RenderDrama

What a second of AI video costs, channel by channel

What the resolution step costs on Veo

Veo charges the same forty cents a second for 720p and 1080p on its standard tier, then half again for 4K. Across the whole page the range runs from five cents to sixty, which is twelve times, and resolution explains only part of it. As of 2026-09-22.

Where resolution stops explaining the rangeFive cents on the lightest model, ten on the fast model at 720p, forty on the standard model at both 720p and 1080p, and sixty at 4K. The eightfold gap between the lightest and standard models at the same resolution is larger than anything resolution does on this page.Dearest at the topStandard at 4K, 60 centsHalf again above the same model's 1080p tier.Standard at 1080p, 40centsIdentical to its own 720p figure, so the step costs nothing.Standard at 720p, 40 centsEight times the lightest model at a comparable resolution.Fast at 720p, 10 centsA quarter of the standard model, same resolution.Lite, 5 centsThe lowest Veo figure published, and the one a rate card leadswith.This page also states that a failed generation is not charged
Fig. 1 A buyer who budgets the standard tier and economises by dropping to 720p has saved nothing; moving to the fast model cuts the rate by three quarters.
Every Veo tier with a published per-second figure, and where resolution stops explaining it. Read from Gemini API price page on 2026-09-22.
Model and tierPer second, as published
Veo 3.1 LiteFive cents
Veo 3.1 Fast at 720pTen cents
Veo 3.1 Standard at 720pForty cents
Veo 3.1 Standard at 1080pForty cents
Veo 3.1 Standard at 4KSixty cents

Inclusion rule. Tiers with a per-second figure on the Gemini API price page. A tier available only through a consumer subscription is not priced per second and gets no row. Order. Ascending by published figure, then by resolution.

1Where Veo sits in this column

The size of the step between resolutionsWhat each channel charges for the step from its lower resolution to its higher one, Veo marked. The ratio is the channel's own two figures divided, nothing more. Recorded 2026-09-22.The size of the step between resolutionsStep up in resolutionStep up inresolutionKling AIKling AI — Step up in resolution: Double to 1080p, five times to 4KMiniMaxMiniMax — Step up in resolution: Half again from 768P to 2KReplicateReplicate — Step up in resolution: Nearly three times for one stepSoraSora — Step up in resolution: Seven times from the cheapest to the dearestVeoVeo — Step up in resolution: Free on one tier, twelvefold across the rangeViduVidu — Step up in resolution: Just over double across three tiersWanWan — Step up in resolution: Four times from 480P to 1080P
Fig. 2 What each channel charges for the step from its lower resolution to its higher one, Veo marked. The ratio is the channel's own two figures divided, nothing more. Recorded 2026-09-22.
Step up in resolution, as each channel answering it has it, with Veo marked. Recorded 2026-09-22.
ChannelStep up in resolution
Kling AIDouble to 1080p, five times to 4K
MiniMaxHalf again from 768P to 2K
ReplicateNearly three times for one step
SoraSeven times from the cheapest to the dearest
VeoFree on one tier, twelvefold across the range
ViduJust over double across three tiers
WanFour times from 480P to 1080P

Inclusion rule. Channels publishing a rate at more than one resolution on the same page. A channel with a single figure has no step to price. Order. Alphabetical by channel name.

2A free resolution step tells you what the tier is for

Where 720p and 1080p cost the same, there is no reason to generate the smaller one except speed. The lower option then exists to make a rate card look cheaper or to return a result faster, and neither is a reason to deliver at it.

That is the cleanest signal in this column. A step priced at nothing is the vendor saying the two outputs cost it the same, which is usually closer to the truth than the doublings elsewhere in the register.

3Most of the range is model choice, not pixel count

Five cents to forty is an eightfold gap between the lightest model and the standard one at the same 720p. The jump to 4K adds half again on top. So the expensive decision on this page is which model, and resolution is the smaller dial.

Reading it the other way round is the standard mistake. A buyer who budgets the standard tier and then economises by dropping to 720p has saved nothing, while a buyer who moves to the fast model has cut the rate by three quarters.

4This is the page that says what a failure costs

Alone in this register, this page states that the charge applies only when the video is generated successfully. Every rate here prices a second of delivered output and almost none of them say what happens to the attempts that never deliver.

For a production with a real rejection rate that sentence is worth more than the resolution curve above it. A steep rate that never bills a failure can easily cost less per usable second than a cheap rate that bills every attempt.

5Inside a generated second

Price aside, what goes into the seconds behind “Veo resolution step” is described in SceneMixer's guides:

Video is 16:9 landscape by default, with 9:16 vertical available; you set it once per project. Segments are typically 4 to 15 seconds, and some model tiers go to 30.

SceneMixer, AI Short Drama Generator — “What length and aspect ratio does it output?” (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)

6Sources

Read from the Gemini API price page published at ai.google.dev on 2026-09-22. The rate this column sits beside is on Veo; what the register accepts as published is on the method page. The same column on other channels: Sora, Wan. Every column: what each channel publishes.