Cheapest AI video generation API in 2026: how to compare per-second pricing

The six things that change a video price

1. Resolution. The price rises with the resolution you ask for. Seedance 2.5 runs from $0.088 per second at 480p to $0.52 at 1080p. A price with no resolution next to it is not comparable.
2. Audio. Some models charge more with sound. Veo 3.1 at 720p is $0.20 per second without audio and $0.40 with it. Kling 3.0 at 720p is $0.09 and $0.13.
3. Reference video. A call that includes a video can be a different price from one that does not. Kling 4.0 at 720p is $0.18 per second plain and $0.11 with a reference video. Ask which seconds a seller counts: only the clip you get back, or the reference clip too.
4. Length limits. Each model has a duration range, for example 4 to 30 seconds for Seedance 2.5 and 4, 6 or 8 seconds for Veo 3.1. A model you can only run for 8 seconds at a time is priced per 8 seconds in practice.
5. Credits instead of dollars. A credit price is not a price until you know what a credit costs. One plan can pay $49 for 1,000 credits and another pay less per credit for a bigger bundle. Convert every credit price to dollars at the rate you would really pay.
6. Failures. Ask what a failed or blocked generation costs. If you are charged and have to retry, your real price per usable clip is higher than the price you were quoted.

A 720p price ladder

These are VidLab's public prices per second at 720p, lowest first, with the cost of a 10 second clip. Where a model sells sound as a separate option, this is the price without it.

The lowest price is not the right model for every job. A cheap model that needs three tries costs more than a dearer one that works the first time, so test the ones that fit your task on a short, low resolution clip first. Which AI video API should you use? matches models to tasks.

Work out your own number

Take the clip you will make most often and fill in four values.

1. Model and resolution.
2. Seconds per clip.
3. Audio on or off, and reference video or not.
4. Clips per month.

Then multiply: price per second, times seconds, times clips. For a 10 second Seedance 2.5 clip at 720p that is $2.10. Do the same sum for each seller using dollars, and the cheapest one for your clip is obvious.

You can skip the arithmetic for VidLab by asking the API:

curl -s -X POST https://vidlab.ai/v1/estimate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"kling-3.0","input":{"resolution":"720p","duration":10,"generate_audio":true}}'

The answer holds the variant that applies, the unit and the price in dollars. It needs no key and costs nothing.

Where VidLab fits

VidLab is one API key for the top image, video and audio models. Each call goes to the cheapest route that is up, the price you pay is the catalogue price whichever route runs it, and a generation that fails is not charged. Add a max_price_usd to a call and it is refused if the price is higher than you expected.

For one model compared against Higgsfield, see the cheapest Seedance 2.5 API. For the whole set of models, see a Higgsfield alternative for developers.