Grok Imagine 1.5 Lite at 2 cents vs 1.5 at 8 cents: what Sume bills

Sume bills one Grok video row, grok-imagine-video-1.5, at 1.25 times a list rate of $0.01 per second, which is $0.0125 per second; it has no Lite row. xAI's models page lists two lines: grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite at $0.020 per second and grok-imagine-video-1.5 at $0.080 per second (xAI models and pricing, read 2026-10-10).

The two numbers for 1.5 do not match, and this post explains why you should not mix them: Sume's rate comes from the catalog entry in the repo, not from xAI's page, so use the catalog for any Sume budget.

What xAI's pages say

The xAI Lite model page (read 2026-10-10) lists modalities as text and image to video, a price of $0.020 per second, a rate limit of 10 requests per second, two regions and Batch API support. It leaves durations, resolutions and aspect ratios unspecified, so this post does not repeat the 1 to 15 second range or the 1080p tier that other sites quote.

The video guide says video generation is priced per second with both duration and resolution affecting the total, and that duration is configurable up to 15 seconds.

What Sume's Grok row is

In Sume's catalog the row is image-to-video only, 480p or 720p, 4 to 15 seconds, no aspect_ratio, no audio toggle, no end frame and no reference videos or audio. The first input must be a still. The repo's list rate is 10,000 USD micros per second, billed at the house 1.25 margin, so the reserve at submit is list times 1.25 per second (Video generation docs).

Sume's published video wire reports the same facts at runtime: read supported_durations, supported_resolutions and pricing_skus from GET /v1/videos/models rather than trusting a blog table.

Worked arithmetic for a 6-second clip

A 6-second Grok clip on Sume reserves 6 x $0.0125 = $0.075. The xAI Lite line would give 6 x $0.020 = $0.12 and the xAI 1.5 line 6 x $0.080 = $0.48 for the same length, but those are xAI's own billing; do not expect them on a Sume invoice.

If you need Lite-class pricing on Sume with text input, the choice is a different family, not a Lite id. Wan 3.0 starts at $0.05 list per second at 480p ($0.0625 billed), and Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 starts at $0.03 list at 360p ($0.0375 billed). Both take a text prompt.

Decision rule

Use the Sume Grok row when you already have a still and want a short clip. Use another row when the job needs text-only input, a last frame, references or an aspect ratio.

• Still in hand, 4 to 15 seconds: grok-imagine-video-1.5 on Sume.
• Text only: Wan 3.0 or Omni Flash.
• Need Lite id exactly: call xAI directly; Sume does not list it.