Kling 4.0: What's Confirmed, What Isn't, and When You Can Use It
Kuaishou opened a closed beta for Kling 4.0 on September 28, 2026, and said the full model goes public "in October." No day. The only version anyone outside the company has touched is Kling 4.0 Flash, a lighter 720p variant that went to a small group of top-tier subscribers the same evening.
So as of October 1 you can read the Kling 4.0 spec sheet, but almost nobody can run it. This post separates what Kuaishou has actually published from what's still marketing, lines Kling 4.0 up against the two 30-second models you can already use, and tracks where the API stands. We'll update it the day the full model ships.
There's no independent benchmark for Kling 4.0 yet, and no public price. Every spec below comes from Kuaishou's own release material, and where a feature is listed as "coming soon," I've said so.
Kling 4.0 at a Glance
| Detail | Kling 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Announced | September 28, 2026 (closed beta opened the same day) |
| Public launch | "October 2026," no exact date |
| Early access | Kling 4.0 Flash only, limited to Kling's top annual tier |
| Clip length | 3 to 30 seconds in one generation |
| Resolution | 720p, 1080p, 4K |
| Color | 10-bit HDR at 1080p and 4K (listed as coming soon) |
| Keyframes | Up to 10 |
| References | Up to 15 assets: 10 images, 7 subjects, 5 videos (30 seconds combined) |
| Audio | Two-channel stereo |
| Prompt length | Up to 8,000 tokens |
| Price | Not published |
| API | Not announced. Not on WaveSpeed or Kie as of October 1 |
Sources: Kuaishou's own Kling 4.0 vs 3.0 comparison and the Chinese-language announcement as reported by IT之家.
When Will Kling 4.0 Be Available?
Kuaishou says Kling 4.0 launches publicly in October 2026 but hasn't named a date. Kling 4.0 Flash has been in limited early access since September 28. There's no API date at all. Expect the Kling web app first and paying subscribers before free users, which is how Kling 3.0 rolled out in February.
Who's in the beta is murkier than the headlines suggest. The Chinese announcement says Flash is open to 黑金年卡会员, Kling's "Black Gold" annual members in China. English coverage translates that as "Ultra Yearly subscribers." Kuaishou's own English page only says "a limited group of users."
Here's the wrinkle. Kling's global Ultra plan costs $180 a month for 26,000 credits, and as of mid-2026 it had no annual billing option at all. So whether a monthly Ultra subscriber outside China gets Flash is genuinely unclear. If you're thinking of upgrading just for early access, check the model picker or ask support before you pay. We walk through the math in how to use Kling 4.0 without an Ultra subscription.
The API is the bigger gap for anyone building on Kling. The 4.0 release note covers the web app and says nothing about developer access. On October 1 we checked the model catalogs at WaveSpeed and Kie, two of the API providers that usually carry new Kling models. The newest Kling entries on both are still the 3.0 family (3.0, 3.0 Omni, V3 Turbo). The "Kling 4 API" pages you'll find in search right now are placeholders; Muapi's own page says the endpoint isn't live. If your pipeline depends on Kling 4.0, don't put a deadline on it yet.
What's New in Kling 4.0 vs Kling 3.0
This is Kuaishou's table, reformatted. Nothing here has been independently tested.
| Capability | Kling 3.0 | Kling 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Clip length | 3 to 15 seconds | 3 to 30 seconds |
| Keyframes | Start and end frame | Up to 10 keyframes |
| Dynamic range | 8-bit SDR | 10-bit HDR at 1080p/4K |
| Audio | Single-channel | Two-channel stereo |
| Reference images / subjects | Up to 7 (up to 4 alongside a video) | Up to 10 images and 7 subjects |
| Reference videos | 1 video, 15 seconds max | Up to 5 videos, 30 seconds combined |
| Total reference assets | Up to 7 | Up to 15 |
| Languages | Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish | Adds Portuguese, German, French, Hindi and more |
| Video editing | Separate 3.0 Omni workflow | Built into the main workflow |
Most coverage leads with the 30 seconds. I think that's the wrong headline.
Ten keyframes is the real change. Kling 3.0 gave you a start frame and an end frame, and everything between was the model's call. Ten keyframes means you can pin the beats of a 30-second shot: the character enters at 0s, turns at 8s, the camera pushes in at 15s, the reveal lands at 24s. That's the difference between generating a clip and blocking a scene. Neither Seedance 2.5 nor Wan 3.0 offers more than first-and-last-frame control today, so if this works as described, it's the one thing Kling 4.0 will do that nobody else does.
The 30-second ceiling, on the other hand, is catch-up. Seedance 2.5 and Wan 3.0 both already generate 30 seconds in one pass (more on that below).
