We wanted to know the most popular text-to-video tools in the world’s most tech-savvy nations. So, we looked at search volumes for the biggest brand names, across these countries:
- Japan
- The United States
- South Korea
- Germany
- Singapore
- The United Kingdom
- Sweden
- Israel
- China
- Switzerland
The five text-to-video AI tools we checked were:
Using Google’s Keyword Planner, we got the average search volume over the last year of each tool, in each country.
Before ‘Sora’ was a text to video tool, it was (and still very much is) a town in Italy, a student reading app and a character in the Kingdom Hearts game. And ‘Runway’ also means that thing planes land on and that thing models walk down. A ‘Pika’ is also a small mountain-dwelling mammal.
So to make sure that we’re only looking at text to video related search volumes here, we paired each brand name with ‘AI’.
Sora FTW
(even though it’s not widely available yet)
OpenAI’s Sora ranked first in seven out of ten countries – often by a big margin too. The other three times it came in second. Only Germany, Switzerland and Israel are searching for Runway more than Sora.
This is pretty phenomenal given that Sora was only announced on February 15th 2024, which is the last month of our years’ worth of search volume data.
The graph of Sora searches in the UK looks like this:
Our Head of Video Sian Evans says, “The sneak peeks and early projects from Sora it’s clear the potential is huge. It’s set to massively shake up how we think and create – transforming how we approach video production. It’s less about the technical spec and more about the opportunity it offers to drive fresh ideas and transformative storytelling.
“It’ll reshape our creative processes, encourage new, dynamic ways to engage and tell our stories. It could also mean being less constrained by budget and time, too. Less bogged down with process and a chance to work more freely – if you’ve got clients who are willing to take the risk with you! I can see it working really well for core conceptual, abstract content more immediately.
“Alongside the traditional approach, it’s another option to add to the creative bow for clients to tell their story.”
The results by country
Japan
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 5,400 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 2,400 |
| 3 | Pika AI | 590 |
| 4 | Invideo AI | 390 |
| 5 | Synthesia AI | 320 |
United States
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 33,100 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 27,100 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 27,100 |
| 4 | Pika AI | 14,800 |
| 5 | Synthesia AI | 9,900 |
South Korea
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 8,100 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 1,900 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 390 |
| 4 | Pika AI | 320 |
| 5 | Synthesia AI | 170 |
Germany
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Runway AI | 6,600 |
| 2 | Sora AI | 4,400 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 3,600 |
| 4 | Synthesia AI | 1,900 |
| 5 | Pika AI | 1,600 |
Singapore
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 4,400 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 1,000 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 720 |
| 4 | Synthesia AI | 320 |
| 5 | Pika AI | 260 |
United Kingdom
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 6,600 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 5,400 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 5,400 |
| 4 | Synthesia AI | 2,400 |
| 5 | Pika AI | 1,000 |
Sweden
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 1,000 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 720 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 480 |
| 4 | Synthesia AI | 210 |
| 5 | Pika AI | 210 |
Israel
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Runway AI | 1,000 |
| 2 | Sora AI | 590 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 480 |
| 4 | Pika AI | 390 |
| 5 | Synthesia AI | 320 |
China
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sora AI | 720 |
| 2 | Runway AI | 480 |
| 3 | Pika AI | 480 |
| 4 | Invideo AI | 210 |
| 5 | Synthesia AI | 70 |
Switzerland
| Rank | Text-to-video keyword | Average monthly search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Runway AI | 880 |
| 2 | Sora AI | 720 |
| 3 | Invideo AI | 480 |
| 4 | Synthesia AI | 260 |
| 5 | Pika AI | 210 |
Honourable mentions
Our runner up, Runway is still getting thousands of monthly searches. We’ve dabbled with it and think it excels at cinematic human motion and dynamic camera shots. In fact, Sian did a deep dive to see which out of Pika or Runway performs better.
Even the text to video tools that came last in their mini leagues, are still racking up hundreds of searches every month across our tech capitals. That’s a clear sign these AI video tools will be massive, especially as the tech continues to get better.
Are we there yet?
Our video team shared some thoughts on the current AI video landscape.
“AI animation and motion design isn’t quite there yet – at least not in a way we can incorporate into our workflow. But Sora is looking very promising, especially for video creators working with lots of stock footage. This is something that editors are especially excited about as it might completely eliminate expensive stock,” says our Motion Designer Emma Strydom.
Animator Justin Lawrence says, “In terms of AI animations as it stands, it’s more on the conceptual side. The type of work we do is so specific to our clients that AI is not yet ready as a replacement. It is however definitely a tool that can enhance what we do, whether that’s creating voiceovers or helping our language team with script writing.
“Another good example is how AI is being implemented in the apps we use (Illustrator, After Effects and Premiere Pro). The new tools are able to do the tasks like rotoscoping, adding subtitles or removing ‘uhms’ and breathing from audio.”
Got an idea for a brand film or a corporate video? Interested in working with a forward-thinking video team that puts story and emotion at the heart of our creations?
Give us a shout for a chat.
