Open AI Image uses the current generator quote for each model and setting. Base monthly plans provide 300, 600 or 3,500 credits at $14.90, $29 or $149. Annual purchases issue credits monthly, with no rollover. Eligible verified accounts may claim up to 5 welcome credits for seven days; this can cover a low-cost image, not a Seedance video. Premium video unlimited is limited to one seven-day window of Seedance 2.0 Mini at 480p/four seconds. See Pricing and fair use for current availability.
Last verified: 2026-09-23. Open AI Image figures come from its current pricing page and the credit charge the generator shows before submission; Pika and Luma were re-checked on their official pricing pages the same day. Other competitor figures are from official pages on August 28, 2026.
TL;DR
- Compare the same resolution, duration, model, and billing interval.
- Open AI Image's monthly Seedance 2.5 cost per 5-second clip is about $4.97 on Lite, $3.22 on Pro, and $2.19 on Premium at 720p, the resolution used for every competitor row, and about $2.13, $1.61, and $1.03 at 480p, the resolution its plan cards quote, before retries. Yearly billing lowers the 720p figures to about $4.33, $1.61, and $1.46.
- Open AI Image uses the current generator quote for each model and setting. Base monthly plans provide 300, 600 or 3,500 credits at $14.90, $29 or $149. Annual purchases issue credits monthly, with no rollover. Eligible verified accounts may claim up to 5 welcome credits for seven days; this can cover a low-cost image, not a Seedance video. Premium video unlimited is limited to one seven-day window of Seedance 2.0 Mini at 480p/four seconds. See Pricing and fair use for current availability.
- Hailuo's 768p tier and Luma's Ray3.14 work out to about $0.30 per 5-second clip, Wan 2.6 is $0.50, and Runway Standard is about $0.60 for a 5-second Gen-4 Turbo clip. Pika's page no longer publishes a Pika 2.5 credit charge as of September 2026, so its figure is N/A; the August 28, 2026 page worked out to about $0.29.
- Kling does not publish the model-level credit charge needed for an honest clip calculation, so its per-video figure is N/A.
- Free plans are mostly evaluation allowances. Check resolution, watermark, model access, and commercial rights before treating free credits as production capacity.
Quick Answer
The cheapest plan is not automatically the cheapest workflow. Start with the clip you actually make, then divide the plan's monthly credits by the credits required for that clip. Divide the monthly fee by the resulting number of clips. If a service does not publish either part of that calculation, keep the result as N/A.
Historical pricing screenshot retained for illustration. Current Open AI Image prices and eligibility are shown on Pricing.
AI video generator pricing comparison
The reference cost uses a 720p, 5-second text-to-video clip where the official page publishes enough data to calculate it. Hailuo lists 768p rather than 720p, so its figure uses the closest published tier and is labeled accordingly. Luma's reference uses Ray3.14 because its official credit table publishes a 720p, 5-second rate. Open AI Image is shown at 720p, the like-for-like number, and additionally at 480p, the resolution its plan cards quote. Promotional and annual prices are separated from standard monthly billing.
| Tool | Reference purchase | Included usage | Reference clip calculation | Free access | Highest relevant published output | Commercial-use wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runway | Standard $15 monthly or $12 per month billed yearly | 625 credits per month | Gen-4 Turbo uses 5 credits per second: 25 credits and about $0.60 per 5s clip on monthly Standard | 125 one-time credits | 720p generation for the reference model, plus 4K upscaling on Standard | Check the current terms for the project and account type |
| Pika | Starter $10 monthly or $8 per month billed yearly as of September 2026 (the tier was called Standard in August) | 900 credits per month | N/A as of September 2026: the current page no longer publishes a Pika 2.5 credit charge. The August 28, 2026 page listed 20 credits for a 720p, 5s Pika 2.5 clip on a 700-credit plan, about $0.29 | Free plan lists 0 monthly credits; credit packs only | Not stated per tier on the current pricing page | No watermark on any tier, including Free; commercial license included from Creator ($35 monthly), not on Free or Starter |
| Kling AI | Standard $10 monthly before temporary offers | 660 credits per month | N/A. The membership page gives credits and their dollar equivalent but not the model-level charge for a 720p, 5s clip | Basic tier; monthly clip allowance is not stated on the page | Paid tiers list 1080p and 4K video generation | Paid memberships state that generated content is available for commercial use |
| Hailuo AI | Standard $14.99 monthly or $8.40 per month billed yearly | 1,000 credits per month | The official page lists MiniMax H3 768p at $0.059 per second on Standard: about $0.30 for 5s | One-time trial credits, limited to Hailuo models | H3 at 768p or 2K, depending on the plan and setting | Confirm the paid-service terms for the chosen output |
| Luma | Plus $30 monthly or $25 per month billed yearly, with 10,000 credits, as of September 2026 | 10,000 credits on the referenced plan | Ray3.14 720p, 5s uses 100 credits (20 credits per second): about $0.30 per clip at $30 per month | No free plan is listed on the pricing page as of September 2026 | Up to 1080p generation, with higher-end output options by mode | Plus lists commercial use; Pro and Ultra include everything in Plus |
| Wan via Alibaba Cloud | API usage, no monthly creative subscription required | Pay by output second | Wan 2.6 text-to-video is $0.10 per second at 720p in the international service: $0.50 for 5s | 50 output seconds for eligible new Model Studio users, valid for 90 days | 1080p published at $0.15 per second | Governed by Alibaba Cloud service terms |
| Sora | No current consumer video plan | N/A | N/A | No active web or app generation service | N/A | Sora web and app ended April 26, 2026; the API ends on September 24, 2026 |
Higgsfield is not in this table because it advertises broad model access on its paid plans rather than one model rate; it is compared separately in Higgsfield vs Seedance 2.5.
