Correction, 2026-10-02: this page listed Wan 2.5 on 8frame at 10 and 15 seconds (203 and 304 credits) and set Wan 3.0's 30 seconds against a 15-second Wan 2.5. On 8frame, Wan 2.5 makes 5-second clips at 1080p (102 credits), so the comparison is now 5 seconds against Wan 3.0's 2 to 30. We called base Wan 3.0 at 1080p the cheapest 1080p in the Wan family; Wan 2.7 VideoEdit, which edits a clip you already have, bills 68 for 5 seconds at 1080p, so 95 is the cheapest 1080p Wan clip made from text or an image. Two claims we never measured are gone: that most tooling and tutorials still assume Wan 2.5, and that every other major model takes only text, images and sometimes video. The audio answer now quotes Alibaba's current documentation and says what 8frame exposes, the migration notes no longer give Wan 2.5 a 15-second tier outside 8frame (on fal it takes 5 or 10 seconds), and every outside fact now has a source with a check date.
Correction, 2026-10-01: the summary said Wan 3.0 costs a third of Wan 2.5 at the same resolution; at 1080p, the only resolution Wan 2.5 offers, it is 95 credits against 102. The price table showed Wan 3.0 Prime at 101 for 15 seconds, a leftover of its old flat rate; it is 567 at 1080p. And the opening and summary listed document and web page references as a Wan 3.0 input without saying that is Alibaba's API only: on the 8frame canvas, Wan 3.0 takes a prompt and a start image, and Prime also a reference video.
Correction, 2026-09-30: we called Wan 3.0 Prime the premium tier and suggested it when base output is not good enough. Alibaba describes Prime as the high-speed version of Wan 3.0 with the same capabilities, so the difference you pay double for is speed (and, on 8frame, sound by default), not quality.
Correction, 2026-09-28: the price table previously showed Prime as a flat 34 credits at any resolution, which was wrong; Prime was repriced to its real resolution tiers on 2026-09-05.
Use Wan 3.0 for almost everything you were using Wan 2.5 for. On 8frame it runs from 2 to 30 seconds where Wan 2.5 makes 5-second clips, and the base model costs 95 credits for a 5-second 1080p clip against Wan 2.5's 102, or 24 at 480p. In Alibaba's own API it also accepts documents and web pages as references alongside text and images (the 8frame canvas does not expose that). Wan 2.5 stays worth knowing about for one reason: if you are following an existing pipeline or tutorial built around it, the migration is yours to schedule rather than urgent.
TL;DR
- Price at 1080p, 5 seconds: Wan 3.0 base 95 credits, Wan 3.0 Prime 189, Wan 2.5 102. Base Wan 3.0 at 480p is 24
- Duration: Wan 3.0 runs 2 to 30 seconds in one pass; on 8frame, Wan 2.5 makes 5-second clips
- Inputs: in Alibaba's API, Wan 3.0 adds document and web page references (decks, spreadsheets, PDFs). On the 8frame canvas, Wan 3.0 and Wan 2.5 take a prompt or one start image, and Wan 3.0 Prime also a reference video
- Neither 2.5 nor 3.0 has published weights. The newest Wan with downloadable weights is the 2.2 line, under Apache 2.0
- Reason to stay on 2.5: an existing pipeline, and nothing else
The price table
Canon 8frame credit prices, a credit is $0.01 in a top-up pack:
| Clip | Wan 2.5 | Wan 3.0 base | Wan 3.0 Prime |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5s at 480p | 1080p only | 24 | 46 |
| 5s at 720p | 1080p only | 48 | 95 |
| 5s at 1080p | 102 | 95 | 189 |
| 10s at 1080p | 5s only | 189 | 378 |
| 15s at 1080p | 5s only | 284 | 567 |
| 30s | 5s only | 142 at 480p, 567 at 1080p | 276 at 480p, 1,134 at 1080p |
Both Wan 3.0 columns are priced by resolution, and Prime costs about twice base at each one. At 1080p, base Wan 3.0 is slightly cheaper than Wan 2.5 for the same 5 seconds, and it can run to 30. Full mechanics in Wan 3.0 pricing explained.
What actually changed
Duration, and it is the real upgrade. On 8frame, Wan 2.5 makes 5-second clips; Wan 3.0 runs any whole number of seconds from 2 to 30. That is the difference between a clip you cut into something and a clip that can be the whole thing. A 30-second ad in one generation has no joins to hide.
Reference inputs. In Alibaba's own API, Wan 3.0 accepts a document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, plain text or Markdown) or a public web page as a reference, alongside images, video and audio, up to 20 reference materials per request. The 8frame canvas does not expose that: its Wan inputs are a prompt, one start image and, on Prime, a reference video. Turning a deck into a video is a different kind of input from a prompt or a picture, and for now it needs Alibaba's API.
Where the model runs. On 8frame, Wan 2.5 and Wan 3.0 Prime run on fal and base Wan 3.0 runs on Replicate. Both Wan 3.0 variants bill per second by resolution, Prime at about twice the base rate, which is why the price comparison is a table rather than one number.
