ClipCost · Last checked Oct 27, 2026 · Prices from verified data (JSON)

AI video generator pricing comparison 2026

Every plan, every credit price and every verified per-second rate for the 17 AI video tools ClipCost tracks — turned into one number you can compare: what a 30-second clip costs, once as a single try and once as a usable clip with 2 retries.

Run your own numbers Compare at 30s and 60s Cheapest ranking

Quick answer

The cheapest verified AI video rate in 2026 is Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p with audio (xAI API): $0.60 per 30-second try, $1.80 per usable clip with 2 retries. The #1 rate is billed per second on xAI’s own API, includes native audio, does text- or image-to-video in 1–15s clips and costs the same on the Runway API — see Grok Imagine cost. Next is PixVerse V6 · 360p, audio off (PixVerse API) ($0.67 / $2.00), then Luma Ray3.2 · 540p (Dream Machine), Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio (Alibaba Cloud API, image-to-video) and MiniMax H3-Lite API · 480P ($0.75 / $2.25); the cheapest subscription rate is Luma Ray3.2 · 540p (Dream Machine) at $2.25 usable. The popular all-in-one, Runway Gen-4.5, is $6.91 per 30s try and $20.74 usable on Standard annual credits — and Standard’s 625 monthly credits cover only one 30-second try. At the top end, Seedance 2.5 1080p inside Runway, a Pro/Max-only model valued at Pro credits costs $25.39 per try ($76.16 usable). Sticker prices hide a 3× multiplier: every retry is billed.

Basis: every number below is computed from assets/data.js, the same verified data the calculator uses, so the two always match. Credit tools are valued at the entry paid plan’s price per credit (annual billing where offered), assuming you use all your credits — except Seedance 2.5 inside Runway, which is on Pro and Max plans only and is valued at Pro annual ($28 / 2,250 = $0.0124 per credit). “Usable” = 1 try + 2 retries (3 attempts). Rates were checked on official pages: xAI API (Grok Imagine) Oct 27, 2026; LTX API (Lightricks) Oct 26, 2026; Kling API Oct 25, 2026; Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (Wan API, Singapore / International list prices) Oct 24, 2026; Runway (incl. Kling 3.0, LTX 2.5 and the new Seedance 2.5 inside Runway), Seedance (BytePlus, incl. the new Seedance 2.5 API) and Veo (Vertex AI) re-checked Oct 23, 2026; MiniMax Oct 22; Pika, HeyGen and Descript Oct 19; Kling Oct 17; the rest Oct 16. Anything we could not verify says check official pricing — we never fill gaps with third-party numbers. Cost only, no quality ranking.

Cheapest per usable 30-second clip (verified rates)

Text/image-to-video models with a verified official rate, ranked by the cost of a usable 30-second clip (3 attempts). Ties share a rank.

Not ranked: estimates (Hailuo 2.3 Fast — see below), Vidu web-app plans and Descript generation (not verified), and non-generators (Aleph 2.0 editing, HeyGen presenters, OpusClip repurposing — separate table). Plan rows above a plan’s monthly credits are an effective cost at the plan credit rate, not cash the plan alone covers. The cheapest tier is not always licensed for commercial use (free tiers often are not; Pika added a commercial licence to Starter in October 2026, Free still has none) — check each tool page.

Every tool and model, side by side

Rate, the price per credit we used, 30s cost before and after retries, and what the plan actually covers in a month.

Maths (identical to the calculator): credits/sec × 30 × $ per credit for credit plans; $/sec × 30 for APIs; usable = single try × 3. Example: Runway Gen-4.5 = 12 × 30 = 360 credits × $0.0192 = $6.91; × 3 = $20.74. Pika is valued at Starter ($8/mo annual, 900 credits); Kling at Standard ($6.60/mo annual, 660 credits); Luma at Plus; HeyGen at Creator; OpusClip at Starter monthly ($15, 150 credits) because Starter has no verified annual price. Bigger plans lower the price per credit — see the plan table.

Plans and price per credit

$ per credit = plan price ÷ monthly credits, assuming you use them all before they reset. “Check official pricing” = not verifiable on an official public page when we checked. API tools (Veo, Seedance, MiniMax) have no subscription: you pay per second or per video.

Editing, presenters and repurposing

These are priced per second or minute too, but they are not text-to-video generators, so they are not in the ranking above.

OpusClip charges per minute of source video processed, so a 30s clip cut from a 60-minute podcast costs 60 credits, not 0.5 — the figure above understates real cost when your source is long. Aleph 2.0 is priced per second of the video you edit (full breakdown: Runway Aleph 2.0 cost per edit). HeyGen makes talking-presenter videos, not B-roll scenes — per-minute costs, plan minutes and traps are on cheapest AI avatar video generator.

Estimates and “check official pricing”

• Vidu web-app plans (vidu.com) — plan prices and per-generation credits load dynamically and could not be verified on an official public page; we price Vidu’s official API instead: check official pricing.
• Descript — plans are verified (Hobbyist $16/mo annual, 400 AI credits), but the credit cost of AI video generation is not published: check official pricing.
• Kling Ultra (26,000 credits/mo) and HeyGen Pro/Business annual prices — check official pricing.
• MiniMax consumer Hailuo app plans — not verified; we price the official API instead.

New Nov 6 (9pm): PixVerse API ranked in data.js

24 PixVerse API rates (V6 / V6 Max / C1 at 360p–1080p, with and without audio) added under tool pixverse. V6 360p silent is $0.0222/sec = $2.00 usable 30s (#2 of 234; API #3). Counts: 18 tools / 246 models / 234 ranked / 190 API. Full tables: PixVerse cost; traps: PixVerse pricing.