Why monthly price is the wrong comparison
Monthly fees hide three different billing systems.
Credit subscriptions
Fixed or relaxed generation
Some plans describe a mode as unlimited but attach a slower queue, an eligible-model list, or a fast-credit allowance. Luma and Hailuo both publish plan-specific unlimited or relaxed benefits for selected modes. These can be useful for exploration, but the unrestricted label does not mean every model, resolution, and queue is included.
API usage
Alibaba Cloud publishes Wan prices by output second. Runway also sells API credits separately from its creative workspace. API billing is easier to model because cost scales with output, but it does not include the same workspace, asset library, plan support, or consumer editing tools.
The cost-per-video formula
Use this calculation for any credit subscription:
credits per clip = duration in seconds × credits per second clips per month = monthly credits ÷ credits per clip cost per clip = monthly fee ÷ clips per month
If the provider charges a flat amount per generation, replace the first line with that amount. Keep the output settings fixed. Do not compare a 480p draft on one platform with a 1080p result with audio on another.
Open AI Image cost per 720p, 5-second video
Seedance 2.5 is billed at 6.1 credits per second at 720p and 3.05 credits per second at 480p before the plan discount, so a 5-second clip is 31 base credits at 720p and 15 at 480p. Lite applies a 10% credit discount and charges 28 credits at 720p or 14 at 480p after rounding. Pro charges 22 or 11 after its 30% discount. Premium charges 19 or 9 after its 40% discount. At 1080p, which Pro and Premium unlock, the same clip is 53 or 46 credits on monthly billing. Yearly billing changes the fee, not the credits: the per-clip charge and the monthly credit grant are the same on both intervals. The free plan's 5 sign-up credits cover entry models only, so it cannot run this reference clip.
The 720p rows below are the like-for-like numbers against the competitor table. The 480p rows use the resolution the Open AI Image plan cards quote and are included so the two are never mixed.
| Open AI Image plan | Reference clip | Monthly fee | Monthly credits | Credits per clip | Whole clips per month | Fee ÷ whole clips | Credit-equivalent cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite monthly | 720p, 5s | $14.90 | 100 | 28 | 3 | about $4.97 | $4.17 |
| Pro monthly | 720p, 5s | $29.00 | 200 | 22 | 9 | about $3.22 | $3.19 |
| Premium monthly | 720p, 5s | $149.00 | 1,300 | 19 | 68 | about $2.19 | $2.18 |
| Lite yearly, monthly equivalent | 720p, 5s | $13.00 | 100 | 28 | 3 | about $4.33 | $3.64 |
| Pro yearly, monthly equivalent | 720p, 5s | $14.50 | 200 | 22 | 9 | about $1.61 | $1.60 |
| Premium yearly, monthly equivalent | 720p, 5s | $99.00 | 1,300 | 19 | 68 | about $1.46 | $1.45 |
| Lite monthly | 480p, 5s | $14.90 | 100 | 14 | 7 | about $2.13 | $2.09 |
| Pro monthly | 480p, 5s | $29.00 | 200 | 11 | 18 | about $1.61 | $1.60 |
| Premium monthly | 480p, 5s | $149.00 | 1,300 | 9 | 144 | about $1.03 | $1.03 |
| Lite yearly, monthly equivalent | 480p, 5s | $13.00 | 100 | 14 | 7 | about $1.86 | $1.82 |
| Pro yearly, monthly equivalent | 480p, 5s | $14.50 | 200 | 11 | 18 | about $0.81 | $0.80 |
| Premium yearly, monthly equivalent | 480p, 5s | $99.00 | 1,300 | 9 | 144 | about $0.69 | $0.69 |
Fee ÷ whole clips divides the fee by floor(monthly credits ÷ credits per clip), the method used for every tool in this guide. The credit-equivalent column is fee × credits per clip ÷ monthly credits; it is what a clip costs if the leftover credits are spent on other models or resolutions instead of being stranded. Yearly rows show the monthly equivalent of the annual charge ($156, $174, and $1,188 per year for Lite, Pro, and Premium); credits are still granted monthly. Taxes are excluded.
