Kling vs Grok Imagine: Kling 3.0 and Grok Imagine Video 1.5
Kling 3.0 makes clips from text or an image, with an end frame and sound; Grok Imagine Video 1.5 animates one image, silent, for $0.0125/s.
Kling 3.0 and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 differ most in how many pictures a request can carry and what a second of output costs. Kling takes a text prompt alone, one start picture, or a start and an end picture, with optional sound; the other takes exactly one picture and returns a silent clip. Through Sume's API that single-picture clip costs $0.0125 a second, against $0.14 silent or $0.21 with sound on Kling.
This compares the two models as one API serves them, not the consumer apps, from Sume's video catalog and pricing code and the Sume API reference, read 2026-09-28.
Where do Kling 3.0 and Grok Imagine differ?
The ids are kling-3 (Kling Video v3 Pro in the catalog) and grok-imagine-video-1.5. Both make 4–15 second clips and neither takes reference files, so the table keeps only the rows that differ; the single-model posts for grok-imagine-video-1.5 and Kling 3.0 list every limit.
| `kling-3` | `grok-imagine-video-1.5` | |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt with no picture | Yes | No |
| Pictures per request | Up to two: start and end | Exactly one: start |
| Sound track | Optional | None |
| Framing | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 | Follows the picture |
| Price per second | $0.14 silent, $0.21 with sound | $0.0125 |
Can Grok Imagine use multiple images?
No. A request to it holds one picture, the opening still, and nothing else: no closing still, no extra pictures to guide the look.
If the clip has to travel from one picture to another, such as a product turning from its box shot to its hero angle, send both to kling-3, one tagged as the start and one as the end, and the clip moves from one to the other. If several pictures should guide a single clip, neither model fits; Reference-to-video API names the models that take them.
What does an image-to-video clip cost on each?
grok-imagine-video-1.5 has one per-second rate at either resolution. Kling's rate moves only with sound, and generate_audio defaults to the model's audio capability, so a kling-3 request that omits generate_audio: false is priced with sound.
| Clip | `grok-imagine-video-1.5` | `kling-3` silent | `kling-3` with sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 s | $0.07 | $0.70 | $1.05 |
| 10 s | $0.13 | $1.40 | $2.10 |
| 15 s | $0.19 | $2.10 | $3.15 |
Which one should I pick?
Pick by the pictures you have and whether the clip needs sound:
- Pick
grok-imagine-video-1.5if you hold one still, silence is fine, and cost per second matters most. - Pick
kling-3if you have no picture, need the clip to land on a set closing still, need sound, or need a fixed 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 frame. - Pick neither for reference files or clips over 15 seconds; the length limits by model list the ones that go to 30.
Sources
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Written by Sume