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Cheapest image-to-video AI generator (2026): every verified image-to-video rate, ranked

Image-to-video turns a still (a product shot, a character, a thumbnail) into a moving clip. This page ranks only rates whose official pricing says they accept a start image (179 of the 237 rates in ClipCost’s calculator), per second and per usable 30-second clip, adds the start-image fees a few providers charge, and lists the models that only work from an image.

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Affiliate disclosure: some links on ClipCost may be affiliate links; if you sign up we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the numbers — every price comes from the official pricing pages linked on each tool page and under Sources.

Quick answer

Cheapest image-to-video: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 480p, audio on (xAI API) at $0.02/sec + $0.01 per input image = $1.86 per usable 30s (#1 of 237, still the cheapest rate overall after the image fee). Cheapest 720p: Wan 2.6 Flash · 720p, no audio, image-to-video (Alibaba Cloud API) = $2.25 (image-to-video only). Cheapest 1080p: Wan 2.6 Flash · 1080p, no audio, image-to-video (Alibaba Cloud API) = $3.38 (#22). Cheapest on a subscription: Ray3.2 · 540p (Dream Machine) = $2.25. Does a start image cost extra? Mostly no — 166 of the 179 rates add nothing for one start image (no image fee on the price list, or free within MiniMax’s quota); xAI (Grok Imagine) and two Runway API models (Hailuo 3, Gemini Omni Flash) add a fee worth at most $0.12 per usable 30s. Prices checked Nov 13, 2026.

Basis: usable = 3 attempts (1 + 2 retries), the same as the calculator, with one start image per generation (a 30s clip on a 15s-max model is 2 generations × 3 attempts = 6 images). Plan-credit rows assume you use every credit on the cheapest annual plan that includes the model; API rows are pay-as-you-go. A rate counts as image-to-video only if its official price list or model table says so (image-to-video, first frame, start frame or T2V/I2V); 58 ranked rates whose price list does not say so are left out rather than guessed. “Rank of 237” is the site-wide rank on the video price alone. Cost only, not quality.

The 40 cheapest image-to-video rates

139 more image-to-video rates rank below these, up to $76.16 per usable 30s (Seedance 2.5 · 1080p with audio · Pro/Max plans only (via Runway)). Every rate is in the pricing comparison and the calculator.

Cheapest image-to-video at each resolution

Who charges extra for the start image

Most providers bill image-to-video exactly like text-to-video, per second of output. These 21 ranked rates have a stated input-image price. The fee is small, but it is per generation, so short-clip models pay it more often.

MiniMax bills input images only beyond the first 5 per task (first 2 for H3-Max: $0.074 per extra image at 480p/768p), so one start image is free. Gemini Omni Flash bought directly from Google bills image input as tokens ($1.50 per 1M input tokens) without stating how many tokens an image uses, so those rows are not counted here.

Models that only work from an image

These need a start image (or start and end frames) — there is no text-only mode. Wan 2.6 Flash is the cheapest image-to-video rate at 720p and 1080p.

Wan 2.6 Flash is image-to-video only on Alibaba Cloud (wan2.6-i2v-flash), but the Runway app lists its Wan 2.6 Flash as text-to-video and image-to-video. Runway’s Gen-4.5 does both; Gen-4 and Gen-4 Turbo are image-to-video only.

Not counted (image-to-video not stated on the price list)

• Kling app and Kling API (25 rates): Kling’s price tables split by audio and input video, not by image input; only Kling 2.5 Turbo 720p and Kling 3.0 Turbo 720p on the API state image-to-video and are ranked above. Kling 2.6 1080p with audio on the API is also left out because Kling’s capability map says native audio is not supported for Kling 2.6 image-to-video while the price list prices it. See where Kling is cheapest.
• Seedance API (10 rates): the ranked BytePlus rows are priced without video input and do not state image input; Seedance inside Luma and the Runway app is listed as image-to-video and is counted. See Seedance 2.0 cost.
• LTX 2.5 inside the Runway app: Runway lists it as text-, audio- and video-to-video only (no image-to-video), so those 6 rows are out; LTX-2.5 on the LTX API itself prices image-to-video the same as text-to-video and is counted. See LTX API pricing.
• Also not stated: Kling, Kling 4.0 and MiniMax H3 Max rows on the Runway API, Gemini Omni Flash bought directly from Google, and the 4 ranked Pika partner rows (Pika’s plan credits changed on Nov 12, 2026 and those rows are due for repricing).

Which to pick (on cost)

• Cheapest animated stills with sound: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on the xAI API ($1.86 at 480p, $2.76 at 720p, image fee included). See Grok Imagine cost.
• Cheapest 720p / 1080p from an image: Wan 2.6 Flash on Alibaba Cloud ($2.25 / $3.38 silent; $4.50 / $6.75 with audio). See Wan API pricing.
• Budget API that also does text-to-video: MiniMax H3-Lite 480p ($2.25, start image free) or LTX-2.3 Fast 720p with audio ($2.70). See MiniMax Hailuo cost.
• Google: Veo 3.1 Lite on Vertex AI takes a reference image at the same price ($2.70 at 720p silent, $4.50 with audio). See Veo 3.1 variants.
• Already on Runway: Gen-4 Turbo ($8.64) is the cheapest Runway-native image-to-video. See Runway models ranked by cost.

