AI Video Generators Without a Subscription: Which Apps Let You Pay Per Video (November 2026)
Live figures last changed · 6 min read · The GenMagic team
Almost every AI video app sells its own model through a monthly plan with credits: Dreamina for Seedance, Google's AI plans for Veo and Gemini Omni, Kling, Wan, Hailuo and Grok. Kling and Wan also sell one-time credit packs. The other ways to pay per video without a subscription are the makers' APIs, which are built for developers, and platforms that run many makers' models and charge per clip.
This guide goes through each maker's own app and what it needs, the APIs you can pay per use, platforms that sell per clip, and which route fits which kind of maker.
A note on who wrote this: GenMagic is one of the per-clip platforms in this guide. Its prices come from its live catalog. Each maker's figures were read on its own pages on November 9, 2026 where they could be read. Where a maker's price page could not be read and only third-party figures exist, the table says so. In German: KI-Video-Generator ohne Abo, der Vergleich. The all-in-one apps that run many makers' models (Freepik, Krea, OpenArt, Leonardo, Pollo AI, LTX Studio, invideo): which AI video apps need a subscription.
The short answer
| Maker (model) | Its own app | Pay-per-use API | Per clip on GenMagic |
|---|---|---|---|
| ByteDance (Seedance) | Dreamina or CapCut membership. Dreamina Basic is $15 a month for 1,575 credits | BytePlus ModelArk, after a $30 balance | From $0.05 a second |
| Google (Veo 3.1, Gemini Omni) | Google AI plans with monthly Flow credits (200 to 25,000) | Google Cloud, with a billing project | Veo 3.1 Lite from $0.075 a second |
| Kuaishou (Kling) | Plans from $8.80 a month for 660 credits ($6.99 the first month), or one-time packs from $5 for 330 credits | Kling's developer platform, prepaid packs | Kling 3.0 from $0.19 a second |
| MiniMax (Hailuo) | Hailuo plans from $14.99 a month for 1,000 credits | MiniMax's API, pay as you go | Hailuo 3 Max from $0.12 a second |
| xAI (Grok Imagine) | Grok Premium from $30 a month (Free and Plus do not include video) | xAI's API, from $0.02 a second | Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite from $0.03 a second |
| Alibaba (Wan) | Wan Pro $6.50 a month for 300 credits, or one-time packs from $1.50 for 30 credits | Alibaba Cloud Model Studio | Wan 3.0 from $0.064 a second |
| Runway (Gen-4.5) | 125 free credits once; plans from $12 a month billed yearly; extra credits from 1,000, never expire | Runway Dev, from $10 of credits | Gen-4.5 at $0.18 a second |
Each maker's own app
Dreamina and CapCut (Seedance). ByteDance's Seedance pricing page lists Basic at $15 a month for 1,575 credits, with a $0.29 first month in the US. Seedance 2.0 uses 17 credits a second at 720p, Fast 8 and Mini 5. Free daily credits let you try it. No one-time packs are listed. Country by country details are in our Seedance guide.
Google AI plans (Veo, Gemini Omni). Google's AI plans include monthly Flow credits: 200 on AI Plus, 1,000 on Pro and 10,000 or 25,000 on the Ultra tiers. The plan table names Gemini Omni Flash as the plans' video model. Veo 3.1 left the Gemini API on October 22, 2026, as described in our Veo guide.
Kling. Kling's membership page lists Standard at $8.80 a month for 660 credits ($6.99 the first month), Pro at $32.56 for 3,000, Premier at $181.99 for 18,000 and Ultra+ at $544.99 for 57,000, and less a month billed yearly (Standard is $79.20 a year). It also sells one-time credit packs, labelled a limited-time offer, from 330 credits for $5 to 96,000 for $1,200, valid for 2 years and not refundable. The pages read did not show how many credits a Kling 3.0 clip uses, so the price per clip is something you see in the app. More in our Kling guide.
