Shotstack credits cover AI images and videos; Sume prices each surface

Shotstack puts rendering and AI generation into one unit: on its pricing page, 100 credits can render 100 one-minute videos, generate 1,000 AI images, or generate 50 AI videos. Sume does the opposite and prices each surface by itself: a render at $0.10 per output minute, a track at $0.125, a trim at $0.02, and images and videos from per-model catalogs. Which shape is easier to budget depends on whether your work is mostly one step or a mix.

How does Shotstack convert credits?

The page states that one credit is one minute of video at any resolution, billed to the second, so a 30-second video is 0.5 credits, and that one credit makes 10 images. Its worked examples put 100 credits at 1,000 AI images or 50 AI videos on pay as you go, and 1,000 credits at 10,000 AI images or 500 AI videos on the subscription. At the listed $0.30 per minute (pay as you go) and $0.20 per minute (subscription), the implied cost per AI image is $0.03 and $0.02, and per AI video $0.60 and $0.40 (arithmetic). The page does not state the length or resolution of an AI video, so that last figure has no clip length attached.

How does Sume split the same work?

Sume lists utility surfaces with flat prices: Timeline 1.0 at $0.10 per ceil(output minute), video trim at $0.02, audio detach at $0.01, timeline compose at $0.02 and timeline audio at $0.01, each per job, plus Music at $0.125 per accepted generation. Generated images and videos are priced from their catalogs: video is reserved at provider list times 1.25, and image models list their own rates. Because Timeline is worker ffmpeg with no provider inference, its price does not move with the models you used to make the clips.

One practical effect: a finished 30-second ad on Sume is a sum. Generate clips, maybe a track, then assemble. Each line has its own reserve, its own job and its own refund path if it fails.

Which pricing shape suits which workload?

A single pool of credits is simple if you mostly render templated videos and occasionally add an AI image: one balance, one number to watch. Separate prices are clearer if you want to know what each step cost, for example to see that assembly is a small fraction of a pipeline dominated by generation. Check how each service rounds: Shotstack rounds down to the second, while Sume's Timeline bills the ceiling of the output minute, so a 61-second video costs two minutes there. Whichever service you pick, run the same three-step ad once end to end and compare the invoice lines with this table before you commit volume. Also note that credits on Shotstack are valid for one year with rollover up to 3x according to the page, which affects how much you can safely prepay.