Pricing updates
This log records material changes to pricing assumptions, source-confidence handling, active platform status, and recommendation policy. It helps users understand when estimates were reviewed and why recommendations changed.
2026-06-02
Changed the homepage from internal search-status language into practical calculator entry points for production teams, first AI video budgets, explainers, cost savings, product videos, APIs, and ad creative.
Impact: Visitors can now choose the budget question closest to their workflow without seeing site-operations notes.
Review related page2026-06-02
Refreshed the site status note after the homepage started appearing for AI video cost questions in Google search.
Impact: The site has early visibility, but ads and paid-link replacements remain off until more users reach workflow calculator pages.
Review related page2026-06-01
Added shareable estimate URLs and aggregate checks that show whether visitors copy estimates or open official pricing sources.
Impact: The calculator can now measure useful actions before any ad or paid-link changes are considered.
Review related page2026-06-01
Added a search-performance health check so the site owner can separate a real traffic result from an account-access issue.
Impact: Traffic decisions should use actual search data instead of guessing from delayed or unavailable reports.
Review related page2026-05-30
Moved the important workflow pages, site status, and pricing evidence into shared data used by the sitemap, use-cases hub, validation page, llms.txt, and pricing-data JSON.
Impact: Users, reviewers, and site tools now see the same priority pages and source evidence instead of conflicting status notes.
Review related page2026-05-30
Shortened the default homepage calculator heading and added a mobile-only current estimate preview so phone visitors can see monthly cost and cost per usable video before scrolling into the full comparison panel.
Impact: Mobile visitors now get the calculator's main answer faster, reducing first-screen friction before comparing providers.
Review related page2026-05-27
Updated Adobe Firefly to clarify the official Standard plan baseline and premium video credit burn: $9.99/mo with 2,000 monthly generative credits, 20 credits/sec at 540p, 50 at 720p, and 100 at 1080p.
Impact: Firefly estimates now explain that video uses premium credits, helping users avoid confusing image-generation promos with video-generation costs.
Review related page2026-05-27
Updated the Runway summary to include Gen-4.5, Gen-4 Aleph, Veo 3.1 Fast with and without audio, and Veo 3.1 with and without audio from the official Runway API pricing guide.
Impact: Runway remains modeled from official $0.01 API credits, but the public explanation now shows more of the model options behind the quality tiers.
Review related page2026-05-27
Published a transparency page that collects machine-readable pricing data, RSS updates, source-confidence labels, and recommendation rules.
Impact: Users, directory reviewers, and future partners now have one low-noise page for checking calculator trust signals.
Review related page2026-05-27
Platform calculator pages now expose the exact pricing inputs used by the calculator, including monthly plan floor, included workload, overage estimate, quality multipliers, source confidence, and review date.
Impact: Users can audit the calculator math more easily before clicking official pricing links or comparing providers.
Review related page2026-05-27
Updated Pika from a mixed Basic/Standard assumption to the official annual-effective Standard plan: $28/mo with 700 monthly video credits. Basic remains noted as $8/mo with 80 monthly video credits.
Impact: Pika estimates are now more conservative and no longer understate creator-plan cost by combining the Basic price with Standard credits.
Review related page2026-05-27
Added homepage cards for product video cost, AI video API cost per second, and ad creative cost, with default estimates and tracked official-pricing exits.
Impact: Visitors can now jump directly to business-focused workflows without changing every calculator input from scratch.
Review related page2026-05-27
Published a JSON pricing snapshot with official source URLs, source-confidence labels, active or sunset status, review dates, and recommendation-policy boundaries.
Impact: Directories, reviewers, and future partner reviews can inspect the pricing data without scraping the UI.
Review related page2026-05-27
Published an RSS feed for pricing data changes, source-confidence updates, active/sunset status changes, and recommendation-policy updates.
Impact: Users and directories can monitor material calculator changes without manually checking the site.
Review related page2026-05-27
The homepage now includes creator-test, short-form ad, and API prototype scenarios with lowest active estimates and tracked official-pricing exits.
Impact: This strengthens the indexed homepage for low-budget buying intent without creating another long-tail page while priority pages wait for indexing.
Review related page2026-05-27
Added quick-answer cost summaries on workflow pages and homepage cards for common AI video pricing questions.
Impact: Visitors now have clearer default cost answers and direct paths to official pricing sources.
Review related page2026-05-27
Published a public policy for affiliate links, sponsorships, and pricing corrections so future paid relationships do not affect calculator rankings.
Impact: Partnerships are separated from pricing logic, source-confidence labels, active/sunset status, and cheapest active recommendations.
Review related page2026-05-27
Workflow pages now use scenario-specific defaults such as AI video price, production cost, explainer video cost, and cost-per-minute planning.
Impact: Programmatic SEO pages differ by actual calculation assumptions, not only by title and copy.
Review related page2026-05-27
Calculator hubs and homepage comparison tables now separate active platforms from historical or sunset references.
Impact: Sora remains available for historical pricing and migration searches, but it is not presented as an active default recommendation.
Review related page2026-05-26
Updated the Veo calculator to use the verified Veo 3.1 Lite 720p baseline at $0.05/sec and refreshed related quality multipliers.
Impact: Veo comparisons now reflect the latest checked Gemini API pricing baseline tracked by the project.
Review related page2026-05-18
Updated Sora positioning after confirming OpenAI discontinued the Sora web/app experience and scheduled Sora API discontinuation.
Impact: Sora is excluded from cheapest active recommendations and kept for migration planning and historical comparison.
Review related page