New Nov 5 (9am): HeyGen cost page

Verified Nov 5, 2026 (~9:10am CT) on heygen.com/pricing and How to Use Credits: Avatar III Video Look 4 credits/min = $0.16 per finished minute on Creator annual ($0.48 usable with 2 retries); Photo 7; Avatar IV 16/31; Avatar V 48. No new models added this run. Full tables: HeyGen cost.

New Nov 4 (9pm): Gemini Omni Flash native rates

Verified Nov 4, 2026 (~9:10pm CT) on Google Cloud Agent Platform pricing and Gemini API pricing: Gemini Omni Flash / Omni 1.1 Flash video output $17.50/1M tokens → effective 360p $0.0338/sec ($3.04 usable 30s, #11 of 210), 720p $0.1014, 1080p $0.152 (upscaled), 4K $0.3041 (upscaled). Audio on by default; 3–10s. Nearly the same dollars on the Runway Dev API storefront. Full tables: Gemini Omni Flash cost.

New Nov 4 (9am): Runway API partner models ranked

Verified Nov 4, 2026 (~9:05am CT) on Runway API pricing and api.md duration limits: 16 previously “Not ranked yet” partner rates are now in data.js at $0.01 per API credit. Cheapest new row: Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 360p $0.034/sec ($3.06 usable 30s, #11 of 206). MiniMax H3 Max 480p $4.50; Kling 3.0 Std no-audio $8.10; Kling 4.0 720p promo $11.30 (20% off through Nov 30, 2026 UTC; list from Dec 1 $14.13). Audio Not stated for Gemini/MiniMax; Kling 4.0 always includes audio. Full tables: Runway API partner models cost.

New Nov 3 (9am): Which AI video storefront hub

Built Nov 3, 2026 (~9am CT) from verified rates already in data.js (no new rows; still 185 ranked). Side-by-side storefront tables for Seedance, Kling, Veo and MiniMax across Luma Plus annual, Runway app credits, Pika annual, and native APIs. Cheapest verified picks: Seedance 2.0 Mini 480p $2.70 on Luma (vs BytePlus $3.24 / Runway app $27.65); Kling 3.0 720p $5.40 on Kling’s app; Veo 3.1 Lite 720p with audio $4.50 on Vertex AI; MiniMax H3-Lite $2.25 on MiniMax’s API (H3 Max 480p with audio Yes: Luma $4.05). Luma and Runway official pricing re-confirmed unchanged. Full hub: Which AI video storefront.

New Nov 2 (9pm): Luma partner models ranked

Verified Nov 2, 2026 (~9pm CT) on Luma pricing: 26 Text/Image-to-Video partner rates inside Dream Machine are now ranked — Seedance 2.0 Mini from 12 credits/sec ($2.70 usable 30s on Plus annual, cheaper than BytePlus), MiniMax H3 Max 480p $4.05, Kling 4.0 / 4.0 Omni 720p $11.93, Veo 3.1 $31.50. Video-to-Video ~rates, Sync lipsync and Gemini Omni Flash are not ranked. Full storefront comparison: Luma partner models cost.

New Nov 2 (9am): Luma Ray3.2 verified and ranked

Verified Nov 2, 2026 on Luma pricing and the Luma API pricing guide: Ray3.2 costs 50 / 100 / 400 credits per 5s at 540p / 720p / 1080p in Dream Machine (Plus annual = $0.0025 per credit) and $0.15 / $0.30 / $1.20 per 5s on the Luma API. A 10s generation costs 3× the 5s price, so ClipCost ranks Luma at the 5s rate. That makes Ray3.2 540p on Plus $0.75 per 30-second try and $2.25 usable, among the cheapest verified rates; no audio. Full breakdown and flags: Luma cost. Partner models are now ranked too: Luma partner models cost.

New Nov 1 (9pm): Pika’s Kling 3.0 and Veo 3.1 Fast ranked

Re-verified Nov 1, 2026 on Pika pricing: plans unchanged (Starter $8/mo annual for 900 credits = $0.00889 per credit; packs 60 credits per $1 = $0.0167, top-ups only in Pika Create and MCP). Besides Wan 3.0 (33 credits per 5s 720p) and Seedance 2.5 (122), the page’s plan-finder data lists Kling 3.0 720p at 34 credits per 5s — $1.81 per 30-second try and $5.44 usable — and Veo 3.1 Fast 720p at 80 credits per 8s ($8.00 usable). The quotes don’t state the audio setting, and only 720p prices are published. Full breakdown: Pika cost.

New Nov 1 (9am): Vidu API ranked

Verified Nov 1, 2026 on Vidu API pricing (1 credit = $0.005, billed per second of output) and the Vidu API reference (1–16 seconds per clip, Q4 Preview 3–16s; audio on by default): Vidu Q3 Turbo is $0.035/sec at 540p — $1.05 per 30-second try and $3.15 usable — $0.06 at 720p and $0.065 at 1080p. Vidu Q3 Pro is $0.045 / $0.10 / $0.12 per second ($4.05 / $9.00 / $10.80 usable), Q3 Pro Fast $0.06 / $0.075 (image-to-video only) and Vidu Q4 Preview $0.045 at 540p up to $0.39 at 4K ($35.10 usable; image- or reference-to-video only). Off-peak half price is not used (Vidu’s pricing page and API reference disagree on whether it works with audio on). Full breakdown: Vidu cost.

