Cheapest AI Video API in 2026: Per-Second Prices Compared

Short answer for October 2026: the lowest per-second price in our catalog across these six model families is Veo 3.1 at $0.0262 per second (Google veo 3.1, image-to-video, Lite-720p). If you only send a text prompt, with no input image, the cheapest is Veo 3.1 at $0.0262 per second. Our most expensive prompt-only option among the cheapest variant of each family is Wan 2.6 at $0.098 per second. That spread is roughly 4×, which is why the model choice matters more than any discount.

Every number on this page is read from our billing table when the page loads, so it matches what the API deducts. Last render: October 21, 2026. 90 variants from these families are on sale right now. Prices are list prices at our default 40% markup, before EU VAT.

Cheapest variant of each model

Any mode counts here, including image-to-video. Rows that need a reference video are left out: they bill the input clip too, so their per-second figure is not comparable.

Text-to-video only: prompt in, clip out

This is the case most API buyers search for. The table takes the cheapest prompt-only variant of each model and prices 100 clips of the length that variant produces.

Hailuo 2.3 is sold as image-to-video only in our catalog, so it is not in this table. You need a first-frame image for every call.

Per model: what changes the price

Veo 3.1 (Google)

24 variants on sale, from $0.0262 to $0.324 per second. Cheapest per resolution: 720p $0.0262/s, 1080p $0.0306/s, 4K $0.131/s. Veo 3.1 is billed per clip: 4, 6 and 8 seconds cost the same, so always ask for 8 seconds if you can use them (the per-second figures above assume 8 s). Full list: Veo 3.1 API pricing.

Seedance 2 (ByteDance)

16 variants on sale, from $0.0266 to $1.46 per second. Cheapest per resolution: 480p $0.0266/s, 720p $0.0574/s, 1080p $0.714/s, 4K $1.46/s. Seedance 2 is billed per second of output and accepts 4 to 15 seconds. If you leave duration out, we reserve 8 seconds and settle on the length that comes back. Audio is generated by default. Full list: Seedance 2 API pricing.

Wan 2.6 (Alibaba)

36 variants on sale, from $0.028 to $0.147 per second. Cheapest per resolution: 720p $0.028/s, 1080p $0.042/s. Wan 2.6 comes in fixed 5, 10 and 15 second clips. The Flash variants are image-to-video and video-to-video only, and cost a fraction of the full model. The full text-to-video model always returns 16:9 with generated sound. Full list: Wan 2.6 API pricing.

Hailuo 2.3 (MiniMax)

6 variants on sale, from $0.035 to $0.0933 per second. Cheapest per resolution: 768p $0.035/s, 1080p $0.0583/s. Hailuo 2.3 is listed as image-to-video only, in 6 s and 10 s clips, Standard and Pro tiers.

Kling 2.6 (Kuaishou)

8 variants on sale, from $0.077 to $0.154 per second. Kling 2.6 rows are priced per 5 s or 10 s clip. Generated audio doubles the price of the same clip. Full list: Kling 2.6 API pricing.

Sora 2 (OpenAI)

Not on sale with us right now: our supplier has not listed it since May 2026. Our catalog syncs every 3 hours, and the Sora 2 rows go back on sale on the first sync that sees them again. Until then this page leaves Sora 2 out of every ranking instead of quoting a price you cannot buy.

How the billing works

• Per-second rows (Seedance 2 and others) charge the row price times the seconds you ask for. Without a duration field we reserve 8 seconds and settle on the real output length.
• Per-clip rows (Wan 2.6, Kling 2.6, Hailuo 2.3, Veo 3.1) charge one flat price. The clip length and resolution are part of the model id, and a request that asks for a different length or resolution than the id sells is rejected with variant_mismatch before anything is charged.
• 1 credit is $0.007 at the $10 Starter top-up (1,430 credits). Larger packs add 5% and 12% bonus credits. No subscription, no free credits, and credits do not expire.
• API spend over $50, $200, $1,000 and $5,000 in the last 30 days lowers the markup automatically. See pricing.

Code: the same call shape for every model

One endpoint, one key. You change the model id and the fields inside input; the response is a taskId you poll or receive on a webhook.

# Seedance 2, 720p, 5 s: $0.287/s x 5 = $1.43
curl https://aimarcusimage.eu/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-aig-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "bytedance-bytedance-seedance-2-720p-no-video-input",
    "input": {
      "prompt": "A cyclist crosses a wet cobblestone street at dusk, tracking shot",
      "resolution": "720p",
      "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
      "duration": 5,
      "generate_audio": true
    }
  }'

# Wan 2.6 text-to-video, 720p, 5 s clip: $0.49 flat
curl https://aimarcusimage.eu/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-aig-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "wan-wan-2-6-text-to-video-5-0s-720p",
    "input": {
      "prompt": "Steam rises from a cup of coffee on a windowsill, morning light, slow push-in",
      "duration": "5",
      "resolution": "720p"
    }
  }'

# Poll until state is "success", then read the video URL from resultJson
curl "https://aimarcusimage.eu/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=YOUR_TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-aig-..."

Every model id on this page links to its model page with the exact request body. The full catalog with ids is on the market page.

So which one?

For bulk prompt-only clips, start with Veo 3.1 at 720p ($0.21 a clip right now) and only move up a tier when the output is not good enough. If you already have a still image, Veo 3.1 image-to-video at $0.0262/s is the floor of this catalog.

Run the same prompt through two or three of them in the playground before committing a pipeline. A single test clip costs between $0.133 and $0.49 on the variants above. If you also need images, see Flux 2 vs Ideogram V3.

FAQ

What is the cheapest AI video API in 2026?

In our catalog today, Veo 3.1 (Google veo 3.1, image-to-video, Lite-720p) at $0.0262 per second. For prompt-only text-to-video it is Veo 3.1 (Google veo 3.1, text-to-video, Lite-720p) at $0.0262 per second. Prices are read from our billing table and change when the supplier price list changes.

How much does a 10-second AI video cost through the API?

The cheapest prompt-only 10-second clip in our catalog today is Seedance 2 (bytedance/seedance-2-mini, 480P no video) at $0.266. The cheapest other model is Kling 2.6 at $0.77. Per-second models charge for the exact length; per-clip models only sell the lengths in their model id, and Veo 3.1 stops at 8 seconds.

Is there a free tier?

No. You top up from $10 (1,430 credits) and every call is deducted at the list price. Credits do not expire.

Can I use Sora 2 here?

Not right now. Sora 2 is off our supplier's price list. The catalog syncs every 3 hours and the rows return automatically when the supplier lists them again.