Exactly how the calculator works
Convert daily minutes to seconds by multiplying by 60, and library hours to seconds by multiplying by 3,600. For a per-second rate, let pricePerSecond be the selected provider's rate. A modeled month has 30 days.
Fresh-generation mode
Only the new footage generated each day is billed. Broadcasting the same footage again does not generate another model charge.
daily = dailyNewSeconds × pricePerSecond
monthly = dailyNewSeconds × pricePerSecond × 30
Library-loop mode
The initial library is a separate one-time charge. Recurring costs cover only the daily refills.
oneTime = librarySeconds × pricePerSecond
daily = dailyRefillSeconds × pricePerSecond
monthly = dailyRefillSeconds × pricePerSecond × 30
fal: round up to complete clips
Let clipPrice be the selected regular or launch price per 5-second clip. Round up after converting each duration to clip units. Apply this separately to the daily new footage, daily refills, and initial library.
clips(seconds) = ceil(seconds / 5)
cost(seconds) = clips(seconds) × clipPrice
freshMonthly = ceil(dailyNewSeconds / 5) × clipPrice × 30
libraryOneTime = ceil(librarySeconds / 5) × clipPrice
libraryMonthly = ceil(dailyRefillSeconds / 5) × clipPrice × 30
For example, six seconds require two 5-second billing units. Zero seconds require zero units. The calculator rounds each day's duration before multiplying by 30; it does not combine a month's partial clips into a smaller bill.
Clip, annual, and comparison outputs
For per-second providers, the cost of a 5-second clip is 5 × the rate. For fal, it is the selected clip price. Annual generation cost is monthly × 12, representing 360 modeled days. One-time construction is additional.
The comparison is freshMonthly − libraryMonthly at the same provider, resolution, and discount. A positive difference means library refills cost less; a negative difference means they cost more. Both daily production quantities are shown, and the other scenario can be changed in the comparison controls. Repeated footage and fresh footage are not equivalent programming.
Amounts display up to three decimal places so fractional-cent clip rates remain visible. Display rounding is not used to calculate the monthly or annual total.
Launch discounts and free allowance
The fal launch scenario uses $0.125 per 5-second clip at 480P and $0.20 at 768P. These discounted amounts come from the same third-party breakdown and still await direct official-page verification. aireiter.com · 2026-09-03
fal advertises introductory half-price API access for the first 14 days for eligible new accounts, plus 5 signed-in sandbox generations of up to 15 seconds each per day: up to 75 seconds. fal.ai · 2026-09-03
The free allowance is shown separately and never deducted from API costs. The launch toggle holds the discounted rate constant for comparison; its monthly and annual outputs do not assume that the actual introductory offer lasts that long.
Why you may see different prices elsewhere
Community figures include $0.10/second at 768P and $0.14/second at 2K. Their supplied source is User-supplied community quote; original source not provided, recorded on . Fees or earlier pricing could explain a difference, but that explanation has not been verified.
Our defaults use the official MiniMax H3 documentation: $0.08/second at 768P and $0.13/second at 2K. platform.minimax.io · 2026-09-03 Community quotes are context, not an alternative default or a blended rate.
Different models, providers, resolutions, promotions, input charges, and billing units are not interchangeable. The table preserves each provider's stated basis rather than averaging unlike quotes.
What is outside the estimate?
These estimates exclude taxes, input-material charges, paid retries outside the entered duration, editing, storage, bandwidth, streaming services, moderation, and operating time. Enter all billable output you expect to generate if you want to budget for rejected takes.
Local deployment has no third-party API bill in this model, but it requires your own GPU plus electricity and depreciation. No hardware price, local throughput, or unsupported resolution-specific API price is invented. OpenRouter results use a starting rate and may be lower than an actual invoice.
Ongoing review and corrections
We will continue to review and update the pricing data. When a rate changes, we will update the stored source, its checked date, and the notes used by the calculator. Rates are reviewed manually; the site does not fetch live prices or promise a fixed review interval.
Latest source review: . Official H3 prices and fal landing-page offer text were reconfirmed. The OpenRouter starting rate was corroborated by its current H3 listing. fal clip prices still await direct verification on the official API pricing page.
The row dates identify the recorded pricing snapshot, not a guarantee that an offer is available to every account today. Pending verification stays labeled as pending. We prioritize an official source over an unverified secondary quote and will preserve an explanation when the billing basis differs.
Return to the cost calculator to try a scenario, or read the privacy policy for how calculator inputs are handled.