What is AI Video Cost Per Second?
The cost to generate one second of AI video via API. The primary metric for comparing tool economics in production pipelines.
How it works
Cost per second is the most important economic metric for AI video production at scale. Current API pricing ranges from $0.017/second (Hailuo, lowest) to $0.75/second (Veo Standard tier, highest). For comparison: Runway Gen-4 costs approximately $0.12/second, Kling 2.6 costs $0.07/second, and LTX Video costs $0.05/second. These costs add up quickly at scale. A 30-second brand video that requires 100 generation attempts to get the right clips costs $210 at Runway rates versus $119 at Kling rates versus $28.90 at Hailuo rates. Understanding cost per second is essential for pricing production services and estimating project budgets.
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