AI video cost FAQ

For one attempt with no retries, verified examples: Veo 3.1 Lite 720p API $3.00/min ($0.05/sec), Veo Fast $6.00/min, Veo Standard $24.00/min, Seedance 2.0 720p API about $9.12/min ($0.76/5s), MiniMax H3 768P $4.80/min, Runway Gen-4.5 about $13.82/min on Standard annual credits, Pika Wan 3.0 720p about $3.52/min on Starter annual credits (Starter includes a commercial licence since Oct 2026). With 2 retries, roughly triple those numbers. Your usable-clip cost = rate × length × (1 + retries). Full table: how much does 1 minute of AI video cost?

On Google Gemini/Vertex (video output $17.50/1M tokens, checked Nov 4, 2026 ~9:10pm CT): 360p is $0.0338/sec = $3.04 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (#11 of 210; API #10); 720p $0.1014 ($9.13); 1080p upscaled $0.152 ($13.68); 4K upscaled $0.3041 ($27.37). Audio on by default. Runway Dev API storefront rates are nearly the same dollars but audio is Not stated. Full tables: Gemini Omni Flash cost.

On the Runway Dev API (1 credit = $0.01, checked Nov 4, 2026 ~9:05am CT on docs.dev.runwayml.com/guides/pricing): Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 at 360p is $0.034/sec = $3.06 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (#11 of 210; API #10); MiniMax H3 Max 480p $4.50; Kling 3.0 Std without audio $8.10; Kling 4.0 720p promo $11.30 (20% off through Nov 30, 2026 UTC; list from Dec 1 is $14.13). Audio Not stated for Gemini/MiniMax; Kling 4.0 always includes audio. Full tables: Runway API partner models cost.

On Black Forest Labs’ API and Playground (1 credit = $0.01, same price both surfaces, checked Nov 3, 2026 ~9:10pm CT on docs.bfl.ai and bfl.ai/pricing): Draft HD $0.06/sec = $5.40 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (#31= of 210); HD $0.15 ($13.50, #109=); FHD $0.24 ($21.60); QHD $0.28; UHD $0.41. Text-to-video and image-to-video cost the same; native audio included; clips up to 20s. Native HD matches Luma’s Flux 3 partner dollar rate; native FHD undercuts Luma FHD ($22.95). help.bfl.ai still shows stale $0.17/$0.29 HD/FHD — ignore. Full tables: FLUX 3 cost.

By family on verified usable-30s rates with 2 retries (checked Nov 3, 2026): Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p is $2.70 on Luma Plus annual (#5= of 210) vs $3.24 on BytePlus and $27.65 on Runway app credits; Kling 3.0 720p is $5.40 silent / $8.10 with audio on Kling’s own app (Pika near-tie at $5.44); Veo 3.1 Lite 720p with audio is $4.50 on Vertex AI (Pika Fast $8.00, Luma $31.50, Runway $69.12); MiniMax H3-Lite 480P is $2.25 on MiniMax’s API, while H3 Max 480p with audio Yes is $4.05 on Luma vs $4.50 on MiniMax’s API. Plan credits need a subscription you use; APIs are pay-as-you-go. Full tables: Which AI video storefront.

Inside Luma Dream Machine, partner text/image-to-video models burn plan credits per second. On Plus billed annually ($0.0025 per credit, checked Nov 2, 2026) Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p is 12 credits/sec = $2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (#5= of 210) — cheaper than BytePlus Mini 480p ($3.24). MiniMax H3 Max 480p is $4.05; Kling 4.0 / 4.0 Omni 720p $11.93; Veo 3.1 (720p or 1080p) $31.50. Video-to-Video ~rates, Sync lipsync and Gemini Omni Flash are not ranked. Full tables: Luma partner models cost.

Luma Ray3.2 costs 50 credits per 5 seconds at 540p, 100 at 720p and 400 at 1080p (checked Nov 2, 2026). On the Plus plan billed annually ($300/yr for 10,000 credits a month = $0.0025 per credit) that is $0.025, $0.05 and $0.20 per second, so a usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $2.25, $4.50 or $18.00. 540p ties for #2 of the 210 rates we rank and is the cheapest subscription rate. The pay-as-you-go Luma API charges $0.15 / $0.30 / $1.20 per 5 seconds ($2.70 / $5.40 / $21.60 usable). A 10-second generation costs 3× the 5-second price, so build long videos from 5s clips; HDR doubles the price and Ray3.2 has no audio. Full tables: Luma cost.

On Pika’s annual Starter ($8/mo, 900 credits) or Creator ($28/mo, 3,150) plans a credit costs $0.00889 ($0.0111 monthly; checked Nov 1, 2026). Pika publishes 720p prices for four models: Wan 3.0 33 credits per 5s, Kling 3.0 34 per 5s, Veo 3.1 Fast 80 per 8s and Seedance 2.5 122 per 5s. A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $5.28, $5.44, $8.00 and $19.52 (Wan 3.0 is #28 of the 210 rates we rank). Top-up packs are 60 credits per $1 ($0.0167), so the same clips cost 1.875× more, and top-ups work only in Pika Create and MCP, not the API or iOS app. Other models and resolutions are quoted in the app. Full tables: Pika cost.

