Every route a producer can take, at real listed prices — updated monthly.
Here is what going direct actually looks like for a normal producer — the providers' own apps and plans, as listed in October 2026 and re-checked monthly.
| The direct route | What you pay | What you actually get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hailuo app (MiniMax's own) | $14.99/mo Standard (list) | 1,000 credits ≈ fourteen 10s clips at 768p | Clips capped at 6 seconds on this tier; one task at a time; credits expire monthly |
| Kling app | $8.80/mo Standard (renewal) | 660 credits ≈ 5–11 clips | A 10s clip costs 60 credits at 720p — 120 with 1080p + audio. The price of a clip changes with every setting; credits expire monthly |
| Seedance | Varies by reseller | No straightforward consumer plan — sold through partner apps and developer platforms | Prices and access change by partner; no standard rate card at all |
| Developer APIs | Per-second metering | Every engine, if you can code | Built for developers: API keys, per-second bills, and you are your own support desk |
Retail plans and credit costs as listed by the providers, October 2026 (promotional prices come and go; list/renewal prices shown). Every direct route meters you in a different currency — credits, seconds, points — which is exactly why comparing them is so hard, and why this guide exists.
Budget roughly 3 seconds of raw footage for every finished second (retakes are how good footage happens), so a 3-minute video means about 54 clips of raw material. On the direct routes that is: several consumer plans stacked together, credits expiring mid-project, one engine's models only — or a developer account and a per-second meter. Smart producers mix engines: volume shots on the workhorse, premium engines for the close-ups. No direct plan lets you do that on one bill. Ours is built on exactly that logic: standard engines included, premium engines priced in simple credits (Kling = 3, Seedance = 6).
Headline prices flatter the direct routes. Producers pay totals. Here are the three totals producers actually face each month — computed from the listed prices above, October 2026:
| The job | Going direct | Malvyn.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Every engine on tap for a month of mixed work (50 clips) | Hailuo Pro $54.99 + Kling Pro $32.56 + a third plan for Seedance access = $107.55+, three bills, three credit systems | Creator — $89 flat, one bill |
| Footage for one finished 3-minute video (54 standard clips) | Per-clip reseller routes at ~$2.50 a clip = ~$135 — before a single premium shot | Creator + top-ups — $97, premium shots available in credits |
| Premium close-ups in your project (priced per clip elsewhere) | ~$2.50 or more per clip, every clip, all month | Included in your plan's credits (Kling = 3, Seedance = 6) — no per-clip meter running |
Comparisons use the providers' listed/renewal retail prices shown on this page (promotional first-month prices excluded — they revert). Where a direct plan could beat a figure above for a single-engine, single-purpose user, we say so in the guide notes — and most producers are not that user.
The market is young. Every provider invented its own credits, points or per-second pricing, and almost nobody publishes a comparison. Until now.
Launch discounts can halve a plan's price for a month, then quietly revert at renewal. A flat subscription absorbs those swings instead of passing them to you.
When a clip costs 60 credits at one setting and 120 at another, you are not buying video — you are doing arithmetic. One credit here always equals one clip, at the settings producers actually use.
Malvyn