Cost comparison · Last checked: October 2026
What one 8-minute animated episode with recurring characters, in English or any language, costs on today's AI video tools, clip by clip, and what it costs as a finished episode on Chitrio. Public list prices, approximate, as of October 2026.
Prices are USD list prices from each vendor's own pricing page or a dated third-party check. Rupee figures in brackets are for readers in India (Rs 95 per USD, 20 October 2026, rounded). Every source is linked at the end.
Download the PDF8 min
final runtime, about 60 shots of about 8 seconds
2.5x
realistic retakes: about 1,200 seconds generated per episode
10 to 20
recurring characters that must look the same in every scene
English
dialogue and narration (or any language), stylised 3D look, one episode a month, then a series
"Cheapest viable" is the cheapest plan that produces those 1,200 seconds inside one calendar month at the tool's lowest acceptable setting. "Best quality" is the same 1,200 seconds on the tool's top model or resolution. Where a vendor publishes conflicting prices we say so and use the more conservative one.
Google Veo 3.1
The best-looking single clip in this list. Draft in Fast, finish in Quality.
Seedance 2.0 / 2.5 and Kling 3.0 / 4.0
The strongest character-consistency features: multi-image, video and audio references, and multi-shot storyboards.
Wan 3.0 and Kling 4.0
30-second single shots. Fewer cuts mean fewer retakes and fewer continuity breaks.
PixVerse V6
The cheapest serious per-second rate here.
LTX Studio
The closest to a whole-episode workflow: script, storyboard, saved characters, timeline.
Runway Act-Two
Drive a character with your own phone performance, which works in any language.
Clip cost only. Add the hidden work in the next section to every row except the last. Where a tool is hosted inside another (for example Seedance inside Pika or Runway), the host's own credit table is used.
| Tool (model) | Plan used, monthly list price | Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated) | Character consistency | Dialogue, languages and lip-sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Flow, Veo 3.1 Fast | AI Ultra 5x, $99.99 (Rs 6,500 in India) | About $100 (Rs 9,500) on Ultra, or about $40 (Rs 3,900) across two months of AI Pro if you can wait two to three weeks. 8 s clips, extendable. | Up to 3 reference images per clip; identity drifts across many scenes, so references are re-fed every shot. | Audio always on. Google states only English is evaluated; other languages "may work, results vary". Hindi unverified. |
| Google Flow, Veo 3.1 Quality | AI Ultra 20x, $199.99 (about Rs 19,000) | About $200 (Rs 19,000) in Flow. By API at $0.40 per second: about $480 (Rs 45,600). The quality benchmark in this list. | As above. | As above. |
| Google Gemini Omni Flash | AI Pro, $19.99 (Rs 1,950 in India) | About $40 across two months of AI Pro, $100 on Ultra 5x, or about $120 (Rs 11,400) by API at 720p. Single-source credit rate, treat as approximate. | Image and video references; weaker identity hold than Veo. | Native audio; Hindi untested. |
| Kling 3.0 (Kuaishou) | Premier about $81 or Ultra $159.99 (listings conflict; see methodology) | 720p silent: about $81 (Rs 7,700). 1080p with audio: about $160 (Rs 15,200). 5 to 10 s clips, extendable. Kling 4.0 (15 Oct 2026) adds 30 s shots; its price is not yet published. | Among the strongest: multi-shot storyboards plus video and character references; Kling 4.0 takes 15 reference assets. | Native audio in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish. No Hindi. A separate lip-sync tool works on any language. |
| Runway Gen-4 Turbo / Gen-4.5 | Max, $95 (9,500 credits) | Gen-4 Turbo: about $95 (Rs 9,000). Gen-4.5: about $145 (Rs 13,800) with top-up credits (top-up price assumed). 5 to 10 s clips. | Image references for character and location; Act-Two transfers your own performance video to a character. | Gen-4.5 audio reported since mid-2026 (single source); Hindi not documented. Act-Two is language-independent. |
| Hailuo 2.3 / MiniMax H3 | Pro $54.99 plus top-ups, or Master $119.99 | 2.3 at 768p: about $76 (Rs 7,200). H3 at 2K with audio: about $120 (Rs 11,400). 6 to 10 s clips. Terms let the vendor reuse your outputs for promotion. | Single subject reference only; no multi-character reference system. | 2.3 has no audio. H3 has native audio; languages not published. Hindi unknown. |