Current Open AI Image generator controls with Seedance 2.5, 720p, and 5 seconds selected before submission.
You can check the displayed credit charge before submitting in the AI text-to-video generator. This matters when you add reference video, change resolution, extend duration, or use a mode with a different rate.
What a month of real use costs on Open AI Image
The table prices one clip. A budget depends on how many clips you make, so here are two illustrations built from the same numbers. Both count every generation as kept; multiply by your own retry rate.
A light month on Lite (monthly, $14.90). Three 5-second 720p Seedance 2.5 clips use 84 of the 100 credits, which is the $4.97 per clip in the table, and leave 16 credits: enough for one 480p Seedance 2.5 clip (14 credits) or one 720p Seedance 2.0 Mini clip (12 credits). Spending them brings the month to four clips at about $3.73 each. Monthly Lite does not include commercial use, so this is an evaluation or hobby budget; yearly Lite ($13 per month) does include it.
A heavy first month on Premium (monthly, $149). The 1,300 credits buy 68 whole 720p clips at about $2.19 each, or 144 at 480p at about $1.03. Premium also activates a one-time 7-day unlimited window for Seedance 2.5 and 2.0: text-to-video and image-to-video clips up to 1080p and 10 seconds deduct no credits and have no fixed clip cap, while reference-video, edit, and extend tasks still use credits. The free lane runs in a separate queue that slows down after heavy use, so plan on a steady daily yield rather than hundreds of clips. Illustration only: if the window adds 15 extra 5-second 720p clips over the week, the first month yields 83 clips for $149, about $1.80 per clip, or about $1.19 on yearly billing at $99 per month. The window is granted once per account, so from the second month the figures return to $2.19 (monthly) or $1.46 (yearly) at 720p. Plug your own count into the same formula: $149 ÷ (68 + window clips).
How competitor costs were calculated
Runway
Runway's Standard plan is $15 monthly and includes 625 credits. Gen-4 Turbo is listed at 5 credits per second, so the 5-second reference clip uses 25 credits. That produces 25 whole clips and a $0.60 subscription cost per clip. Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits per second and would cost about $1.50 per 5-second clip on the same plan.
Runway Creative plan screenshot captured on August 28, 2026, with annual-equivalent prices and monthly credit allowances.
Pika
Pika's pricing page changed between the two checks. On August 28, 2026 it listed Standard at $10 monthly with 700 credits and 20 credits for a 720p, 5-second Pika 2.5 clip: 35 reference clips, or about $0.29 each. As of September 2026 the equivalent tier is Starter at $10 monthly or $8 per month billed yearly with 900 credits, the free plan lists 0 monthly credits (credit packs only), every tier including Free lists no watermark, and the commercial license starts at Creator ($35 monthly). The current page no longer publishes a Pika 2.5 credit charge, so by the rule used throughout this guide the table shows N/A until it does.
Pika pricing screenshot captured on August 28, 2026, showing annual-equivalent plan prices and monthly video credits. The tier names, credits, and free plan changed in September 2026; see the text above.
Kling AI
Kling's current monthly Standard plan lists 660 credits for $10 before promotional discounts. It also gives a dollar equivalent per 100 credits. The page does not publish the credit charge for a specific 720p, 5-second Kling 3.0 generation. That missing denominator makes a per-video figure impossible to verify from the public pricing page, so the table uses N/A.
Hailuo AI
Hailuo publishes a direct per-second estimate for MiniMax H3. Standard lists 768p at $0.059 per second and 2K at $0.101 per second. The closest tier to the reference clip is 768p, which is about $0.30 for 5 seconds.
Luma
Luma's official Ray credit table lists Ray3.14 text-to-video and image-to-video at 20 credits per second at 720p, so 100 credits for the 5-second reference clip (re-checked September 23, 2026). With 10,000 credits on the Plus plan at $30 monthly, or $25 per month billed yearly, the arithmetic is 100 clips and about $0.30 each. The page lists no free plan.
Wan
Alibaba Cloud's international Wan 2.6 text-to-video price is $0.10 per second at 720p and $0.15 per second at 1080p. The 720p reference is therefore $0.50 for 5 seconds. On Open AI Image, the newer Wan 3.0 is billed in credits instead: 12 credits for the same 720p, 5-second clip with audio included, on the Lite plan and above or with a credit pack.