On Vidu’s API (checked Nov 1, 2026), credits are $0.005 each and billed per second: Q3 Turbo 7 / 12 / 13 credits at 540p / 720p / 1080p ($0.035 / $0.06 / $0.065), Q3 Pro 9 / 20 / 24 ($0.045 / $0.10 / $0.12), Q3 Pro Fast 12 / 15 at 720p / 1080p and Q4 Preview 9 to 78 credits ($0.045 at 540p to $0.39 at 4K). A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $3.15 on Q3 Turbo 540p (#10 of the 210 rates we rank), $5.40 at 720p and $35.10 on Q4 Preview 4K. Audio is on by default; off-peak is about half price but Vidu’s pages disagree on when it applies. Vidu web-app plans: check official pricing. Full breakdown: Vidu cost.

On MiniMax’s own API (checked Oct 31, 2026), per second of output: MiniMax-H3-Lite $0.025 at 480P and $0.04 at 768P, H3-Highspeed $0.04 and $0.06, H3-Max $0.05 and $0.08, and the flagship H3 $0.08 at 768P and $0.13 at 2K. A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $2.25 on H3-Lite 480P (tied #2 of the 159 rates we rank), $7.20 on H3 768P and $11.70 on H3 2K. Upscaling only the keeper from 768P to 2K costs $0.05 per second ($8.70 total for 30 seconds vs $11.70). Reference images beyond the free quota and input video cost extra; MiniMax does not state output audio. Full breakdown: MiniMax Hailuo cost.

It splits by tier (checked Oct 31, 2026). Grok Imagine is cheaper at the budget end: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p ($1.80 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries) and $0.03 at 720p ($2.70), against MiniMax H3-Lite at $0.025 / $0.04 ($2.25 / $3.60; ranked since Oct 31, 2026, 480P tied #2 of 159) and H3-Max 480P at $0.05 ($4.50). Hailuo is cheaper at the flagship tier: MiniMax H3 768P is $0.08 per second ($7.20) vs $0.14 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 720p ($12.60), and H3 2K is $0.13 ($11.70) vs $0.25 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 1080p ($22.50). In the Runway app MiniMax H3 (10 / 15 credits per second) is cheaper than or equal to Grok Imagine 1.5 (10 / 16 / 29); on the Runway API grok_imagine_1_5_lite (2 / 3) beats h3_max (5 / 8). Only Grok states that audio is included. Hailuo wins 8 of the 16 match-ups we price, Grok 7, with 1 tie. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs Hailuo cost.

LTX, in most match-ups (checked Oct 30, 2026), but Grok Imagine has the cheapest single rate. Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p ($1.80 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), and LTX starts at 720p. At 720p they tie: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite and LTX-2.3 Fast are both $0.03 per second with audio ($2.70). Above that LTX is cheaper: LTX-2.3 Pro 720p $0.04 ($3.60) vs Grok Imagine 1.5 $0.14 ($12.60), and at native 1080p LTX-2.3 Fast $0.06 ($5.40) or Pro $0.08 ($7.20) vs Grok Imagine 1.5 $0.25 ($22.50). In the Runway app LTX 2.5 Fast (9 / 13 credits per second) beats Grok Imagine 1.5 (10 / 16 / 29); only Grok is on the Runway API, and only LTX offers 1440p and 4K. LTX wins 10 of the 13 match-ups we price, Grok 2, with 1 tie. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs LTX cost.

Grok Imagine, in almost every match-up (checked Oct 30, 2026). Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p and $0.03 at 720p with audio included ($1.80 and $2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), against $3.24 and $6.84 for Seedance 2.0 Mini, Seedance’s cheapest model on BytePlus ModelArk. At native 1080p Grok Imagine 1.5 ($0.25 per second, $22.50) beats Seedance 2.0 ($0.374, $33.66) and Seedance 2.5 ($51.17). Seedance wins only the flagship tier at 480p (Seedance 2.0 $0.07 per second, $6.30, vs Grok Imagine 1.5 $0.08, $7.20), and the Runway app ties at 720p (16 credits per second each). Only Seedance offers 4K and 30-second single generations. Grok wins 14 of the 16 match-ups we price, Seedance 1, with 1 tie. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs Seedance cost.

It depends on the tier (checked Oct 29, 2026). For 480p and 720p with sound Grok Imagine is cheaper: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p and $0.03 at 720p with audio included ($1.80 and $2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), against $4.50 for Wan 2.6 Flash 720p with audio (image-to-video) and $9.00 for Wan 2.6 text-to-video on Alibaba Cloud. Wan is cheaper for silent clips (Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio, $0.025 per second, $2.25), at 1080p and in the flagship tier: Wan 3.0 is $0.05 / $0.10 / $0.20 per second vs $0.08 / $0.14 / $0.25 for Grok Imagine 1.5 ($18.00 vs $22.50 at 1080p). Grok Lite is cheaper on the Runway API, Wan in the Runway app. Only Wan 3.0 makes 30 seconds in one generation; neither does 4K. Wan wins 9 of the 16 match-ups we price, Grok 7. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs Wan cost.

