Google Flow vs Veo: What Is the Difference?

Searches for "Google Flow vs Veo" usually come from the same confusion: a tutorial says "make it in Veo", the link opens something called Flow, and the model menu inside lists several names. The short answer is that one is a tool and the other is an engine. The longer answer matters in practice, because the model you pick inside Flow decides which features work, how long a clip can be and what it costs. This guide sets out the relationship using Google's own Flow help pages.

Flow is the tool

Google describes Flow as its AI filmmaking tool for creating cinematic clips, scenes and stories with consistency. In Flow you:

• write prompts, with an optional Agent mode that can, for example, produce several variations at once;
• add frames (a start frame, and optionally an end frame) or ingredients (reference images or videos of characters, objects and places);
• edit clips, keep every version in a History panel, and save single frames as images for later use;
• arrange clips in Scenebuilder, trim them, preview the sequence and download a scene.

Access requires a Google AI Plus, Pro or Ultra subscription (or a qualifying Workspace plan), age verification at 18 or over, and a supported region. Google recommends a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome or Edge on a computer for the full editing features; there is also a Flow app.

Veo is one of the engines

Veo is Google's video generation model family. In Flow's model menu it currently appears as Veo 3.1 in three versions, and each supports a different set of features:

The table follows Google's "Learn about Flow models and supported features" page at the time of writing. One detail is easy to miss: any Veo 3.1 8-second clip can be extended, but the extension itself must be generated with Veo 3.1 Lite. Both aspect ratios offered in Flow are supported throughout.

The other engines in Flow

Gemini Omni Flash

Flow also runs Gemini Omni models, in standard 720p and a draft 360p. Google lists features exclusive to Omni Flash: 10-second clips in addition to 4, 6 and 8; start and end frames; editing uploaded as well as generated videos; custom voices built from a preset voice and a description; and 360p generation at half the credit cost of 720p, which Pro and Ultra subscribers can upscale to 720p at no credit cost. Omni Flash supports ingredients at all lengths, and video-to-video editing on segments up to 10 seconds, but extending is listed as coming soon. Some Omni features are limited to certain regions.

Nano Banana for images

For the stills you use as frames and ingredients, Flow offers Nano Banana image models: Nano Banana Pro (the default for Ultra subscribers), Nano Banana 2.1, and Nano Banana 2 Lite, which Google describes as the default available at no charge. Flow's own help notes that the prompt box opens with Nano Banana Pro selected, so switch to Video before generating a clip.

Which to pick

• Exploring an idea cheaply: Omni Flash at 360p, or Veo 3.1 Lite.
• A clip that must start and end on exact images: any model with first and last frames; Omni Flash if you need 10 seconds.
• The same character across clips: ingredients with Veo 3.1 Lite or Fast at 8 seconds, or Omni Flash.
• A longer continuous shot: an 8-second Veo 3.1 clip extended with Veo 3.1 Lite. See making longer Veo videos.
• Changing an existing video: Omni Flash, which edits uploaded or generated footage.
• The final, highest-quality shot: Veo 3.1 Quality, from text or frames.

Flow tells you if you select a feature the active model does not support, and may switch you to a compatible model. Check the model name and the credit cost in the prompt box settings before each generation; Google's help recommends exactly that.

Where else Veo and Flow appear

Part of the confusion comes from Veo appearing in more than one place. Tutorials may show it inside Flow, inside other platforms that host Google's models, or through developer tools, and each surface exposes a different subset of settings. When a guide's instructions do not match your screen, first check which app you are in, then which model is selected. In Flow the answer is always in the prompt box settings, which Google's help suggests checking before every generation together with the resolution and the latest credit cost.

Why the distinction matters for your records

"Made in Flow" is not enough information to reproduce a clip. Two clips from the same prompt look different on Veo 3.1 Fast and Omni Flash, at 8 or 10 seconds, at 360p or 720p. Note the model and version, the length, the aspect ratio, the frames or ingredients and the prompt for every clip you keep. Flow's History panel stores versions inside a project, but a client asking for "the same shot, longer" in three months needs a record outside it too. The Flow getting-started guide covers the basics of projects.

Try it

A ceramicist lifts a freshly thrown bowl from the wheel and turns it slowly in the window light, dust motes drifting, quiet studio ambience.

Generate it once with Veo 3.1 Fast at 8 seconds and once with Gemini Omni Flash at 10 seconds, same aspect ratio. Comparing the two is the quickest way to learn how the engines differ in motion, sound and detail before you commit credits to a full scene.