RenderDrama

What a second of AI video costs, channel by channel

A rate in credits needs the price of a credit

A credit figure against a second of output is half of a rate. The other half is what a credit costs. Where a channel publishes both on pages anyone can open, converting is multiplication and the ledger does it; where it publishes only the first half, the entry records the gap. As of 2026-09-12.

The two published halves a credit line has to bring togetherA credit rate and a credit price are separate publications, often on separate pages. This ledger multiplies them only when both are readable without signing in, prints the credit price beside the result, and records an absence when the second half never appears.Credits persecondStated by modeland resolutionon the vendor'sown page.Half a ratePrice of acreditA flat figure,one rate acrosspacks, or aband fromsmallest packto largest.The other halfMultiplyAt the low endof a publishedband, with thecredit pricekept beside theresult.A figure inmoneyA line, or anabsenceNo credit pricemeans noconversion, andthe entry namesthe half thatis missing.What each stage hands onBoth halves have to be readable in public. A credit price quoted by a salesperson closes thearithmetic and cannot be re-checked by a reader, which is the same thing as not having it.
Fig. 1 The step that decides the outcome is the second one: a missing credit price ends the line regardless of how precise the first half was.
What each channel publishing a credit figure puts beside it, and whether the conversion closes. Recorded 2026-09-12.
ChannelCredit figure as publishedPrice of a credit
PixVerse5 to 18 credits per second by resolution225 credits to the dollar, one reference rate and no packs listed
Runway12 credits per second$0.01 a credit, stated on the same page
SceneMixer10 to 38 credits per second by tier$0.0149 in the smallest pack, $0.0078 in the largest
LumaCredits per second by model and resolutionNot published
PikaCredits attached to features, not to secondsNot published

Inclusion rule. Channels whose own page states a figure in credits somewhere in the purchase path. A channel stating only money per second is a different shape and is not listed twice. Order. Channels publishing both halves first, then those publishing only one; ties break alphabetically inside each group.

1Half a rate is recorded as half a rate

Luma states credits per second for every model and resolution it sells, which is finer detail than some channels that do end up with a dollar figure here. What it does not state is the price of a credit, so none of that detail converts, and the entry sits in the unpriced section with the missing half named.

Dividing a plan price by the allowance attached to it would close the gap arithmetically and describe a buyer rather than a product: the answer holds only for someone who spends the allowance exactly, and it moves for everyone else. That division is refused on every channel, which is how a shape this well documented still ends without a rate.

2The second half is often a band, not a figure

SceneMixer publishes both halves, and the second one is a range: a credit costs nearly twice as much bought in the smallest pack as in the largest. The same generation therefore carries two correct dollar figures, and which is true depends on a purchase made before the episode was written.

Conversions here take the low end of a published band and say so, because that is the end vendors reach for when they convert. Runway needs no such choice, stating a flat credit price next to its credit rate, and PixVerse prints one reference rate of 225 credits to the dollar. The band is a property of how credits are sold, not of the shape.

3What a converted line carries that a money line does not

A converted figure inherits everything the money shape leaves out, and adds one thing of its own: the exchange rate can move while the rate stands still. A channel can leave its credits-per-second table untouched, change what a pack costs, and every budget written against the old conversion is quietly out of date.

That is the argument for writing the pack price down on the day of purchase rather than reconstructing it later. It is also why every converted line here prints the credit price beside the derived figure: a reader who bought at a different pack size can redo the multiplication without leaving the row. The rule the conversion follows is on the method page.

  • Wan 3.0 480P
    10 credits per second, about $0.06the default tierSceneMixer, price list / recorded 2026-09-12
  • Wan 3.0 1080P
    38 credits per second, about $0.24SceneMixer, price list / recorded 2026-09-12
  • Credit price
    One credit costs $0.0149 in the smallest pack and $0.0078 in the largestthe range the conversion rests onSceneMixer, price list / recorded 2026-09-12
  • Published per-second price
    12 credits per second at $0.01 a credit, which is $0.12 per secondRunway, API prices / recorded 2026-09-12
  • The credit reference rate; the page lists no packs and no volume tiers
    225 credits are put at one US dollarPixVerse, platform pricing / recorded 2026-10-25
  • V6 at 720p without audio
    9 credits per secondPixVerse, platform pricing / since 2026-09-12 / checked 2026-10-25
  • V6 at 1080p without audio
    18 credits per secondPixVerse, platform pricing / since 2026-09-12 / checked 2026-10-25
  • What Luma publishes instead of a rate
    Credits per second, with no credit priceLuma, pricing page / recorded 2026-09-12

4Sources

Every figure above is read from the vendor page linked in the ledger or in the unpriced entries, checked 2026-09-12. What makes a shape convertible at all is on the method page. The other shapes: Plan prices, Monthly credit allowance per plan. All four: price shapes.