ClipCost · xAI API (Grok Imagine) pricing · MiniMax / Hailuo pricing · Runway pricing · Grok Imagine cost · Grok Imagine vs Veo cost · Grok Imagine vs Kling cost · Grok Imagine vs Wan cost · Grok Imagine vs Seedance cost · Grok Imagine vs LTX cost · Hailuo vs Kling cost · Runway API pricing · AI video API pricing · MiniMax Hailuo cost · Published Oct 31, 2026 · Prices checked Oct 31, 2026 · Re-ranked Oct 31, 2026 (9pm, H3-Highspeed / H3-Lite added) · Ranked rates from verified data (JSON)

Grok Imagine vs Hailuo cost: xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 and 1.5 Lite vs MiniMax Hailuo H3, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite and H3-Max, per second and per clip

xAI’s Grok Imagine Video 1.5 / 1.5 Lite and MiniMax’s Hailuo video models (now sold as the MiniMax H3 family) are both billed in dollars per second. Here is every verified rate — the xAI API, the MiniMax API, the Runway API and the Runway app, plus MiniMax’s legacy per-video Hailuo models — priced per 10s, 20s, 30s and 60s clip with the retries you will actually need.

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Quick answer

Grok Imagine is cheaper at the budget end; Hailuo is cheaper at the flagship tier and at the top resolution. Hailuo wins 8 of 16 match-ups, Grok Imagine 7, 1 tie. Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is $0.02 per second at 480p ($1.80 per usable 30-second clip, #1 of all 210 rates we rank) and $0.03 at 720p ($2.70); MiniMax’s cheapest current Hailuo model, H3-Lite, is $0.025 at 480P ($2.25) and $0.04 at 768P ($3.60); 480P ties for #2= of 138 since the Oct 31 9pm re-rank. The fast H3-Max 480P is $0.05 ($4.50, 2.5× Grok Lite). At the flagship tier it flips: MiniMax H3 at 768P is $0.08 per second ($7.20) vs $0.14 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 720p ($12.60, 1.75×), and H3 at 2K is $0.13 ($11.70) vs $0.25 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 1080p ($22.50, 1.9×) — and even below Grok Lite’s upscaled 1080p ($12.60). Inside the Runway app Hailuo is cheaper or equal; on the Runway API Grok’s Lite tier is the cheapest of either. Only Grok Imagine states that audio is included.

Basis: usable = 3 attempts (1 + 2 retries) at the list price per second, as in our calculator. Rank = position among the 210 verified usable-30s rates in our verified data (ties share a rank); API # = position among the 138 rates on AI video API pricing. Runway app rows use Standard annual credits ($12/mo for 625 = $0.0192 per credit). Text-to-video / image-to-video prices without paid reference inputs; cost only — no quality ranking. MiniMax’s 768P and 2K are not the same sizes as Grok’s 720p and 1080p.

Grok Imagine vs Hailuo head-to-head (usable 30-second clip)

Hailuo wins 8 of 16 counted match-ups (flagship 480p, 720p/768P and top resolution on the APIs and Runway, plus cheapest 1080p-or-higher), Grok Imagine 7 (every budget and fast-tier match-up, on xAI and the Runway API), 1 tie (cheapest Runway app rate, 10 credits per second each). The two legacy per-video rows are not counted. Grok Imagine rates include generated audio; MiniMax does not state audio for Hailuo output.

Every Grok Imagine and Hailuo route, cheapest first

Runway app rows on Max annual credits ($0.008 per credit): Grok Imagine 1.5 480p $7.20, 720p $11.52, 1080p $20.88; MiniMax H3 768p $7.20, 2K $10.80. Page-only rows (Runway app rows, Runway API h3_max / hailuo3) are official prices not in our rankings (“would be #”). Runway charges +1 credit per image or audio reference for Grok and +2 per reference image or keyframe for hailuo3. Flag: the Runway Academy page lists Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite in the app at 10 / 15 / 70 credits per second while the Runway API lists 2 / 3 / 14; we could not confirm which applies in the app, so those rows are left out.

