same prompt or source image. It’s also a good moment to tighten the prompt, since you’re spending credits either way.
Step 4 (Optional): Remove Watermarks from Existing Clips with Inpainting
If re-generating isn’t practical — legacy clips, mixed footage you don’t want to recreate — Runway’s Inpainting tool (inside Video Editor Projects) is built to remove unwanted objects, including watermarks, by brushing over the area and letting the model rebuild the background behind it.
Note: This method isn’t part of Runway’s official Free-plan help article — it comes from Runway’s editor tooling and community guides, so confirm the exact steps in your own account, since the UI shifts over time. It works best on a static watermark over a relatively simple background; busy, fast-moving scenes are harder to reconstruct cleanly.
Free vs Paid at a Glance
| Feature | Free plan | Standard plan or above |
|---|---|---|
| Watermark on videos | Yes — on every generation | Removed on new generations |
| Buy more credits | Not available | Available |
| Included credits | 125 one-time (don’t expire, don’t refresh) | Varies by tier — check Runway pricing |
| Best for | Testing and exploring the models | Watermark-free output and more credits |
Exact paid-tier pricing and credit amounts vary — always confirm on Runway’s current pricing page.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Hunting for an export setting to remove the watermark on Free | There isn’t one — the watermark is tied to the plan tier, so upgrade to Standard or above |
| Assuming old free-plan clips lose the watermark after you upgrade | They don’t — re-generate the shots you need on the paid plan, or edit them |
| Trying to buy credits to unlock clean exports on Free | Credits can’t be purchased on Free, and the watermark is tier-based, not credit-based |
| Using a metadata watermark remover on a visible on-frame mark | Metadata strippers don’t touch a watermark burned into the frames themselves |
| Assuming removing a watermark grants usage rights | It doesn’t — a paid plan is what gives you output you can properly use |
Quick Recap
- Every Free-plan Runway video carries a Runway watermark — it’s plan-based, not a setting
- The only official way to generate watermark-free is to upgrade to Standard or above
- Free plan = 125 one-time credits (no refresh); you can’t buy more until you upgrade
- Upgrading affects new generations — re-generate the clips you need clean
- For existing footage, Runway’s Inpainting can paint out a watermark (verify steps in-app)
- Removing a watermark is not the same as getting the rights to the footage — a paid plan handles both
Quick FAQ
Can I remove the Runway watermark on the Free plan?
No. Every video generated on Runway’s Free plan includes a Runway watermark, and there’s no export setting that removes it. The only official way to generate watermark-free videos is to upgrade to the Standard plan or above.
Will upgrading remove the watermark from videos I already made?
Not retroactively. Upgrading applies to new generations — clips you already exported on the Free plan keep their watermark baked in. To get a clean version, re-generate the shot on your paid plan, or clean up the existing file in an editor such as Runway’s Inpainting tool.
Can I just buy more credits on the Free plan to unlock clean exports?
No. Credits can’t be purchased on the Free plan, and the watermark isn’t tied to credits — it’s tied to the plan tier. You’ll need to move to Standard or above to both buy credits and generate without the watermark.
Do free online watermark removers work on Runway videos?
Some editing tools can visually paint out a static watermark, but metadata-only removers won’t touch a watermark that’s visibly burned into the frames. Just as important, removing the mark doesn’t give you the rights to the footage. Upgrading to a paid Runway plan is the route that gives you clean output you’re actually entitled to use.
