AI video API pricing compared
Who needs a plan, what a call costs, and where the price is published.
Sume's API and Higgsfield's API both spend a prepaid dollar balance with no subscription, and both publish a price per second or per image. Arcads opens its API from its Pro plan and publishes credits, not dollars. Creatify's API needs its own plan, $99 a month for 500 credits or $299 for 2,000. On Sume, a workspace without a price book pays the provider's list price, with 0% markup, from the same balance as Studio.
At a glance
| Sume | Higgsfield | Arcads | Creatify | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan needed for the API | No | No | Pro plan and above | API Starter or API Pro |
| How a call is priced | Dollars per second or per image | Dollars per second or per image, list and discounted | Credits per generation | Credits per 30 s, per second or per item |
| Dollar prices public | Yes | Yes | No | Plan prices; credits per call |
| Smallest purchase | $5 top-up | $99 a month | ||
| Balance lifetime | 365 days from each top-up | One year from each top-up | Pro and above roll unused credits over | |
| Same balance as the app | Yes | No |
What the same call costs
Two common calls, priced from each company's own public page:
| Call | Sume | Higgsfield API | Arcads | Creatify API |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5, 5 s at 720p | $1.156 | $2.311 list | 210 credits | |
| 30-second talking video | $1.68 with Kling Avatar 2.0 | 800 credits, talking actor | 5 credits, about $0.99 on API Starter |
A balance or a plan
A prepaid balance costs nothing in a month with no calls; a plan bills every month. Creatify's API Starter is $99 whether you make 1 video or 100. Higgsfield's API guide says its API has no subscription and that funds expire a year after they are added. On Sume each top-up lasts 365 days.
Start on the Sume API
Create an API key, read the quick start, and see every model's rate on the API rate card. The catalog, GET /v1/catalog, lists the same rates, and over MCP dry_run returns a request's price without running it.
Questions
- Do I need a subscription for the Sume API?
- No. Any workspace with a balance can call it, from a $5 top-up.
- Is the API price the same as in Studio?
- Yes. Studio, the agent, the API and MCP charge the same price from one balance.
- Does Sume mark up the provider's price on the API?
- Not for a workspace without a price book: 0% markup and no fee on top. See billing.
Sources
Prices checked on . Sume's prices come from its live price list; other companies' prices come from the public pages below. A blank cell means the company does not publish that number.
- Meet the Higgsfield API
- Higgsfield API pricing
- Higgsfield API: Seedance 2.5 text to video
- How does Arcads pricing work?
- Creatify API billing and credits
More comparisons
- AI video with no subscriptionWhich tools need a monthly plan, and what happens to credits you don't use.
- Sume vs HiggsfieldPer-second prices for the same models, plans against top-ups, and Remix against Genjutsu.
- Sume vs ArcadsDollar prices against credits for talking-actor ads, video models and the API.
- Sume vs CreatifyCredit plans against pay as you go, API plans, and avatar video by the second.
- Seedance 2.5 price per secondSeedance 2.5 by resolution, with edits, on Sume, Higgsfield and Arcads.