How much does AI image and video generation actually cost in 2026?
A straight answer with real numbers: what a single image, video clip and music track cost, and what the monthly plans actually get you.
By Ideovex Team
On Ideovex a single AI image costs 1–20 credits, a video clip 60–400, and a music track 80 — and on the Starter plan a credit is about $0.0028. In plain money that is roughly $0.003–$0.06 per image, $0.17–$1.12 per video clip, and $0.22 per track, from one balance shared across image, video and music.
What does one AI generation cost?
Cost tracks the model class rather than the media type, because a fast still and a cinematic clip cannot sit under one flat number. Here are the live figures, with the dollar equivalent at Starter pricing ($6.99 for 2,500 credits):
| What you make | Credits | ≈ USD on Starter |
|---|---|---|
| Image — draft (fast) | 1 | $0.003 |
| Image — standard | 5 | $0.014 |
| Image — premium / flagship | 20 | $0.056 |
| Video clip — fast (5s) | 60 | $0.17 |
| Video clip — standard | 140 | $0.39 |
| Video clip — flagship | 400 | $1.12 |
| Music track | 80 | $0.22 |
| Upscale | 10 | $0.028 |
| Inpaint / outpaint | 20 | $0.056 |
What do the monthly plans get me?
Four plans, one shared credit balance across all three studios. Higher tiers add concurrency, output quality, a commercial licence and — on Studio — API access:
| Plan | Price / mo | Credits / mo | At once | Commercial | API |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 660 (22/day) | 2 | No | No |
| Starter | $6.99 | 2,500 | 4 | No | No |
| Creator | $14.99 | 6,000 | 6 | Yes | No |
| Studio | $34.99 | 15,000 | 10 | Yes | Yes |
Annual billing is cheaper — Starter drops to the equivalent of $5.75 a month ($69 a year). On top of the free daily credits, the free experimental model pool runs at zero credits, so genuinely free image and video generation is available with no card.
What does a real project cost?
Concrete examples, priced end to end at Starter rates:
- A six-angle product photoset — draft, render, upscale and cut out: ~146 credits, about 41 cents.
- A tested social video spot — five hook frames, five motion drafts, a premium keeper and a track: ~525 credits, about $1.47.
- A LinkedIn headshot set — from your own selfies: ~96 credits, about 27 cents.
See the fully worked budgets on the use-case pages, where every figure is computed from the live catalogue.
Am I ever charged for a failed generation?
No. Credits are reserved when a job is accepted and settled only when it completes. If a render fails, times out or is rejected by a provider, the reservation is released back to your balance automatically — so a bad provider day costs you nothing but time. The full mechanics are in how credits work.
How do I keep the cost down?
Draft on 1-credit models or the free pool, and spend premium credits only on the frame you have already chosen. For video, generate the first frame as a still and use image-to-video so you never gamble a 140-credit clip on an unseen composition. Full plan and top-up prices are on the pricing page.
