VEED Subtitles API $0.10 to $0.40 a minute vs Sume $0.20

For a 60-second clip, VEED's Subtitles API costs between $0.10 and $0.40 per its page, depending on resolution and style, and Sume's caption job costs $0.20. For a 20-second clip VEED is $0.033 to $0.133 by simple proration, assuming it bills per second, which its page does not state, while Sume stays at $0.20. VEED can be cheaper for short clips; Sume is a flat price for anything up to a minute.

What the VEED page says

VEED lists a usage-based API with no subscriptions or minimums: Fabric 1.0 at $0.08 to $0.20 per second, Lip Sync 2.0 at $0.07 per second, Subtitles at $0.10 to $0.40 per minute depending on resolution and style, Green Screen at $0.025 per 30 frames and Background Removal at $0.008 to $0.0225 per 30 frames. It describes Subtitles as video captioning with basic and dynamic options.

What decides the gap

VEED's rate varies by resolution and style, so the same clip can cost four times as much on the high setting. Sume's caption job is one price per accepted job at the current fixed estimate, with styles such as slam, punch and tiktok-green and design overrides for color and placement. The docs say an invalid design fails at request time, so you do not pay for an incorrect render.

Steps: run the same clip on both

• Pick a representative 45-second vertical clip.
• Caption it on VEED at your required resolution and note the charge.
• POST it to /v1/video-captions with the style you want and an Idempotency-Key.
• Compare the two bills and the visual result side by side.

What Sume does not do

Sume has no basic-versus-dynamic tiering with a price drop, and the caption price is fixed per job for clips up to 60 seconds. The docs I read do not list a different price for longer clips, so check the live price in GET /v1/catalog before you send a long file.

Where the style tokens matter

Sume's caption docs describe a style as a set of design tokens: colors, typography, placement, phrasing and motion. Override one field, such as the active color, and the rest of the style stays the same. A number outside its documented range returns 400 at request time, so you do not pay for a bad render. VEED's page says Subtitles has basic and dynamic options but gives no list of tokens. If brand control matters, ask for the equivalent before comparing prices.

Billing unit is the open question

VEED's page prices Subtitles per minute but does not say whether partial minutes are prorated or rounded up. If it rounds, a 20-second clip costs between $0.10 and $0.40, not $0.033 to $0.133, and Sume's flat $0.20 looks better. Send one 20-second clip through VEED and read the charge before you trust any table, including mine.

Verdict

Many sub-30-second clips at low settings: VEED's list may be cheaper. Clips near a minute with a styled look: Sume at $0.20 is competitive. Pricing assumptions here are mine; check VEED's billing unit.