Sora
OpenAI's official discontinuation notice says the Sora web and app experiences ended on April 26, 2026. The Sora API ends on September 24, 2026. A current long-term consumer cost per Sora clip is therefore not a useful planning number.
Four costs the plan card does not show
Resolution and duration
Resolution can multiply the credit charge. Luma's published Ray3.14 rate rises from 100 credits at 720p to 400 credits at 1080p for the same 5-second clip. Wan 2.6 moves from $0.10 to $0.15 per second between 720p and 1080p. A cost comparison without resolution is incomplete.
Retries and discarded takes
The first result is rarely the final result. If one usable clip requires four generations, multiply the table figure by four. A $0.30 generation becomes a $1.20 usable shot before editing. Track the acceptance rate for your own prompts instead of assuming one generation per deliverable.
Queue capacity
Watermarks and commercial rights
A free result may be technically complete but unusable in client work. Pika lists no watermark on every tier, including Free, with the commercial license starting at Creator (as of September 2026). Runway Standard lists no watermarks. Open AI Image adds no watermark on any plan, including Free, but includes commercial use only on Pro, Premium, yearly Lite, and credit packs. Other services tie rights or export conditions to plan terms. Check the exact tier before delivery.
Best for and not best for
| Tool | Best for | Not best for |
|---|---|---|
| Open AI Image | Teams that want several video models on one credit balance, 30-second Seedance 2.5 clips, and no watermark on any plan | Buyers choosing only by the lowest short-clip price |
| Runway | Creators who want a mature workspace, editing tools, and several current models | A simple low-cost subscription for one basic reference model |
| Pika | Low-cost short clips with no watermark on any tier | Long-form production that needs broader editing and reference workflows |
| Kling AI | Kling-specific generation, 4K access on paid plans, and strong plan volume | Public cost-per-clip analysis, because model credit charges are not exposed on the plan page |
| Hailuo AI | MiniMax H3 users who want direct per-second estimates and 2K options | A strict 720p comparison, since the closest published tier is 768p |
| Luma | Ray workflows with clear resolution-based credits and higher-end output controls | Teams that want identical plan and API credits |
| Wan API | Developers who prefer per-second billing and regional deployment choices | Creators who want a consumer workspace included with the price |
| Sora | Existing API users completing migration before shutdown | New annual workflows or long-term production planning |
For a broader model and workflow comparison, see the 2026 AI video generator guide. If the immediate question is how far signup credits go, the Seedance free-use guide covers the entry models and practical limits.
A practical buying workflow
- Write down the output you deliver most often, including model, duration, resolution, audio, and input type.
- Find the provider's exact credit charge for that output. If the public page does not provide it, ask support or keep the cost as N/A.
- Calculate whole clips per month. Do not round up.
- Multiply by your observed retry rate. Four attempts per accepted shot means the working cost is four times the generation cost.
- Check watermark, commercial rights, credit expiry, concurrency, and whether annual pricing is promotional.
- Use a free allowance for one representative prompt before committing to a longer billing period.
That process gives you a production budget instead of a plan-card comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI video generator is cheapest per video in 2026?
For the 720p, 5-second reference used here, the lowest verifiable figures as of September 2026 are Hailuo's closest 768p tier and Luma's Ray3.14 on Plus, both about $0.30 per clip on monthly billing. Wan 2.6 international text-to-video is $0.50 and Runway Gen-4 Turbo on Standard is about $0.60. Pika worked out to about $0.29 on its August 28, 2026 page, but its current page no longer publishes a Pika 2.5 credit charge. Open AI Image is about $4.97, $3.22, or $2.19 on Lite, Pro, or Premium monthly at 720p. These are different models with different features, so the lowest arithmetic cost is not a quality verdict.
How do I calculate AI video cost per clip?
Multiply the duration by the credit rate, divide monthly credits by the resulting clip cost, then divide the monthly fee by the number of whole clips. Add retries separately. For direct per-second API billing, multiply the seconds by the published dollar rate.
Are free AI video generators really free?
Do AI video credits roll over?
It depends on the provider and tier. Runway Standard and Pro reset monthly, while Max can roll over up to one month. Pika allows purchased extra credits to roll over. Open AI Image grants plan credits each billing month, and its one-time credit packs stay valid for 180 or 365 days depending on the pack. Check the current terms before buying more capacity than you can use.
Is annual billing always cheaper?
The displayed monthly equivalent is usually lower, but an annual plan is only cheaper if you use the service consistently. Promotions can expire, credits may reset, and your preferred model may change. Calculate the annual commitment against your expected accepted clips, not the maximum number of generations.