HDR is the spec that matters to colorists and almost nobody else. 10-bit output holds detail in backlit shots and night scenes, and it gives you room to grade. But Kuaishou lists it as "coming soon," and Flash doesn't have it. Treat it as unshipped until it's in the export menu.
The rest is incremental. Stereo audio, 8,000-token prompts, a 21:9 aspect ratio, more languages. Nice to have. The Chinese announcement also promises video continuation that extends a clip to two minutes, again marked "coming soon," and it doesn't appear in Kuaishou's English comparison table at all.
Kling 4.0 Flash: The Version People Are Actually Using
Every Kling 4.0 clip you see on social media right now is almost certainly Flash. It's a different product from the flagship:
| Kling 4.0 Flash | Kling 4.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Available | Limited early access since Sept 28 | October |
| Clip length | 3 to 20 seconds | 3 to 30 seconds |
| Resolution | 720p only | 720p, 1080p, 4K |
| Color | 8-bit SDR | 10-bit HDR (coming soon) |
| Keyframes | Not listed | Up to 10 |
Specs per Atlas Cloud's breakdown of the release notes and TechTimes.
Flash is pitched on speed and cost, which makes it the natural successor to Kling V3 Turbo: a drafting model. That's useful. But it means the clips going around tell you very little about 4K, HDR, or keyframe control, which are the main reasons to care about the flagship.
How Kling 4.0 Compares With Seedance 2.5 and Wan 3.0
Thirty seconds in one generation was a headline spec in June, when ByteDance announced Seedance 2.5. By October it's table stakes. Two models you can run today already do it:
| Kling 4.0 (announced) | Seedance 2.5 | Wan 3.0 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Closed beta, public in October | Available | Public beta since August 2026 |
| Max length | 30s | 30s | 30s |
| Max resolution | 4K | 4K | 1080p |
| Frame control | Up to 10 keyframes | Start and end frame | First and last frame |
| References | 15 total (10 images, 7 subjects, 5 videos) | 30 images, 10 videos, 10 audio | 10 images, 5 videos, 5 audio |
| Native audio | Yes, stereo | Yes | Yes |
| 10s at 720p on VidCella | Not available yet | 900 credits | 300 credits |
If your work needs a shot choreographed beat by beat, or an HDR deliverable for a grade, wait for Kling 4.0 and test it the week it lands. Nothing else on this list does 10 keyframes.
If you need 30 seconds with sound right now, you don't have to wait. Wan 3.0 is the cheaper of the two by a factor of three at 720p, and its reference limits (10 images, 5 videos) are close to what Kling 4.0 is promising. Reach for Seedance 2.5 when you need 4K or a much larger reference stack. It's also the stronger model on raw quality, and it's priced like it.
What We Still Don't Know
- Price: Kuaishou hasn't published credits per second for 4.0 or Flash. Given that 4.0 doubles length and adds 4K HDR, I'd be surprised if it costs less than 3.0 per second, but that's a guess.
- API timing: No official date, and no third-party listing.
- Which plans get it: Kling hasn't said whether Standard, Pro, or free users get 4.0 on launch day or later.
- What ships in October: HDR and two-minute continuation are both "coming soon." They may not arrive with the launch.
- Independent quality: No arena results or third-party benchmarks yet. Kling 3.0 sat behind Seedance 2.0 on the Artificial Analysis leaderboard; whether 4.0 closes that gap is the question nobody can answer until it's public.
FAQ
Is Kling 4.0 out?
Not fully. Kling 4.0 Flash is in limited early access as of September 28, 2026. The full Kling 4.0 model is scheduled for a public launch in October 2026, with no exact date.
Is Kling 4.0 free?
Kuaishou hasn't said. Kling's free tier currently gives 66 credits a day at 360p to 540p with a watermark, and there's no word on whether 4.0 will be included.
Does Kling 4.0 have an API?
Not yet. The release note doesn't mention developer access, and as of October 1 neither WaveSpeed nor Kie lists Kling 4.0. Sites selling a "Kling 4 API" today are running something else.
What's the difference between Kling 4.0 and Kling 4.0 Flash?
Flash is the speed tier: 3 to 20 seconds, 720p, standard dynamic range. The full Kling 4.0 goes to 30 seconds, 4K, 10-bit HDR (coming soon), and up to 10 keyframes.
Is Kling 4.0 better than Seedance 2.5?
Nobody can say yet. On paper, Kling 4.0 wins on keyframe control and HDR, and Seedance 2.5 wins on reference capacity. Wait for side-by-side results after the October launch.
Bottom Line
Kling 4.0 is announced, half-shipped, and unpriced. Flash is in a narrow beta at 720p, the flagship lands sometime in October, and there's no API. The spec that will matter most is 10-keyframe control. The 30-second ceiling everyone's quoting is already matched by two models you can use today.
If you can wait, wait and test it. If you need 30-second clips with audio this week, they're already here.