Runway
Gen-4.5 at 12 credits/sec; plans from $12/mo annual.
Prices verified Oct 16, 2026 · No affiliate links yet
What an AI video actually costs per usable clip.
Sticker prices lie. Credits, retries, watermarks and expiring balances decide what you really pay. Pick a tool, tell us how many times you usually regenerate, and get the honest number.
AI video cost calculator
Transparent maths, shown step-by-step under your result. Rates come from assets/data.js, verified on official pricing pages (last checked Oct 16, 2026). “Estimate” means the rate was derived from an official plan/bucket example, not a published per-second tariff. The result shows single-try cost first, then the effective cost per usable video with your retries — and warns when the selected plan’s monthly credits don’t actually cover the scenario.
Why “per usable clip” changes everything
A $0.76 generation is not a $0.76 video. If one in three generations is usable, your real cost is about 3× the sticker. ClipCost multiplies every rate by 1 + your retries, uses the real price-per-credit of the plan you pick, and flags the traps — expiring credits, no commercial licence on cheap tiers, watermarked exports — before you pay.
12 tools, priced honestly
Kling AI
660–26,000 credits/mo plans; per-gen cost: check official pricing.
Pika
Wan 3.0 33 credits/5s; commercial license only from Creator.
Veo 3.1 (Gemini API)
$0.05–$0.60/sec pay-as-you-go, audio included.
Luma (Ray)
10,000+ credits/mo; Ray3.2 from 50 credits/5s at 540p.
HeyGen
Avatar video from 4 credits/min (Avatar III Video Look).
Hedra
Character-3 API from 2.5¢/sec; talking photos.
Descript
Media hours + AI credits; editor, not pure generator.
OpusClip
Pay per source minute processed, not per clip second.
Seedance
API: $0.76 per 5s at 720p (no video input).
MiniMax / Hailuo
H3 API $0.08/sec at 768P.
Vidu
Reference-to-video; per-gen cost: check official pricing.
Quick answers
How much does 1 minute of AI video cost? From about $3.00 on Veo 3.1 Lite (720p, 1 attempt) to $24+ on Veo Standard — before retries. See the FAQ.
Cheapest way to start? Often a low per-second API (Seedance, MiniMax H3, Veo Lite) or Pika Wan — depending on whether you need commercial rights. Compare at 30s and 60s.