Cheapest AI video generator (2026): plans and per-second API prices
Sorted by official monthly USD price. Credits buy very different amounts of video on each service, so compare the credit and per-second figures too. OpenAI's Sora is discontinued (app 2026-04-26, API 2026-09-24, per OpenAI).
| Plan | Type | Monthly billing USD · CAD | Annual billing, per month USD · CAD | Credits / limits | Max resolution / length | Commercial use | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Plus Cheapest paid | image+video | US$4.99CA$6.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 200 Flow credits/mo | See Google terms | USD: one.google.com CAD: one.google.com Video gen (Omni Flash), Gemini in Gmail/Vids, 400 GB or 2 TB, family sharing No Gemini 4 Argon checked 2026-10-15 | |
| X Subscription Plus Cheapest paid xAI | image+video | US$8No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | Grok Imagine included; pooled usage | Up to 15 s video (API spec) | See xAI terms | USD: x.ai Grok Chat/Voice/Imagine/Build, Grok API access, Cursor, X checkmark Base usage checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Standard Cheapest paid Kuaishou | image+video | US$8.8No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 660 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$10, first month US$6.99, then US$8.8/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Firefly Standard Cheapest paid Adobe | image+video | US$9.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 2,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Basic Cheapest paid Midjourney | image+video | US$10No official CAD price | US$8No official CAD price | 3.3 fast GPU hr/mo; no Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Commercial use allowed; companies >US$1M revenue need Pro or Mega | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Pika Starter Cheapest paid Pika | video | US$10No official CAD price | US$8No official CAD price | 900 credits/mo | No commercial licence | USD: pika.art checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Leonardo Essential Cheapest paid Leonardo | image+video | US$12No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Runway Standard Cheapest paid Runway | image+video | US$15CA$19.99 | US$12No official CAD price | 625 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS); Standard yearly CA$199.99/yr checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Firefly Pro Adobe | image+video | US$19.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 4,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Google AI Pro | image+video | US$19.99CA$26.99 | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See plans.csv usage_limits | See Google terms | USD: one.google.com CAD: one.google.com Jules, Antigravity, Gemini in Chrome, YouTube Premium Lite, Home & Health Premium, 5 TB Opaque compute-based limits checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Standard Midjourney | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | US$24No official CAD price | 15 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Commercial use allowed; companies >US$1M revenue need Pro or Mega | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Luma Plus Cheapest paid Luma | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | US$25No official CAD price | 10,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Leonardo Premium Leonardo | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| X Subscription Premium xAI | image+video | US$30No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | Grok Imagine included; pooled usage | Up to 15 s video (API spec) | See xAI terms | USD: x.ai Grok Bot, image/video gen, cloud agents, code reviews; mostly ad-free X 3rd-party Cursor models extra checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Pro Kuaishou | image+video | US$32.56No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 3,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$37, first month US$25.99, then US$32.56/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Runway Pro Runway | image+video | US$35CA$49.00 | US$28No official CAD price | 2250 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Pika Creator Pika | video | US$35No official CAD price | US$28No official CAD price | 3,150 credits/mo | Commercial use | USD: pika.art checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Firefly Pro Plus Adobe | image+video | US$49.