# What a 5-second AI video actually costs in 2026 (markdown mirror)

Source: https://aiapi-pro.com/blog/ai-video-cost-per-5-second-2026

All prices are provider list prices passed through with a 1.0 multiplier and zero platform markup.
Machine-readable feed: https://aiapi-pro.com/china-ai-leaderboard.json

## Per 5-second clip (default resolution)

| Model | Provider | Per second | Per 5s clip | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PixVerse C1 | PixVerse | $0.0308 | $0.15 | token |
| PixVerse V5.6 / V6.0 | PixVerse | $0.0406 | $0.20 | token |
| Hunyuan Video 1.5 | Tencent | $0.0462 | $0.23 | token |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast (480p) | ByteDance | $0.0540 | $0.27 | per second |
| Kling 2.5 Turbo | Kuaishou | $0.0615 | $0.31 | token |
| Hailuo 2.3 / 2.3 Fast | MiniMax | $0.0615 | $0.31 | token |
| Seedance 2.0 (480p) | ByteDance | $0.0670 | $0.34 | per second |
| Kling 2.6 | Kuaishou | $0.0769 | $0.38 | token |
| Hailuo H3 / H3 Max | MiniMax | $0.0769 | $0.38 | token |
| Vidu Q3 | Vidu | $0.0769 | $0.38 | token |
| Kling O1 / V3 / V3 Omni | Kuaishou | $0.0923 | $0.46 | token |
| Vidu Q3 Pro | Vidu | $0.0923 | $0.46 | token |
| Kling V3 Turbo | Kuaishou | $0.1231 | $0.62 | token |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast (720p) | ByteDance | $0.1310 | $0.66 | per second |
| Seedance 2.5 (480p) | ByteDance | $0.1400 | $0.70 | per second |
| Seedance 2.0 (720p) | ByteDance | $0.1630 | $0.82 | per second |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast (1080p) | ByteDance | $0.2640 | $1.32 | per second |
| Seedance 2.5 (720p) | ByteDance | $0.3200 | $1.60 | per second |
| Seedance 2.0 (1080p) | ByteDance | $0.3290 | $1.65 | per second |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast (4K) | ByteDance | $0.8020 | $4.01 | per second |
| Seedance 2.0 (4K) | ByteDance | $1.0000 | $5.00 | per second |

Token-billed per-second figures are estimates (token price x estimated tokens/second); per-second figures are the published rates.

## Batch cost

| Workload | Cheapest | Mid tier | Flagship / 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 x 5s clips | $15 | $46 | $500 |
| 1,000 x 5s clips | $154 | $461 | $5,000 |
| 1 minute of video (12 clips) | $1.85 | $5.5 | $60 |

## Free option

CogVideoX-Flash is free to call: 10 free-model calls/day and 5 free video generations/day on the free tier.

## Endpoint

```
POST https://aiapi-pro.com/v1/video/generations
Authorization: Bearer $NOVAI_API_KEY
{"model":"cogvideox-flash","prompt":"a paper boat in the rain, close up"}
```

## FAQ

**Why does a 5-second video cost 30x more on one model than another?**
Three things drive it: resolution (Seedance 2.0 costs 18x more at 4K than at 480p), model tier (a turbo/fast variant is 2-3x cheaper than the flagship), and billing unit (per-second models quote a flat rate, token-billed models scale with the tokens the run consumes).

**Are these NovAI prices or the providers' prices?**
They are the providers' list prices passed through with a 1.0 multiplier and zero platform markup. NovAI publishes the feed at /china-ai-leaderboard.json so the numbers can be checked.

**How are token-billed video models priced?**
Kling, Hailuo, Vidu and PixVerse bill per token. Each model has a token price and an estimated token count per second of output; multiplying them gives the per-second cost, which is what the table shows as an estimate.

**Is there a free way to generate video?**
Yes. CogVideoX-Flash is free to call with a NovAI API key, capped at 10 free-model calls per day and 5 free video generations per day on the free tier.