It depends on resolution (checked Oct 29, 2026). At 480p and 720p Grok Imagine is cheaper: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p and $0.03 at 720p with audio included ($1.80 and $2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), against $8.10 for Kling 3.0 720p with native audio in Kling’s app (9 credits per second). Silent Kling 2.6 Standard mode ties Grok Lite 720p at $2.70. At 1080p Kling is cheaper: Kling 3.0 1080p with audio is $10.80 in Kling’s app vs $12.60 for Grok Lite’s upscaled 1080p and $22.50 for native 1080p Grok Imagine 1.5. Grok Lite is cheaper on the Runway API, Kling 3.0 Std in the Runway app. Only Kling makes 4K. Kling wins 8 of the 16 match-ups we price, Grok 6, 2 ties. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs Kling cost.

Grok Imagine, in 9 of the 13 match-ups we price (checked Oct 28, 2026). Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p and $0.03 at 720p with audio included ($1.80 and $2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries). Google’s cheapest Veo with audio, Veo 3.1 Lite 720p on Vertex AI, is $0.05 ($4.50); with audio off it ties Grok at $0.03. Veo wins at 1080p (Veo 3.1 Lite $0.08, $7.20, vs $0.14 for Grok Lite’s upscaled 1080p, $12.60) and in the mid tier (Veo 3.1 Fast $0.10 / $0.12 vs Grok Imagine 1.5 $0.14 / $0.25 at 720p / 1080p). Grok Imagine 1.5 beats Veo 3.1 Standard ($0.40), and Grok is cheaper on the Runway API and in the Runway app. Only Veo makes 4K. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine vs Veo cost.

LTX, in every like-for-like match-up we price (checked Oct 28, 2026). LTX-2.3 Fast at 720p on the LTX API is $0.03 per second with audio included ($2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries). Seedance’s cheapest rate, Seedance 2.0 Mini at 480p on BytePlus ModelArk, is $0.036 ($3.24), and at 720p Seedance 2.0 Mini is $0.076 ($6.84). At 1080p Seedance 2.0 is $0.374 per second ($33.66) vs $0.06 for LTX-2.3 Fast ($5.40), and at 4K $0.778 vs $0.24. Inside Runway LTX 2.5 Fast (9 credits/sec at 720p) beats Seedance 2.0 Mini (16). Seedance’s only exclusives are 480p and a Runway API model. Full breakdown: Seedance vs LTX cost.

LTX, in most cases (checked Oct 28, 2026). LTX-2.3 Fast at 720p on the LTX API is $0.03 per second with audio included ($2.70 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), while Google’s cheapest Veo with audio, Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p on Vertex AI, is $0.05 ($4.50). Veo only catches up with audio off: Veo 3.1 Lite 720p video-only is also $0.03 (a tie), and Veo 3.1 Lite 1080p silent ($0.05, $4.50) beats LTX-2.3 Fast 1080p ($0.06, $5.40). At 4K LTX-2.3 Fast ($0.24) beats Veo 3.1 Fast ($0.30), and inside Runway LTX 2.5 Fast (9 credits/sec at 720p) is far cheaper than Veo 3.1 (40 with audio). Veo is no longer listed on the Gemini API pricing page, so Veo prices are Vertex AI. Full breakdown: LTX vs Veo cost.

It depends on the route (checked Oct 27, 2026). Per second on the APIs MiniMax’s Hailuo model, MiniMax H3, is a little cheaper: $0.08 per second at 768P ($7.20 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries) vs $0.084 for Kling 3.0 at 720p without audio on Kling’s API ($7.56). Kling’s own app is cheaper than most Hailuo routes: Kling 2.6 Standard mode $2.70 and Kling 3.0 720p $5.40, against $4.50 for MiniMax H3-Max at 480P. Inside Runway, Kling 3.0 Std (9 credits/sec) beats MiniMax H3 (10). The exception is MiniMax H3-Lite at $0.025 per second (480P, $2.25 usable 30s), ranked since Oct 31, 2026 (tied #2 of 159) now that MiniMax’s API reference lists it; see MiniMax Hailuo cost. MiniMax does not state whether H3 output includes audio. Full breakdown: Hailuo vs Kling cost.

On the Runway API (model kling_4, checked Oct 27, 2026) Kling 4.0 is 12.56 credits ($0.1256) per second at 720p and 18.8 credits ($0.188) at 1080p, with audio always included — a 20% promo that runs through Nov 30, 2026 UTC. From Dec 1 the list price is 15.7 / 23.5 credits ($0.157 / $0.235). Clips are 3–30 seconds, so a 30-second clip is one generation: $3.77 at 720p and $5.64 at 1080p on promo, or $11.31 / $16.92 per usable clip with 2 retries. Kling’s own API lists Kling 4.0 as Coming Soon (preview $0.157 / $0.235 per second), and the Kling app’s credit cost is not verified. Kling 3.0 is still cheaper ($8.10 per usable 30s at 720p with audio in Kling’s app). Full breakdown: Kling 4.0 cost.

On xAI’s API (checked Oct 27, 2026) Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is $0.02 per second at 480p, $0.03 at 720p and $0.14 at 1080p (720p upscaled); Grok Imagine Video 1.5 is $0.08, $0.14 and $0.25 (native 1080p). Audio is on by default and not priced separately; clips are 1–15 seconds. A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $1.80 on Lite 480p — the cheapest rate ClipCost ranks — $2.70 at 720p and $7.20 on 1.5 at 480p. The Runway API charges the same for Lite but 10 / 16 / 29 credits ($0.10 / $0.16 / $0.29) for 1.5. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine cost and xAI API pricing.

