AT A GLANCE
Estimate video costs using resolution, duration and actual billed amounts together. This report uses the August 28, 2026 measurements to examine pricing differences, generation time and budgeting.
On this page
Estimating video generation as "rate per second × seconds" does not survive contact with a bill. Measured, we were charged more than twice the listed rate. This is the record.
Wan 3.0: listed at $0.05/s, billed $0.2125 for two seconds
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider's listed rate | $0.05 per second at 480p |
| Calculated from the listed rate (2s) | $0.10 |
| Actual billed amount (480p, 2s) | $0.2125 |
| Latency | Over six minutes for 480p / 2s (asynchronous) |
| Measured on | 2026-08-28 (via OpenRouter) |
The scale is different from images. At $0.019 per image for GPT Image 2, one two-second 480p clip costs about eleven images. Presenting both as "one generation" in the same UI invites accidents.
Can't I just multiply the rate by the seconds?
Two seconds should have been $0.10 and billed $0.2125. Run one clip and read the bill.
Video does not return synchronously
Images return in the same request. Video does not: you get a polling URL back and check for completion yourself. Even 480p at two seconds took over six minutes.
That matters for implementation. A press-and-wait UI borrowed from images will not hold. You need a job that is accepted, then reported on when it finishes.
Seedance 2.5: unit price is not fixed in advance
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Billing | Per token ($0.0000107 per video token) |
| Latency | Not measured (asynchronous) |
| Resolution | 480p / 720p |
| Duration | 4–30s |
| Frame control | first_frame / last_frame |
Seedance 2.5 bills per token, so the cost of a given clip is not known before running it. It offers something no other model here does — pinning both the first and last frame — but it does not suit work that needs a fixed cost up front.
The two compared
| Wan 3.0 | Seedance 2.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 480p / 720p / 1080p | 480p / 720p |
| Duration | 2–30s | 4–30s |
| Aspect ratios | 5 | 6 (includes 21:9) |
| Frame control | first_frame | first_frame / last_frame |
| Audio generation | Supported | Supported |
| Cost known in advance | Yes — from measurement, not the rate card | No |
Never put video and images in the same estimate. They are an order of magnitude apart.
How to estimate
- Do not use the published rate. Run one clip and read the bill
- Keep video and images in separate estimates — the scale differs
- Design for asynchronous completion; a synchronous UI will not work
- Hold your own per-run ceiling for token-billed models
Frequently asked questions
- What does Wan 3.0 cost?
- It lists at $0.05 per second at 480p, but two seconds at 480p billed $0.2125 — more than double the $0.10 the rate card implies.
- How long does video generation take?
- Over six minutes for two seconds at 480p on Wan 3.0. Generation is asynchronous and returns a polling URL.
- How much more expensive is video than images?
- Measured, one two-second 480p clip costs roughly eleven GPT Image 2 images.
