Veo 3.1 vs Seedance 2.5 vs Kling 3.0: Cost per Minute

Comparing video models on a per-second rate is how people end up surprised by an invoice. The rate is quoted per generated second at one resolution, with or without audio — and almost nobody quotes the same configuration. This post puts them in one unit: dollars per minute of output.

The comparison, per minute

Three things the rate card hides

1. The resolution step is not linear

Kling 3.0 costs $0.112/s at 1080p and $0.42/s at 4K — a 3.75x step for a 4x pixel count. If a shot only ships at 1080p, generating at 4K “to be safe” is the most expensive habit in the table.

2. Native audio is a 50% line item

Same model, same resolution: Kling 3.0 is $0.112/s silent and $0.168/s with native audio. Whether that beats generating silent video and adding sound in post depends on your editing pipeline — but it is not a rounding error, and it rarely appears in comparison tables.

3. Retries double everything

Every number above is a first take. For shots with people, hands or text, a 1-in-2 hit rate is normal. That means 300 finished clips at 8 seconds is 4,800 generated seconds: about $202 a month on Kling 2.6 720p, $538 on Kling 3.0 1080p, and roughly $3,264 on Seedance 2.5 1080p. The model, not the volume, is what moves the invoice.

Which model for which job

• Drafting and storyboards: Kling 2.6 (720p, $2.52/min) or Wan 3 (480p, $3.00/min). Speed and cost matter more than fidelity.
• Social finals at 1080p: Kling 3.0 ($6.72/min) is the cheapest 1080p option here; add audio only on the shots that need it.
• Anything with dialogue on camera: Veo 3.1 with audio ($24/min) or Kling 3.0 with audio ($10.08/min) — generating lip-sync in a post pass usually costs more than paying for native audio.
• Hero shots: Seedance 2.5 at 1080p ($40.80/min). Reserve it for the ten seconds that carry the piece.

Testing the pipeline for free

CogVideoX-Flash is free to call on NovAI — up to 5 video generations a day on the free tier, no card. It is not a Seedance-class model, but it is enough to wire up the request, queue and download path before you spend anything.

curl https://aiapi-pro.com/v1/video/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"cogvideox-flash","prompt":"a paper boat in the rain, close up"}'

FAQ

Is Veo 3.1 more expensive than Seedance 2.5?

Per minute, Veo 3.1 with audio is about $24 and Seedance 2.5 at 1080p is about $40.80 — so it depends on resolution and audio. Seedance 2.5 at 720p is about $18/min, cheaper than Veo 3.1 with audio.

Why does native audio add 50%?

Because the audio is generated in the same pass as the video, so the provider bills the same per-second rate at a higher tier. Kling 3.0: $0.112/s at 1080p silent, $0.168/s with audio.

How much should I budget for retries?

Assume a 1-in-2 hit rate for shots with people, hands or text. That doubles every per-minute number here. A 300-clip month at 8 seconds becomes 4,800 generated seconds.

Are these API prices or consumer app prices?

API list prices from each provider's rate card, or from the reseller's published API price where the provider does not sell directly. Consumer subscriptions are priced differently and are usually cheaper per clip inside a plan.

Prices reflect provider rate cards as of 2026-10-30 and are published machine-readably at /china-ai-leaderboard.json. Reseller-sourced rows are labelled in the source page linked above.