AI Video API Pricing in 2026: How Developers Should Compare Cost

Direct answer: for a 5-second, 720p video clip, published per-second rates in 2026 put cost per clip somewhere between roughly $0.11 and $2.00 depending on provider, billing route, and whether audio is included. At the low end, PixVerse V6 through fal runs about $0.225 per clip without audio. At the high end, Veo 3 Standard with audio runs $2.00 per clip through Google's direct API. Scaled to 1,000 clips a month, that's the difference between roughly $225 and $2,000, before retries. The rest of this article shows the sourced numbers behind that range and how to run the same calculation for your own workload.

Key Takeaways

Source Snapshot

Source	What it confirms	Observed
PixVerse Platform Docs	V6 credit table by resolution and audio, per-second billing	2026-07-09
fal PixVerse V6 model page	Dollar per-second rates for V6 by resolution and audio	2026-07-09
Google AI Gemini API pricing	Veo 3 Standard/Fast/Lite per-second rates by resolution	2026-07-09
MiniMax API video packages	Point package pricing and per-clip deductions for Hailuo models	2026-07-09
Runway API pricing	Credit-based per-second rates for Seedance, Gen-4, and Veo 3 routes	2026-07-09
Kling AI Developer Platform pricing	Unit-based pricing (1 Unit list price approx. $0.14); exact per-model rate not confirmed here	2026-07-09

This table covers provider-docs pricing only. TokenLab's own configured rates for video models are shown separately below, with their own sourcing caveat, so the two aren't mixed together as if they came from the same kind of evidence.

Named Provider Rates for a 5-Second, 720p Clip

This is the comparison developers actually want: what one clip costs, model by model, using each provider's own published rate.

Model	Provider route	Billing unit	Rate	Cost per 5s/720p clip	Source	Observed
PixVerse V6, no audio	fal	per second	$0.045/s	$0.225	fal PixVerse V6	2026-07-09
PixVerse V6, with audio	fal	per second	$0.060/s	$0.300	fal PixVerse V6	2026-07-09
Veo 3 Lite, with audio	Google direct	per second	$0.05/s	$0.250	Google Gemini API pricing	2026-07-09
Veo 3 Fast, with audio	Google direct	per second	$0.10/s	$0.500	Google Gemini API pricing	2026-07-09
Veo 3 Standard, with audio	Google direct	per second	$0.40/s	$2.000	Google Gemini API pricing	2026-07-09
Veo 3, no audio	Runway	per second (credits, $0.01/credit)	20 credits/s	$1.000	Runway API pricing	2026-07-09
Veo 3, with audio	Runway	per second (credits)	40 credits/s	$2.000	Runway API pricing	2026-07-09
Seedance, 720p	Runway	per second (credits)	36 credits/s	$1.800	Runway API pricing	2026-07-09
Seedance economy route, 720p	Runway	per second (credits)	29 credits/s	$1.450	Runway API pricing	2026-07-09
Hailuo, closest published tier is 768p/6s	MiniMax direct	point package (1 point ≈ $0.266 on Standard package)	1 point per clip	≈$0.266 (not a 720p/5s equivalent)	MiniMax video pricing	2026-07-09
Kling	Kling direct	unit-based	1 Unit ≈ $0.14 (list)	not confirmed at a specific model/resolution tier	Kling dev pricing	2026-07-09

Kling's per-model, per-resolution rate wasn't confirmed at the same level of detail as the other providers. If Kling is on your shortlist, pull the exact rate for your model and resolution from the developer pricing page before estimating cost; the unit-conversion snapshot here isn't sufficient on its own. Vidu is part of the video model category but has no verified pricing in this evidence set — check its API pricing directly before including it in a comparison.

TokenLab's Current Rates for Video Models

The table below reflects TokenLab's currently configured lock and per-token rates for these models, provided as reference data for this article. Unlike the provider-docs table above, these figures aren't tied to a dated public pricing page in the evidence checked for this piece — treat them as TokenLab's current internal configuration rather than a verified snapshot with its own source URL, and confirm the live rate on TokenLab's model directory before budgeting against it, since rates can change.

