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Production economics

AI Video Cost Calculator

Every pricing comparison lists the monthly fee. Almost none price in retakes, and short-form is a retake heavy format, because you generate several hooks to publish one. On a metered plan you pay for all of them. This works the cost out per published video, which is the number that decides whether a channel is viable.

90
60s
3x

1x means every render ships. In practice, 2 to 4 renders is normal when hunting for a hook that lands.

$150

Include cloud compute, storage, monitoring and the hours needed to keep the pipeline running.

250,000

TikTok Creator Rewards

$175
estimated per month

Midpoint of the published $0.40 to $1.00 per 1,000 qualified views. Actual RPM swings with niche, audience country and watch-through. Tech and finance with a US or UK audience pay several times more than a global lifestyle audience.

Cost by vendor

Self-hosted (MoneyPrinterTurbo) is currently the cheapest option.

Self-hosted (MoneyPrinterTurbo) cheapest
Faceless volume where cost is the binding constraint
270 minutes generated. The estimate uses your monthly infrastructure and operator allowance.
$150
per month
$1.67 / video
verify pricing
Synthesia
Structured editing, 240+ avatars, 160+ languages
This volume needs 270 minutes; the plan includes 10 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
—
per month
verify pricing
HeyGen
Photoreal avatars, voice cloning, multilingual
This volume needs 5,400 credits; the plan includes 600 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
—
per month
verify pricing
Pictory
Faceless clip-based video at scale
This volume needs 270 minutes; the plan includes 200 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
—
per month
verify pricing

What this does not tell you

  • Cheapest is not best. Self-hosting has no photoreal avatar, no voice clone and no brand-safe presenter. If the format needs a face, it does not compete at any price.
  • Stock footage is shared. Self-hosted pipelines draw from the same free libraries, so two channels in one niche surface the same clips.
  • Rates move. HeyGen restructured to credits on 15 May 2026 and Synthesia repriced in the same window. Verify on each vendor's page before buying.
  • The revenue figure is an estimate. It is a midpoint, not a forecast, and it ignores brand deals and affiliate income entirely.
Read the full cost breakdown

The self-hosted option is included because it can win at volume. Its software is free. Its infrastructure and operator time are not.

Running the same math on ChatGPT, Claude, and the rest of your AI stack? →

AI video budgeting guide

Price the footage you can actually publish

Use this AI video cost calculator when a monthly subscription price tells only half the story. It turns output volume, video length and retakes into an estimated cost per published video, so the budget follows the production plan instead of the sales page.

Calculate AI video generation cost

Start with the number of finished videos you need. Add the target duration and the average number of renders required to produce one usable result. The calculator applies those assumptions to the included usage and pricing structure of each option.

Retakes matter because generated footage rarely ships on the first attempt. A low monthly fee can become expensive when a team tests several hooks, corrects motion errors or regenerates a scene. Cost per usable second is often more informative than cost per credit.

Use the estimate as a production baseline

Treat the result as a planning estimate, not a vendor quote. Model availability, credit rules and commercial plans change. Verify current pricing before purchase and run a small batch with your real creative standard.

The strongest comparison uses the same brief across every platform and records how many attempts reach approval. That small test replaces optimistic assumptions with a usable AI video budget.