Pika API Club vs Sume: $10 membership or list × 1.25

Pika API Club is a $10 per month membership that unlocks member pricing, with usage billed on top. Sume's video docs describe a different shape: every call is billed at provider list × 1.25, reserved when you submit, and the final amount comes back as usage.cost when you poll the job.

Pika's side is from its API Club announcement; Sume's side is from Video generation and Video Router, both read 2026-10-01.

What does Pika API Club charge?

Pika's post says $10 per month unlocks member pricing, new members get a $10 credit toward their first month of usage, and you pay as you go for what you generate. It lists 100+ video, image, audio, speech and LLM models behind one API. It also says its pricing comparisons are current as of August 4, 2026 and include a 5% platform fee, and it points to its own pricing page for current rates. This post does not restate those rates.

How does Sume bill a video call?

The Video Router page says Sume bills list × 1.25 on every model. The Video generation page adds that the workspace USD balance is reserved on submit at provider list × 1.25, and that usage.cost is the Sume billable amount. The catalog from GET /v1/videos/models lists the models, their capabilities and pricing.

How do I read the cost of one call on Sume?

Submit with POST /v1/videos and poll the returned polling_url. The completed poll response carries a usage object, and its cost field is the amount Sume billed for that job. Send an Idempotency-Key so a retry returns the original job instead of creating and reserving a second one.

How should I compare the two for my own volume?

Pick the model and length you actually run, take each side's published per-call number, and add Pika's monthly fee to the Pika side once. A membership fee is fixed, while Sume's × 1.25 scales with what you generate, so the answer depends on volume. Plan terms for Sume are on the pricing page. For a Sume reserve walkthrough see reserve at list × 1.25.