RenderDrama

What a second of AI video costs, channel by channel

The same model, and what each seller charges for it

Most of this register is organised by seller. These pages turn it round: one model family at a time, every channel that publishes a figure for it, and the version each one names. The spread inside a single family reaches twenty-five times. As of 2026-09-12.

Three routes the same weights take to a buyerA model family reaches a buyer three ways: from the company that trained it, from a shop that resells an interface to it, or inside a tool that hides it behind a pipeline. Each route sets its own figure and names its own version, and the figures inside one family here span twenty-five times.From the makerDocumentation, list prices, aclip ceiling and the termsA rate and its conditionsThe only page stating whata failure costsFrom a resellerOne line in a catalogue ofdozens of familiesA rate, sometimes a versionMargin visible only againstthe maker's pageInside a toolCredits, a pipeline, an assemblystep and a clip ceilingA rate in creditsDearer per second, andbuying more than a modelcallOne model familyWhat each route publishes about it
Fig. 1 The maker is not reliably the cheapest route. In one family here it sits in the middle of its own resale market, undercut by one shop and marked up by two.

A model is not a product. The same weights reach a buyer through the company that trained them, through half a dozen shops that resell an interface to them, and through tools that bury them inside a pipeline. Each of those sets its own figure, and the figures do not converge.

Version is the first thing to check and the easiest to miss. A family in circulation for two years has several releases and several fast variants, and two shops quoting the same family name may be selling different weights at prices that differ by more than the quality does.

The second thing to check is the meter. Inside one family here, one channel prices a second, another prices a clip at named durations, and a third prices in credits with no credit price. Those three rows cannot be ranked without doing arithmetic the sellers declined to do.

1The families

  • Wan across sellers — From a cent a second on a fast variant to twenty-five cents on a 720p resale: the widest spread any single model family carries here.
  • Kling across sellers — Three sellers land within a fraction of a cent of each other, while a fourth undercuts them and a fifth cannot be priced at all.
  • MiniMax H3 across sellers — A reseller undercuts the model's maker by nearly half and a second reseller charges double it, on variants of the same family.
  • Veo across sellers — The maker publishes five tiers from five cents to sixty; the two resellers each pick one point on that curve and charge differently for it.
  • Seedance across sellers — Three channels land within half a cent of each other, which is the tightest agreement any model family reaches in this register.
  • LTX-2.5 across sellers — The maker publishes a band from nine to thirty-nine cents; the reseller publishes two figures inside it and names the variants.

A family earns a page once at least three channels publish a figure for it. One family here has only two, and it is kept because the two figures disagree about shape rather than about price.

Elsewhere on the ledger: Channels, Ratings, Unpriced, Price shapes, What each channel publishes, Single ratings, Questions, Terms, Learn, Data. How a figure earns a line is set out on the method page.

2What the seconds buy

Price aside, what goes into the seconds behind “One model, several sellers” is described in SceneMixer's guides:

Every segment starts with a short header that sets the stage before the first shot: Location (a scene chip), Time, Weather, the Opening frame (what the first frame shows), Set dressing (what is in the room, and any background people) and Props (the objects the segment uses).

SceneMixer, The Segment Header, Field by Field (read 2026-10-13)

Each segment is generated on whatever tier was selected at the time, and the episode composites them together.

SceneMixer, 480P, 720P or 1080P: Which Tier to Pick — “Can I mix tiers in one episode?” (read 2026-10-13)