Honest flags

• “Image-to-video” comes from each row’s official price list or model table. Many tools not counted here may still accept images in their apps; ClipCost only counts what the price list states, and compares cost only, not motion quality or how closely the clip follows the image.
• Start-image fees assume one image per generation. Extra reference images, end frames and keyframes can cost more (for example 2 credits each for Hailuo 3 on the Runway API, $0.04 per extra image on MiniMax H3 beyond the free 5).
• Plan-credit prices need a paid plan and assume you use all credits; API prices are pay-as-you-go. Runway’s 25% Kling 4.0 promotion ends Nov 30, 2026; Google bills Gemini Omni 1.1 at the 1.2 rate from Dec 3, 2026.

Related: calculator · Compare · Cheapest AI video generator · Cheapest with audio · Cheapest 1080p · Cheapest AI video API · TikTok / Shorts cost · Pricing comparison · Grok Imagine cost · Wan API pricing · MiniMax Hailuo cost · Vidu cost · Luma cost · PixVerse cost · xAI tool page · Alibaba tool page · MiniMax tool page · Vidu tool page · Runway tool page · FAQ.

Sources (checked Nov 13, 2026, about 9am Central)

• xAI API pricing: grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite (text, image → video) $0.02/sec at 480p, $0.03 at 720p, plus $0.01 per input image; grok-imagine-video-1.5 also $0.01 per image — re-read today.
• LTX API pricing: Image-to-Video table identical to Text-to-Video (ltx-2-3-fast $0.03 / $0.06 / $0.12 / $0.24 per second at 720p / 1080p / 1440p / 4K) — re-read today.
• Vertex AI pricing: Veo 3.1, 3.1 Fast and 3.1 Lite generate “from a text prompt or reference image” at one price (Lite $0.03 / $0.05 per second silent at 720p / 1080p) — re-read today.
• MiniMax pricing: H3, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite and H3-Max support image-to-video; “for the same model and resolution, all task types share the same unit price”; first 5 input images per task free (H3-Max: 2) — re-read today.
• Runway credits per model: Gen-4 / Gen-4 Turbo image-to-video only (12 / 5 credits/sec), Gen-4.5 text and image (12), Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro start/end frame, LTX 2.5 without image-to-video — re-read today. Runway API pricing: hailuo3 +2 credits per start frame, gemini_omni_flash +1 credit — re-read today.
• Luma pricing and Vidu API pricing: rates listed as Text-to-Video / Image-to-Video (Luma) and per capability (Vidu Q3 Pro Fast and Q4 Preview image-only) — re-read today.
• All other rows (Alibaba Cloud, PixVerse, BFL, Kling API turbo rows): the verified rates and image-to-video notes in ClipCost’s data, each with its official source and check date on the linked tool page.

FAQ

What is the cheapest image-to-video AI generator?

On verified list prices checked Nov 13, 2026, the cheapest image-to-video rate ClipCost ranks is Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite at 480p on the xAI API: $0.02 per second plus $0.01 per input image, or $1.86 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (6 start images included). Next are PixVerse V6 at 360p ($2.00) and, at $2.25, Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud, an image-to-video-only model.

Does image-to-video cost more than text-to-video?

Usually not. LTX, Vertex AI (Veo 3.1), MiniMax H3, Luma, Vidu, PixVerse and BFL charge the same per-second price whether you start from a prompt or an image. A few add a small start-image fee: xAI charges $0.01 per input image, the Runway API charges 2 credits ($0.02) per Hailuo 3 start frame and 1 credit for a Gemini Omni Flash start frame, and MiniMax only bills images beyond the first 5 per task (2 for H3-Max). On a usable 30-second clip that adds at most $0.12.

What is the cheapest 1080p image-to-video AI generator?

Wan 2.6 Flash at 1080p without audio on the Alibaba Cloud API, at $0.0375 per second, or $3.38 per usable 30s (#22 of 237). It only works from a start image. Next are Veo 3.1 Lite at 1080p without audio on Vertex AI ($4.50) and LTX-2.3 Fast at 1080p with audio on the LTX API ($5.40).

Which AI video models only do image-to-video?

On the official price lists ClipCost checks: Wan 2.6 Flash on Alibaba Cloud (first frame only), Vidu Q3 Pro Fast, Vidu Q4 Preview (image- and reference-to-video, no text-to-video), and Runway Gen-4, Gen-4 Turbo and Kling 2.5 Turbo inside the Runway app. Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro in the Runway app is start and end frame only. You need a still image to use any of them.

What is the cheapest image-to-video on a subscription?

Ray3.2 at 540p in Luma Dream Machine: 50 credits per 5 seconds on Luma Plus annual credits ($0.025 per second, $2.25 per usable 30s), assuming you use every credit. Seedance 2.0 Mini at 480p via Luma is $2.70. Inside the Runway app, Gen-4 Turbo (image-to-video only) is 5 credits per second, $8.64 per usable 30s on Standard annual credits.

How much does a 1-minute image-to-video clip cost?

With 2 retries per clip, a usable minute costs $3.72 on Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite at 480p (including 12 start images at $0.01), $4.50 on Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p without audio and $6.75 at 1080p. With generated audio, Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p is $9.00 per usable minute.