MOVA vs WAN vs Sora 2 vs Seedance: Comparing Video-Audio AI Models in 2026

The AI video generation landscape has evolved beyond silent clips. In 2026, the most advanced models now generate synchronized audio alongside video—eliminating post-production audio work and enabling truly immersive content creation. This comparison examines five leading models: OpenMOSS MOVA, WAN 2.2 Spicy, WAN 2.6 Flash, OpenAI Sora 2, and ByteDance Seedance 1.5 Pro.

Why Audio-Visual Sync Matters

For years, AI video generators produced silent clips that required separate audio production—voiceovers, sound effects, background music. This workflow added time, cost, and complexity. Native audio-visual generation changes the equation entirely:

• Lip-sync accuracy: Characters speak with natural mouth movements
• Environmental audio: Footsteps, ambient sounds, and spatial effects match the scene
• Production efficiency: One generation pass produces finished content
• Creative coherence: Audio and visual elements share the same creative direction

The models in this comparison take different approaches to this challenge—from fully native bimodal synthesis to optional audio post-generation.

Quick Comparison

Model	Developer	Audio	Max Duration	Max Resolution	Open Source	API Available
MOVA	OpenMOSS	Native	8s	720p	Yes	No (self-host)
WAN 2.2 Spicy	WaveSpeedAI	No	8s	720p	No	Yes
WAN 2.6 Flash	Alibaba	Optional	15s	1080p	No	Yes
Sora 2	OpenAI	Yes	12s	1080p	No	Yes
Seedance 1.5 Pro	ByteDance	Optional	12s	720p	No	Yes

MOVA: The Open-Source Pioneer

MOVA represents a significant milestone as the first open-source model capable of native audio-visual generation. Developed by OpenMOSS (Shanghai AI Laboratory), it generates video and audio in a single forward pass using an asymmetric dual-tower architecture with bidirectional cross-attention.

Architecture and Capabilities

MOVA’s design addresses the fundamental challenge of bimodal synchronization:

• Asymmetric Dual-Tower: Separate video and audio generation pipelines with bidirectional attention for cross-modal alignment
• Millisecond-Precision Lip-Sync: Phoneme-aware generation ensures speech movements match audio timing
• Environment-Aware SFX: Generates contextually appropriate sound effects based on visual content
• Multilingual Support: Handles speech generation across multiple languages

Hardware Requirements

Running MOVA locally requires substantial GPU resources:

• Minimum: 12GB VRAM (reduced quality/resolution)
• Recommended: 24GB VRAM for 720p generation
• Optimal: 48GB VRAM for fastest inference

Fine-Tuning Support

MOVA supports LoRA fine-tuning for custom use cases—a capability unavailable in closed-source alternatives. This enables:

• Domain-specific audio-visual alignment
• Custom voice or sound effect training
• Specialized motion patterns for niche applications

Limitations

• Maximum 8 seconds per generation
• 720p resolution cap
• No hosted API (self-deployment required)
• Significant hardware investment for local inference

WAN 2.2 Spicy: Stylized Excellence

WAN 2.2 Spicy, developed by WaveSpeedAI based on Alibaba’s WAN foundation, prioritizes expressive visual aesthetics over audio generation. It excels at stylized content—anime, painterly, and cinematically bold visuals.

Key Strengths

• 720p Resolution: Upgraded from 480p in standard WAN 2.2
• Motion Fluidity: Ultra-smooth transitions without flickering or frame jitter
• Dynamic Lighting: Adaptive lighting and tonal contrast for emotional atmosphere
• Style Versatility: From cinematic realism to anime and painterly aesthetics
• Fine-Grained Motion Control: Captures subtle gestures and camera movements with precision

When to Choose WAN 2.2 Spicy

• Stylized content (anime, illustration, artistic)
• Projects where audio will be added separately
• Budget-conscious production ($0.15-$0.48 per video)
• Fast iteration on visual concepts

API Example

import wavespeed

output = wavespeed.run(
    "wavespeed-ai/wan-2.2-spicy/image-to-video",
    {"prompt": "A woman walking along a golden shore at sunset, camera tracking, expressive motion", "image": "https://example.com/beach-scene.jpg"},
)

print(output["outputs"][0])  # Output URL

WAN 2.6 Flash: Speed and Audio Combined

WAN 2.6 Flash brings native audio-visual generation to Alibaba’s WAN series, optimized for production speed. It supports videos up to 15 seconds—significantly longer than most competitors.