Runway API credits cost $0.01 each and video models charge 2 to 150 credits per second (checked Oct 27, 2026). Gen-4 Turbo and Wan 3.0 480p are 5 credits per second ($4.50 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), Gen-4.5 12 ($10.80), Kling 3.0 Standard 9 without audio or 13 with, Veo 3.1 40 with audio ($36.00). Seedance 2.0 is now cheaper on the API than in the app: Mini 480p 7 credits per second ($6.30 vs $27.65 on Standard plan credits), Fast 480p 11, Seedance 2.0 14 / 30 / 40 / 150 at 480p / 720p / 1080p / 4K. For other models the credit rate matches the app, so the API is cheaper than Standard ($0.0192 a credit) and Pro ($0.0124) but not a fully used Max plan ($0.0080). Full table: Runway API pricing.

Wan, in 14 of our 16 match-ups. Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud is $0.025 per second ($2.25 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries, image-to-video only) against $3.24 for Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p on BytePlus. At 720p Wan 3.0 is $9.00 vs $13.68 for Seedance 2.0; at 1080p with audio Wan 2.6 is $13.50 vs $33.66; inside Runway Wan 2.6 Flash (5 credits/sec) is $8.64 vs $27.65 for Seedance 2.0 Mini (16/sec). Seedance wins cheap text-to-video (2.0 Mini $3.24 at 480p vs Wan 3.0 $4.50; $6.84 at 720p with audio vs Wan 2.6 $9.00) and only Seedance offers 4K. Full tables: Seedance vs Wan cost.

Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud is $0.025 per second ($2.25 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries), the second-cheapest rate we track behind Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p (since Oct 27, 2026), but it is image-to-video only. With audio, text-to-video or 4K, the LTX API is cheaper: LTX-2.3 Fast 720p is $0.03 per second with audio included ($2.70), against $0.05 for Wan 2.6 Flash with audio ($4.50) and $0.10 for Wan 2.6 / 2.7 / 3.0 text-to-video at 720p ($9.00). LTX wins 7 of our 11 match-ups. Full tables: LTX vs Wan cost; LTX plans and traps: LTX API pricing.

By verified rate per usable clip (re-ranked Oct 26, 2026): Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio’s API ($0.025/sec, $2.25 per usable 30s clip; image-to-video only — Wan API pricing), then Kling 2.6 Standard mode without audio (3 credits/sec ≈ $0.03/sec on Kling Standard annual — $2.70 per usable 30s clip), tied with Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio on Vertex AI ($0.03/sec) and LTX-2.3 Fast 720p on LTX’s own API ($0.03/sec with audio included — the cheapest verified native-audio rate since Oct 26, 2026; LTX API pricing), then Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p on BytePlus ($3.24), Wan 2.6 Flash 1080p without audio ($3.38) and LTX-2.3 Pro 720p with audio ($3.60), then Kling’s own API ($3.78), then Veo 3.1 Lite ($0.05/sec, audio included — tied with Wan 2.6 Flash with audio), Kling 2.6 Professional without audio, Veo 3.1 Lite 1080p without audio and MiniMax H3-Max 480P (all $4.50), Pika Wan 3.0 ($5.28) and Kling 3.0 720p without audio ($5.40). Seedance 2.0 Fast 480p ($0.056/sec, $5.04) is 16th; Seedance 2.0 480p ($0.07/sec) and MiniMax H3 ($0.08/sec) APIs follow; For talking avatars, HeyGen Avatar III is cheapest per minute ($0.16 on Creator annual credits) and Hedra Character-3 is the cheapest pay-as-you-go option (from $0.025/sec at 540p) — see the cheapest AI avatar video generator. Subscription credits can be cheap — but check commercial rights, watermark and credit expiry first; the cheapest tier is often not licensed for commercial use. For YouTube specifically, see the cheapest AI video generator for YouTube ranking by cost per usable 30s/60s video and Short. Overall ranking: cheapest AI video generator.

Every plan, price per credit and verified per-second rate for all 17 tools we track is on one page: the AI video generator pricing comparison (2026). On verified rates a usable 30-second clip (1 try + 2 retries) ranges from $2.25 (Wan 2.6 Flash no audio on the Alibaba Cloud API), $2.70 (Kling 2.6 Standard mode, no audio) and $4.50 (Veo 3.1 Lite with audio) to $20.74 (Runway Gen-4.5 on Standard annual credits) and $76.16 (Seedance 2.5 1080p inside Runway, Pro/Max plans only, on Pro annual credits; Veo 3.1 or Seedance 2.0 Pro inside Runway is $69.12). New Oct 18, 2026: Seedance 2.0 inside Runway (Pro 1080p 40 credits/sec, Fast 29) re-checked on runway.com/pricing. Anything not verifiable on an official page — Vidu, Descript generation, Kling Ultra price — says check official pricing.

Kling membership plans listed 660 (Standard), 3,000 (Pro), 8,000 (Premier) and 26,000 (Ultra) credits/month on the official membership page. Official point policy: membership credits expire 1 month after distribution; purchased credits last 2 years; standard purchase pricing listed as $1 = 66 credits. Per-second rates were verified Oct 17, 2026 from Kling’s official VIDEO 3.0 and 2.6 guides: Kling 3.0 is 12 credits/sec at 1080p with native audio, 9 at 720p with audio, 8 at 1080p without audio and 6 at 720p without audio (+2/sec voice control); Kling 2.6 is 10/5 credits/sec (Professional, audio on/off) and 3 in Standard mode. Kling still shows the exact cost in-product before you generate. Full explainer: Kling credits explained.

