A 45-Second AI Short Costs 281 to 4,293 Credits: The Per-Second Price Table for 11 Video Models
# A 45-Second AI Short Costs 281 to 4,293 Credits: The Per-Second Price Table for 11 Video Models
On October 19, 2026, the cheapest way to render a 45-second AI Short in ClipNovia is about 281 credits (Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p). The most expensive is about 4,293 credits (Seedance 2.5 at 720p). Same length, same resolution tier, a 15.3x gap.
**A model that costs 15x more per second only wins if it lands a usable clip on take one while the cheap model needs 15 takes.**
This is a price post, not a quality ranking. We did not render comparison videos for this article, so nothing here says which model looks best. Every number below comes from ClipNovia's own cost estimator and model catalog, queried on October 19, 2026. Prices are in ClipNovia credits. We could not find a published credit-to-dollar rate on the pricing page, so we do not convert to dollars.
## The per-second price table (720p tier, no sound unless noted)
Credits for one clip, divided by clip seconds. Veo models only render 4, 6 or 8 seconds, so they use an 8-second clip. MiniMax H3 uses its 768p tier and Kling uses its standard tier because those are the closest options.
| Model | Clip priced | Credits per clip | Credits per second | 30s Short | 45s Short | 60s Short | Price vs cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 Lite | 8s, 720p | 50 | 6.25 | 188 | 281 | 375 | 1.0x |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 | 10s, 720p | 69 | 6.90 | 207 | 310 | 414 | 1.1x |
| MiniMax H3 | 10s, 768p | 122 | 12.20 | 366 | 549 | 732 | 2.0x |
| Veo 3.1 | 8s, 720p | 100 | 12.50 | 375 | 562 | 750 | 2.0x |
| Seedance 2.0 Mini | 10s, 720p | 165 | 16.50 | 495 | 742 | 990 | 2.6x |
| Kling 2.6 | 10s, std | 190 | 19.00 | 570 | 855 | 1,140 | 3.0x |
| Wan 3.0 | 10s, 720p | 243 | 24.30 | 729 | 1,094 | 1,458 | 3.9x |
| Kling 3.0 | 10s, std | 282 | 28.20 | 846 | 1,269 | 1,692 | 4.5x |
| Wan 3.0 Prime | 10s, 720p | 382 | 38.20 | 1,146 | 1,719 | 2,292 | 6.1x |
| Seedance 2.0 | 10s, 720p | 621 | 62.10 | 1,863 | 2,794 | 3,726 | 9.9x |
| Seedance 2.5 | 10s, 720p | 954 | 95.40 | 2,862 | 4,293 | 5,724 | 15.3x |
Source: ClipNovia model catalog and cost estimator, queried 2026-10-19. The 30, 45 and 60 second columns multiply credits per second by final length and assume zero retakes and zero trimmed footage. Real projects cost more than that, which is the next section.
## The retake math nobody puts in the pricing table
A sticker price per clip hides the number that actually sets your bill: how many takes you burn per usable clip.
The formula:
**Total credits = final seconds x credits per second x takes per usable clip**
The break-even rule falls straight out of it. Divide one model's price per second by another's. Seedance 2.5 at 95.4 credits per second is 15.3 times Veo 3.1 Lite at 6.25. So one Seedance 2.5 take costs the same as roughly 15 Veo 3.1 Lite takes. If your own results show Veo Lite needs fewer than 15 takes per usable clip to match what you wanted from a single Seedance 2.5 take, the cheaper model is the cheaper way to get there. If it needs more, it is not.
Break-even takes against a few common picks (price per second divided by price per second, from the table above):
| Expensive model | Cheaper model | One expensive take equals this many cheaper takes |
|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 | Veo 3.1 Lite | 15.3 |
| Seedance 2.0 | Kling 2.6 | 3.3 |
| Kling 3.0 | Kling 2.6 | 1.5 |
| Veo 3.1 | Veo 3.1 Lite | 2.0 |
We are not claiming any model hits a particular retake rate. We did not measure one. Count your own takes on your own prompts for a week and plug them in.