TokenLab model	Billing unit	Rate	Cost per 5s clip	Cost per 1,000 clips (5s)
Veo 3	per_second, lock	$0.20/s	$1.00	$1,000
Veo 3 Fast	per_second, lock	$0.08/s	$0.40	$400
PixVerse V6	per_second, lock	$0.022059/s	$0.1103	$110.30
Hailuo Standard	per_request, lock	$0.28/request	$0.28 (flat)	$280
Hailuo Fast	per_request, lock	$0.19/request	$0.19 (flat)	$190
Hailuo Pro	per_request, lock	$0.49/request	$0.49 (flat)	$490

Seedance models on TokenLab bill per output token, at rates ranging from roughly $0.62 to $6.76 per million output tokens depending on tier. That's not directly convertible to a per-clip figure without knowing output tokens generated per second of video for your prompts — this is not benchmarked in this evidence set. Run a small test batch and measure token usage per clip before estimating cost at this tier.

Hailuo's TokenLab rate is per request, not per second, so it doesn't scale with resolution or duration the way MiniMax's own point packages do. If your workload mixes resolutions heavily, compare the flat TokenLab rate against MiniMax's direct point deductions (0.7 to 2 points depending on resolution/duration) to see which structure fits better.

Sample Cost Calculation: 1,000 Five-Second 720p Videos

Route	Cost per clip	Cost for 1,000 clips
PixVerse V6, no audio (fal)	$0.225	$225
PixVerse V6 (TokenLab configured rate)	$0.1103	$110.30
Veo 3 Lite, with audio (Google direct)	$0.250	$250
Veo 3 Fast, with audio (Google direct)	$0.500	$500
Veo 3 Fast (TokenLab configured rate)	$0.40	$400
Veo 3 Standard, with audio (Google direct)	$2.000	$2,000
Veo 3, no audio (Runway credits)	$1.000	$1,000
Seedance, 720p (Runway credits)	$1.800	$1,800

That's the worked answer to "how much will this cost me a month for 1,000 5-second 720p videos": roughly $110 to $2,000 depending on model, route, and audio setting — up to an 18x spread inside a single named use case once you compare across both provider-docs and TokenLab configured rates. Audio, resolution, and provider markup are the levers that move you along that range. None of these figures include retries; if your prompt-adherence retry rate runs at 20%, add 20% to whichever line applies.

Why Resolution and Audio Move Cost 3-4x

PixVerse V6's own credit table shows 5 credits/second at 360p (no audio) rising to 18 credits/second at 1080p (no audio) — a 3.6x increase for the same duration and audio setting. fal's dollar pricing confirms the same ratio: $0.025/s at 360p versus $0.090/s at 1080p, also 3.6x. Audio adds a separate, smaller premium: PixVerse's 720p rate goes from 9 credits/second (no audio) to 12 credits/second (with audio), a 33% increase, matched by fal's $0.045/s to $0.060/s. If you're estimating cost for a product where users pick resolution, budget for a roughly 3.6x swing between your lowest and highest supported tier, not a flat multiplier.

A Practical Framework for Comparing AI Video API Pricing

• Identify the billing unit per model: per-second output, per-request/point package, or per-token. Confirm on the provider's own pricing page.
• Normalize to a fixed benchmark: cost per 5-second clip at 720p, using the named-provider table above as a starting point, then re-verify against the live pricing page.
• Add your measured retry rate. Video generation has a higher re-roll rate than text for prompt adherence on motion and temporal consistency — measure it on a test batch rather than assuming zero.
• Factor audio in or out explicitly; it changes the per-second rate by roughly 30% on providers that itemize it (PixVerse).
• Check rate limits (RPM) against your batch size — MiniMax's Standard package caps at 20 RPM, Business at 50 RPM — this affects wall-clock time more than dollar cost.
• Set an auto recharge or spend cap before production batches, so a retry storm or pricing-tier surprise doesn't produce an unexpected invoice.

For a deeper model-by-model breakdown beyond pricing, TokenLab's best AI video models API 2026 roundup covers output quality and prompt adherence tradeoffs alongside cost.

Single Provider vs. Aggregator

Going direct to Google, Runway, fal, or MiniMax gives you the exact rate shown above, with no markup layer, and full access to provider-specific features (Runway's credit system covers multiple models under one balance, for example). This works well once you've picked a model and don't expect to switch.

An aggregator route — one API and one billing relationship across multiple video models — reduces switching cost when pricing changes or a cheaper option launches. Video pricing and quality both moved meaningfully within single quarters through 2025 and into 2026 based on the provider pages checked here (older Veo 3.0 routes are scheduled for shutdown on June 30, 2026, with Google recommending current Veo 3 generation models). TokenLab's OpenRouter comparison covers this tradeoff for text and code models, and the same logic applies to video routing where deprecation cycles are short.

Compare video models to see current provider options and pricing side by side before you commit to an integration path. If you are ready to test, create a TokenLab API key and run a 5-10 clip batch before sizing monthly spend.