New Oct 31 (9pm): MiniMax H3-Lite and H3-Highspeed ranked

Verified Oct 31, 2026 on MiniMax video pricing and the MiniMax video generation API reference (MiniMax-H3-Highspeed and MiniMax-H3-Lite, 480P or 768P, 4–15 seconds per clip; output audio not stated): MiniMax H3-Lite is $0.025/sec at 480P — $0.75 per 30-second try and $2.25 usable, tied for second-cheapest on ClipCost with Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio — and $0.04 at 768P ($3.60). MiniMax H3-Highspeed is $0.04 / $0.06 per second at 480P / 768P ($3.60 / $5.40 usable). Full breakdown: MiniMax Hailuo cost.

New Oct 27 (9am): Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API ranked — new #1

Verified Oct 27, 2026 on xAI API pricing, the xAI models page and the xAI video overview (text- and image-to-video, 1–15 seconds per clip, native audio): Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is $0.02/sec at 480p — $0.60 per 30-second try and $1.80 usable, the cheapest verified rate on ClipCost, with or without audio — $0.03 at 720p ($2.70) and $0.14 at 1080p, which xAI renders at 720p and upscales. Grok Imagine Video 1.5 is $0.08 / $0.14 / $0.25 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p ($7.20 / $12.60 / $22.50 usable). The Runway API lists the same models at 2 / 3 / 14 and 10 / 16 / 29 credits per second ($0.01 each), so Lite costs the same there and the full model about 15–25% more. Full breakdown: Grok Imagine cost.

New Oct 26 (3pm): LTX’s own API ranked (LTX-2.3 Fast / Pro, LTX-2.5 Fast / Pro)

Verified Oct 26, 2026 on the LTX API pricing docs (matching the LTX API pricing page; billed per second of output, text- and image-to-video the same price, generate_audio defaults to true): LTX-2.3 Fast is $0.03/sec at 720p with audio — $0.90 per 30-second try and $2.70 usable, then the cheapest verified rate with native audio (it was $0.05; since Oct 27 Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API is cheaper at $0.02/sec at 480p and ties it at $0.03 at 720p) — and $0.06 / $0.12 / $0.24 at 1080p / 1440p / 4K. LTX-2.3 Pro is $0.04–$0.32 ($3.60 usable at 720p), LTX-2.5 Fast $0.09–$0.30 ($8.10) and LTX-2.5 Pro $0.12–$0.39. Inside Runway, LTX 2.5 Fast 720p is $15.55 usable on Standard annual credits. Fast makes 6–20s per clip at 720p/1080p (24/25 fps), Pro and 1440p/4K 6–10s. Full breakdown: LTX API pricing; head-to-head with Alibaba Cloud’s Wan API: LTX vs Wan cost.

New Oct 25 (3pm): Kling’s own API ranked (Kling 3.0, 3.0 Turbo, 3.0 Omni, 2.6, 2.5 Turbo)

Verified Oct 25, 2026 on the Kling API video pricing page (list price, 1 unit = $0.14, billed per second of output, failed generations not charged): Kling 2.6 and Kling 2.5 Turbo are $0.042/sec at 720p and $0.07 at 1080p without native audio — $1.26 per 30-second try and $3.78 usable — Kling 3.0 is $0.084 / $0.112 silent and $0.126 / $0.168 with audio ($11.34 / $15.12 usable), Kling 3.0 Turbo $0.112 / $0.14 with audio, Kling 3.0 Omni $0.084–$0.14 without a reference video, and 4K $0.42 ($37.80). Kling’s app is still cheaper per second on a subscription (Kling 2.6 Standard mode $2.70 usable on Standard annual credits); Runway charges 2–5x more for the same models. Units come in prepaid packages whose sizes and minimum purchase are not on the public table. Full breakdown: Kling API pricing.

New Oct 25 (9am): Kling 2.5 Turbo and Turbo Pro inside Runway

Verified Oct 25, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page: Kling 2.5 Turbo is 10 credits/sec (image-to-video, resolution not stated, app only) and Kling 2.5 Turbo Pro 12 at 720p and 15 at 1080p (start/end frame; Runway API pricing lists kling2.5_turbo_pro at 12 with no resolution stated). On Standard annual credits a usable 30-second clip (3 attempts) is $17.28 / $20.74 / $25.92 — Turbo Pro 720p costs the same per second as Gen-4.5, and Kling’s own API sells Kling 2.5 Turbo for $0.042–$0.07 per second. Full breakdown: Kling 2.5 Turbo cost.

New Oct 24 (9pm): Kling O3 and Kling 2.6 Pro inside Runway

Verified Oct 24, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing (both agree for O3): Kling O3 is 13 credits/sec on Standard, 17 on Pro and 43 at 4K, the same rate with or without audio. On Standard annual credits a 30-second try is $7.49 / $9.79 / $24.77, and $22.46 / $29.38 / $74.30 usable with 2 retries. Kling 2.6 Pro inside Runway is 25 credits/sec (Academy page only; not on the API list) — $43.20 usable, more than Kling 3.0 Pro with audio and about 4.8× Kling 2.6 Pro with audio in Kling’s own app ($9.00). Full breakdown: Kling O3 cost.

New Oct 24 (3pm): HappyHorse 1.0 inside Runway

Verified Oct 24, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing (both agree): Alibaba HappyHorse 1.0 is 15 credits/sec at 720p and 30 at 1080p (text- and image-to-video, native audio, 3–15s per generation). On Standard annual credits a 30-second try is $8.64 at 720p ($25.92 usable) and $17.28 at 1080p ($51.84 usable). Alibaba Cloud sells the same model direct for $0.14 / $0.24 per second ($12.60 / $21.60 usable), and the newer HappyHorse 1.1 is cheaper still at 1080p. Full breakdown: HappyHorse cost.

