Omni Flash 1.1 reference-image fee: Runway adds 1 credit, Sume none

Runway adds 1 credit per reference image on Gemini Omni Flash 1.1, which is $0.01 each, while Sume's estimator for the row bills output seconds by resolution and nothing for references. Even so, Runway comes out cheaper at 720p and above in the examples below, because its per-second credits are lower than Sume's list-times-1.25 rate; at 360p with five images Sume is cheaper.

All Runway figures are from its pricing page (read 2026-10-10). Sume figures are billed rates from the pricing code.

The two rate cards

Runway lists gemini_omni_flash_1.1 at 3.4, 10, 15 and 30 credits per second at 360p, 720p, 1080p and 4K, plus 1 credit per reference image, with credits at $0.01. That is $0.034, $0.10, $0.15 and $0.30 per second.

Sume's pricing code lists the fal rate as $0.03, $0.10, $0.15 and $0.30 per second at the same tiers, and Sume bills that times 1.25, so $0.0375, $0.125, $0.1875 and $0.375. The row's constraint text says the price is output seconds times resolution tier, and an edit bills output seconds as well.

Worked examples: 8 seconds with references

At Runway the cost is 8 seconds times the credit rate, plus one credit per image. At Sume it is 8 seconds times the billed rate. The reference counts below are within Sume's cap of 10 images.

Sume is cheaper in the 360p row, and Runway is cheaper in the other three, by $0.10 to $0.50, because the Sume 1.25 factor is applied on the base rate and the reference fee is small.

Where Sume still makes sense

The first row shows the case where references push Runway above Sume: at 360p, Runway's base is $0.272 against Sume's $0.30, a gap of $0.028. Five reference images add $0.05, which outweighs that gap and brings Runway to $0.322. At 720p and above the gap on the base rate is larger than any reference fee you can reach with 10 images, so Runway stays cheaper.

Price is not the only factor. Sume gives you one workspace balance, one API shape across many models, and Idempotency-Key on submit. If your jobs also use Wan or Seedance, one integration is easier to run than two.

Check your own mix

The totals above change with your reference count. A Runway job with 10 images adds only $0.10, so the fee alone rarely decides the choice. Compute your own clip: seconds times rate, plus images at $0.01 for Runway, seconds times the Sume rate otherwise, and compare them to usage.cost. The Video Generation docs explain the usage.cost field and the 1.25 billing factor.

Edit mode and references

Omni's edit mode takes a video_url plus a prompt, per the Video Router docs, and bills output seconds like a normal job; a duration you give is only a hint for the reservation. The Runway page I read lists no separate edit price for this id, so I do not compare editing here. For references and edits alike, test one clip on each platform before you compare totals over a batch.