| Luma Dream Machine (Ray3.2 / Ray3.14) | Pro $90 or Ultra $300 | 720p: about $90 (Rs 8,600) on Pro. Ray3.2 at 1080p: about $300 (Rs 28,500) on Ultra. 5 to 10 s clips; credits do not roll over. | Character reference and Modify Video; decent single-character hold, weak for crowds. | No native dialogue in any Ray3 model; lip-sync is a separate feature, languages not stated. |
| Pika (hosting Wan 3.0 and Seedance 2.5) | Fancy, $95 (8,550 credits) | Wan 3.0: about $95 (Rs 9,000). Seedance 2.5: about $440 (Rs 41,800) with top-ups, approximate. 5 to 10 s clips. | Scene Ingredients (character, object, location) plus the hosted model's references. | Pika's own model: sound effects only, no dialogue. Otherwise depends on the hosted model. |
| ByteDance Seedance 2.0 / 2.5 (Dreamina) | Advanced $159 or Ultra $520 (promo-heavy, region-priced) | 2.0 Fast: about $159 (Rs 15,100). 2.5: about $520 (Rs 49,400) on Ultra. Other hosts of the same model: about $150 to 200 (approximate). 4 to 15 s clips; 2.5 up to 30 s. | Strongest reference system: up to 9 images, 3 videos and 3 audio clips per shot; 2.5 takes up to 50 references. | Native audio and lip-sync in about 8 languages; a Seedance 2.5 review calls Hindi a notable gap. |
| PixVerse V6 | Premium, $60 (15,000 credits) | 720p silent: about $60 (Rs 5,700). 1080p with audio: about $160 (Rs 15,200) with a credit pack. 5 to 10 s clips. | Reference-to-video and a built-in lip-sync tool; weaker identity hold than Kling or Seedance. | Native audio on V6; Hindi unknown. The lip-sync endpoint accepts any audio. |
| Alibaba Wan 3.0 (API only) | Pay as you go: $0.05 / 0.10 / 0.20 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p | 720p: about $120 (Rs 11,400). 1080p: about $240 (Rs 22,800). 30 s single shots. | Omni reference (images, video, documents); 30 s continuous shots cut retake waste. | Native audio; Hindi support not published. |
| Higgsfield (multi-model hub) | Plus $59 or Ultra $129 (prices change monthly) | Kling 3.0 via the hub: about $59 to 129 (Rs 5,600 to 12,300). Veo 3.1 via the hub: about $250 or more, approximate. | Whatever the chosen model gives, plus the hub's own character sheets. | Depends on the model; no Hindi-specific claim. |
| LTX Studio (script to storyboard to shots) | Standard $35 or Pro $125 | In-app: likely $35 to 125 (Rs 3,300 to 11,900); per-second credit cost is not published. Own model by API: about $108 to 204 (Rs 19,400). | Saved "Elements" reused across every shot, AI storyboards, multi-scene timeline. | Native audio; Hindi not documented. |
| MagicLight AI (animated-story tool) | Standard $15 to Ultra $90 | About $15 to 90 (Rs 1,400 to 8,600), approximate; per-second cost not published. Cartoon and stylised looks, below the big models. | Create a character once and reuse it in every scene. | Multi-language text-to-speech including Hindi is claimed by the vendor; lip-sync is basic. |
| invideo AI (script to video) | Generative, $170 (800 credits) | About $170 (Rs 16,200); top quality about $340. Built for explainers, not character drama. | Weak: stock plus generic generative scenes, no real character lock. | Hindi voices available; no real lip-sync. |
| OpenAI Sora 2 | Discontinued | Not available. OpenAI closed the Sora app on 26 April 2026 and the API on 24 September 2026, with no successor announced (OpenAI Help Center). | n/a | n/a |
| Chitrio, the full episode | Enterprise plan, $199 a month (pricing page) | About $45 to $65 of plan allowance per 8-minute episode, including script, voices, scenes, captions, music and thumbnail. The exact cost is shown before each render. | Character sheets are built first and kept across scenes and episodes; stylised 3D look; an automatic scene quality check re-does weak shots. | A native voice per character in English or any of the languages Chitrio speaks; lip-sync on dialogue, improving with each release. |
Google Flow, Veo 3.1 Fast
Plan used, monthly list price
AI Ultra 5x, $99.99 (Rs 6,500 in India)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $100 (Rs 9,500) on Ultra, or about $40 (Rs 3,900) across two months of AI Pro if you can wait two to three weeks. 8 s clips, extendable.