Runway is calculable today: Gen-4.5 is 12 credits/sec, so one 30s try is $6.91 in Standard-annual credits (360 credits) and the effective cost with 2 retries is $20.74 at that credit rate (1,080 credits). Caveat: Standard only includes 625 credits/mo — about one 30s try, not the full 1,080 — so you would need a top-up (min. 1,000 credits for $10 at $0.01/credit, never expire) or a bigger plan; on monthly billing ($15/625 credits) the same maths is $8.64 single-try / $25.92 with 2 retries. Gen-4.5 also only generates 2–10s at a time, so a 30s finished video is stitched from multiple generations. Kling (rates verified Oct 17, 2026 from its official VIDEO 3.0 guide) uses the same 12 credits/sec at 1080p with native audio, but its Standard annual credits cost about $0.0100 each, so a 30s try is $3.60 ($10.80 with 2 retries), or $1.80 at 720p without audio (6 credits/sec). Full tables: Runway vs Kling cost per video. See the comparison page.

Pika, on official rates checked Oct 19, 2026. Pika credits cost about $0.00889 each on every annual plan vs $0.0192 on Runway Standard annual. Pika Wan 3.0 at 720p (33 credits per 5s) is $1.76 per 30s try and $5.28 with 2 retries; Runway Gen-4.5 is $6.91 / $20.74, and Runway’s cheapest models (Gen-4 Turbo, Wan 3.0 480p) are $2.88 / $8.64. The same Wan 3.0 model at 720p is $5.76 per 30s try inside Runway. Pika Starter ($8/mo annual) now includes a commercial licence (added Oct 2026, re-verified Oct 23); Creator ($28/mo annual) has the same credit price and 3.5× the credits. Full breakdown: Runway vs Pika cost per video.

Veo 3.1 (the current Veo 3 generation) costs $0.05–$0.60 per second with audio on Google’s Vertex AI (the Gemini API listed the same with-audio prices until its Veo 3.1 preview models shut down Oct 22, 2026), and $0.03–$0.40 without audio on Vertex AI (official prices checked Oct 20, 2026). An 8-second clip is $0.40 on Lite 720p, $0.80 on Fast 720p and $3.20 on Standard; a 30s video is $1.50 / $3.00 / $12.00 per try, or $4.50 / $9.00 / $36.00 with 2 retries. Inside Runway, Veo 3.1 is 40 credits/sec with audio — $6.14 per 8s clip on Standard annual credits. Veo 3.0 has a June 30, 2026 shutdown date, and the Gemini API’s Veo 3.1 preview models shut down Oct 22, 2026 (the same prices are listed on Vertex AI). Full breakdown incl. Google AI Pro/Ultra Flow credits: Veo 3 cost per video.

On verified official rates (re-ranked Oct 27, 2026), the lowest is Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p on xAI’s API at $0.02 per second with native audio ($0.90 per usable 15s clip; 9:16 not verified on its pricing page), then Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio on the Alibaba Cloud API at $0.025 per second ($1.13 per usable 15s clip; image-to-video only, 9:16 not verified on its pricing page). With 9:16 confirmed, Kling 2.6 Standard mode without audio and Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio on Vertex AI tie at $0.03 per second: a 15-second vertical clip is $0.45 per try and $1.35 usable with 2 retries, a 60-second clip $1.80 / $5.40. Posting one 15s Short a day is $40.50 a month at that rate; three a day is $121.50. With native audio, LTX-2.3 Fast 720p on LTX’s API is $1.35 per usable 15s clip ($0.03/sec, 9:16 listed) and Veo 3.1 Lite $2.25; Pika Wan 3.0 is $2.64 on Pika credits; inside Runway, Gen-4 Turbo is $4.32 and Gen-4.5 $10.37. Veo 3.1, Kling 2.6 and Runway Gen-4 / Gen-4 Turbo document 9:16 output on their official pages. Full table incl. monthly bills on real plans: AI video cost for TikTok and Shorts.

Bought direct, Veo is cheaper at every resolution both offer (official prices checked Oct 20–21, 2026): Veo 3.1 Lite costs $0.05 per second at 720p with audio ($0.03 without, on Vertex AI) and $0.08 at 1080p, while Seedance 2.0 on the BytePlus API costs $0.07 at 480p, $0.152 at 720p and $0.374 at 1080p. A usable 30-second 720p video (3 attempts) is $4.50 on Veo 3.1 Lite and $13.68 on Seedance 2.0. Inside Runway the order flips: Seedance 2.0 Mini (16 credits/sec) and Fast (29) cost less than Veo 3.1 with audio (40). Seedance makes 4–15s per generation, Veo 4, 6 or 8s. The Gemini API’s Veo 3.1 preview models shut down Oct 22, 2026; GA Veo stays on Vertex AI at the same prices. Full tables: Seedance vs Veo cost.

