Correction, 2026-10-02: this page did not say which setting each video tool opens on, which is the price you pay unless you change it (Veo 3.1 Fast, 168; Kling v3 Standard with sound, 86; Wan 3.0 at 1080p, 95; Seedance 2.5 at 720p, 157). It listed only the $19 plan, and it left out that Google's Gemini API sells Veo 3.1 for less per clip than 8frame does. It gave a production usage count for p-video Draft, which we do not publish. And it said two drafting habits "bring down" the cost per usable clip and that AI video beats a production team "by a wide margin", neither of which we have measured: both are now advice. Runway's prices were re-checked on 2026-10-02 and have not changed.
Correction, 2026-10-01: the 2026-09-29 version gave 4 to 448 credits as the price of any clip. That is the range for a 5- to 8-second clip from a prompt or an image; longer clips cost more (a 30-second Seedance 2.5 take at 720p is 937). It called 24 to 157 credits the range of "most working clips", a usage figure we have not measured (it is the range of most rows in the table). It did not say that Kling v3 Standard needs a start image (a text-only Kling prompt runs on Kling 2.6 Pro) or that Wan 2.2 needs a start image or video. It described an agency's credits as one shared pool: credits on 8frame are per user, and inviting collaborators needs a Creator or Agency plan. And it called self-hosting the only free route, which ignores free plans such as Runway's. Runway's prices were re-checked on 2026-10-01.
In 2026, generating one 5- to 8-second AI video clip from a prompt or an image on 8frame costs between 4 credits and 448, which is $0.04 to $4.48 at pack rate. The cheapest is a 5-second draft on Pruna's p-video Draft; the dearest is an 8-second Veo 3.1 clip with audio. Longer clips cost more: a 30-second Seedance 2.5 take at 720p is 937. Most rows in the table below sit between 24 and 157 credits. The sticker price of one generation matters less than it looks, though: what you pay per clip you actually use depends on how many tries it takes. Here is the model-by-model table, how a subscription tool and a direct API compare, and three budgets with their assumptions written out.
Correction, 2026-09-29: the first version of this page listed Veo 3.1 and Kling v3 as 4K (no model on 8frame outputs 4K), Seedance 2.0 as 1080p (it runs at 480p or 720p), called an 8-second Veo 3.1 clip "about a dollar" (it is 448 credits, $4.48), gave generation times and competitor and production prices we could not source, and missed Wan 3.0. All fixed below.
The three ways you pay for AI video
Per-generation credits. You pay for each clip, priced by model, length and resolution. On 8frame that comes from one credit balance for every model: plans at $19 a month for 1,000 credits, $49 for 3,000 and $499 for 44,000; top-up packs from $10 for 1,000 to $200 for 20,000, a cent a credit; and credits roll over while you're subscribed. Signing up adds no credits: generation starts with a paid plan.
Subscriptions with a monthly allowance. A flat fee buys a pool of credits for one vendor's models. Fine at steady volume; wasteful when usage is spiky and the allowance lapses.
Traditional production. A crew, a studio and an edit, priced per project. Still the right call for work that needs real performance on camera.
Per-clip prices on 8frame
From 8frame's pricing code, checked 2026-10-02. A credit is $0.01 at pack rate.
| Model | Clip | Credits | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pruna p-video Draft | 5 s | 4 | 720p |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | 4 s silent / 8 s with audio | 17 / 54 | 720p |
| Wan 3.0 | 5 s | 24 / 48 / 95 | 480p / 720p / 1080p |
| Grok Imagine | 5 s, audio always on | 34 / 48 | 480p / 720p |
| Kling 2.6 Pro | 5 s silent / with audio | 47 / 95 | Set by the model |
| Wan 2.2 | 5 s, from a start image or video | 50 | 720p |
| Kling v3 Standard | 5 s from a start image, silent / with audio | 57 / 86 | Set by the model |
| Seedance 2.5 | 5 s, audio on | 70 / 157 | 480p / 720p |
| Hailuo H3 | 5 s | 88 | 2K |
| Wan 2.5 | 5 s | 102 | 1080p |
| Seedance 2.0 | 5 s, audio on | 48 / 108 | 480p / 720p |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | 8 s with audio | 168 | 1080p |
| Veo 3.1 | 8 s with audio (silent 224) | 448 | 1080p |
Each tool opens on a default, and that is the price you pay unless you change it: Veo on Veo 3.1 Fast (168 for 8 seconds with sound; the 448 row is the Standard tier), Kling on Kling v3 Standard with sound (86), Wan on Wan 3.0 at 1080p (95), Seedance on Seedance 2.5 at 720p (157). The cheaper cells in the table are settings you pick.
Two rows need more than a prompt. Kling v3 Standard animates a start image, so for a text-only Kling prompt switch to Kling 2.6 Pro (95 with sound, 47 silent). Wan 2.2 needs a start image or a video; text-only Wan runs on Wan 3.0 or Wan 2.5.
Pruna p-video Draft is the cheapest video on 8frame by price; we have not measured its output, so we quote its price, not its quality. Which models add sound, and what it costs, is in AI video models with audio, by model; resolutions in AI video resolution by model.
How a subscription tool compares
Runway, from its pricing pages checked 2026-10-02: Standard is $12 a month billed annually for 625 credits, Pro $28 for 2,250, Max $76 for 9,500; month to month, $15, $35 and $95. Standard and Pro credits don't roll over; Max rolls unused credits over for one month. Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits a second, and Runway's API pricing lists Gen-4 Turbo at 5. So Standard's monthly credits buy about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5.
