Are AI videos cheap? Mostly yes: about $1 to $3 for a 10-second clip on the 10 tools below, if you use the whole plan you pay for (prices re-checked October 16, 2026). The headline price is rarely what you pay, though. Two things decide the real cost: the monthly minimum you pay whether you make videos or not, and whether unused credits expire. Eight of these tools have a monthly or annual plan, and most expire unused credits. Arcads publishes no prices at all. v4v has no subscription and credits that never expire: a 10-second Studio video costs 225 credits, about $1.35 to $1.58.
AI video pricing at a glance
Prices from each vendor's own pricing page, checked October 16, 2026. "Cost per 10-second video" assumes you use the whole plan; where a vendor doesn't publish a per-video rate, we say so rather than guess.
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan | Monthly minimum | Cost per 10-second video | Unused credits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v4v | $7 credit pack (1,000 credits) | $0 (no subscription) | $1.35–$1.58 (225 credits, Studio) | Never expire | Product videos and ads from a product link |
| Creatify | Standard $15/mo (55 credits) | $15 | ~$0.65–$1.54 (est.¹) | Valid 2 months | High-volume avatar ads |
| HeyGen | Creator $29/mo (600 credits) | $29 | Not published | Roll over 1 extra month | Multilingual presenter videos |
| Synthesia | Starter $29/mo (~12 min + 10 free) | $29 | ~$1.30 per minute of avatar video² | Not stated | Training and internal comms |
| InVideo AI | Basic $9/seat/mo (190 credits) | $9 | Not published | Don't roll over | General-purpose AI video |
| Runway | Standard $15/mo (625 credits) | $15 | $1.20–$2.90 (Gen-4, 12 credits/s³) | Don't roll over (Max: 1 month) | Cinematic, directed shots |
| TopView | Plus $36/mo, billed yearly ($432) | $36 (paid yearly upfront) | ~$1.20–$5.40 (Seedance 2.5, 720p⁴) | Don't roll over | Ecommerce video with API access |
| MakeUGC | Starter $29/mo, billed yearly (500 credits) | $29 | Not published | Not stated | AI UGC-style creator ads |
| Zeely | Starter $29.95/mo (2,500 credits) | $29.95 | Not published | Not stated | Mobile-first ads for small shops |
| Arcads | Not published | Unknown | Not published | Unknown | AI actor UGC ads (sales-led) |
¹ Creatify doesn't publish credits per video ("usage varies by model"). Its free plan's 10 credits cover "up to 2 video ads", about 5 credits per ad: that's ~$1.54 per ad on Standard, ~$0.98 on Pro ($55, 280 credits) and ~$0.65 on Max ($95, 730 credits).
² Starter $29 for ~12 minutes plus the 10-minute free allowance. Synthesia makes presenter videos, not product ads, so a per-minute figure is the fair comparison.
³ A 10-second Gen-4 clip is 120 credits: ~$2.88 on Standard ($15), ~$1.87 on Pro ($35), ~$1.20 on Max ($95). Gen-4 Turbo is about half that.
⁴ 10 seconds of Seedance 2.5 at 720p is ~15 credits at list rates (~$5.40 per clip on Plus) and ~12 credits on Ultra ($50/mo yearly, 500 credits/mo: ~$1.20).
Are AI videos cheap?
Compared with a shoot, yes: a 10-second product clip costs about $1 to $3 to generate on most tools here. For freelancer and agency prices, see how much an AI product video costs. The catch is that most tools sell a plan, not a video. A $15 plan with 55 credits is cheap if you make 11 ads a month and expensive if you make two.
So the honest answer is: cheap per video, not always cheap per month. If your output is steady, a plan's unit price is hard to beat. If it comes in bursts (a launch, then nothing for three weeks), credits that expire turn a low unit price into a high real one.
What decides what you actually pay
- The monthly minimum. It leaves your account whether you publish 30 videos or none. TopView and MakeUGC show their low prices only on yearly billing, paid upfront.
- Credit expiry. InVideo, Runway (Standard, Pro) and TopView (Plus, Ultra, Team) reset unused credits every month. Creatify gives two months, and HeyGen one extra month on monthly plans.
