AI Video Generation Cost Calculator

Estimate what Sora 2, Veo 3 and 3.1, Runway and Luma cost per clip, per month and per finished minute of video.

Pick clip length, volume, resolution and audio to see every tier sorted cheapest first.

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Results will appear here once you enter your values.

How AI video APIs charge

Per second of output. OpenAI and Google bill each second of generated video. As of September 2026 OpenAI lists sora-2 at 0.10 per second at 720p, and sora-2-pro at0.30 (720p), $0.50 (1792x1024) and $0.70 (1080p). An 8-second sora-2 clip is 8 x 0.10 =0.80.

Audio changes the Veo price. Google's Vertex AI pricing lists Veo 3.1 at $0.40 per second with audio and $0.20 without at 720p or 1080p, rising to $0.60 and $0.40 at 4K. Veo 3.1 Fast is $0.10 to $0.12 with audio and $0.08 to $0.10 without, and Veo 3.1 Lite starts at $0.05 with audio or $0.03 silent at 720p. Veo 3 and Veo 3 Fast keep the same 720p and 1080p rates.

Credits and clip blocks. Runway's developer API sells credits at $0.01 each, with Gen-4.5 at 12 credits and Gen-4 Turbo at 5 credits per second, so a 10-second Gen-4 Turbo clip is 50 credits or 0.50. Luma prices Ray3.2 per clip:0.30 for 5 seconds or $0.90 for 10 seconds at 720p, and only those two lengths are listed, so the calculator rounds a 7-second request up to the 10-second price.

Cheapest ways to get finished footage

Drop audio when you add sound later. Turning audio off halves Veo 3.1 standard costs, from $3.20 to $1.60 for an 8-second clip. If you score or voice the video in an editor anyway, silent generation is the easiest saving.

Use fast and lite tiers for drafts. Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p with audio is $0.05 per second, or $3 per finished minute, which is one eighth of Veo 3.1 standard. Generate drafts on the cheap tier and render only the approved shot on the premium model.

Watch the per-minute column. Per-minute cost is clip cost divided by clip seconds times 60. It shows that sora-2-pro at 1080p is 42 per minute of finished video while sora-2 at 720p is6.

What this estimate leaves out

Retries are the real multiplier. A usable shot often takes several generations, so multiply clips per month by your own attempts per keeper (our rule of thumb, not a provider figure). The calculator reports cost before discarded takes.

Prices change quickly. All figures were checked on the providers' official pricing pages in September 2026 and each row links to its source. Edit the unit price in any row to match a new rate, a batch discount (OpenAI lists half price for batch Sora jobs) or an enterprise contract. Kling is not included because we could not verify its API price on an official page.

Consumer plans differ. ChatGPT, Gemini, Runway and Luma subscription apps use monthly credit bundles rather than these API rates.

Worked example: 30 social clips a month

Inputs. 30 clips of 8 seconds each, with audio, at any resolution, which is 4 finished minutes of video a month.

Results. Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p is cheapest at $0.40 per clip and $12 a month. Veo 3.1 Fast at 1080p costs $0.96 per clip or $28.80 a month, sora-2 at 720p costs $0.80 per clip or $24, Veo 3.1 at 1080p costs $3.20 per clip or $96, and sora-2-pro at 1080p costs $5.60 per clip or $168 a month. With audio turned off, Runway Gen-4 Turbo lands at $0.40 per clip and Veo 3.1 Lite silent at $0.24.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about the AI Video Generation Cost Calculator

OpenAI's API pricing page, checked in September 2026, lists sora-2 at $0.10 per second for 720p video. sora-2-pro costs $0.30 per second at 720p, $0.50 at 1792 by 1024 and $0.70 at 1080p. Batch jobs are listed at half those rates. Check OpenAI before buying because video pricing changes often.
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Sources & References

API Pricing (Video generation)

sora-2 and sora-2-pro per-second prices by resolution, September 2026.
→Source: OpenAI

Vertex AI generative AI pricing (Veo)

Veo 3, Veo 3 Fast, Veo 3.1, 3.1 Fast and 3.1 Lite per-second prices with and without audio.
→Source: Google Cloud

Gemini API pricing

Veo 3.1 per-second rates in the Gemini API, which include audio.
→Source: Google AI for Developers

API Pricing and Costs

$0.01 per credit, Gen-4.5 at 12 and Gen-4 Turbo at 5 credits per second.
→Source: Runway

Luma API pricing

Ray3.2 per-clip prices for 5 and 10 second generations at 540p, 720p and 1080p.
→Source: Luma AI

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