Managing Spend at Volume

At 1,000+ clips a month, unmonitored spend is the real risk, not the per-clip rate. TokenLab's billing dashboard supports org-level auto recharge with a configurable trigger amount (default $5), restore amount (default $30), and monthly recharge limit (default $300, maximum $10,000). When your balance drops below the trigger after settlement, TokenLab creates a Stripe invoice and recharges automatically, provided a payment method is saved and the monthly limit isn't already exceeded. If the monthly limit would be exceeded, auto recharge pauses and records a monthly_limit_reached failure instead of over-charging silently. On payment failure, auto recharge disables itself and you get a failure email rather than a silent outage.

For a workload generating 1,000 clips a month at $1-2 per clip, set the monthly recharge limit above your expected spend ceiling (for example, $2,500 if you're running Veo 3 Standard at scale) so a legitimate spike doesn't get blocked mid-batch. There's no public webhook for auto recharge events in this evidence set; monitor via dashboard status, low-balance email, and transaction history rather than building automation against an undocumented event stream.

Limitations

• TokenLab's video model rates in the second table above are its currently configured lock/per-token prices, provided as reference data for this article. They are not backed by a dated public pricing page in this evidence set the way the provider-docs table is — verify the current rate on TokenLab's live model directory before quoting it as a fixed cost.
• Kling's exact per-model, per-second rate wasn't confirmed in this evidence set beyond a unit-price snapshot ($0.14/Unit list). Verify the specific model and resolution tier on Kling's developer pricing page before quoting a per-clip cost.
• MiniMax Hailuo's published tiers are 768p/6s and 1080p/6s, not 720p/5s. The ≈$0.266-per-clip figure uses the closest published tier and isn't a direct 720p/5s equivalent.
• Vidu pricing wasn't included in this evidence set. Don't assume it fits the same range shown here without checking its own pricing page.
• TokenLab's Seedance rates are per output token, and this evidence set doesn't include a measured tokens-per-second conversion. Treat any per-clip Seedance estimate as not benchmarked until you've run your own test batch.
• This article doesn't include integration code samples. Exact request/response payloads (prompt fields, resolution parameters, audio toggles, duration limits, error shapes) vary by provider and were only partially evidenced here (fal's PixVerse V6 JavaScript subscribe call is the one documented example, and it wasn't reproduced verbatim here). Verify the exact payload schema and error handling — including 4xx/5xx/429/503 responses and retry behavior — in each provider's official docs before writing production integration code.
• All dollar figures above are provider list prices as observed on 2026-07-09, or TokenLab's currently configured rates as provided for this article. They don't include retries, failed generations that may still be billed (check each provider's own no-charge policy), or volume discounts above certain thresholds.

Beyond Video

The same normalize-then-compare approach applies to other categories. TokenLab's guide to the best AI image models API 2026 covers per-image versus per-resolution billing quirks, and best AI models for coding 2026 covers token-based pricing for models like Claude Sonnet 5, DeepSeek V4 Flash, and Kimi K2.7 Code. Browse TokenLab's full model directory to compare video, image, and code model pricing in one place before locking in a provider.

FAQ

What does a 5-second 720p video actually cost? Based on the named-provider table above, it ranges from about $0.225 (PixVerse V6 through fal) to $2.00 (Veo 3 Standard with audio, direct through Google or Runway). TokenLab's configured rate for PixVerse V6 comes in lower, around $0.11 per clip. The exact number depends on the model, whether audio is included, and whether you go direct or through an aggregator.

Is per-second pricing always cheaper than package-based pricing? Not necessarily. MiniMax's Hailuo models bill through prepaid point packages ($1,000 for 3,760 points on the Standard tier), which can work out cheaper per clip at volume than a straight per-second rate, but commits you to a monthly package rather than pay-as-you-go. Compare the effective per-clip cost of the package against per-second alternatives for your actual volume.

Does adding audio always cost 33% more? That ratio held for PixVerse V6 at 720p in the evidence checked here (9 to 12 credits/second, $0.045 to $0.060/second on fal). Other providers itemize audio differently. Check the specific model's rate card rather than assuming a fixed audio premium across providers.

How do I estimate my monthly AI video API cost before launch? Take the per-clip cost from the tables above for your target model and resolution, multiply by expected clip volume, then add your measured retry rate from a small test batch. Set an auto recharge monthly limit above that estimate so a spike in volume or retries doesn't get blocked mid-run, and monitor via the billing dashboard rather than assuming success.