New Oct 24 (9am): Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, the direct Wan API

Verified Oct 24, 2026 on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio model pricing (page last updated Oct 22, 2026; standard list prices for the Singapore / International deployment, billed per second of successfully generated video, failed requests not billed): Wan 2.6 Flash image-to-video is $0.025/sec at 720p without audio — $0.75 per 30-second try and $2.25 usable, the cheapest verified rate on ClipCost until Oct 27 (now #2 behind Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p at $0.02/sec) — $0.0375 at 1080p, and $0.05 / $0.075 with audio. Wan 3.0 is $0.05 / $0.10 / $0.20 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p (list price; a limited-time 30% discount is shown and not applied), Wan 3.0 Prime $0.068 / $0.14 / $0.28, Wan 2.7 and Wan 2.6 $0.10 / $0.15, HappyHorse 1.1 $0.07 / $0.14 / $0.18 and HappyHorse 1.0 $0.14 / $0.24. Inside Runway, Wan 2.6 Flash 720p is $8.64 per usable 30s on Standard. Every rate per 5s–60s: Wan API pricing.

New Oct 24: Wan 2.6 and Wan 2.6 Flash inside Runway

Verified Oct 24, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page: Alibaba WAN2.6 is 10 credits/sec at 720p and 15 at 1080p; WAN2.6 Flash is 5 and 10 (text- and image-to-video, one rate with or without audio). On Standard annual credits a 30-second Flash 720p try is $2.88 ($8.64 usable) — level with Gen-4 Turbo and Wan 3.0 480p as Runway’s cheapest rate — and Wan 2.6 1080p is $8.64 / $25.92. App only (not on the Runway API price list). Alibaba Cloud also sells Wan 2.6 direct per second — full comparison: Wan 2.6 cost.

New Oct 23 (9pm): Kling 3.0 Turbo inside Runway

Verified Oct 23, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page: Kling 3.0 Turbo is 14 credits/sec at 720p and 16 at 1080p (text- and image-to-video). “Turbo” means faster, not cheaper: it costs more per second than Kling 3.0 Std inside Runway (9 without audio, 13 with). On Standard annual credits a 30-second try is $8.06 / $9.22, $24.19 / $27.65 usable with 2 retries. It is not on the Runway API price list (app only) and runway.com/pricing names Kling 3.0 but not Turbo on its plan cards — check availability in-app. Every Runway model side by side: Runway models ranked by cost.

New Oct 23 pm: Seedance 2.5 inside Runway (Pro/Max only) and on the BytePlus API

Verified Oct 23, 2026 on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing: ByteDance Seedance 2.5 inside Runway is 20 credits/sec at 480p, 30 at 720p and 68 at 1080p (audio-video clips; input/reference video adds 10/15/34 credits/sec; 80-credit minimum per API generation). runway.com/pricing lists Seedance 2.5 on the Pro and Max plans only, not Standard, so we value it at Pro annual credits ($0.0124): $7.47 / $11.20 / $25.39 per 30-second try, $22.40 / $33.60 / $76.16 usable — 1080p is now the most expensive verified scene rate we track. On the BytePlus ModelArk API (list prices, no video input, page updated Oct 23, 2026) Seedance 2.5 is $0.514 / $1.156 / $2.843 per 5-second video at 480p / 720p / 1080p: $3.08 / $6.94 / $17.06 per 30s try, $9.25 / $20.81 / $51.17 usable. Pika’s Seedance 2.5 720p (122 credits / 5s, re-checked Oct 23) stays the cheapest 720p route at $19.52. Full breakdown: Seedance 2.5 cost.

New Oct 23: LTX 2.5 inside Runway

Verified on the Runway Academy credits page on Oct 23, 2026: Lightricks LTX 2.5 Fast is 9 credits/sec at 720p, 13 at 1080p, 19 at 1440p and 30 at 4K; LTX 2.5 Pro is 12 at 720p and 17 at 1080p, with audio (“synced audio” / “native audio”). On Standard annual credits that is $5.18 (Fast 720p) to $17.28 (Fast 4K) per 30-second try, $15.55 to $51.84 usable; Pro is $6.91 at 720p and $9.79 at 1080p per try. LTX 2.5 Fast 720p costs the same per second as Kling 3.0 Std without audio inside Runway (9/sec), and Pro 720p the same as Gen-4.5 (12/sec). LTX 2.5 is not on the Runway API price list, and runway.com/pricing does not name it on a plan card — check availability in-app. Also new: Kling vs Veo cost.

New Oct 22: Kling 3.0 inside Runway

Verified on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing on Oct 22, 2026 (and listed on all paid plans on runway.com/pricing): Kling 3.0 Std is 9 credits/sec without audio and 13 with audio; Kling 3.0 Pro is 12 and 17. On Standard annual credits that is $5.18 to $9.79 per 30-second try ($15.55 to $29.38 usable). The same model family on Kling’s own Standard plan is $1.80 per 30s try at 720p without audio ($5.40 usable) — about 2.9× cheaper. Runway does not state the resolution of Std vs Pro. Full breakdown: Kling 3.0 cost per video.

New Oct 22: Seedance 2.0 Fast and Mini on the BytePlus API

Re-verified on the BytePlus ModelArk pricing page on Oct 22, 2026 (list prices, no video input, per 5-second 16:9 video): Seedance 2.0 Mini $0.18 at 480p and $0.38 at 720p; Seedance 2.0 Fast $0.28 and $0.60 (both 480p/720p only). Per 30-second try that is $1.08 (Mini 480p), $1.68 (Fast 480p), $2.28 (Mini 720p) and $3.60 (Fast 720p); usable with 2 retries $3.24, $5.04, $6.84 and $10.80. Mini 480p ranks just behind the $0.03/sec tie (since Oct 27, Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p on xAI’s API at $0.02/sec is #1 and Alibaba Cloud’s Wan 2.6 Flash API at $0.025/sec #2), and at 720p the BytePlus Mini is about 4× cheaper than Seedance 2.0 Mini inside Runway (16 credits/sec, $9.22 per 30s on Standard annual credits). Same day: the Gemini API’s Veo 3.1 preview models reached their Oct 22, 2026 shutdown, so Veo 3.1 is priced here on Vertex AI (Agent Platform), whose rates we re-checked unchanged. Every per-second API rate in one place, incl. Runway’s API credits: AI video API pricing per second.

