How much does an AI video generator cost? 2026 pricing explained

Why is AI video priced in credits?

Every second of AI video costs the company real computing time, and different clips cost very different amounts: a five-second clip at low resolution is cheap, a ten-second high-resolution clip with audio can cost ten times more. Credits let one price list cover all of that. You buy a bundle, each clip spends some of it, and a better or longer clip spends more.

The catch is that credits make plans hard to compare. A plan with 2,000 credits isn't better than one with 900 if each clip costs four times as much. So the first rule of comparing AI video pricing is to ignore the credit count and work out what one clip really costs you.

A note before we go on: Dromana is our own product, and we use it as a worked example below alongside tools we don't make. Prices change often, so treat any number here as a snapshot from October 2026 and check each site before you buy.

What does one AI video clip actually cost?

Work it out in three steps: the plan price, divided by the credits it includes, multiplied by the credits one clip uses. Then adjust for the things the plan page doesn't say up front.

• Resolution: a cheap clip at 480p and a cheap clip at 1080p are not the same product.
• Length: check whether the price is for five seconds or ten, and whether you can choose.
• Retries: if you need three tries to get a postable clip, the real cost is three clips.
• Refunds: some tools refund credits when a job fails or is blocked, others don't.
• Extras: audio, upscaling, watermark removal and commercial rights can each cost more.

As an example, Dromana's Starter plan is $10 a month for 900 credits ($4.99 for the first month). A five-second clip uses 70 credits on Dromana at 768p, so the plan makes about 12 clips at about 83 cents each. Ready-made looks cost the same as a plain clip. Failed jobs refund automatically, so you only pay for clips that come back.

Are free AI video generators really free?

Free tiers exist mostly so you can try the tool, and they differ a lot. Some give a one-time bundle when you sign up, some give a small allowance every day, and some give nothing until you pay. Free results usually carry a watermark and are for personal use only, and free users often get lower resolution or a slower queue.

On Dromana, new accounts get 70 free credits with no card, which covers one short clip at 768p, plus 35 more each day you visit. Results made with free credits carry a small badge. If all you need is the occasional clip for fun, a free tier plus a daily allowance can be enough; once you post every week, it usually isn't. Our list of the best free AI video generators compares the free tiers in more detail.

Subscription or credit pack: which is cheaper?

It depends on how regularly you make clips. Subscriptions give the lowest price per credit, but you pay every month whether you use them or not. Credit packs cost a little more per credit but never expire into a bill you forgot about. A simple test: if you'd use at least two thirds of a plan's credits every month, subscribe; if your use comes in bursts, like a holiday season or a product launch, buy packs.

• Dromana packs: 500 credits for $8, 1,500 for $22, 4,000 for $55, no subscription needed.
• First purchase: a one-time welcome pack of 500 credits for $4.99.
• Plans: Starter $10 a month (900 credits), Pro $29 (3,200), Max $59 (7,000), with yearly billing cheaper.
• Members get lower pack prices and results without the badge.

How do the popular tools compare on price?

Entry plans across the big consumer tools sit close together, usually around $9 to $15 a month, so the differences are in what a credit buys. Pika's entry plan, for example, is $10 a month for 900 credits, and its per-clip cost depends heavily on which video option you pick. Krea's basic plan starts around $9. Runway, Luma Dream Machine and Higgsfield all use credit plans too, with more expensive tiers aimed at professionals and teams.

Rather than trusting a comparison table, which goes out of date in weeks, run the same photo through two or three tools on their free tiers and count how many tries each needs to give you something you'd post. That number, multiplied by the cost per clip, is your real price. Our best AI photo-to-video tools ranking explains what each tool is best at.

How can I spend fewer credits per good clip?

1. Step 1

   Start from a good photo

   Sharp, front-facing, even light. Bad photos are the main reason for retries; see the best photos for AI video.

2. Step 2

   Use the cheap setting to test

   Try the idea on the cheapest option first, then remake only the winner at higher quality.

3. Step 3

   Keep prompts short

   One subject, one action, one camera move. Long prompts fail more often.

4. Step 4

   Use a template when one fits

   A ready-made look has already been tuned, so it usually works on the first try.

5. Step 5

   Keep the clip short

   Five seconds is plenty for most social posts and costs half as much as ten.

You can try all of this for free in AI Video or on the make a photo move page.