Runway image upscale at 25 credits vs Sume upscale per image
Runway upscales an image for 25 credits ($0.25), 150+ above 4096 px. Sume lists image upscale at a flat $0.20. 100 images cost $25 versus $20.
Runway's image upscale is 25 credits, which is $0.25 at one cent per credit; images above 4096 pixels start at 150 credits ($1.50). Sume lists image upscale at a flat $0.20 per image, so 100 images is $25 on Runway and $20 on Sume.
The credit prices come from the Runway pricing guide (read 2026-10-04); Sume's rate is on its API pricing page.
| Route | Per image | 100 images | 1,000 images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runway, up to 4096 px | 25 credits = $0.25 | $25.00 | $250.00 |
| Runway, above 4096 px | 150+ credits = $1.50+ | $150.00+ | $1,500.00+ |
| Sume image upscale | $0.20 | $20.00 | $200.00 |
What the flat rate hides
Sume's rate card says the $0.20 reserves about 16 output megapixels of the underlying generative upscaler at its standard margin, so it is a ceiling, not a per-pixel meter. That ceiling is why the listed price is one number: minimum, estimate and maximum are all $0.20 in the catalog.
Runway's price steps up with size: 25 credits for the base tier and 150 or more above 4096 pixels. For one 4K-class print master that jump matters; for a hundred social images it does not.
- Small catalog images: Sume saves $0.05 each, 20%.
- Very large masters: compare the exact output size to each tier before running a batch.
Video upscale, for scale
Runway lists video upscale at $0.007 per frame for 720p and 1K output. At 24 frames per second a 5-second clip is 120 frames, 120 x $0.007 = $0.84. Sume lists video upscale at $0.009 per input second, so 5 seconds is $0.045. These are different upscalers with different output sizes, so use the numbers to size your budget and not to claim equal results.
Steps
- Measure the target pixel size of the upscale; that decides which Runway tier applies.
- Upscale five sample images on each service and compare detail and artifacts at 100%.
- Multiply the winning per-image price by the batch size, plus 10% for re-runs.
- Keep originals; an upscale cannot recover information the source never had.
A mixed batch
Of 500 images, suppose 480 are under 4096 pixels and 20 are above. On Runway that is 480 x $0.25 + 20 x $1.50 = $120 + $30 = $150, and more if the large ones cost above 150 credits. On Sume it is 500 x $0.20 = $100 regardless of size. The large images are 4% of the count but 20% of the Runway bill.
Caveats
Sume's reserve is sized for large outputs, and the listed price is the amount you are billed per job, with the actual capture shown in usage. Prices were read on 2026-10-04 and can change; re-check the Runway tier boundaries before a bulk run.
Sources
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Written by Sume