New Oct 20: Seedance 2.0 Mini inside Runway, and TikTok/Shorts costs

Verified on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing on Oct 20, 2026: ByteDance Seedance 2.0 Mini inside Runway is 16 credits/sec at 480p/720p in the app (the Runway API now bills seedance2_mini at 7 / 15 credits/sec at 480p / 720p with a 28-credit minimum, re-checked Oct 27, 2026 — see Runway API pricing) — $9.22 per 30-second try on Standard annual credits, $27.65 usable. Cheaper than Seedance 2.0 Fast (29/sec) inside Runway, but still above Gen-4.5 (12/sec). Making short vertical clips? AI video cost for TikTok and Shorts prices 15s, 30s and 60s clips with retries, lists which models support 9:16, and works out the monthly bill at 1 or 3 posts a day.

New Oct 20: Veo 3.1 without audio, and the Gemini API change

Re-checked on official Google pages on Oct 20, 2026. The Gemini API deprecations page lists the Veo 3.1 preview models (Standard, Fast and Lite) for shutdown on October 22, 2026, and Veo 3.0 for June 30, 2026. Google Cloud Agent Platform (Vertex AI) pricing lists the same with-audio prices for Veo 3.1, plus cheaper video-only (no audio) prices we have now added: Lite $0.03/sec at 720p and $0.05 at 1080p, Fast $0.08 / $0.10 / $0.25 (4K), Standard $0.20 (720p/1080p) and $0.40 (4K). That makes Veo 3.1 Lite 720p without audio $0.90 per 30-second try and $2.70 usable, tied with Kling 2.6 Standard mode at $2.70 usable, now a four-way tie for third with LTX-2.3 Fast 720p and Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 720p (behind Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p at $0.02/sec, Oct 27, and Alibaba Cloud’s Wan 2.6 Flash API at $0.025/sec, Oct 24). Inside Runway, Veo 3.1 without audio is 20 credits/sec: $11.52 per 30s try on Standard annual credits ($34.56 usable). Every Veo route, 8s to 60s, with Google AI plan Flow credits: Veo 3 cost per video.

New Oct 19: MiniMax H3-Max and Veo 3.1 Fast 4K

Verified on official pricing pages on Oct 19, 2026. MiniMax H3-Max, the fast variant of H3 post-trained by fal.ai, is $0.05/sec at 480P and $0.08/sec at 768P on the MiniMax API: $1.50 per 30-second try and $4.50 usable at 480P ($2.40 / $7.20 at 768P). It makes 5–15 seconds per generation, so 30 seconds is at least two clips, and extra reference images beyond the first two cost $0.074 each. Native audio output is not stated. Veo 3.1 Fast at 4K is $0.30/sec with audio on Gemini API pricing at the time (same price on Vertex AI, where it is sold since the Gemini API preview shut down Oct 22, 2026): $9.00 per 30s try, $27.00 usable — half of Veo 3.1 Standard 4K ($0.60/sec). Also added: HeyGen Avatar III Photo Look (7 credits/min), see the cheapest AI avatar video generator.

New Oct 19: Wan 3.0 inside Runway vs Pika

Verified on the Runway Academy credits page and Runway API pricing on Oct 19, 2026: Alibaba Wan 3.0 inside Runway is 5 credits/sec at 480p, 10 at 720p and 20 at 1080p — $2.88, $5.76 and $11.52 per 30-second try on Standard annual credits ($8.64, $17.28 and $34.56 usable). Pika sells the same model at 33 credits per 5 seconds at 720p (re-checked on pika.art/pricing the same day): $1.76 per 30s try, $5.28 usable — about 3.3× cheaper at 720p. Full head-to-head: Runway vs Pika cost per video.

New: Seedance 2.0 inside Runway

Re-checked on runway.com/pricing on Oct 18, 2026: Seedance 2.0 Pro 1080p is 160 credits per 4 seconds (40/sec) and Seedance 2.0 Fast is 116 credits per 4 seconds (29/sec); the Runway Academy credits page lists the same 40/sec (1080p) and 29/sec. On Standard annual credits that is $23.04 and $16.70 per 30-second try ($69.12 and $50.11 usable) — Standard’s 625 credits cover about 15 seconds of Pro or 21 seconds of Fast. The same model family on the BytePlus API is $4.56 (720p) or $11.22 (1080p) per 30s without video input. Both new rates are in the calculator under Runway.