- What a credit buys. Few vendors say. Runway (12 credits per second for Gen-4) and TopView (per-clip rates by resolution) are the exceptions, along with v4v, whose Studio shows the credit cost before you generate.
Tool by tool
1. v4v
What it is: An AI product video tool. Paste a product link, choose a format (UGC, Unboxing, Hyper Motion, TV Spot, Review and more) and an optional avatar, and Studio writes the brief and generates the video.
Pricing: No subscription. Credit packs are $7 (1,000 credits), $35 (5,100), $70 (10,500) and $300 (50,000), and credits never expire. A 10-second Studio video costs 225 credits: $1.58 on the $7 pack, $1.50 on the $70 pack, $1.35 on the $300 pack. 1080p costs 330 credits and 4K costs 660 credits for the same duration. Studio shows the cost before you generate; Lab models and Workflows vary by model and settings. Studio videos run up to 10 seconds, in 9:16 or 16:9.
Verdict: A monthly minimum of $0. The $7 pack (four 10-second videos at 720p) is the cheapest way here to test generated ads on your own products. The v4v pricing guide has the full credit breakdown.
2. Creatify
What it is: Product-link-to-video ads with a large AI actor library, and the closest workflow competitor to v4v.
Pricing: Standard $15/month (55 credits), Pro $55 (280), Max $95 (730), Business $195 (from 1,500), or 20% less on annual billing. Free plan: 10 credits a month. API plans are $99 and $299. Credits are valid for two months.
Verdict: Cheap per ad at full use, especially on Max. Make three ads in a slow month on Standard and each costs $5. The v4v vs Creatify comparison goes deeper.
3. HeyGen
What it is: A multilingual avatar platform for presenter-style and translated video.
Pricing: Free (3 videos a month, up to 1 minute), Creator $29/month (600 credits, 1080p, $24 on annual), Pro from $49 (1,000 credits, 4K), Business $149 plus $20 per extra seat. Unused credits roll over one extra month on monthly plans.
Verdict: Strong for spokesperson and dubbed content, more than you need for product ad volume. See v4v vs HeyGen.
4. Synthesia
What it is: Corporate training and internal comms video with polished AI presenters.
Pricing: Basic is free (10 minutes a month). Starter is $29/month ($18 billed yearly), with ~12 extra minutes a month. Pro is $89/month ($64 yearly), with ~60 extra minutes. Enterprise is custom. The tier detail is in the Synthesia pricing guide.
Verdict: Right for onboarding and compliance training. Minute-based billing suits long presenter videos, not testing six versions of an 8-second product ad.
5. InVideo AI
What it is: A broad AI video platform with many image, video and audio models.
Pricing: Basic $9/seat/month (190 credits), Pro $30 (1,000), Ultra $80 (3,000). Annual billing roughly halves these. Unused credits don't roll over. More in the InVideo pricing breakdown.
Verdict: The lowest monthly subscription price here, but no product-specific workflow, and every unused credit is lost at month end.
6. Runway
What it is: A professional generative video tool for filmmakers and creative teams.
Pricing: Free (125 one-time credits), Standard $15/month (625 credits, $12 annual), Pro $35 (2,250, $28 annual), Max $95 (9,500, $76 annual). Gen-4 costs 12 credits per second. Credits reset monthly, except Max (one month of rollover). Credits bought separately never expire.
Verdict: Excellent for directed, cinematic shots. A 10-second Gen-4 clip is about $2.90 on Standard and $1.20 on Max.
7. TopView
What it is: Ecommerce video and avatar ads, with API access on paid plans.
Pricing: Shown only on yearly billing: Plus $36/month ($432/year, 100 credits/month), Business $44/month ($528/year, 3,000 credits upfront), Ultra $50/month ($599.90/year, 500 credits/month), Team $56/seat. Seedance 2.5 at 720p costs ~6 credits per 4-second clip at list rates.
Verdict: Reasonable per clip on Ultra. Everything is paid a year upfront, and monthly credits don't roll over.
8. MakeUGC
What it is: AI UGC-style ads with synthetic creators.
