Methodology

How AI video cost estimates are calculated

This site estimates practical AI video generation cost, not only advertised provider list price. The goal is to show cost per usable video after retries, quality choices, plan floors, and uncertain pricing data are accounted for.

Primary metricCost per usable video after rejected generations and retries.

Source policyPrefer official pricing pages and clearly label incomplete public pricing.

Update ruleRecheck high-traffic or changed provider prices before making data changes.

Formula

Calculation steps

Finished secondsusable videos per month x seconds per videoThis is the amount of video you actually intend to keep or publish.

Generated attemptsusable videos x (1 + retries per usable video)Retries represent unusable generations, rejected clips, failed motion, text issues, or client revisions.

Billable workloadgenerated seconds x selected quality multiplierHigher quality modes often consume more credits, tokens, or per-second cost.

Monthly estimateplan floor + overage seconds x platform unit rateThe calculator applies known plan minimums, included seconds, and overage rates where public pricing allows it.

Cost per usable videomonthly estimate / usable videos per monthThis is usually more useful than provider list price because rejected attempts still consume budget.

Hidden cost

Why retries are included

AI video generation often needs repeated attempts before one clip is usable. Motion artifacts, human hands, faces, product shots, text overlays, wrong framing, and prompt mismatch can all turn a generated clip into a rejected attempt. That is why the calculator separates generated attempts from final usable videos.

Savings

How savings estimates work

Savings are calculated only when you enter a current cost per finished video. The calculator compares that current monthly baseline with the selected AI platform estimate. It does not include editing, voiceover, review time, licensing, or creative labor unless you include those costs in your baseline.

Source confidence

How pricing confidence is labeled

Official unit rate means the provider publishes a clear per-second, per-token, or per-credit unit price.
Official credit rules means the provider publishes plan credits and model credit burn, but the conversion may depend on plan assumptions.
Needs logged-in check means public pricing is incomplete enough that the estimate is marked provisional.
Custom pricing means the provider does not publish enough public unit pricing to rank fairly.

Official sources

Tracked AI video pricing sources

Every platform page links to the provider source used for the estimate. When public pricing is incomplete, the page says so instead of treating a placeholder as a quote.

PlatformConfidenceReviewedOfficial source

SoraOfficial unit rate2026-05-18Official pricing source

RunwayOfficial unit rate2026-05-17Official pricing source

PikaOfficial credit rules2026-05-17Official pricing source

Luma AINeeds logged-in check2026-05-21Official pricing source

VeoOfficial unit rate2026-05-21Official pricing source

Adobe FireflyOfficial credit rules2026-05-17Official pricing source

SeedanceOfficial unit rate2026-05-17Official pricing source

Kling AINeeds logged-in check2026-05-17Official pricing source

WanOfficial unit rate2026-05-17Official pricing source

HailuoOfficial credit rules2026-05-17Official pricing source

Hunyuan VideoOfficial credit rules2026-05-17Official pricing source

PixVerseOfficial credit rules2026-05-17Official pricing source

ViduOfficial unit rate2026-05-17Official pricing source

HaiperOfficial unit rate2026-05-17Official pricing source

Editorial policy

How updates are handled

When an official provider price changes, the platform data is updated before recommendations are changed.
When public pricing is incomplete, the page keeps a visible uncertainty label instead of hiding the gap.
When Search Console shows new high-intent queries, pages are improved selectively instead of generating thin pages at scale.
Affiliate links or sponsorships should not change platform rankings or source-confidence labels.