A subscription's per-clip cost depends on how much of it you use. Use all of it and it can be cheap; use a third and each clip costs three times the sticker. That is the argument for pay-as-you-go AI video when your volume is uneven.
Buying the model direct from its API
Google sells Veo 3.1 by the second through its Gemini API, priced with audio, the default (pricing page checked 2026-10-02): Standard $0.40 a second at 720p or 1080p, Fast $0.10 at 720p and $0.12 at 1080p, Lite $0.05 at 720p and $0.08 at 1080p. Veo has no free tier there. Per Veo clip, that is cheaper than 8frame: 8 seconds of Standard is $3.20 by API against 448 credits ($4.48) here, Fast at 1080p $0.96 against 168, Lite at 720p $0.40 against 54. The API is something you call from code, one provider's models at a time; on 8frame one credit balance covers every model on the canvas.
The number that matters: cost per usable clip
You don't ship every clip you generate. If it takes three tries to get one usable take, your real cost is three times the table price. Two habits worth trying:
- Draft on a cheap setting, finish on the one the shot needs. Dropping the resolution keeps the same model: Wan 3.0 at 480p is 24 against 95 at the 1080p it opens on, Seedance 2.5 at 480p is 70 against 157 at 720p. Veo 3.1 Lite (17 for 4 silent seconds) is a cheap way to try a Veo prompt before Fast or Standard.
- Change one thing per retry, so you can tell which change fixed the miss.
Three budgets, with the assumptions written out
These are worked examples, not measurements. Swap in your own counts.
Solo creator: 40 short social clips a month
Assume 2.5 tries per keeper, drafts on Wan 3.0 at 480p and finals on Kling 2.6 Pro silent. 60 drafts at 24 is 1,440 credits; 40 finals at 47 is 1,880. Total 3,320 credits: the $49 Creator plan (3,000 credits) plus one $10 top-up, $59 for the month.
Brand team: one 30-variant campaign plus two hero shots
Assume 30 finals on Kling v3 Standard with audio at 86, each animating a start image such as a product still, 2.5 tries each: 6,450 credits. Two Veo 3.1 hero shots at 448 (the Standard tier; the Veo tool opens on Fast), three tries each: 2,688. Total 9,138 credits, about $91 at pack rate. On plans, the $49 Creator month's 3,000 credits plus seven $10 top-ups (7,000 credits) comes to $119. That assumes one person runs the generations: credits are per user, so if several people on the team generate, each one's runs come out of their own plan.
Agency: several clients
The same math per client. Credits on 8frame are not pooled: each generation is charged to the person who runs it, on their own plan, so budget per person who generates. Inviting collaborators onto a board needs a Creator or Agency plan. What changes at agency scale is not the per-clip price but the overhead: per-seat subscriptions for several tools, per client, are a fixed cost whether every seat is used or not. That is covered in the AI subscription stack problem.
What this means for planning
Budget by output volume, times your own retry rate, at the per-clip price of the model each job needs. Draft cheap, finish on the right model, and keep hero-tier prices for the few shots that carry the piece.
FAQ
What is the cheapest way to make AI video in 2026?
On 8frame, drafting on each model's cheapest setting (Pruna p-video Draft at 4 credits for 5 seconds, Veo 3.1 Lite at 17 for 4 silent seconds, Wan 3.0 at 24 for 5 seconds at 480p), then generating only the keepers at full quality. Outside 8frame, Runway's Free plan gives 125 one-time credits, and Wan 2.2's open weights (Apache 2.0) run on your own GPU; the model card puts the 5B model on a GPU with at least 24 GB of VRAM.
How much does a single AI video clip cost?
On 8frame, 4 to 448 credits ($0.04 to $4.48 at pack rate) for a 5- to 8-second clip from a prompt or an image, depending on model, resolution and audio. Longer clips cost more: a 30-second Seedance 2.5 take at 720p is 937. Most rows in the table above cost 24 to 157 credits.
How much does an 8-second Veo 3.1 clip cost?
448 credits with audio, 224 silent, on 8frame. Veo 3.1 Fast, which the Veo tool opens on, is 168 with audio; Veo 3.1 Lite is 54. Bought direct from Google's Gemini API, 8 seconds of Veo 3.1 Standard is $3.20.
Is AI video cheaper than hiring a production team?
We don't quote production prices we can't source, so set this against your own quotes: the 30-variant campaign with two Veo hero shots in the example above is 9,138 credits, about $91 at pack rate or $119 on a Creator plan with top-ups, plus the time it takes to direct and review it. For films that need real on-camera performance, the concept, direction and talent still cost what they cost.
Sources
- 8frame prices, lengths, resolutions, required inputs and tool defaults: the 8frame tool registry, checked 2026-10-02; plan and pack prices: the 8frame billing catalog; per-user credits and collaborator plans: 8frame's billing and collaborator checks, checked 2026-10-01
- Runway plans, credits, rollover and the Free plan: runway.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-02; per-second rates: docs.dev.runwayml.com/guides/pricing, checked 2026-10-02
- Veo 3.1 prices on the Gemini API: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-02
- Wan 2.2 licence and GPU requirement: huggingface.co/Wan-AI/Wan2.2-TI2V-5B, checked 2026-10-02
The cheapest AI video is the one you get right in the fewest tries, on the model that fits the shot.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.