Cheapest AI video model per second (1080p and 720p)
Data checked: October 1, 2026
If you only look at price, the cheapest 1080p option in our dataset is Google Veo 3.1 Lite at $0.080 per second, and the cheapest at 720p is Google Veo 3.1 Lite at $0.050 per second. But price per second is only one input: quality, motion, audio and how many takes you need all change the real cost.
The tables below rank every model we track by published price per second, without native audio. Credit-based tools such as Pika and Higgsfield do not publish a per-second API price, so their rows show an effective rate derived from credits per clip and the price of a credit on a reference plan.
Try the calculator: AI Video Cost Calculator →
Cheapest at 1080p
| Model | $/second | Per minute | Price type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.080 | $4.80 | API price |
| Kling 3.0 Pro | $0.112 | $6.72 | API price |
| Google Veo 3.1 Fast | $0.120 | $7.20 | API price |
| Luma Ray 3.2 | $0.240 | $14.40 | API price |
| Higgsfield · Seedance 2.0 (credits) | $0.353 | $21.15 | credit-based (effective rate) |
| Google Veo 3.1 | $0.400 | $24.00 | API price |
| OpenAI Sora 2 Pro | $0.700 | $42.00 | API price |
Cheapest at 720p
| Model | $/second | Per minute | Price type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.050 | $3.00 | API price |
| Runway Gen-4 Turbo | $0.050 | $3.00 | API price |
| Pika · Wan 3.0 (credits) | $0.059 | $3.52 | credit-based (effective rate) |
| Luma Ray 3.2 | $0.060 | $3.60 | API price |
| Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (credits) | $0.078 | $4.70 | credit-based (effective rate) |
| Kling 3.0 Standard | $0.084 | $5.04 | API price |
How to read this ranking
A lower price per second does not automatically mean a lower project cost. A model that needs four attempts to produce a usable shot can cost more than one that is twice as expensive per second but nails it in two.
Use the ranking to shortlist models, then test your own prompts with each shortlisted model for a few seconds before committing the whole budget.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest AI video generator?
By published price per second in our dataset, Google Veo 3.1 Lite is cheapest at 1080p ($0.080/s) and Google Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p ($0.050/s). Quality is not part of this ranking.
Why do credit-based tools appear with an effective rate?
They charge in credits rather than dollars per second. We convert using credits per clip and the annual-billing price of a credit on a reference plan.
How often do prices change?
Providers change prices often. This ranking uses data checked on 2026-10-01; always confirm on the provider's page.
Sources
Prices updated: October 1, 2026
- Google Gemini API pricing (Veo) ↗
- OpenAI API pricing (Sora) ↗
- Runway API pricing ↗
- Runway plans ↗
- Kling developer pricing ↗
- Luma API pricing ↗
- Luma plans ↗
- Pika pricing ↗
- Higgsfield pricing ↗
Prices are collected from public pages and may change without notice. Entries marked 'secondary' were read through a third-party aggregator because the official page did not render to our fetcher; the official URL is still listed as the source of record.
- Higgsfield and Pika publish credit-based subscription pricing; we did not find public per-second API rates for them, so they appear as effective subscription rates.
- Veo is priced from the Gemini API (Veo on Vertex AI or inside Google AI plans may differ).
- Taxes, free tiers, batch discounts, and enterprise contracts are not included.