Character consistency
Up to 3 reference images per clip; identity drifts across many scenes, so references are re-fed every shot.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Audio always on. Google states only English is evaluated; other languages "may work, results vary". Hindi unverified.
Google Flow, Veo 3.1 Quality
Plan used, monthly list price
AI Ultra 20x, $199.99 (about Rs 19,000)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $200 (Rs 19,000) in Flow. By API at $0.40 per second: about $480 (Rs 45,600). The quality benchmark in this list.
Character consistency
As above.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
As above.
Google Gemini Omni Flash
Plan used, monthly list price
AI Pro, $19.99 (Rs 1,950 in India)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $40 across two months of AI Pro, $100 on Ultra 5x, or about $120 (Rs 11,400) by API at 720p. Single-source credit rate, treat as approximate.
Character consistency
Image and video references; weaker identity hold than Veo.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio; Hindi untested.
Kling 3.0 (Kuaishou)
Plan used, monthly list price
Premier about $81 or Ultra $159.99 (listings conflict; see methodology)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
720p silent: about $81 (Rs 7,700). 1080p with audio: about $160 (Rs 15,200). 5 to 10 s clips, extendable. Kling 4.0 (15 Oct 2026) adds 30 s shots; its price is not yet published.
Character consistency
Among the strongest: multi-shot storyboards plus video and character references; Kling 4.0 takes 15 reference assets.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish. No Hindi. A separate lip-sync tool works on any language.
Runway Gen-4 Turbo / Gen-4.5
Plan used, monthly list price
Max, $95 (9,500 credits)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
Gen-4 Turbo: about $95 (Rs 9,000). Gen-4.5: about $145 (Rs 13,800) with top-up credits (top-up price assumed). 5 to 10 s clips.
Character consistency
Image references for character and location; Act-Two transfers your own performance video to a character.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Gen-4.5 audio reported since mid-2026 (single source); Hindi not documented. Act-Two is language-independent.
Hailuo 2.3 / MiniMax H3
Plan used, monthly list price
Pro $54.99 plus top-ups, or Master $119.99
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
2.3 at 768p: about $76 (Rs 7,200). H3 at 2K with audio: about $120 (Rs 11,400). 6 to 10 s clips. Terms let the vendor reuse your outputs for promotion.
Character consistency
Single subject reference only; no multi-character reference system.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
2.3 has no audio. H3 has native audio; languages not published. Hindi unknown.
Luma Dream Machine (Ray3.2 / Ray3.14)
Plan used, monthly list price
Pro $90 or Ultra $300
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
720p: about $90 (Rs 8,600) on Pro. Ray3.2 at 1080p: about $300 (Rs 28,500) on Ultra. 5 to 10 s clips; credits do not roll over.
Character consistency
Character reference and Modify Video; decent single-character hold, weak for crowds.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
No native dialogue in any Ray3 model; lip-sync is a separate feature, languages not stated.