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 10,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page); limited-time first-year offer US$34.97/mo (ends Oct 21) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Pro Midjourney | image+video | US$60No official CAD price | US$48No official CAD price | 30 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images + SD video Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Required for companies >US$1M revenue | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Leonardo Ultimate Leonardo | image+video | US$60No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | See pricing page (prices ex. tax) | Paid users own outputs | USD: leonardo.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Luma Pro Luma | image+video | US$90No official CAD price | US$75No official CAD price | 40,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Runway Max Runway | image+video | US$95CA$129.00 | US$76No official CAD price | 9500 credits/mo; Gen-4.5 = 12 credits/sec | See provider terms | USD: runwayml.com CAD: apps.apple.com CAD from Canadian App Store in-app purchase (iOS) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Midjourney Mega Midjourney | image+video | US$120No official CAD price | US$96No official CAD price | 60 fast GPU hr/mo; unlimited Relax images + SD video Relax; extra GPU US$4/hr | Video SD on Basic; SD & HD on Standard+ | Required for companies >US$1M revenue | USD: docs.midjourney.com No official CAD price checked 2026-10-15 |
| Kling Premier Kuaishou | image+video | US$181.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 18,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$207, first month US$135, then US$181.99/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
| Firefly Premium Adobe | image+video | US$199.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 50,000 premium credits/mo; unlimited standard generations (Adobe credits FAQ) | See provider terms | USD: adobe.com Rendered in headless Chromium, 2026-10-15 No official CAD price (adobe.com/ca rendered the same US$ page); limited-time first-year offer US$139.91/mo (ends Oct 21) checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Luma Ultra Luma | image+video | US$300No official CAD price | US$250No official CAD price | 150,000 credits/mo (per-model costs on pricing page) | Commercial use | USD: lumalabs.ai checked 2026-10-15 | |
| Kling Ultra+ Kuaishou | image+video | US$544.99No official CAD price | No official USD priceNo official CAD price | 57,000 credits/mo | 1080p/4K video; up to 30 s (Kling 4.0) | Generated content for commercial use (paid tiers) | USD: app.klingai.com No official CAD price. Page shows struck-through US$619, first month US$402, then US$544.99/month; billing-period toggle state unclear, verify checked 2026-10-15 |
Per-second API prices
| API model | Type | Price (USD; no official CAD price) | Max resolution / length | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 Standard | video | US$0.40/sec (720p/1080p); US$0.60/sec 4K | 4K | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | video | US$0.10/sec 720p; US$0.12 1080p; US$0.30 4K | 4K | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | video | US$0.05/sec 720p; US$0.08 1080p | 1080p | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| Gemini Omni Flash | video | about US$0.10/sec 720p | 720p | ai.google.dev checked 2026-10-15 |
| grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite xAI | video | from US$0.02/sec (480p) | up to 15 s; 480p/720p/1080p | x.ai checked 2026-10-15 |
| MiniMax-H3 MiniMax | video | US$0.08/sec (768P); US$0.13/sec (2K) | 2K | platform.minimax.io checked 2026-10-15 |
| MiniMax-H3-Max MiniMax | video | US$0.05/sec (480P); US$0.08/sec (768P) | 768P | platform.minimax.io checked 2026-10-15 |
| MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3 (legacy) MiniMax | video | US$0.28 per 768P 6 s video; US$0.56 per 768P 10 s | 1080P | platform.minimax.io checked 2026-10-15 |
Quality ranking
| Rank on LMArena | Model | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gemini-omni-1.1-flash | 1516 | ±15 |
| 2 | gemini-omni-flash | 1513 | ±9 |
| 3 | flux-3-video Black Forest Labs | 1493 | ±17 Preliminary |
| 4 | grok-imagine-video-1.5-agent xAI | 1492 | ±18 Preliminary |
| 5 | dreamina-seedance-2.0-720p ByteDance | 1479 | |
| 8 | minimax-h3 MiniMax | 1460 | |
| 9 | muse-video Meta | 1456 | |
| 11 | sora-2-pro OpenAI | 1368 | |
| 12 | veo-3.1-audio | 1364 | |
| 18 | grok-imagine-video-720p xAI | 1342 | |
| 27 | runway-gen-4.5 Runway | 1225 | |
| 29 | kling-2.6-pro Kuaishou | 1216 | |
| 31 | ray-3 Luma | 1206 | |
| 32 | hailuo-2.3 MiniMax | 1206 | |
| 47 | pika-v2.2 Pika | 1009 |
Source: LMArena Text-to-Video snapshot 2026-09-21, checked 2026-10-15. Licence: CC-BY-4.0 (lmarena-ai/leaderboard-dataset). Selected rows only; ranks are LMArena's own. Scores are copied, not blended.
USD and CAD are separate official prices; we never convert. See all image & video AI.