Wan (Alibaba). Alibaba's Wan app has a free plan with daily check-in credits, Pro at $6.50 a month for 300 credits and Premium at $26 for 1,200 (less billed yearly), and one-time packs from 30 credits for $1.50 to 3,900 for $100, valid for 2 years. Its price page does not say how many credits a video uses. More in our Wan guide.
Hailuo (MiniMax). Hailuo's payment terms list Standard at $14.99 for 1,000 credits, Pro at $54.99 for 4,500 and Master at $119.99 for 10,000. Subscription credits last a month and do not roll over. Top-up credits are priced at $1 for 70 credits; the terms do not say whether you need a plan to buy them. More in our Hailuo guide.
Grok Imagine (xAI). xAI's price page includes video generation from Premium at $30 a month (Super at $100 lists "1080p, 15s videos"); Free and Plus do not include it, and no one-time video credits are listed. More in our Grok Imagine guide. xAI's API has per-second prices on its developer docs: Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite at $0.02 a second and Video 1.5 at $0.08, both at 480p.
Runway. Runway's pricing page gives new accounts 125 credits once, sells Standard at $12 a month billed yearly for 625 credits, Pro at $28 for 2,250 and Max at $76 for 9,500, and sells extra credits that never expire, from 1,000 at a time. Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits a second. More in our Runway guide.
Pay-per-use APIs
Every maker that sells video to developers sells it pay as you go: ByteDance through BytePlus (after a $30 balance), Google through its Cloud platform, Kling through prepaid packs, MiniMax, xAI and Alibaba through their own APIs. Resellers such as fal, Replicate and OpenRouter carry many of them. They all need code and an account with billing, and each maker is a separate account. Our API guides cover each: Seedance, Veo 3.1, Kling, Hailuo, Grok Imagine, Wan 3.0.
Per clip, in a studio, without a subscription
A platform that runs many makers' models can sell each clip on its own. On GenMagic:
- One balance for every model. Seedance, Veo, Kling, Wan, Hailuo, Grok Imagine, Runway and more, in one studio.
- The price before you generate. It is fixed by the model, the length, the resolution and sound.
- Top-ups from $5. Top-up credit never expires, and nothing renews.
- $0.50 free when you verify your email.
- The same balance from n8n, Make, Zapier, Claude or ChatGPT (MCP) and code.
What a few typical clips cost today:
| A clip | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 5 s at 480p | Seedance 2.0 Mini | $0.25 |
| 8 s at 720p with sound | Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.60 |
| 5 s at 720p | Kling 3.0 Standard | $0.95 |
| 10 s at 720p with sound | Wan 3.0 | $1.28 |
| 10 s at 720p | Seedance 2.0 | $2.27 |
Every model and price: pay-as-you-go AI video. What people make with them: anime, animated old photos, short films, faceless Shorts and more on AI video.
Which route to pick
- You make video every week with one maker's model, and its app works where you live: that maker's plan. A fully used monthly allowance is usually the lowest price per second.
- You make a few clips a month, or a burst for one project: pay per clip. A month with three clips costs three clips.
- You want to compare or mix models (Seedance for one shot, Veo for dialogue, Wan for a long take): one per-clip platform with all of them.
- You build workflows or apps: a pay-per-use API. One key for every model saves an account per maker.
Questions
Is there an AI video generator with no subscription at all? Yes. Per-clip platforms such as GenMagic charge each video from a balance you top up, with no plan and no renewal. The makers' APIs are also pay as you go, but they need code and a billing account.
Which AI video app is cheapest without a subscription? For a few clips, pay per clip on one of the low-priced leading models: Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite ($0.03 a second at 480p), Veo 3.1 Lite ($0.075 at 720p) or Seedance 2.0 Mini ($0.05 at 480p). For steady weekly volume with one model, a fully used membership on the maker's own app usually costs less per second.
Do I need a credit card? To pay, yes, or Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link. To try GenMagic, no: the starter credit comes with a verified email.
Do credits expire? On most apps, monthly plan credits lapse at the end of the month. On GenMagic, top-up credit never expires.