Key Features

• 15-Second Videos: Three times longer than many image-to-video models
• Native Audio Generation: Synchronized audio without post-production
• Multi-Shot Storytelling: Automatic scene splitting with visual consistency
• Prompt Enhancement: Built-in optimizer for better results
• 1080p Resolution: Broadcast-quality output

Pricing

Resolution	Without Audio	With Audio
720p (5s)	$0.125	$0.25
1080p (5s)	$0.1875	$0.375

A 15-second 1080p video with audio costs $1.125.

API Example

import wavespeed

output = wavespeed.run(
    "alibaba/wan-2.6/image-to-video-flash",
    {"prompt": "Camera slowly pushes in while leaves fall gently", "image": "https://example.com/forest.jpg", "duration": 10},
)

print(output["outputs"][0])  # Output URL

Sora 2: Maximum Quality and Physics

OpenAI’s Sora 2 represents the state of the art in physics-aware video generation with synchronized audio. It excels at realistic motion, temporal consistency, and cinematic production quality.

Core Capabilities

• Physics-Aware Motion: Objects interact with realistic weight, momentum, and collision
• Synchronized Audio: Lip-sync, foley sound effects, and ambient audio in one pass
• Temporal Consistency: Characters and objects maintain stable identities across frames
• High-Frequency Detail: Preserved textures without the plastic, over-sharpened look
• Cinematic Camera Literacy: Natural pans, push-ins, dolly movements, and handheld aesthetics

Audio Features

Sora 2 generates comprehensive audio:

• Lip-sync alignment for speaking characters
• Foley-style sound effects matching on-screen actions
• Ambient audio reflecting scene environment
• Beat-aware cuts for musical content

Pricing

Duration	Price
4 seconds	$0.40
8 seconds	$0.80
12 seconds	$1.20

API Example

import wavespeed

output = wavespeed.run(
    "openai/sora-2/text-to-video",
    {"prompt": "A basketball player misses a shot, ball rebounds realistically off the backboard, gymnasium ambient sounds"},
)

print(output["outputs"][0])  # Output URL

Seedance 1.5 Pro: Native Audio-Visual Co-Generation

ByteDance’s Seedance 1.5 Pro was built from the ground up for audio-visual synchronization. It uses an MMDiT-based architecture that enables deep interaction between visual and audio streams.

Standout Features

• Native Audio-Visual Generation: Single inference pass produces synchronized video and audio
• Multi-Speaker Support: Handles multiple characters with distinct voices
• Multilingual Dialects: Preserves language-specific timing, phonemes, and expressions
• Expressive Motion: Greater amplitude, richer tempo variation, and emotional performance
• Automatic Duration Adaptation: Set duration to -1 and the model selects optimal length (4-12s)

Audio Performance

Seedance 1.5 Pro ranks among the top tier for audio generation:

• Highly natural voices with reduced mechanical artifacts
• Realistic spatial audio and reverb
• Strong performance in Chinese and dialect-heavy dialogue
• Precise lip-sync and emotional alignment

Pricing

Duration	Price Range
4 seconds	$0.06 - $0.13
8 seconds	$0.12 - $0.26
12 seconds	$0.18 - $0.52

API Example

import wavespeed

output = wavespeed.run(
    "bytedance/seedance-1.5-pro/text-to-video",
    {"prompt": "A man stands on a mountain ridge and says 'I like challenges' with determined expression, wind sounds, mist atmosphere"},
)

print(output["outputs"][0])  # Output URL

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Audio-Visual Sync Quality

MOVA achieves millisecond-precision lip-sync through its bimodal architecture, with environment-aware sound effect generation. As an open-source model, it enables research into audio-visual alignment that closed models cannot.

Sora 2 delivers the most comprehensive audio package among closed models—dialogue, foley, ambient sound, and music awareness in a single generation. Physics accuracy extends to audio (ball bounces sound appropriate to surface material).

Seedance 1.5 Pro excels at multilingual dialogue and emotional performance. Its multi-speaker support makes it ideal for conversational content.

WAN 2.6 Flash offers optional audio as an add-on, providing flexibility for projects that need it while keeping costs down for those that don’t.

WAN 2.2 Spicy generates silent video, leaving audio for post-production—appropriate for stylized content where custom scoring is preferred.

