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Production economics

AI Video Cost Calculator

Compare plans with retakes included. Add editing and review to see what a finished video actually costs.

Set your production volume

Start with a preset or use your own numbers. The comparison updates immediately.

90
60s
3x

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

Self-hosted alternativeSet a monthly infrastructure cost to compare your own setup.
$150

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

Creator revenue estimateOptional. Keep revenue assumptions separate from production cost.
250,000

TikTok Creator Rewards

$175
estimated per month

A scenario using your RPM assumption, not a published payout rate or forecast. Length is only one eligibility condition. Country, account and content requirements also apply.

Fine-tune the plansChange billing, generation mode and provider plans used in the comparison.

Plans and capacity

Choose the format you will actually use

2026-09-15

Annual prices are monthly averages with a yearly commitment. Unverified annual rates use monthly billing. Synthesia assumes all credits go to video. Pictory minutes cover stock video assembly, not generative footage.

HeyGen Business top-ups are rounded to 100-credit packs at $5 each. Additional motion effects are excluded. Credit rules

Cost by vendor

USD estimates for your volume and retakes. Check capacity limits before choosing.

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

Self-hosted (MoneyPrinterTurbo) cheapest
Faceless volume where cost is the binding constraint
Your infrastructure budget
270 minutes generated. The estimate uses your monthly infrastructure and operator allowance.
$150
per month
$1.67 / video
verify pricing
Synthesia
Structured avatar video, video-only credit ceiling
Starter · $168 annual base commitment
This volume needs 270 minutes; the plan includes 10 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
Included capacity used2,700%
—
per month
verify pricing
HeyGen
Photoreal avatars, voice cloning, multilingual
Creator · $288 annual base commitment
This volume needs 4,320 credits; the plan includes 600 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
Included capacity used720%
—
per month
verify pricing
Pictory
Stock and script video assembly, not generative video minutes
Starter · $300 annual base commitment
This volume needs 270 minutes; the plan includes 200 and has no top-up. You would need a higher tier.
Included capacity used135%
—
per month
verify pricing
Add the cost of people and productionInclude scripting, editing and review time. Download an all-in budget.

Production desk

Price the work around the generation

Generation is one line in the budget. Add scripting, edits and approval time for 90 published videos a month. Start with your own quote or a catalogue estimate.

All-in monthly estimateAdd your costs
Generation
$0.00
Production labour
$0.00
Other monthly costs
$0.00
Contingency
$0.00

Zero means excluded from this estimate, not free. Include expected revisions in labour time. Catalogue fees remain estimates until you verify the provider's current terms.

What this does not tell you

  • Cheapest is not best. These are different production formats. A stock-footage pipeline is not equivalent to an avatar presenter. Self-hosted capacity depends on your hardware and workflow, not just the budget entered here.
  • 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. Prices checked on 15 September 2026. Pictory annual prices include a promotional offer. Verify checkout, taxes and plan limits before buying. API usage and additional seats are excluded.
  • The revenue figure is an estimate. It uses the RPM you enter and excludes brand deals and affiliate income. A positive difference against a subscription is not business profit.
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.