All 12 tool pages

Guides built on this data

• Cheapest AI video generator — ranked per usable clip, with use-case picks
• Cheapest AI avatar video generator — HeyGen per finished minute, plan minutes, Descript avatars
• HeyGen cost — Avatar III / IV / V credits per finished minute, plan minutes, traps, vs scene generators
• Cheapest AI video generator for YouTube — 30s/60s videos and Shorts
• How much does 1 minute of AI video cost? — 60s single try vs usable
• Runway credits explained — credits/sec per model, 625 credits ≈ 52s
• Runway models ranked by cost — every verified Runway video model by credits/sec, $ per 5s/10s/30s try and usable clip on Standard, Pro, Max and the API
• Cheapest AI video API — all 125 pay-per-second API rates by use case (silent vs native audio, text vs image-to-video, 1080p, 4K), cheapest per provider and same model direct vs Runway API
• Kling API pricing — Kling’s own API price per second for Kling 3.0 (with and without audio), 3.0 Turbo, 3.0 Omni, 2.6 and 2.5 Turbo, per 5s–60s try and usable clip, vs the Kling app and Runway
• LTX API pricing — LTX-2.3 Fast / Pro and LTX-2.5 Fast / Pro bought direct from Lightricks, per second (from $0.03 with audio) and per 6s–60s clip with retries, vs LTX 2.5 inside Runway (ranked here since Oct 26, 2026)
• Grok Imagine cost — Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite on xAI’s API vs the Runway API vs Runway app credits, per second and per 5s–30s clip with retries, vs Wan, LTX, Veo, Seedance and Kling
• Which AI video storefront — Seedance, Kling, Veo and MiniMax priced across Luma, Runway, Pika and native APIs
• Luma partner models cost — Seedance, Kling, Veo, MiniMax H3 and Flux inside Luma vs native storefronts
• Luma cost — Ray3.2 in Dream Machine and on the Luma API per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, the 10s = 3× trap, credits per month by plan
• Pika cost — every verified Pika credit rate (Wan 3.0, Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1 Fast, Seedance 2.5 at 720p) per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, plan vs top-up credit price
• Vidu cost — every Vidu API rate (Q3 Turbo, Q3 Pro, Q3 Pro Fast, Q4 Preview, 540p to 4K) per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, Q2 first-second pricing, off-peak and web-plan caveats
• MiniMax Hailuo cost — every MiniMax Hailuo API rate (H3, H3-Max, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite) per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, input-image and input-video fees, H3-Regeneration, legacy per-video Hailuo-02 / 2.3 / 2.3 Fast and Hailuo via Runway
• Grok Imagine vs Hailuo cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite vs MiniMax Hailuo H3, H3-Highspeed, H3-Lite and H3-Max on their own APIs, the Runway API and the Runway app, plus legacy per-video Hailuo models, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 16 match-ups
• Grok Imagine vs LTX cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite on the xAI API vs Lightricks LTX-2.3 / LTX-2.5 Fast and Pro on the LTX API, plus Grok on the Runway API and both in the Runway app, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 13 match-ups
• Grok Imagine vs Seedance cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite on the xAI API vs ByteDance Seedance 2.0 / 2.0 Fast / 2.0 Mini / 2.5 on BytePlus ModelArk, plus both on the Runway API and in the Runway app and Seedance 2.5 on Pika, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 16 match-ups
• Grok Imagine vs Wan cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite on the xAI API vs Wan 3.0 / 3.0 Prime / 2.7 / 2.6 / 2.6 Flash on Alibaba Cloud, plus both on the Runway API and in the Runway app and Wan 3.0 on Pika, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 16 match-ups
• Grok Imagine vs Kling cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite on the xAI API vs Kling 3.0 / Turbo / Omni / 2.6 / 2.5 Turbo in Kling’s app and on Kling’s own API, plus both on the Runway API and in the Runway app, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 16 match-ups
• Grok Imagine vs Veo cost — xAI Grok Imagine 1.5 / 1.5 Lite on the xAI API vs Google Veo 3.1 Lite / Fast / Standard on Vertex AI, plus both on the Runway API and in the Runway app, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 13 match-ups
• Seedance vs LTX cost — Seedance 2.0 / Fast / Mini / 2.5 on BytePlus ModelArk vs LTX-2.3 / 2.5 Fast and Pro on the LTX API, plus both inside Runway (app), the Runway API and Pika, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 11 match-ups
• LTX vs Veo cost — LTX-2.3 / 2.5 on the LTX API vs Google Veo 3.1 / Fast / Lite on Vertex AI (with audio and video-only) and both inside Runway, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, 11 match-ups
• Hailuo vs Kling cost — MiniMax H3 / H3-Max / new H3-Lite vs Kling 3.0 and 2.6 on MiniMax’s API, Kling’s app and API and inside Runway, per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries, 11 match-ups
• Kling 4.0 cost — Kling 4.0 on the Runway API (20% promo through Nov 30, 2026 UTC vs list price), per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries, input-video billing, vs Kling 3.0, O3 and 2.6 (not ranked yet)
• LTX vs Wan cost — LTX-2.3 / 2.5 on LTX’s API vs Wan 2.6 Flash / 2.6 / 3.0 on Alibaba Cloud, inside Runway and on Pika, per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries
• Runway API pricing — every Runway API video rate (2–150 credits/sec at $0.01 a credit) per 5s / 10s / 30s clip with retries, minimums and surcharges, and API vs Standard / Pro / Max plan credits; Seedance 2.0 API price cut (Mini 7/sec) re-checked Oct 27, 2026
• Seedance vs Wan cost — Seedance 2.0 / Fast / Mini / 2.5 vs Wan 2.6 / 2.6 Flash / 2.7 / 3.0 / 3.0 Prime per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries, route by route (BytePlus API, Alibaba Cloud, Pika, inside Runway, Runway API)
• Seedance vs Kling cost — Seedance 2.0 / Fast / Mini / 2.5 vs Kling 2.6 / 3.0 / Omni / O3 per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries, route by route (BytePlus API, Kling app, Kling API, Pika, inside Runway, Runway API)
• Wan vs Kling cost — Wan 2.6 / 2.6 Flash / 3.0 / 3.0 Prime vs Kling 2.6 / 3.0 / O3 per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries, route by route (Alibaba Cloud, Kling app, Pika, inside Runway, Runway API)
• Kling 2.5 Turbo cost — Kling 2.5 Turbo and Turbo Pro per second and per 5s–60s clip inside Runway (app and API) vs Kling’s own API, Kling 3.0 and Kling 2.6
• Kling O3 cost — Kling O3 (Standard, Pro, 4K) and Kling 2.6 Pro per second and per 5s–60s clip inside Runway (app and API) vs Kling 3.0 and Kling’s own API
• HappyHorse cost — HappyHorse 1.0 and 1.1 per second and per 5s–60s clip inside Runway (app and API) vs Alibaba Cloud direct
• Wan API pricing — Alibaba Cloud Model Studio price per second for Wan 3.0, Wan 2.7, Wan 2.6, Wan 2.6 Flash and HappyHorse, per 5s–60s try and usable clip
• Wan 2.6 cost — Wan 2.6 / Flash per second inside Runway vs Alibaba Cloud direct, vs Wan 3.0 on Runway and Pika
• Runway Aleph 2.0 cost per edit — 28 credits/sec, 5s to 60s edits with retries, API price
• Kling credits explained — plans, expiry and per-second rates
• Runway vs Kling cost per video — head-to-head at 5s to 60s
• Runway vs Pika cost per video — 10s to 60s with retries, plan limits, and the same Wan 3.0 model priced on both
• Gemini Omni Flash cost — Google native Omni Flash token rates vs Runway storefront, per second and per 10s–60s clip with retries
• Veo 3 cost per video — Veo 3.1 price per second, 8s/30s/60s with retries, Gemini API vs Vertex AI vs Runway vs Flow credits
• AI video cost for TikTok and Shorts — cheapest per 15s/30s/60s vertical clip with retries, 9:16 support, monthly cost at 1 or 3 posts a day
• Seedance vs Veo cost — Seedance 2.0 vs Veo 3.1 price per second and per 5s–60s clip with retries, direct API vs inside Runway and Pika
• Seedance 2.5 cost — Seedance 2.5 per second and per 5s–30s clip with retries inside Runway (Pro/Max plans only), on the BytePlus API and on Pika
• Kling vs Veo cost — Kling 2.6/3.0 vs Veo 3.1 Lite/Fast/Standard per 5s to 60s clip with retries, in Kling’s app, on Vertex AI and inside Runway
• Kling 3.0 cost per video — Kling 3.0 on Kling credits vs inside Runway (Std/Pro, with and without audio) and the Runway API, 5s to 60s with retries
• AI video API pricing per second — Veo 3.1 (Vertex AI), Seedance 2.0 / Fast / Mini (BytePlus), MiniMax, and Runway API credits per second, 5s to 60s with retries
• How many credits do I need for a 1-minute video? — credits per 10s/30s/60s per model, what each plan’s monthly credits cover, and when top-ups are cheaper
• Runway vs Kling vs Pika vs Veo — 30s and 60s with retries
• AI video cost FAQ · Calculator · pricing.json · llms.txt