Pika (hosting Wan 3.0 and Seedance 2.5)
Plan used, monthly list price
Fancy, $95 (8,550 credits)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
Wan 3.0: about $95 (Rs 9,000). Seedance 2.5: about $440 (Rs 41,800) with top-ups, approximate. 5 to 10 s clips.
Character consistency
Scene Ingredients (character, object, location) plus the hosted model's references.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Pika's own model: sound effects only, no dialogue. Otherwise depends on the hosted model.
ByteDance Seedance 2.0 / 2.5 (Dreamina)
Plan used, monthly list price
Advanced $159 or Ultra $520 (promo-heavy, region-priced)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
2.0 Fast: about $159 (Rs 15,100). 2.5: about $520 (Rs 49,400) on Ultra. Other hosts of the same model: about $150 to 200 (approximate). 4 to 15 s clips; 2.5 up to 30 s.
Character consistency
Strongest reference system: up to 9 images, 3 videos and 3 audio clips per shot; 2.5 takes up to 50 references.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio and lip-sync in about 8 languages; a Seedance 2.5 review calls Hindi a notable gap.
PixVerse V6
Plan used, monthly list price
Premium, $60 (15,000 credits)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
720p silent: about $60 (Rs 5,700). 1080p with audio: about $160 (Rs 15,200) with a credit pack. 5 to 10 s clips.
Character consistency
Reference-to-video and a built-in lip-sync tool; weaker identity hold than Kling or Seedance.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio on V6; Hindi unknown. The lip-sync endpoint accepts any audio.
Alibaba Wan 3.0 (API only)
Plan used, monthly list price
Pay as you go: $0.05 / 0.10 / 0.20 per second at 480p / 720p / 1080p
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
720p: about $120 (Rs 11,400). 1080p: about $240 (Rs 22,800). 30 s single shots.
Character consistency
Omni reference (images, video, documents); 30 s continuous shots cut retake waste.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio; Hindi support not published.
Higgsfield (multi-model hub)
Plan used, monthly list price
Plus $59 or Ultra $129 (prices change monthly)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
Kling 3.0 via the hub: about $59 to 129 (Rs 5,600 to 12,300). Veo 3.1 via the hub: about $250 or more, approximate.
Character consistency
Whatever the chosen model gives, plus the hub's own character sheets.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Depends on the model; no Hindi-specific claim.
LTX Studio (script to storyboard to shots)
Plan used, monthly list price
Standard $35 or Pro $125
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
In-app: likely $35 to 125 (Rs 3,300 to 11,900); per-second credit cost is not published. Own model by API: about $108 to 204 (Rs 19,400).
Character consistency
Saved "Elements" reused across every shot, AI storyboards, multi-scene timeline.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Native audio; Hindi not documented.
MagicLight AI (animated-story tool)
Plan used, monthly list price
Standard $15 to Ultra $90
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $15 to 90 (Rs 1,400 to 8,600), approximate; per-second cost not published. Cartoon and stylised looks, below the big models.
Character consistency
Create a character once and reuse it in every scene.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Multi-language text-to-speech including Hindi is claimed by the vendor; lip-sync is basic.
invideo AI (script to video)
Plan used, monthly list price
Generative, $170 (800 credits)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $170 (Rs 16,200); top quality about $340. Built for explainers, not character drama.
Character consistency
Weak: stock plus generic generative scenes, no real character lock.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
Hindi voices available; no real lip-sync.
OpenAI Sora 2
Plan used, monthly list price
Discontinued
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
Not available. OpenAI closed the Sora app on 26 April 2026 and the API on 24 September 2026, with no successor announced (OpenAI Help Center).
Character consistency
n/a
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
n/a
Chitrio, the full episode
Plan used, monthly list price
Enterprise plan, $199 a month (pricing page)
Clip cost per episode (1,200 s generated)
About $45 to $65 of plan allowance per 8-minute episode, including script, voices, scenes, captions, music and thumbnail. The exact cost is shown before each render.