Cost per 10s, 20s, 30s and 60s clip: try and usable

Per-second billing for every row. Grok Imagine makes 1–15 seconds per generation (default 8, xAI video generation guide). MiniMax H3, H3-Highspeed and H3-Lite make 4–15 seconds and H3-Max 5–15 seconds, whole seconds only (MiniMax video generation API reference). Longer clips are stitched from several generations at the same per-second price.

Legacy Hailuo models (priced per video)

From the “Legacy Models” list on MiniMax video pricing (Oct 31, 2026). These are fixed 6s / 10s clips, not per-second rates, so we price the cheapest exact combination of clips for each length (five 6s clips can beat three 10s clips) and don’t rank them; our calculator keeps Hailuo 2.3 Fast as an estimate. 1080P comes in 6s clips only, so 10s and 20s can’t be made exactly. MiniMax’s current guides document the H3 family only, so check legacy availability on your account. MiniMax Video Packages (from $1,000, valid 1 month) cover these Hailuo models but not H3.

Which to pick (on cost)

• Cheapest drafts: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p on xAI or the Runway API, $1.80 per usable 30s. On Hailuo, H3-Lite 480P ($2.25). See xAI API (Grok Imagine) pricing and Grok Imagine cost.
• Cheapest 720p-class with sound: Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 720p ($2.70) — cheaper than H3-Lite 768P ($3.60), and the audio is stated.
• Flagship quality tier: MiniMax H3 768P ($7.20) over Grok Imagine 1.5 720p ($12.60). See MiniMax / Hailuo pricing.
• Highest resolution: MiniMax H3 2K ($11.70) costs less than Grok Imagine 1.5 native 1080p ($22.50) and Grok Lite’s upscaled 1080p ($12.60).
• Building on an API: both are among the cheapest — see Cheapest AI video API and AI video API pricing.
• Already paying for Runway: in the app, MiniMax H3 768p ($17.28) costs the same as Grok Imagine 1.5 480p and less than its 720p ($27.65); on the Runway API, grok_imagine_1_5_lite ($1.80 at 480p) is cheapest, and hailuo3 ($9.00) beats grok_imagine_1_5 ($14.40). See Runway pricing and Runway models ranked by cost.

Related: calculator · Runway vs Kling vs Pika vs Veo · AI video pricing comparison · AI video API pricing · Cheapest AI video API · Cheapest AI video generator · Grok Imagine cost · Grok Imagine vs Veo cost · Grok Imagine vs Kling cost · Grok Imagine vs Wan cost · Grok Imagine vs Seedance cost · Grok Imagine vs LTX cost · Hailuo vs Kling cost · MiniMax Hailuo cost · Runway API pricing · AI video for TikTok/Shorts cost · FAQ.

Sources (checked Oct 31, 2026)

• xAI API pricing — grok-imagine-video-1.5 $0.08 / $0.14 / $0.25 and grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite $0.02 / $0.03 / $0.14 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p, +$0.01 per input image. Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite model page — 1080p is rendered at 720p and upscaled (checked Oct 27, 2026). xAI video generation guide — 1 to 15 seconds per generation; generate_audio=false for a silent clip.
• MiniMax video pricing — per second of output: MiniMax-H3 768P $0.08 / 2K $0.13; H3-Highspeed 480P $0.04 / 768P $0.06; H3-Lite 480P $0.025 / 768P $0.04; H3-Max 480P $0.05 / 768P $0.08. Images after the free quota $0.04 / $0.03 / $0.02 / $0.074; input video at the output rate (H3-Max $0.0553 / $0.143); H3-Regeneration 768P→2K $0.05; legacy Hailuo-02, 2.3 and 2.3 Fast per-video prices; Video Packages exclude H3. MiniMax video generation API reference — models MiniMax-H3, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite, H3-Max; durations 4–15s (H3-Max 5–15s). MiniMax video-generation guide — names MiniMax-H3 only (see flag).
• Runway API pricing — grok_imagine_1_5_lite 2 / 3 / 14, grok_imagine_1_5 10 / 16 / 29 credits per second (480p / 720p / 1080p); h3_max 5 / 8 (480p / 768p); hailuo3 10 / 15 (768P / 2K), $0.01 per credit. Runway Academy credits page — Grok Imagine 1.5 10 / 16 / 29 (image-to-video); Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 10 / 15 / 70 (conflicts with the API, see flag); MiniMax H3 768p 10 / 2K 15 credits per second. runway.com/pricing — Standard $12/mo annual for 625 credits, Pro $28 for 2,250, Max $76 for 9,500.

