Thinking in pixels and thinking in frames ended on the same idea: more work for the model means a higher price. For an image, that's more steps, more pixels and more references. For a video, it's a longer clip, a higher resolution and sound. Here is what that work costs, for every model in the last three lessons.
On OpenDirector you pay in credits. One credit is about one US dollar. Each kind of model is priced differently: images per picture, video per second, and audio by length (characters or seconds). You always see the price on the button before anything runs.
These are OpenDirector's prices on 16 October 2026. Prices change, so treat them as a guide; the app always shows today's.
Why you shouldn't skip the prep+
Image models: per picture
| Model | One picture | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GPT Image 2 | about 0.05 to 0.75 | Low quality ≈ 0.05; high quality 16:9 ≈ 0.45; more with several reference images |
| GPT Image 2.5 Flare | about 0.10 | Fast, everyday images |
| GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst | about 0.45 | Most precise, priced like GPT Image 2 |
| Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) | about 0.17 | More at 4K |
| Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) | about 0.10 | |
| Nano Banana 2 Lite | 0.05 | Fixed price |
| Seedream 5.0 Pro | 0.10 | Fixed price |
| Seedream 4.5 | 0.04 | Fixed price |
| Seedream 5.0 Lite | 0.035 | Fixed price |
| Seedream 5.0 Flash | 0.027 | Cheapest here |
Video models: per second
| Model | 480p | 720p | 1080p | A 10-second clip at 720p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 | 0.103 | 0.231 | 0.569 | 2.31 |
| Seedance 2.0 | 0.070 | 0.152 | 0.374 | 1.52 |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast | 0.056 | 0.120 | — | 1.20 |
| Seedance 2.0 Mini | 0.036 | 0.076 | — | 0.76 |
| Omni 1.1 Flash | 0.061 (360p) | 0.100 | 0.274 | 1.00 |
| MiniMax H3 | 0.050 | 0.060 (768p) | 0.130 (2K) | 0.60 |
| MiniMax H3 Max | 0.050 | 0.080 (768p) | 0.160 | 0.80 |
| MiniMax H3 Max Turbo | 0.025 | 0.040 (768p) | 0.080 | 0.40 |
| Kling 3.0 | 0.084 no sound · 0.126 with sound | same | same | 0.84 to 1.26 |
| Kling 3.0 Pro | 0.112 no sound · 0.168 with sound | same | same | 1.12 to 1.68 |
| Kling O3 | 0.140 | same | same | 1.40 |
| Kling Motion Control | 0.126 | same | same | 1.26 |
| FLUX 3 | — | 0.170 | 0.290 | 1.70 |
Save on video: draft at 480p (or on Seedance 2.0 Mini or MiniMax H3 Max Turbo), fix the prompt there, and only make the final once (how to test with drafts). For a sharper final, upscaling a good draft usually costs far less than generating again at 1080p.
Audio models: by length
| Model | Price | About one minute |
|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs TTS v4 | 0.08 per 1,000 characters | ≈ 0.07 |
| ElevenLabs TTS v4 Turbo | 0.04 per 1,000 characters | ≈ 0.04 |
| ElevenLabs TTS v3 | 0.08 per 1,000 characters | ≈ 0.07 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS | by audio length | ≈ 0.015 |
| Seed Speech | about 0.03 per 1,000 characters | ≈ 0.03 |
| ElevenLabs Voice Changer | 0.02 per second | 1.20 |
| ElevenLabs Music v2.5 | 0.01 per second | 0.60 |
| Seed Audio 1.0 | 0.003 per second | ≈ 0.19 |
What a small project costs
Our 15-second phone reveal in this course cost about 7 credits in all: the product images and storyboard on GPT Image 2 (about 1.6), the music (0.15), one 720p Seedance 2.5 clip (3.47), a 4K upscale (0.41), a text-free copy of the storyboard (0.05), plus a first draft we threw away (1.55). Most of the money is the video, and most of the savings come from drafting cheaply.
Where to see the price
- Open any model on OpenDirector: Image, Video or Audio in the top bar.
- Set the length, resolution and quality you want.
- The price is on the Generate button. It changes as you change the settings.
- Nothing is charged until you press Generate.
To choose between models, see the guides to image, video and audio models.
Quick answers
How much does an AI video cost?
Video is priced per second. A 10-second clip at 720p costs from about 0.4 credits (MiniMax H3 Max Turbo) to 2.3 credits (Seedance 2.5).
What is a credit worth?
One credit is about one US dollar.
Why does GPT Image cost different amounts each time?
It charges by how much it reads and draws, so a bigger picture, higher quality or more reference images cost more.
How do I spend less?
Draft cheap and short, fix the prompt there, and upscale a good draft instead of regenerating at high resolution.
