AI Video Pricing Per Second, Nov 2026: Kling, HeyGen, Pika, FLUX, Wan

Short version: the cheapest per-second rate among the five big names right now is Pika H3 Flex at $0.02 per second at 768p, with HeyGen Video at $0.03 close behind. Wan 3 sits at $0.10 per second at 720p (list), FLUX 3 Max is $0.085 until its promo ends on 22 November, and Kling 4.0 is the premium option at $0.157 per second at 720p. The headline rate is only half the story, though: reference videos, 1080p multipliers and upscaling change the real bill a lot.

Every number below comes from each vendor's own pricing page or API docs, re-checked on 11 November 2026. These are pay-as-you-go API rates, not subscription credits, because that is the only way to compare video models like for like. We haven't run a cost benchmark of our own for this guide, so read it as a price sheet, not a quality ranking. If you want the quality side, our Kling 4.0 vs Wan 3 comparison covers how the two most-used models actually differ.

AI Video Cost Per Second: The November 2026 Price Table

Here is the master table. "720p-class" means 720p, except for HeyGen and Pika, whose native mid tier is 768p. All prices are USD per second of output video.

The spread is wide: Kling 4.0 at 720p costs almost eight times Pika H3 Flex at 768p. That gap only matters if the cheaper model gets you a usable take in a similar number of tries, which is why we keep pointing readers to a mixed video stack rather than one model for everything.

What a Real Clip Costs: 10 Seconds and 60 Seconds

Per-second rates are hard to feel. Here is the same table turned into clip prices, using the 720p-class rate and simple multiplication (no retries, no reference inputs).

Two caveats on that 1080p column. Pika's 1080p is an upscale of a 768p generation, not a native 1080p render. HeyGen's 1080p and 2K both bill at the same 3× rate, so if you are paying for 1080p anyway, the 2K output costs nothing extra.

Pro tip: Budget for retries, not single takes. If you usually keep one clip in three, multiply every number in this table by three before you compare tools.

Kling 4.0 Pricing Per Second

Kling 4.0 is the most expensive of the mainstream models on a per-second basis, and its price sheet has the most moving parts. Kling's own API document lists these rates:

• Kling 4.0, no input video: 1.0 unit ($0.157) per second at 720p, 1.5 units ($0.235) at 1080p.
• Kling 4.0, with input video: 0.6 units ($0.094) at 720p and 0.9 units ($0.141) at 1080p, but billed on a larger total duration (see below).
• Kling 4.0 Flash: 0.6 units ($0.094) per second at 720p only; $0.063 with an input video.
• Kling 3.0: $0.084 at 720p without native audio, $0.126 with it; $0.112 and $0.168 at 1080p; 4K at $0.42.

The trap is the reference-video rule. When your input video is shorter than or equal to the output, Kling bills output duration × 2. When the input is longer, it bills input + output. So a 10-second Kling 4.0 clip at 720p guided by a 5-second reference costs 20 × $0.094 = $1.88, more than the $1.57 you'd pay with no reference at all. Input video here includes reference videos and video character elements, so character-consistency workflows land in this bucket. If that is your use case, our guide on keeping characters consistent in Kling shows ways to lean on reference images instead.

For subscription plans and credits rather than the API, see our full Kling AI pricing breakdown.

HeyGen Video Pricing Per Second

HeyGen Video (model heygen-video-1) is the second-cheapest option and the cheapest one that renders up to 30 seconds in a single job. HeyGen's own pages give the standard rates:

• Text or image to video: $0.02 per second at 480p, $0.03 at 768p.
• Reference to video: $0.04 to $0.06 per second.
• 1080p and 2K: billed at 3× the 768p rate, so $0.09 per second for text or image to video.

Length depends on settings. The developer docs allow 5–30 seconds for text or image to video with turbo or quality prompt enhancement, but only 5–15 seconds for reference mode, ultraquality or disabled enhancement, and for HeyGen Video through MCP. The October launch promo (half price) is over, so $0.03 at 768p is the real November number. We covered the model itself, prompts included, in HeyGen Video explained.

My take: at 768p with native sound, HeyGen Video is the best value for B-roll and product shots where you need longer single takes. The 3× jump to 1080p is steep, though. If 1080p is your delivery format, compare it against Pika's upscaled 1080p and FLUX 3 Max's promo rate before you commit.