Three things the sticker price hides

• Retries are billed. Every discarded attempt costs the same as the keeper, so a usable clip is usually 2–3× the headline price.
• Plan credits expire. Runway Standard/Pro reset on the billing date, Kling membership credits last 1 month, Pika and Luma monthly credits do not roll over — unused credits raise your real price per credit.
• Generations are short. Most models make 2–15 seconds at a time, so a 30s or 60s video is several generations stitched together, and each one can need a retry.

Sources

Official pricing pages and docs used for each tool (rates in data.js cite these):

• Runway (checked Nov 4, 2026): runway.com/pricing, help.runwayml.com/hc/en-us/articles/15124877443219-How-do-credits-work, help.runwayml.com/hc/en-us/articles/46974685288467-Creating-with-Gen-4-5, help.runwayml.com/hc/en-us/articles/37327109429011-Creating-with-Gen-4-Video, academy.runwayml.com/models-pricing, docs.dev.runwayml.com/guides/pricing, help.runwayml.com/hc/en-us/articles/23987639973267-Will-unused-credits-carry-over-after-my-billing-day
• Kling AI (checked Oct 17, 2026): klingai.com/membership/membership-plan, app.klingai.com/global/quickstart/klingai-video-3-model-user-guide, klingai.com/quickstart/klingai-video-26-audio-user-guide
• Pika (checked Nov 1, 2026): pika.art/pricing
• Veo 3.1 (Google API) (checked Oct 23, 2026): cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/generative-ai/pricing, docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/models/veo/3-1-generate, ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing, ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations
• Luma (Ray) (checked Nov 2, 2026): lumalabs.ai/pricing, lumalabs.ai/api, docs.agents.lumalabs.ai/guides/pricing, docs.agents.lumalabs.ai/guides/usage, lumalabs.ai/learning-hub/dream-machine-credit-system
• HeyGen (checked Nov 5, 2026): www.heygen.com/pricing, help.heygen.com/en/articles/15126059-how-to-use-credits-on-heygen, help.heygen.com/en/articles/15544929-avatar-voice-faq-troubleshooting-best-practices-and-credits
• Descript (checked Oct 19, 2026): www.descript.com/pricing
• OpusClip (Opus Clip) (checked Oct 16, 2026): www.opus.pro/pricing
• Seedance (ByteDance / BytePlus) (checked Oct 23, 2026): docs.byteplus.com/en/docs/modelark/model-pricing
• Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (Wan API) (checked Oct 24, 2026): www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/model-pricing, www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan2-6-i2v-flash, www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan3-video-generation-api-reference, docs.modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com/en/model-studio/text-to-video-guide
• Kling API (Kling's own developer API) (checked Oct 25, 2026): kling.ai/document-api/pricing/base/video, kling.ai/document-api/pricing/base/video.md, kling.ai/dev/pricing, kling.ai/document-api/guides/capability-map/video, kling.ai/document-api/guides/get-started/quick-start
• LTX API (Lightricks) (checked Oct 26, 2026): docs.ltx.io/pricing, docs.ltx.io/pricing.md, website.ltx.io/model/api/pricing, docs.ltx.io/models/ltx-2-5, docs.ltx.io/models/ltx-2-3, docs.ltx.io/auto-top-up
• xAI API (Grok Imagine) (checked Oct 27, 2026): docs.x.ai/developers/pricing, docs.x.ai/developers/models, docs.x.ai/developers/models/grok-imagine-video-1.5, docs.x.ai/developers/models/grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite, docs.x.ai/developers/model-capabilities/video/overview, docs.x.ai/developers/model-capabilities/video/generation
• MiniMax / Hailuo (checked Oct 31, 2026): platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-video, platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/video-generation, platform.minimax.io/docs/api-reference/video-generation-v2-create
• Vidu (checked Nov 1, 2026): platform.vidu.com/pricing, platform.vidu.com/docs/overview/pricing, platform.vidu.com/docs/api-reference/video-models/vidu-q3/text-to-video, platform.vidu.com/docs/api-reference/video-models/vidu-q4-preview/image-to-video
• Black Forest Labs (FLUX 3) (checked Nov 3, 2026): bfl.ai/pricing?category=flux+3+video, docs.bfl.ai/quick_start/pricing
• PixVerse API (checked Nov 6, 2026): docs.platform.pixverse.ai/pixverse-api-pricing-2394995m0, docs.platform.pixverse.ai/text-to-video-13016634e0, docs.platform.pixverse.ai/billing-and-usage-2394984m0, docs.platform.pixverse.ai/faq-2394993m0