FAQ

Is Grok Imagine or Hailuo cheaper?

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's cheapest Hailuo rates, H3-Lite at $0.025 / $0.04 per second at 480P / 768P ($2.25 / $3.60; ranked since Oct 31, 2026), and H3-Max 480P at $0.05 ($4.50). Hailuo is cheaper at the flagship tier: MiniMax H3 at 768P is $0.08 per second ($7.20) vs $0.14 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 720p ($12.60), and H3 at 2K is $0.13 ($11.70) vs $0.25 for Grok Imagine 1.5 at 1080p ($22.50). Hailuo wins 8 of 16 match-ups, Grok Imagine 7, with 1 tie.

How much does a 30-second video cost on Grok Imagine vs Hailuo?

With 2 retries (3 attempts), a usable 30-second clip costs $1.80 on Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p, $2.70 at 720p, $12.60 on Grok Imagine 1.5 720p and $22.50 at 1080p on xAI's API, audio included. On MiniMax's API it is $2.25 on H3-Lite 480P, $3.60 on H3-Lite 768P, $5.40 on H3-Highspeed 768P, $4.50 on H3-Max 480P, $7.20 on H3 768P and $11.70 on H3 2K. One 30-second try is a third of that. Grok Imagine makes 1 to 15 seconds per generation and MiniMax H3 4 to 15 seconds (H3-Max 5 to 15), so 30 seconds is at least two generations on either.

What is the cheapest way to use Grok Imagine or Hailuo?

Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite at 480p, $0.02 per second, either on xAI's API or on the Runway API (grok_imagine_1_5_lite, 2 credits per second at $0.01) — $1.80 per usable 30-second clip, #1 of the 210 rates we rank. The cheapest current Hailuo model is MiniMax H3-Lite at 480P, $0.025 per second ($2.25). MiniMax's legacy Hailuo-02 at 512P is cheaper still at $0.15 per 10-second video ($1.35 per usable 30 seconds), but it is an older, lower-resolution model sold per fixed-length clip, so we don't rank it.

Is Grok Imagine or Hailuo cheaper on Runway?

Hailuo, except at the very bottom of the Runway API. In the Runway app MiniMax H3 is 10 credits per second at 768p and 15 at 2K, against 10 / 16 / 29 for Grok Imagine 1.5 (image-to-video) at 480p / 720p / 1080p (Runway Academy, Oct 31, 2026); on Standard annual credits a usable 30-second clip is $17.28 with H3 768p vs $27.65 with Grok Imagine 1.5 720p, and $25.92 with H3 2K vs $50.11 at 1080p. On the Runway API, grok_imagine_1_5_lite (2 / 3 credits per second at 480p / 720p) beats h3_max (5 / 8), while hailuo3 (10 / 15 at 768P / 2K) beats grok_imagine_1_5 (16 / 29 at 720p / 1080p). The Runway app lists Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite at 10 / 15 / 70 credits, which conflicts with the API's 2 / 3 / 14, so check the cost in the app before you generate.

Do Grok Imagine and Hailuo include audio in the price?

Grok Imagine does: xAI charges one price per resolution with generated audio on by default, and generate_audio=false gives a silent clip at the same price. MiniMax does not say whether H3, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite or H3-Max output includes generated audio; it only says audio input (as a reference) is free. So if you need sound in the clip itself, Grok Imagine is the only side of this comparison with a stated audio price.

Do Hailuo reference images or videos cost extra?

Yes, on MiniMax's API. H3 includes the first 5 images per task free, then $0.04 per image (H3-Highspeed $0.03, H3-Lite $0.02); H3-Max includes 2, then $0.074. Input video is billed per second at the output rate (H3-Max: $0.0553 at 480P and $0.143 at 768P). Upscaling an H3 768P video to 2K with H3-Regeneration is a separate $0.05 per second. On the Runway API, hailuo3 adds 2 credits per reference image or keyframe; Grok Imagine adds $0.01 per input image on xAI and 1 credit per reference on Runway. MiniMax's prepaid Video Packages (from $1,000, valid 1 month) cover the legacy Hailuo models but not H3.