MiniMax H3 Max API price: Sume 1.25x vs the fal list

MiniMax H3 Max on Sume bills at the provider list price times 1.25. At 768p that is $0.10 per second, so a 10-second clip is $1.00 and 100 clips are $100.00. fal's pricing page lists H3 Max at $0.05 per second (read 2026-10-07), which is the 480p figure the Sume docs also use, so the same 480p clip is $0.0625 per second on Sume.

The formula

The Video Router docs state that minimax-h3-max is billed at list x 1.25, the same house margin as every other row. The docs cite the fal list as $0.05, $0.08 and $0.16 per second for 480p, 768p and 1080p (fal 2026-09-08, per the Sume docs). From fal's own page I read only the $0.05 figure on 2026-10-07; the 768p and 1080p list prices below are the numbers the Sume docs quote, not something I re-read on fal.

Billing is admit, reserve, capture. Sume reserves the estimated amount when it accepts the job, captures it on completion, and releases or refunds it on failure.

Per second, per clip, per 100 clips

The table assumes a 10-second clip, which is inside the 5 to 15 second envelope for H3 Max. The last column multiplies the Sume clip price by 100.

What the markup costs you

On 100 ten-second clips the Sume premium over list is $12.50 at 480p, $20.00 at 768p and $40.00 at 1080p. That is exactly 25 percent of list in every case, because the margin is a flat ratio and does not change by resolution or volume.

What the premium buys is not a lower price. It buys one key, one balance and one job model for many providers: a durable job id, a status URL, a result URL, and a ledger line per call. If you only ever call one vendor and already have an account there, the vendor list will be cheaper. Say that plainly when you budget.

Things this post does not claim

fal also lists an H3 Max Turbo at $0.025 per second on its page (read 2026-10-07). The Sume docs do not list a Turbo row, so there is no Sume price to compare it with.

• Prices change. Read the live numbers with GET /v1/video-router/models and the rate card before you commit a budget.
• Your invoice follows the reserved and captured amount on each job, not this table.
• Plan fees are separate; check the plans page for what is included.

A worked budget

Say a team needs 250 ten-second clips this month, half as 480p drafts and half as 768p finals. The drafts are 125 x $0.625 = $78.13 (rounded), and the finals are 125 x $1.00 = $125.00. The total is $203.13 of usage. At the vendor list the same mix would be 125 x $0.50 + 125 x $0.80 = $162.50, so the Sume premium is $40.63, which is 25 percent of $162.50.

That $40.63 is the price of running everything through one account. Whether that is worth it depends on how much time you would otherwise spend on separate keys, separate balances and separate retry logic. Count your own hours before deciding; the premium is the same whether you submit 10 jobs or 10,000.