The Cheapest AI Video Generator? Price Per Second, Compared
"Cheapest AI video generator" is a slippery question, because almost every model is billed per second of video, and the rate moves with resolution and with whether the clip has sound. A model that is cheap at 480p can be the priciest at 1080p. A silent clip and a clip with a soundtrack are different products.
So instead of one winner, here is every model in the TalkPix AI Video studio side by side, in credits per second. They are all paid from the same one-time credit packs, which start at $5 for 50 credits. Credits never expire, and the exact cost of a clip is shown before it renders.
Credits per second at 720p
| Model | Credits / second | Sound | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 1.0 Pro Fast | 1 | No | Cheapest HD, B-roll |
| P-Video 2 Pro | 2 | Yes | Short clips with sound |
| Hailuo 2.3 | 2 | No | Animating a photo |
| Seedance 1.5 Pro | 3 | Yes | Value clips with sound |
| Seedance 2.0 Mini | 4 | Yes | Social posts, references |
| MiniMax H3 | 4 | Yes | Reference-driven video |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | 4 | Yes | Spoken dialogue |
| Kling 3.0 | 6 | Yes | Cinematic, up to 4K |
| Kling 4.0 | 6 | Yes | Long takes, up to 30 s |
| Seedance 2.0 | 8 | Yes | Strong physics and prompts |
| Seedance 2.5 | 10 | Yes | Most consistent, up to 30 s |
At 1080p the cheapest is again Seedance 1.0 Pro Fast at 2 credits per second, then Veo 3.1 Fast at 4 (the same rate as its 720p), then Seedance 1.5 Pro at 5.
The two new budget models
We added two models this week specifically to bring the floor down.
Seedance 1.0 Pro Fast is ByteDance's fast version of Seedance 1.0 Pro. At 1 credit per second, a 10-second 720p clip is 10 credits, the lowest HD rate we've sold. In our test a 3-second clip came back in under a minute as a clean 1248×704 file. The catch is that it makes no sound. That's fine for B-roll, product motion, backgrounds and anything you'll edit under music. It's the wrong pick when the clip has to stand on its own.
Hailuo 2.3 is MiniMax's photo-to-video model, known for lifelike motion. On TalkPix it always starts from your photo: a person, a pet, a car, a product. You get a 6 or 10 second clip that keeps the photo's shape. At 2 credits per second, 6 seconds is 12 credits. It is also picture only.
How to pay the least for the clip you need
- Draft cheap, finish premium. Iterate on Seedance 1.0 Pro Fast or P-Video 2 Pro until the prompt works, then render the final take on the model with the look you want.
- Don't pay for sound you'll replace. If the clip goes under music or a voiceover in your editor, a silent model is the cheaper honest choice.
- Pick the shortest length that tells the story. Per-second billing means a 5-second clip costs half a 10-second one on every model.
- Match resolution to where it's going. 720p is plenty for most phone feeds. Save 1080p for the final cut.
Why per-second pricing beats a subscription for most people
Most AI video tools sell a monthly plan with a bucket of minutes that resets. That works if you render every week. If you make a batch of clips for one campaign and then nothing for a month, you pay for the empty months. Credits that never expire flip that: you pay for the seconds you actually render. We wrote more about the trade-off in AI video without a subscription and the best pay-once AI video ad tools.
Open the AI Video studio, pick a model from the left rail, and the credit total updates before you render.
