Hailuo 02 cost claim

A new write-up says MiniMax’s Hailuo 02 can make a 10-second 1080p artificial-intelligence video for about $0.28, but the comparison is coming from a vendor-leaning benchmark post, not an independent lab test. (ucstrategies.com) The article, published April 11, 2026, says Hailuo 02 “ranks #2 globally” on Artificial Analysis and beats Google Veo 3 in user evaluations while costing about one-tenth as much. The same post says the price point applies to 10-second clips, not longer videos. (ucstrategies.com) MiniMax’s own API pricing documents show Hailuo 02 charges by “units,” with a 1080p, 6-second Hailuo 02 generation deducting 2 units and a 512p, 10-second generation deducting 0.5 unit. That supports the idea that output cost varies by resolution and length, even if the $0.28 figure in the article is presented as a simple per-video number. (platform.minimax.io) A consumer-facing Hailuo pricing page says a $30 one-time plan includes 580 credits for “up to 58 videos,” which works out to about $0.52 per video at that tier. Another listed pack offers 180 credits for “up to 18 videos,” or about $1 per video, so the headline price appears to depend on which package and workflow a buyer uses. (hailuo2.com) That gap is the point of the story: artificial-intelligence video is no longer sold only as a premium studio tool. If a model can produce short 1080p clips for well under $1, it changes the math for social ads, product demos, and bulk content testing. (ucstrategies.com) The comparison with Google also turns on what buyers are actually purchasing. Google’s current Veo page emphasizes Veo 3.1’s native audio, prompt adherence, realism, and creative controls, not a low per-clip sticker price. (deepmind.google) Google’s subscription page shows Veo access is bundled into broader Google artificial-intelligence plans, including Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month with 1,000 monthly artificial-intelligence credits and higher tiers above that. That makes a straight “cost per video” comparison harder, because Google is packaging video generation with other tools and credit pools. (gemini.google) Google also said on May 20, 2025 that it was bringing Veo 3 to Vertex AI as part of a wider media-model push with Imagen 4 and Lyria 2. That positioned Veo as an enterprise platform product as much as a creator tool, which is a different market from low-cost short clips. (cloud.google.com) MiniMax, for its part, describes Hailuo-02 as one of its core multimodal models on its official site. Its public materials focus on efficiency and accessibility, and its pricing docs show a menu built around short generations and packaged usage rather than open-ended filmmaking sessions. (minimax.ad; platform.minimax.io) So the cleanest reading is narrower than the headline: Hailuo 02 appears positioned as a cheaper way to generate short, high-definition clips, while Veo is sold as a broader, higher-end video system with audio and platform integration. The $0.28 claim is useful as a directional signal on falling costs, but not as a settled apples-to-apples verdict. (ucstrategies.com; deepmind.google; gemini.google)