Pika H3 Flex Pricing Per Second

Pika H3 Flex is the price floor. Pika's API pricing page lists the same rates for text to video and image to video:

Reference to video also bills the reference video seconds on top of output. Clips run 3–15 seconds with synchronized audio. Pika's own model page is clear about where H3 Flex is weak: it lists frame-exact rotoscoping, feature-length renders, pixel-perfect compositing and precise on-screen text under "Not for".

Pro tip: Pika's 1080p, 2K and 4K are upscales of a 768p generation. If you already run footage through an upscaler in your edit, render at 768p for $0.02 and upscale yourself.

FLUX 3 Max and FLUX 3 Video Pricing Per Second

There are two FLUX video products, and they price differently. FLUX 3 Max is fal Research's post-trained model served on fal. Its text-to-video page lists the current schedule:

• 8–22 November 2026 (50% promo): $0.085 per second at 720p, $0.145 at 1080p. A 10-second clip is $0.85 at 720p or $1.45 at 1080p.
• From 23 November 2026, 00:00 UTC: regular rates of $0.17 at 720p and $0.29 at 1080p.

The 75% launch discount we covered in our FLUX 3 Max guide ended on 7 November, so anything quoting $0.0425 is out of date. Clips run 5–20 seconds.

FLUX 3 Video on Black Forest Labs' own API is pay-as-you-go with no subscription: $0.06 per second for Draft HD, $0.17 for HD, $0.29 for FHD, $0.40 for QHD and $0.80 for UHD. Video to video costs more, from $0.12 (Draft HD) to $0.95 (UHD). Draft HD at $0.06 is a cheap way to test motion and framing before paying for a full HD render. If you want FLUX 3 inside a multi-model studio instead of an API, OpenArt hosts the base FLUX 3 video model (not Max); see OpenArt pricing for its credit plans.

Wan 3 Pricing Per Second

Alibaba's Wan 3 comes in two API models on Model Studio: wan3.0-video and the speed-optimized wan3.0-video-prime. Both do text to video, first/last-frame image to video and all-in-one reference, at 480p, 720p or 1080p, 2–30 seconds, 30 fps.

Two details matter. First, the standard model's prices are labelled "List price" with a "Limited-time 30% off" note, so your console may show less than the table; by our arithmetic, 30% off the International 720p list would be $0.07. Alibaba does not give an end date on that page, so budget on list. Second, the International region includes a 30-second free quota for the standard model, valid for 90 days; Prime has none. For quality trade-offs against Kling, see Kling 4.0 vs Wan 3.

Hidden Costs That Change the Real Price

Headline per-second rates hide four things that can double or triple a bill:

1. Reference video billing. Kling bills output × 2 (or input + output) when you pass a reference video. Pika and HeyGen charge higher reference-mode rates, and Pika also bills reference seconds.
2. Resolution multipliers. HeyGen 1080p is 3× its 768p rate. Kling 4.0 1080p is 1.5×. FLUX 3 Max 1080p is about 1.7×.
3. Upscaled vs native. Pika's 1080p+ tiers are upscales. That is fine for social, less fine for a client who asked for native 4K.
4. Promo cliffs. FLUX 3 Max doubles on 23 November. Wan 3's 30% discount has no stated end. HeyGen's launch promo already ended. Always re-check a rate the week you run a big batch.

Retries are the fifth, and the largest. A model that costs 3× more per second but lands the shot first time is cheaper than one you run five times. That is why talking-character work often belongs on a dedicated tool: Hedra is built for character animation and lip-sync, and our Hedra pricing guide covers its plans.

Which AI Video Model Is Cheapest for Your Job?

Honest answer: most teams end up with two models, a cheap one for drafts and volume, and a premium one for hero shots. Our AI video stack guide shows how that split works in practice, and if you want ready-made shot prompts for the premium side, start with our cinematic Kling prompts.

Verdict: The Real Price Leader in November 2026

On list API prices, Pika H3 Flex is the cheapest per second and HeyGen Video is the cheapest for long single takes. FLUX 3 Max is the best-value native 1080p option until 22 November, after which its price doubles. Wan 3 is mid-priced with a regional discount worth checking, and Kling 4.0 stays the premium choice, especially expensive once reference videos enter the workflow. Pick on cost per kept shot, not cost per second.

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