Credits = credits per second × 60 × attempts (official rates, checked Oct 16–20, 2026). One 60-second try needs 720 credits on Runway Gen-4.5 or Gen-4 (12/sec), 300 on Gen-4 Turbo, 720 on Kling 3.0 1080p with audio, 180 on Kling 2.6 Standard mode and 396 on Pika Wan 3.0 720p. A usable minute with 2 retries is three times that: 2,160 Runway Gen-4.5 credits ($41.47 at Standard annual’s $0.0192), 540 Kling 2.6 Standard credits ($5.40) or 1,188 Pika Wan 3.0 credits ($10.56). Runway Standard’s 625 monthly credits are less than one Gen-4.5 minute; Pro’s 2,250 cover one usable minute. Runway top-ups ($0.01/credit) are cheaper than Standard or Pro credits; Kling and Pika top-ups cost more per credit but last 2 years / 365 days. 30 seconds: halve it. Full tables: how many credits do I need.

On official pricing re-checked Oct 22–24, 2026: Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio at $0.025 per second ($0.75 per 30s try, $2.25 usable; image-to-video only), then Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio on Google Cloud Vertex AI at $0.03 per second ($0.90 per 30s try, $2.70 usable with 2 retries), then Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p on BytePlus ModelArk at $0.036 ($0.18 per 5s video; $1.08 / $3.24). With native audio: LTX-2.3 Fast 720p at $0.03/sec on LTX’s own API (audio on by default; LTX API pricing), then Veo 3.1 Lite 720p or Wan 2.6 Flash 720p at $0.05/sec; Wan 3.0 on Alibaba Cloud is $0.05/$0.10/$0.20 per second at 480p/720p/1080p (Wan API pricing). MiniMax H3-Max 480P is $0.05/sec, and Runway’s API bills $0.01 per credit (Gen-4 Turbo $0.05/sec, Gen-4.5 $0.12/sec — about half the Standard-plan credit price). The Gemini API’s Veo 3.1 preview models shut down Oct 22, 2026, so Veo is priced on Vertex AI. Every rate, per 5s/10s/30s/60s: AI video API pricing per second.

In Kling’s own app Kling 3.0 costs 6 credits per second at 720p without audio, 8 at 1080p without audio, 9 at 720p with native audio and 12 at 1080p with audio (official VIDEO 3.0 guide). On the Standard plan ($6.60/mo annual, 660 credits) a 5-second clip is $0.30–$0.60 and a usable 30-second video with 2 retries $5.40–$10.80. Inside Runway (verified Oct 22, 2026) Kling 3.0 Std is 9 credits/sec (13 with audio) and Pro 12 (17 with audio): $15.55–$29.38 per usable 30s on Runway Standard annual credits, or $8.10–$15.30 on Runway API credits ($0.01 each). Full breakdown: Kling 3.0 cost per video.

Without audio they tie: Kling 2.6 Standard mode (3 credits/sec in Kling’s app) and Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio ($0.03/sec on Vertex AI) both cost $2.70 for a usable 30-second video (3 attempts). With audio Veo 3.1 Lite is cheaper: $4.50 at 720p and $7.20 at 1080p, against $8.10 and $10.80 for Kling 3.0 with native audio. Kling 3.0 beats or matches Veo 3.1 Fast ($9.00 at 720p, $10.80 at 1080p with audio), and Veo 3.1 Standard with audio is $36.00. Inside Runway both cost far more: Kling 3.0 $15.55–$29.38 and Veo 3.1 $34.56 (no audio) or $69.12 (with audio). Full breakdown: Kling vs Veo cost.

LTX (Lightricks) bills its API per second of generated video, the same for text-to-video and image-to-video (official prices checked Oct 26, 2026): LTX-2.3 Fast $0.03, $0.06, $0.12 and $0.24 per second at 720p, 1080p, 1440p and 4K; LTX-2.3 Pro $0.04, $0.08, $0.16 and $0.32; LTX-2.5 Fast $0.09, $0.13, $0.19 and $0.30; LTX-2.5 Pro $0.12, $0.17, $0.25 and $0.39. A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $2.70 on LTX-2.3 Fast 720p and $8.10 on LTX-2.5 Fast 720p. Audio is generated by default at no extra charge. Inside Runway, LTX 2.5 Fast 720p is 9 credits per second, $15.55 per usable 30s on Standard annual credits. These LTX API rates are not yet in our ranking. Full tables: LTX API pricing.

Mostly no — Kling wins 13 of the 15 like-for-like match-ups we price (official prices checked Oct 26, 2026). Usable 30-second clip with 2 retries: Kling 2.6 Standard mode in Kling’s app $2.70 vs Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p on BytePlus $3.24; at 720p Kling 3.0 is $5.40 silent and $8.10 with audio vs Seedance 2.0 $13.68 and Seedance 2.5 $20.81; at 1080p with audio $10.80 vs $33.66 / $51.17. Inside Runway, Kling 3.0 Std (9 credits/sec, $15.55 on Standard) beats Seedance 2.0 Mini (16, $27.65). Seedance wins only at 720p with audio on a budget: Seedance 2.0 Mini is $6.84 (BytePlus lists no separate audio price) vs $8.10 for Kling 3.0 with audio. Full route-by-route tables: Seedance vs Kling cost.