Pricing: On yearly billing: Starter $29/month (500 credits), Growth $39 (1,000), Pro $79 (2,000–5,000). The page doesn't show monthly-billing prices, only that annual saves up to 51%. API and MCP access is included.
Verdict: No credits-per-video rate is published, so no honest per-video figure exists, including in the roundups that quote one.
9. Zeely
What it is: A mobile-first AI ad app for small business owners.
Pricing: Starter $29.95/month (2,500 credits), Plus $49.95 (5,000), Growth $79.95 (10,000). The page's FAQ says plans start "at $19.99 per month", which doesn't match the plans shown. Renewal terms aren't stated.
Verdict: Check the checkout page for the price you'll actually renew at.
10. Arcads
What it is: An AI actor platform for UGC-style ads.
Pricing: None published. The pricing page returns a 404 (checked October 16, 2026), and the homepage shows no prices.
Verdict: You only learn the cost after signing up or a sales call. More in Arcads pricing.
Subscription or pay-per-use: which is cheaper?
At full, steady use a subscription can win on unit price: Creatify Max at ~$0.65 per ad is cheaper than v4v's $1.35–$1.58, while Runway Max at ~$1.20 per Gen-4 clip is close to v4v's lowest pack rate. If you reliably use the whole plan every month, buy the plan.
The break comes in the quiet months. Divide a $55 plan by the four videos you actually made and each costs $13.75. Pay-per-use has no such cliff: 225 credits is 225 credits whether you make one video or two hundred, and unused credits are still there next quarter. The pay-per-use vs subscription breakdown works through both at different production rates.
When v4v isn't the right pick
- Long presenter videos, training or dubbing: Synthesia and HeyGen are built for that.
- Clips longer than 10 seconds from one generation: Studio videos run up to 10 seconds. Specific models in the v4v Lab, or Runway, cover longer single shots.
- The largest avatar library with minimal setup: Creatify's is bigger.
For the trade-offs without the sales pitch, see v4v alternatives.
Where to start
Work out your real monthly output, not the optimistic one. Multiply it by each tool's per-video rate, then compare that with the monthly minimum you'd pay anyway. Testing v4v costs $7 with nothing to cancel afterwards. Shopify stores get three videos free when they install the v4v app.
Paste a product link. The brief builds itself.
Generate product videos, UGC-style ads and hooks in about 5 minutes.
From $7 · no subscription, ever · credits never expire
FAQs
Are AI videos cheap?
Yes, mostly. At full use of a plan, a 10-second AI video costs about $1 to $3 on the tools in this comparison (checked October 16, 2026). The real cost rises when you pay a monthly plan and make fewer videos than it covers, or when unused credits expire.
How much does an AI video cost in 2026?
About $1 to $3 for a 10-second clip at full use of a plan. v4v charges 225 credits for a 10-second Studio video, about $1.35 to $1.58 depending on the credit pack, with no subscription. Runway's Gen-4 costs 12 credits per second, about $1.20 to $2.90 per 10-second clip depending on the plan.
What is the cheapest AI video generator in 2026?
To start, v4v: a $7 credit pack with no monthly plan, about five 10-second Studio videos. At high, steady volume, Creatify's Max plan and Runway's Max plan get per-video costs near or below $1, but only if you use the whole monthly allowance.
Do AI video credits expire?
On most tools, yes. InVideo, Runway (Standard and Pro) and TopView (Plus, Ultra, Team) don't roll unused credits over. Creatify credits last two months, HeyGen's roll over one extra month on monthly plans, and Runway Max rolls over one month. v4v credits never expire.
Do AI video tools charge for failed generations?
It varies, and few vendors say so on their pricing pages. In v4v, when a video generation fails, the video credits are released; only the small AI-director step that writes the brief (9 credits) may be charged (observed October 15, 2026). Check each vendor's usage log after a failed render.
Does v4v have a subscription or a free trial?
No subscription: credit packs start at $7 for 1,000 credits and never expire. There is no free trial on the web. Shopify stores that install the v4v app get three videos free on install.
Why is there no price for Arcads?
Arcads publishes no pricing. Its pricing page returns a 404 (checked October 16, 2026) and its homepage shows no prices, so you only see costs after signing up or talking to sales.