Video Quality and Duration

Model	Max Duration	Max Resolution	Best For
WAN 2.6 Flash	15s	1080p	Long-form, multi-shot content
Sora 2	12s	1080p	Maximum quality, physics accuracy
Seedance 1.5 Pro	12s	720p	Dialogue-heavy, multilingual
MOVA	8s	720p	Open-source research, customization
WAN 2.2 Spicy	8s	720p	Stylized aesthetics, fast iteration

Cost Comparison

For an 8-second video with audio:

Model	Approximate Cost
Seedance 1.5 Pro	$0.12 - $0.26
WAN 2.6 Flash	$0.40 - $0.60
Sora 2	$0.80
MOVA	Free (self-hosted)
WAN 2.2 Spicy	$0.15 - $0.32 (no audio)

MOVA appears free but requires significant GPU infrastructure ($5-15k for capable hardware, plus electricity and maintenance).

Use Case Recommendations

Choose MOVA if:

• You need open-source with full model access
• Fine-tuning for custom domains is required
• You have GPU infrastructure (24GB+ VRAM)
• Research and experimentation are priorities
• Budget is limited but hardware is available

Choose WAN 2.2 Spicy if:

• Stylized aesthetics matter more than realism
• You’re creating anime, illustration, or artistic content
• Audio will be composed separately
• Budget is a primary concern
• Fast visual iteration is needed

Choose WAN 2.6 Flash if:

• You need longer videos (up to 15 seconds)
• Multi-shot storytelling is important
• Audio is sometimes needed, sometimes not
• Cost efficiency at scale matters
• 1080p resolution is required

Choose Sora 2 if:

• Maximum quality is non-negotiable
• Physics accuracy is critical
• Comprehensive audio is needed (dialogue + SFX + ambient)
• Professional/commercial production is the goal
• Budget allows for premium pricing

Choose Seedance 1.5 Pro if:

• Multilingual content with dialogue is the focus
• Multiple speakers need distinct voices
• Emotional performance and expression matter
• Asian language support is important
• Cost-conscious but audio quality is essential

The Open-Source Advantage

MOVA’s significance extends beyond its technical capabilities. As the first open-source native audio-visual model, it enables:

• Academic Research: Study bimodal generation architectures
• Custom Fine-Tuning: Train for specific use cases
• On-Premise Deployment: Keep sensitive content private
• Ascend NPU Support: Run on Chinese AI accelerators (Huawei Ascend)
• Community Development: Collaborative improvement and extensions

For organizations with GPU infrastructure and specialized requirements, MOVA offers control and customization that hosted APIs cannot match.

Conclusion

The video-audio AI landscape now offers genuine choices across the open/closed and quality/cost spectrums:

• MOVA pioneers open-source bimodal generation for research and customization
• WAN 2.2 Spicy delivers stylized visual excellence for artistic content
• WAN 2.6 Flash balances duration, resolution, and optional audio at competitive prices
• Sora 2 sets the quality ceiling with physics-aware video and comprehensive audio
• Seedance 1.5 Pro leads in multilingual dialogue and emotional performance

For most production workflows, WaveSpeedAI provides unified API access to WAN 2.2 Spicy, WAN 2.6 Flash, Sora 2, and Seedance 1.5 Pro—allowing you to choose the right model for each project without managing multiple integrations.

Ready to start generating?

• WAN 2.2 Spicy Image-to-Video
• WAN 2.6 Flash Image-to-Video
• Sora 2 Text-to-Video
• Seedance 1.5 Pro Text-to-Video

Frequently Asked Questions

Which model produces the best audio-visual sync?

For pure synchronization quality, Sora 2 and Seedance 1.5 Pro lead closed models, while MOVA achieves comparable results in open-source. Sora 2 excels at comprehensive audio (dialogue + effects + ambient), while Seedance 1.5 Pro leads in multilingual dialogue fidelity.

Can I use MOVA without expensive hardware?

MOVA requires minimum 12GB VRAM, with 24GB recommended for 720p output. Cloud GPU rental (RunPod, Vast.ai) offers an alternative to hardware purchase, though per-hour costs accumulate quickly for production use.

Which model is most cost-effective for production?

For high-volume production without audio, WAN 2.2 Spicy offers the lowest per-video cost. With audio, Seedance 1.5 Pro provides the best value for dialogue-heavy content. WAN 2.6 Flash wins for longer videos (10-15s).

Do any models support real-time generation?

None of these models generate video in real-time. Inference times range from seconds to minutes depending on duration, resolution, and hardware. WAN 2.6 Flash is optimized for speed among audio-enabled models.

Can I fine-tune any of these models?

Only MOVA supports user fine-tuning through LoRA adapters. The closed models (WAN, Sora 2, Seedance) do not offer fine-tuning capabilities.

Which model handles text-in-video best?

None of these models reliably generate readable text within videos. If your content requires text overlays, add them in post-production rather than prompting for generated text.