AI Video Cost per Second: The Full Credit Maths, with Worked Examples

01What makes up the cost of an AI video

How much does an AI video cost? In Vocla the answer isn't one number but the sum of four clear parts. Knowing them lets you control the budget before you start, and explains why one ad costs more than another of the same length.

1. 1Rendered scenes: the biggest part, billed per rendered second by the quality tier you pick.
2. 2Voiceover: billed like normal text to speech, by characters and model.
3. 3Storyboard: 200 credits per still you generate to review a scene before rendering video.
4. 4Music bed: a one-off 120 credits if you add one.

Vocla Video is built from the script: the voice is generated first in your chosen dialect, split into scenes of 3 to 8 seconds timed to the speech, the scenes are rendered, then voice, Arabic captions and music are mixed. So video length is set by how long the spoken script runs, not by a number you pick.

Why per second? Because rendering cost grows with length and resolution, unlike voice, which is billed by characters. So a short ad on a high tier can cost more than a longer Lite video, and the smartest saving is matching tier to platform: Lite for fast social, Standard for your main channel, Pro and 4K for big-screen campaigns.

02AI video cost per second by quality tier

Each tier has a fixed credit rate per rendered second, and which tiers you can use depends on your plan:

In dollars, it depends where the credits come from. At top-up prices, 20,000 credits for $10, a credit is $0.0005, so a Lite second is about $0.075, Standard about $0.20 and Pro about $0.50. Inside Professional, 80,000 credits for $29, credits are cheaper and a Lite second drops to about $0.054.

03Worked examples: 15, 30 and 60 seconds

Three common videos, assuming about 1,000 characters per spoken minute, a Vox Prime voiceover at 1,200 credits per 1,000 characters, and roughly one storyboard still per scene:

Scenes always dominate; voice and storyboard are smaller extras. So the biggest budget lever is the quality tier, then the length.

A practical case: a Riyadh perfume store wants a weekly 15-second Reel in a Saudi voice. On Lite each Reel is about 3,150 credits, or roughly 12,600 a month. Making the end-of-month offer ad Standard adds about 4,000 credits for that one ad.

Each scene renders at the nearest clip length the video model supports and is then trimmed, so the quote can count slightly more rendered seconds than the video's length. Your monthly allowance counts actual scene lengths.

04Which plan covers your videos

Every plan has two limits, credits and video seconds per month, and both have to cover you. This is the detail many people miss:

Starter includes 30 video seconds a month, but 30 Lite seconds need 4,500 credits for scenes alone, and the plan has 5,000. So Starter covers one complete 15-second Reel (about 3,150 credits with voice and storyboard stills) with roughly 1,850 to spare, but a complete 30-second Lite ad with voice, stills and music is about 6,220, so to use the full 30 seconds you'll need a top-up such as 20,000 credits for $10. On Professional, 300 Lite seconds need 45,000 credits and fit, while 300 Standard seconds would need 120,000, more than the plan holds; its credits cover roughly 190 Standard seconds with voice.

05Monthly budgets for three real scenarios

Per-video maths is useful, but most people think monthly: what do I need to publish regularly? Three common scenarios, using the default rates and a Vox Prime voice:

In the first scenario, four Reels mean 60 video seconds, more than Starter's 30, so the limit isn't just credits but seconds too; a store posting weekly usually needs Professional. In the second, 240 seconds fit Professional's 300-second monthly allowance, but the credits exceed 80,000, so it needs a top-up or a switch of some videos to Lite.

06What these numbers don't include

To compare fairly with any other way of producing video, know what credits cover and what they don't. Credits cover the voice, scenes, storyboard, music, burned-in Arabic captions and the final mix into a ready MP4. They don't cover:

• Your time writing and reviewing the script, which matters most for ad quality.
• Paid media: what you spend on platforms to run the ad is entirely separate.
• Advanced editing: special effects or templates need a video editor after download.
• Watermark removal on Starter: the watermark is part of Starter and disappears on Professional and above.

And you won't be surprised mid-render: the quote tells you before you start whether your balance covers it, and points you to an upgrade or top-up if it doesn't.

07Work out your own video

Use the credit calculator: enter your voiceover characters, video length and tier to get a credit estimate and the plan that fits. It uses the default rates; the studio quote gives the exact figure.

If your project is voice only, our voiceover cost guide breaks down ads, YouTube videos, courses and IVR in detail.

08How to cut cost without cutting quality

• Always review the storyboard: a 200-credit still is far cheaper than a rendered scene you then reject.
• Test on Lite: try the idea and script on the cheapest tier, then render the final on a higher one if needed.
• Redo only the weak scene: regenerating one scene charges that scene alone, not the whole video.
• Tighten the script: every extra word adds scene seconds, the most expensive part.
• Match length to the platform: 15 seconds is usually enough for a Reels ad; don't pay for 60 seconds nobody finishes.

Two safeguards help: credits are reserved when rendering starts and settled after the final mix, and scenes that fail are refunded. You never pay for a scene that didn't render.