Character consistency
Character sheets are built first and kept across scenes and episodes; stylised 3D look; an automatic scene quality check re-does weak shots.
Dialogue, languages and lip-sync
A native voice per character in English or any of the languages Chitrio speaks; lip-sync on dialogue, improving with each release.
Approximate, public list prices as of October 2026. "About" means our calculation from the vendor's published credit table at the stated assumptions; promos, regional pricing and credit tables change often, so verify at checkout. Chitrio's figure is the share of the Enterprise plan's monthly allowance that one complete episode uses, priced at the plan's USD list price ($199 a month), so the comparison is like for like: a finished episode against the clips alone. chitrio.com/pricing
Hours a creator still spends per 8-minute episode when the clip tool is the only AI in the chain. Realistic ranges; the character library takes longest on the first episode.
| Work item | Typical tools | Hours | Extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research and script, about 1,100 to 1,300 words of dialogue and narration, checked against the source story | A chat assistant plus your own edit | 6 to 10 h | $0 to 20 |
| Character design sheets for 10 to 20 characters, multiple angles and costumes | An image model plus curation | 4 to 8 h first episode, 1 to 2 h later | $10 to 30 a month |
| Shot list and 60 prompts (camera, action, references per shot) | Manual | 6 to 10 h | |
| Generating and reviewing about 150 clips, re-rolls and extends | The clip tool | 6 to 10 h | The bill above |
| Voices: 8 to 15 distinct character voices plus a narrator | A voice tool or voice actor | 3 to 5 h | $22 to 99 a month |
| Lip-sync pass on dialogue shots | A separate lip-sync tool | 3 to 5 h | $10 to 50 |
| Edit: cut 60 clips to the voice track, transitions, pacing, colour | A desktop editor | 8 to 15 h | $0 to 23 a month |
| Music and sound effects | A music library | 1 to 2 h | $0 to 20 a month |
| Captions, styled | Speech-to-text plus manual fixes | 1 to 2 h | $0 |
| Thumbnail, title, description and upload | A design tool | 1 to 2 h | $0 to 13 a month |
| Total per episode | 40 to 60 h (30 to 40 h once the character library exists) | $50 to 150 a month of side subscriptions |
At even $15 an hour of a creator's time that is $600 to $900 of labour per episode, larger than the clip bill on every cheap tier. That labour, not the per-second rate, is what an end-to-end pipeline removes.
The tools in this comparison stop at a downloaded clip. Chitrio carries the finished episode to the places your audience already is.
YouTube
Auto-publish on a schedule: title, description, tags and thumbnail are written and uploaded for you, and a series keeps producing new episodes.
Vertical Reels and Shorts are cut from each video with captions, ready to post. Direct posting to Instagram and Facebook for connected accounts is in early access.
WhatsApp-ready copies: Status-size parts and files under 16 MB, so the episode and its updates go straight into WhatsApp. Making a video from WhatsApp itself is in early access.
| After the render | The tools in this comparison | Chitrio |
|---|---|---|
| Publishes to your channels automatically (YouTube schedule with title, description, tags, thumbnail) | No | Yes |
| Vertical Reels and Shorts cut from each video, with captions | No, you re-cut by hand | Yes, ready to post |
| WhatsApp-ready copies (Status parts, files under 16 MB) | No | Yes |
Any of these tools can make a pretty 8-second clip of Arjun. None can give you 60 clips of the same Arjun speaking the right lines, cut to a script, with music and captions, every month. Viewers come back for the story and stay because the characters look and sound the same in episode nine as in episode one. The clip model is a commodity that can be swapped; content, script and consistency are the product.
This page compares public list prices as of October 2026 for information only; it is not independent verification of any other company's pricing, and all trademarks belong to their owners. Last checked: October 2026.
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