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xAI API (Grok Imagine) pricing: what a usable video actually costs
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite straight from xAI, billed per second with audio included — from $0.02/sec (1.5 Lite 480p).
Official site Official pricing
Plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual equiv. | Credits/mo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go (API credits) | No subscription | No subscription | — | US-dollar API billing per second of video; minimum top-up and expiry not stated on the pricing page |
Credits explained
No app credits: xAI’s API bills US dollars per second of generated video. Verified Oct 27, 2026 on docs.x.ai/developers/pricing and the model pages (same rates in us-east-1, us-west-2 and, for 1.5, us-saltlake-2): Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite $0.02 / $0.03 / $0.14 per sec at 480p / 720p / 1080p (1080p is 720p upscaled); Grok Imagine Video 1.5 $0.08 / $0.14 / $0.25 (native 1080p). Both do text-to-video and image-to-video, 1–15s per clip, with native audio and lip-synced speech included; input images cost $0.01 each. The same models on the Runway API cost 2 / 3 / 14 credits/sec (Lite) and 10 / 16 / 29 (1.5) at $0.01 a credit. Minimum top-up and credit expiry for xAI API credits are not stated on the pricing page — check official pricing.
| Model / mode | Rate | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 480p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.02/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite 480p $0.02/sec. 1-15s per generation. |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 720p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.03/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite 720p $0.03/sec. 1-15s per generation. |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 · 480p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.08/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5 480p $0.08/sec. 1-15s per generation. |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 1080p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.14/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite 1080p $0.14/sec. 1-15s per generation. 1080p is rendered at 720p and upscaled. |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 · 720p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.14/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5 720p $0.14/sec. 1-15s per generation. |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 · 1080p, audio on New Oct 27 | $0.25/sec | Verified rate | Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI’s API pricing page (docs.x.ai/developers/pricing) and model page; same price in every listed region: billed per second of generated video, text-to-video and image-to-video, native audio with lip-synced speech on by default and not priced separately (generate_audio=false gives a silent clip; one price per resolution is listed), aspect ratios 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2, 2:3, 21:9, 5:2 (image-to-video matches the input image), +$0.01 per input image. grok-imagine-video-1.5 1080p $0.25/sec. 1-15s per generation. Native 1080p. |
Cost per finished video (before retries)
| Length | Cheapest calculable cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 5s finished video (1 attempt, no retries) | $0.10 | Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 480p, audio on |
| 30s finished video (1 attempt, no retries; 2 clips) | $0.60 | Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 480p, audio on |
| 60s finished video (1 attempt, no retries; 4 clips) | $1.20 | Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite · 480p, audio on |
Retries multiply this: with 2 retries (3 attempts total) a 30s video costs roughly 3× the table price ($1.80 here, rank 1 of 210 verified rates — the cheapest ClipCost ranks as of Oct 27, 2026). Use the calculator with your real retry count. Every route (xAI vs Runway API vs Runway plans) per 5s–30s clip and vs Wan, LTX, Veo, Kling and Seedance: Grok Imagine cost.
Watermark & commercial use
Watermark: Watermark rules are not stated on xAI’s API pricing or video docs — check the xAI API terms before publishing.
Commercial: Check the xAI API terms of service for output rights before commercial use.
Plan traps to know
- Clips are 1–15 seconds each, so a 30s video is at least two generations stitched together.
- Lite’s 1080p ($0.14/sec) is 720p upscaled — almost 5x the 720p price for an upscale. Native 1080p needs the full 1.5 model ($0.25/sec).
- Each input image adds $0.01 (start frame or reference); audio input with preset voices is free.
- Text-to-video on 1.5 and 1.5 Lite generates a first frame from your prompt and then animates it (xAI docs), so prompts behave like image-to-video.
- The US regional endpoint’s 1.1x premium is stated for token usage; video prices on the pricing page are the same in every listed region. Minimum top-up / credit expiry not published — check before you buy.
- On the Runway API, Lite costs the same (2 / 3 / 14 credits per second at $0.01) but Grok Imagine 1.5 costs more (10 / 16 / 29 credits: $0.10 / $0.16 / $0.29 vs $0.08 / $0.14 / $0.25 direct) — see Runway API pricing.
Best for
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite straight from xAI, billed per second with audio included — from $0.02/sec (1.5 Lite 480p).
Source
Verified from docs.x.ai/developers/pricing, the Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite model pages, the video overview and the video generation guide (length, resolutions, aspect ratios, generate_audio) — last checked Oct 27, 2026. If a figure says “check official pricing”, it could not be verified from an official public page that day and we did not guess it.