AI video tools price in credits, seats, per-second API rates or minutes per plan, so comparing them is harder than it should be. This guide puts five of them on one unit, the cost of one minute of video, using prices published in September and October 2026. Then it shows how to turn that into the number that matters for a client budget: the cost of a minute you actually deliver.
The short answer
| Tool | What you get | Cost per minute of output |
|---|---|---|
| HeyGen (Avatar IV) | Talking-avatar presenter video | about $0.97–$0.98 |
| Fabeo | Finished multi-scene video: script, voice, scenes, final render | $2.60–$3.00 |
| Google Veo 3.1 (API) | Raw generated clips with audio | $3.00 (Lite, 720p) to $24.00 (Standard) |
| Runway (subscription) | Raw generated clips | $3.00 (Max plan, Gen-4 Turbo) to $17.31 (Standard plan, Gen-4.5) |
| Kling 3.0 (API) | Raw generated clips | $5.04 (720p, no audio) to $8.40 (1080p, with audio) |
These are not the same product. HeyGen’s low rate buys a presenter speaking to camera. Runway, Kling and Veo charge for raw clips that you still have to script, voice, cut and assemble. Fabeo’s rate is for a finished video. Compare like with like before you compare prices.
The formula that matters
Cost per delivered minute = price per generated minute √∑ keep rate
Keep rate is the share of what you generate that ends up in the final video. Every tool here bills for generations, not for footage you keep, so a discarded take costs the same as a good one. If you keep one take in two, your real cost is double the list rate. If you keep one in three, it triples.
That is why the cheapest list price is not always the cheapest project. Track your keep rate for a month, then apply it to every tool you are comparing.
Runway
Runway sells monthly plans with credits (runway.com/pricing, checked 5 October 2026). Runway states how many seconds of video each plan’s credits cover:
| Plan (monthly billing) | Gen-4.5 | Gen-4 Turbo |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, $15 (625 credits) | 52 s, about $17.31/min | 104 s, about $8.65/min |
| Pro, $35 (2,250 credits) | 187 s, about $11.23/min | 375 s, about $5.60/min |
| Max, $95 (9,500 credits) | 791 s, about $7.21/min | 1,900 s, about $3.00/min |
Annual billing lowers each plan by about 20%. The output is raw clips of a few seconds each, so a finished minute also needs editing and voice-over.
Kling 3.0
Kling’s API bills per generated second. A September 2026 breakdown of Kling’s official developer rate card (aireiter.com, 10 September 2026) lists:
- 720p without audio: $0.084/s, about $5.04/min
- 720p with native audio: $0.112/s, about $6.72/min
- 1080p without audio: $0.112/s, about $6.72/min
- 1080p with native audio: $0.140/s, about $8.40/min
- 4K: $0.420/s, about $25.20/min
Like Runway, these are raw clips priced per generated second, whether or not you keep them.
Google Veo 3.1
Google’s Gemini API pricing page (ai.google.dev, last updated 1 October 2026) lists Veo 3.1 per second, with audio included by default:
- Veo 3.1 Standard: $0.40/s at 720p or 1080p ($24.00/min), $0.60/s at 4K
- Veo 3.1 Fast: $0.10/s at 720p ($6.00/min), $0.12/s at 1080p ($7.20/min)
- Veo 3.1 Lite: $0.05/s at 720p ($3.00/min), $0.08/s at 1080p ($4.80/min)
Veo is an API for developers, so using it for client work also means building or buying the tooling around it.
HeyGen
HeyGen sells credit plans (heygen.com/pricing, checked 5 October 2026): Creator at $29 a month with 600 credits and Pro at $49 a month with 1,000 credits. Its pricing page says credit use varies by model. A September 2026 breakdown citing HeyGen’s own documentation puts Avatar IV at 20 credits per minute (Arcade, 22 September 2026). That is about 30 minutes for $29 on Creator and 50 minutes for $49 on Pro, just under $1 a minute.
That rate is for avatar video: a digital presenter speaking your script. It is excellent for training and explainers with a spokesperson, but it is a different format from scene-based ads or product videos.
Fabeo
Fabeo charges per rendered minute of finished video (fabeo.ai/pricing): $3 a minute, with monthly plans at Professional $12 for 4 minutes, Enterprise $24 for 8 minutes and Agency $39 for 15 minutes, which works out to $2.60 a minute. The free plan makes videos up to 30 seconds with a watermark.
That minute is a finished video, not a clip. Fabeo writes the scene-by-scene script, adds voice and music, renders each scene and stitches the final video. Writing and editing scripts is free, so you only pay when you render. Like the other tools, every render attempt is billed, so the keep-rate formula applies here too. The Agency plan adds client and brand workspaces, sharable review links and a feedback workflow, so revisions happen in one place.
Worked example: ten 30-second client ads
Ten 30-second ads is 5 minutes of finished video. Assume you keep half of what you generate, so you produce 10 minutes.
- Fabeo, Agency plan: 10 rendered minutes fit inside the $39 plan’s 15 minutes, about $26 of it at $2.60 a minute, and the videos are finished.
- Kling 3.0, 1080p with audio: 10 minutes at $8.40 is about $84 for raw clips, before voice-over and editing.
- Veo 3.1 Fast, 1080p: 10 minutes at $7.20 is about $72 for raw clips.
- Runway, Pro plan with Gen-4 Turbo: 10 minutes at about $5.60 is about $56, but the Pro plan only covers about 6 minutes of Gen-4 Turbo a month, so you would need Max.
Raw-clip tools can be cheaper per second at their lowest tiers, but the gap closes or reverses once you count the time to turn clips into a finished, on-brand video. Try your own numbers in the AI video cost calculator.
What to ask before you buy
- Is the price per generated second, per credit or per finished video?
- Do failed or rejected generations use credits?
- Which resolution and audio settings does the headline price assume?
- Is the plan’s monthly allowance enough for your volume, or will you pay for top-ups?
- Can clients review and approve without exporting files by email?
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI video generator per minute in 2026?
For raw clips, Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p and Runway’s Max plan with Gen-4 Turbo both work out to about $3 a minute. For avatar video, HeyGen is about $1 a minute. For finished multi-scene videos, Fabeo is $2.60‚Äì$3 a minute. Your keep rate changes all of these.
Why do prices differ so much between tools?
They sell different things. Some charge for seconds of raw footage, some for avatar minutes and some for finished videos. Resolution, audio and model choice also move the price by 2–5 times within a single tool.
Does Fabeo charge per seat?
No. Plans include rendered minutes, not seats. See Fabeo pricing.
How do I compare tools for a client project?
Estimate the minutes you will deliver, divide by your keep rate, and multiply by each tool’s per-minute price. Then add the time it takes to turn raw clips into a finished video. For side-by-side comparisons, see Fabeo vs Runway, Fabeo vs Kling and Fabeo vs HeyGen.