## Four price quirks worth knowing before you budget
1. **Resolution can matter more than model choice.** Seedance 2.0 at 10 seconds costs 621 credits at 720p and 1,544 at 1080p in the estimator, about 2.5x. Veo 3.1 Lite at 8 seconds goes from 50 to 60 credits at 1080p, and Veo 3.1 from 100 to 110.
2. **Sound is not priced the same everywhere.** With sound turned on, Kling 2.6 went from 190 to 380 credits for a 10-second clip, and Kling 3.0 from 282 to 403. For Seedance 2.0, Seedance 2.0 Mini and Wan 3.0 the estimator returned the same price with sound on as off, so check the live estimate for your exact setting instead of assuming.
3. **Grok Imagine 1.5 has a cheap headline and a normal price.** The catalog lists 37 credits for 10 seconds at 480p. At 720p the estimator returned 69.
4. **Clip length limits shape your edit.** Veo tops out at 8 seconds per clip, so a 45-second Short is at least six clips. Seedance 2.5 and Wan 3.0 can go longer per clip, which changes how much stitching you do.
## The cheap way to waste fewer expensive takes: storyboard with stills first
Image generation is priced very differently from video. In the same catalog, Seedream 5.0 Flash is 5 credits per image and Nano Banana 2.1 is 7 credits at 1K. A nine-frame storyboard is 45 credits on Seedream Flash or 63 on Nano Banana 2.1. One 10-second Seedance 2.5 clip is 954.
That is an approach, not a tested result: lock your framing, hook and shot order on cheap stills, then spend video credits only on shots you have already approved. If you want to see how Nano Banana 2.1 compares to its predecessor on reference frames, we covered it in [Nano Banana 2.1 vs. Nano Banana 2](/blog/nano-banana-2-1-vs-nano-banana-2).
## Copy this: the 5-minute Short budget template
Paste this into a note and fill the brackets.
```
Final length (seconds): [45]
Model: [Veo 3.1 Lite]
Credits per second (table above): [6.25]
Takes per usable clip (your own): [3]
Storyboard frames x credits each: [9 x 5 = 45]
Video credits = 45 x 6.25 x 3 = 844
Storyboard = 45
TOTAL = 889 credits
```
The example uses 3 takes only to show the arithmetic. It is a placeholder, not a measured rate. Swap in your own count.
## How to pick, without pretending the table is a quality ranking
1. Decide what the Short needs. Dialogue, native audio and physical realism are different jobs, and the catalog describes models differently for them (for example, it lists Veo 3.1 as highest fidelity with native audio, and Kling 3.0 as best for physical realism).
2. Storyboard on stills. Pay 5 to 7 credits per frame to fix the idea before paying for motion.
3. Test two models on the same single shot. Log credits and takes. That is your real cost per usable second.
4. Recompute the table for your own mix. If you reuse a structure you found in a winning Short, our guide on [how to reverse engineer viral videos](/blog/how-to-reverse-engineer-viral-videos) shows how to turn it into a shot list before you spend anything.
5. Match the tool to the job. For the bigger question of picking a generator by job instead of by ranking, see [AI Shorts Generator: Pick the Right Tool by the Job](/blog/ai-shorts-generator-guide), and for what transforming an existing clip really means, see [Video-to-Video AI, Explained](/blog/video-to-video-ai-explained).
## Frequently asked questions
**Which AI video model is cheapest per second in ClipNovia?**
On October 19, 2026, Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p, at 6.25 credits per second (50 credits for an 8-second clip). Grok Imagine 1.5 at 720p was next at 6.9.
**Is the cheapest model the best value?**
Not automatically. Value is credits per usable clip, so it depends on how many takes you need. Use the formula above with your own retake count.
**How many credits does a 60-second AI Short cost?**
From 375 (Veo 3.1 Lite) to 5,724 (Seedance 2.5) at one take per clip and no trimmed footage, based on the table above.
**Do these prices change?**
Yes. Re-check the live estimator before a big batch. These figures were verified on 2026-10-19 and should be re-verified by 2026-11-19.
## Run your own numbers
If you want to price a real Short before you commit credits, you can estimate and generate it in [ClipNovia](https://clipnovia.io/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ai-video-cost-per-second), which shows the credit cost for each model and setting before you run it.
*Prices verified 2026-10-19 from ClipNovia model catalog and cost estimator. Update by 2026-11-19.*