On official list prices (checked Oct 19–27, 2026), Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p on xAI’s API: $0.02 per second with native audio, $1.80 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (text- or image-to-video, 1–15s per clip; the same price on the Runway API, checked Oct 27, 2026 — see Grok Imagine cost). Second is Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio: $0.025 per second, $2.25 usable — image-to-video only, Singapore / International list price. For text-to-video, Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio on Vertex AI is $0.03 per second ($2.70). With native audio, Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite is also the cheapest; at $0.03 per second ($2.70) Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 720p ties LTX-2.3 Fast 720p on LTX’s own API (text- or image-to-video, checked Oct 26, 2026), then $0.05 per second ($4.50): Veo 3.1 Lite 720p, Wan 2.6 Flash 720p or Wan 3.0 480p on the Runway API. Cheapest 1080p: Wan 2.6 Flash $0.0375 silent / $0.075 with audio. The Runway API never beats the model maker’s own API on price. Use-case and per-provider tables: Cheapest AI video API.

Kling’s own developer API lists video prices per second (Kling API video pricing page, checked Oct 25, 2026): Kling 2.6 and Kling 2.5 Turbo $0.042 at 720p and $0.07 at 1080p without audio; Kling 3.0 $0.084 / $0.112 without audio and $0.126 / $0.168 with native audio at 720p / 1080p; Kling 3.0 Turbo $0.112 / $0.14; Kling 3.0 Omni $0.084–$0.14; 4K $0.42. A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $3.78 for Kling 2.6 at 720p — about 1.4× the Kling app on Standard annual credits, and far below Kling inside Runway. Package sizes and minimum top-ups were not visible on the public pages. Full table: Kling API pricing.

Inside Runway, Kling 2.5 Turbo is 10 credits per second (image-to-video) and Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro 12 at 720p and 15 at 1080p (start/end frame), per Runway’s Academy credits page checked Oct 25, 2026. On Standard annual credits ($0.0192 each) a 30-second try is $5.76 and a usable 30-second clip with 2 retries $17.28 ($20.74 / $25.92 for Turbo Pro). The Runway API lists kling2.5_turbo_pro at 12 credits ($0.12) per second, $10.80 usable 30s. Kling’s own API lists Kling 2.5 Turbo without native audio at $0.042 per second at 720p and $0.07 at 1080p ($3.78 / $6.30 usable 30s). Inside Runway it is not cheaper than Kling 3.0 Std without audio (9 credits/sec, $15.55). See Kling 2.5 Turbo cost.

Usually, if you buy Wan direct. Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p without audio on Alibaba Cloud’s API ($0.025 per second, verified Oct 24, 2026) is $2.25 per usable 30-second clip (3 attempts), the second-cheapest rate we track (behind Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p at $1.80 since Oct 27, 2026), vs $2.70 for Kling 2.6 Standard mode and $5.40 for Kling 3.0 720p silent in Kling’s app. With audio Wan 2.6 Flash is $4.50 vs Kling 3.0 $8.10 at 720p, but Flash is image-to-video only; full Wan 2.6 with audio ($9.00 / $13.50 at 720p / 1080p) and Wan 3.0 at list price ($9.00 / $18.00) cost more than Kling 3.0 ($8.10 / $10.80). Inside Runway, Wan is cheaper: 5 credits/sec for Wan 2.6 Flash or Wan 3.0 480p ($8.64 usable on Standard annual credits) vs 9 for Kling 3.0 Std silent ($15.55). See Wan vs Kling cost.

Kling O3 (Kling 3.0 Omni) inside Runway is 13 credits per second at Standard (720p), 17 at Pro (1080p) and 43 at 4K, in the app and on the Runway API, the same with or without audio (Runway Academy credits page and API price list, verified Oct 24, 2026). On Standard annual credits that is $7.49 per 30-second try and $22.46 per usable 30s clip (3 attempts) at 720p, $29.38 at 1080p and $74.30 at 4K; on the Runway API ($0.01 per credit) $11.70 / $15.30 / $38.70. Kling’s own API lists Kling 3.0 Omni at $0.112 / $0.14 per second with audio at 720p / 1080p and $0.42 at 4K ($10.08 / $12.60 / $37.80 usable). Kling 2.6 Pro inside Runway is 25 credits per second ($43.20 usable). See Kling O3 cost.

HappyHorse 1.0 inside Runway is 15 credits per second at 720p and 30 at 1080p, in the app and on the Runway API (Runway Academy credits page and API price list, verified Oct 24, 2026). On Standard annual credits that is $8.64 per 30-second try and $25.92 per usable 30s clip (3 attempts) at 720p, $51.84 at 1080p; on the Runway API ($0.01 per credit) $13.50 / $27.00. Direct on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio HappyHorse 1.0 is $0.14 / $0.24 per second ($12.60 / $21.60 usable), and HappyHorse 1.1 is $0.07 / $0.14 / $0.18 at 480p / 720p / 1080p. See HappyHorse cost.

Inside Runway, Wan 2.6 is 10 credits per second at 720p and 15 at 1080p, and Wan 2.6 Flash 5 and 10, with or without audio (Runway Academy credits page, verified Oct 24, 2026; app only, not on the Runway API). On Standard annual credits a usable 30-second clip (3 attempts) is $8.64 for Flash 720p, $17.28 for Wan 2.6 720p or Flash 1080p and $25.92 for Wan 2.6 1080p. Direct on the Alibaba Cloud API (Singapore list prices) Wan 2.6 is $0.10 per second at 720p and $0.15 at 1080p ($9.00 / $13.50 usable 30s), and Wan 2.6 Flash image-to-video is $0.05 per second at 720p with audio or $0.025 without ($4.50 / $2.25). See Wan 2.6 cost.