What did not change: the license. Neither Wan 2.5 nor Wan 3.0 has published weights. Wan-AI's Hugging Face account has weights for Wan 2.1 and the Wan 2.2 line (newest uploads 2026-08-06), and none for 2.5 or 3.0. If you came looking for a self-hostable upgrade, there is not one; see is Wan 3.0 open source for the receipts.
What we have not tested
Output quality. We have priced both into the canvas and can tell you exactly what each costs and what each accepts, and we have not yet run a controlled same-prompt comparison of Wan 3.0 against Wan 2.5. When we do, this article gets the numbers rather than an impression. Treat any page that claims a decisive quality verdict without a same-prompt comparison with suspicion, including ours if it ever does that.
What we can say from the specification: on 8frame, Wan 2.5 renders at 1080p and Wan 3.0 at 480p, 720p or 1080p. And Wan 3.0's longer range means a 30-second generation is one continuous take with no joins, which stitched 5-second Wan 2.5 clips cannot give you. Whether a long take holds together on your prompt is worth checking on a cheap 480p draft first.
When to use which
Wan 3.0 base: the default; the Wan tool opens on it, at 1080p. 24 credits for 5 seconds at 480p for drafting (switch the resolution first), 95 at 1080p for delivery, the cheapest 1080p Wan clip you can generate from text or an image, and up to 30 seconds in one pass.
Wan 3.0 Prime: about twice base. Alibaba describes it as the high-speed version with the same capabilities, and on 8frame it generates sound by default. Use it when speed or sound is worth double, not as a default.
Wan 2.5: an existing workflow you are not ready to touch, or a tutorial you are following literally. On 8frame that means a 5-second 1080p clip for 102 credits. There is no output-quality argument we can currently make for it, and the price argument runs the other way.
Wan 2.2: when you need to self-host, which neither Wan 2.5 nor Wan 3.0 allows. On 8frame, Wan 2.2 needs a start image or an input video.
The migration, if you have a pipeline on 2.5
Three things change if you call the providers directly. Length: on fal, Wan 2.5 takes 5 or 10 seconds, while Wan 3.0 takes any whole number from 2 to 30, so code that hardcodes Wan 2.5's lengths needs to widen. Resolution: Wan 3.0 offers 480p, 720p and 1080p, and Alibaba's API defaults to 1080p, the most expensive tier, so set it explicitly. And base Wan 3.0 and Prime are separate model identifiers, which on 8frame run on different providers.
On the canvas it is a picker change: choose Wan 3.0, then set the length and the resolution, since the tool opens at 1080p.
FAQ
Is Wan 3.0 better than Wan 2.5? On 8frame it runs longer (2 to 30 seconds against 5) and costs less at 1080p (95 against 102 for 5 seconds), and in Alibaba's own API it accepts more input types. On raw output quality we have not run the comparison, and we would rather say so than guess.
Should I switch immediately? If you generate on the canvas, yes, there is no cost to switching. If you have infrastructure built around 2.5, schedule it rather than rushing; 2.5 is not being retired that we know of.
How long can a Wan 2.5 clip be on 8frame? 5 seconds, at 1080p, for 102 credits. For a longer single take, use Wan 3.0, which runs up to 30 seconds.
Does Wan 3.0 generate audio? Alibaba's documentation says Wan 3.0 "natively outputs dialogue, BGM, and sound effects". On 8frame, Wan 3.0 Prime generates sound by default, at the same price with or without it. Base Wan 3.0 has no sound setting on 8frame, so check a draft before you plan around sound.
Sources
- Wan 3.0 Prime described as "the high-speed version of the Wan3.0 video generation model, with capabilities aligned with the Wan3.0-Video standard version": Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, newly released models, checked 2026-10-02
- Wan 3.0 "supports up to 30 seconds per generation", "natively outputs dialogue, BGM, and sound effects", up to 20 reference materials per request including documents (docx, doc, xlsx, xls, pptx, ppt, pdf, txt, md) and public web pages, durations of 2 to 30 seconds, and 480P / 720P / 1080P with 1080P as the default: Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, Wan3.0 video generation, checked 2026-10-02
- Wan 2.5 on fal, duration "Choose between 5 or 10 seconds": fal, Wan 2.5 text-to-video API, checked 2026-10-02
- Wan weights on Hugging Face (Wan 2.1 and the Wan 2.2 line under Apache 2.0, newest uploads 2026-08-06, none for Wan 2.5 or 3.0): Hugging Face API, author Wan-AI, checked 2026-10-02
- 8frame prices (calculateWanCost, calculateWan3Cost, calculateWanVideoEditCost), Wan 2.5's 5-second 1080p output, the Wan tool's 1080p starting value, the provider behind each variant and the canvas inputs per Wan version: 8frame tool registry, tool configuration and video generation code, read 2026-10-02
Run both from the same picker and see the bill before you commit.
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.