Prices change often. Every tool shows the cost before you generate — confirm in-product before you buy.

FAQ

What is the cheapest AI video generator in 2026?

On verified official rates, Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p with audio (xAI API): $0.60 per 30-second try and $1.80 per usable 30-second clip with 2 retries (pay-per-second API). It includes native audio and costs the same on the Runway API (2 credits per second). Next is PixVerse V6 · 360p, audio off (PixVerse API) ($0.67 / $2.00), then Luma Ray3.2 · 540p (Dream Machine), Wan 2.6 Flash 720p without audio (Alibaba Cloud API, image-to-video) and MiniMax H3-Lite API · 480P at $0.75 / $2.25.

How much does a 30-second AI video cost?

Across every verified text/image-to-video rate we track, one 30-second attempt costs from $0.60 (Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite 480p with audio (xAI API)) to $25.39 (Seedance 2.5 1080p inside Runway, a Pro/Max-only model valued at Pro credits). With 2 retries, which is normal, a usable 30-second clip costs $1.80 to $76.16. Runway Gen-4.5 sits in the middle at $6.91 per try and $20.74 usable on Standard annual credits.

Which AI video generators charge per second instead of credits?

The APIs: Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and 1.5 Lite on xAI's own API, LTX-2.3 and LTX-2.5 on LTX's own API (Lightricks), Kling 3.0, 2.6 and 2.5 Turbo on Kling's own API, Wan 3.0, Wan 2.7, Wan 2.6, Wan 2.6 Flash and HappyHorse on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, Veo 3.1 on Google Cloud Vertex AI (Agent Platform; the Gemini API's Veo 3.1 preview models shut down Oct 22, 2026), Seedance 2.5, 2.0, 2.0 Fast and 2.0 Mini on BytePlus ModelArk, MiniMax H3 and H3-Max, Vidu Q3 and Q4 Preview on Vidu's own API bill US dollars per second or per video, with no subscription and no monthly cap. Runway, Kling, Pika, Luma, HeyGen, Descript, OpusClip and Vidu's web app sell monthly plans with credits, so the real price per second depends on which plan you buy and whether you use all of its credits before they reset.

Is Runway or Kling cheaper per video?

Kling, on official rates. A 30-second Runway Gen-4.5 try is 360 credits, $6.91 on Standard annual ($0.0192 per credit), or $20.74 with 2 retries. Kling 3.0 at 1080p with native audio uses the same 12 credits per second, but Kling Standard annual credits cost $0.0100, so the same 30 seconds is $3.60 per try and $10.80 usable. Runway's own budget model, Gen-4 Turbo, is $2.88 per try.

Is Seedance 2.0 cheaper inside Runway or on the API?

On the API. Inside Runway, Seedance 2.0 Fast is 29 credits per second and Seedance 2.0 Pro 1080p is 40 (runway.com/pricing, re-checked Oct 19, 2026), so a 30-second try costs $16.70 or $23.04 in Standard annual credits. On BytePlus ModelArk, a 30-second Seedance 2.0 video without video input is $4.56 at 720p or $11.22 at 1080p, and the lighter Seedance 2.0 Fast and Mini models (480p/720p only, re-verified Oct 22, 2026) are $3.60 and $2.28 at 720p, $1.08 for Mini at 480p. Runway's Seedance rates include audio and sit inside a subscription, so compare features, not just price.

Why do some tools say "check official pricing"?

Because we could not verify that number on an official public page, and we do not guess. Today that covers Vidu's web-app plans and their per-generation credits (Vidu's API is verified and ranked since Nov 1, 2026), the credit cost of Descript AI video generation, the price of Kling Ultra and annual prices for HeyGen Pro and Business. MiniMax Hailuo 2.3 Fast and OpusClip are shown as estimates (Luma Ray3.2 is verified and ranked since Nov 2, 2026) because they are derived from an official bucket or per-video example, not a per-second tariff.