Gen-4 Turbo, Wan 3.0 at 480p and Wan 2.6 Flash at 720p, all 5 credits per second (verified Oct 24, 2026): $2.88 per 30-second try and $8.64 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries on Standard annual credits ($0.0192 each), $3.60 on Max and $4.50 on the Runway API. Gen-4.5 is 12 credits per second ($20.74 usable 30s on Standard). Kling 3.0 Turbo (14 / 16 per second) costs more than Kling 3.0 Std (9). The most expensive is Seedance 2.5 at 1080p, 68 per second, Pro and Max plans only ($76.16 usable on Pro). See Runway models ranked by cost.

Seedance 2.5 on the BytePlus ModelArk API is $0.514 per 5-second video at 480p, $1.156 at 720p and $2.843 at 1080p (no video input; about $0.103, $0.231 and $0.569 per second, checked Oct 23, 2026). A usable 30-second clip with 2 retries is $9.25, $20.81 or $51.17. Inside Runway it costs 20, 30 or 68 credits per second and is on the Pro and Max plans only, not Standard: on Pro annual credits a usable 30 seconds is $22.40, $33.60 or $76.16, the most expensive verified rate we track. Pika’s Seedance 2.5 720p (122 credits per 5s) is $19.52. Seedance 2.5 costs about 1.5× Seedance 2.0 per second but makes up to 30 seconds per generation. Full tables: Seedance 2.5 cost.

Runway charges credits per second of video on every attempt (verified Oct 17, 2026): Gen-4.5 and Gen-4 12 credits/sec, Gen-4 Turbo 5, Aleph 2.0 editing 28, Veo 3.1 with audio inside Runway 40. Standard’s 625 monthly credits ≈ 52 seconds of Gen-4.5. A 30-second Gen-4.5 video needs 360 credits for one try ($6.91 at Standard annual’s $0.0192/credit) and 1,080 with 2 retries ($20.74). Standard and Pro credits expire on the billing date; Max rolls up to one month; purchased credits ($10 per 1,000) never expire. Full guide: Runway credits explained.

On Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, the official Wan API (standard list prices for the Singapore / International region, checked Oct 24, 2026): Wan 2.6 Flash image-to-video $0.025/sec at 720p without audio ($0.75 per 30s try, $2.25 usable with 2 retries — the cheapest verified rate on ClipCost until Oct 27, 2026, now #2 behind Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p, tied with MiniMax H3-Lite 480P since Oct 31, 2026) and $0.05 with audio; Wan 3.0 $0.05 / $0.10 / $0.20 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p; Wan 2.6 and Wan 2.7 $0.10 / $0.15; HappyHorse 1.1 $0.07–$0.18. Failed requests are not billed. Inside Runway, Wan 2.6 Flash 720p is $8.64 per usable 30s on Standard. Every rate per 5s–60s: Wan API pricing.

Aleph 2.0, Runway’s video-to-video editor, costs 28 credits per second of video you edit (140 credits per 5 seconds) with a 56-credit minimum per generation, on clips of 2 to 30 seconds (verified Oct 18, 2026). On Standard annual credits ($0.0192 each) a 10-second edit is $5.38 and a 30-second edit $16.13 per attempt, or $48.38 with 2 retries. Standard’s 625 monthly credits cover about 22 seconds of Aleph 2.0. On the Runway API it is $0.28 per second ($8.40 per 30 seconds). Gen-4 Aleph, the previous version, is 15 credits per second. Full breakdown: Runway Aleph 2.0 cost per edit.

On verified official rates (checked Oct 19, 2026), HeyGen Avatar III with a Video Look: 4 credits per minute, which is $0.16 per finished minute on Creator annual credits ($24 a month for 600 credits) or $0.48 with 2 retries. Avatar III Photo Look is 7 credits ($0.28), Avatar IV 16 or 31 credits ($0.64 / $1.24) and Avatar V 48 credits ($1.92) per minute. Creator’s 600 credits cover 150 minutes of Avatar III Video Look but only 12.5 minutes of Avatar V. With no subscription, the Hedra Character-3 API is 2.5¢/sec at 540p ($1.50 a minute), 5¢ at 720p and 6.25¢ at 1080p. Descript lists avatars on its Business plan but does not publish the credit cost. Full ranking: cheapest AI avatar video generator.

Yes — free, machine-readable: pricing.json has all 17 tools (plans, verified rates, cost examples, traps, official source URLs), and llms.txt summarises the site for agents. Free to read, attribution appreciated; prices change, so check the official source. Paid API access may come if there is demand — it is not available today. Register interest via The Weekly Credit Check.

Hands, text, faces, motion and prompt adherence fail often. Planning for 1–3 retries per usable clip is normal for client work; hobby clips may need fewer. That is why ClipCost prices the usable finished video, not the first generation.

Often, yes: Runway Standard/Pro monthly credits reset, Kling membership credits expire after 1 month, Pika plan credits refresh monthly, Luma monthly credits do not roll over. Purchased/top-up credits often last longer (Runway purchased credits never expire; Kling purchased credits 2 years; Luma top-ups 12 months). Each tool page lists the verified trap for that tool.