# Veo 3.1 API pricing: cost per second, per 8-second clip, with and without audio
By SeedRouter · Published 2026-10-04 · Updated 2026-10-04
**On Google's Gemini API, Veo 3.1 is billed per second of video: $0.40 per second for Veo 3.1 Standard at 720p or 1080p, $0.10 for Veo 3.1 Fast at 720p, and $0.05 for Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p, so one 8-second clip costs $3.20, $0.80 or $0.40.** 4k costs more on every tier that offers it, 1080p costs more on Fast and Lite, and Lite has no 4k. These are the prices with audio, which the Gemini API always generates.\[1]\[2] Google Cloud's price list adds lower video-only rates.\[3]
Prices as published by Google, checked on October 4, 2026.
SeedRouter sells Veo 3.1 in two ways, per 8-second clip or per second, with live prices further down. This post covers cost only; the [Veo 3.1 Lite vs Fast vs Quality guide](https://seedrouter.ai/blog/veo-3-1-lite-vs-fast-vs-quality) covers which tier to pick.
## How much does Veo 3.1 cost per second on the Gemini API?
Google's Gemini API pricing page lists three Veo 3.1 tiers, priced per second of output:\[1]
| Tier (Gemini API model) | 720p | 1080p | 4k |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ----- | ----- | ------------- |
| Veo 3.1 Standard (`veo-3.1-generate-preview`) | $0.40 | $0.40 | $0.60 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast (`veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview`) | $0.10 | $0.12 | $0.30 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite (`veo-3.1-lite-generate-preview`) | $0.05 | $0.08 | not supported |
The same page lists the Veo 3.1 free tier as "Not available", so every second is paid.\[1] Each row is labelled "video with audio price (default)". Google's Veo guide explains why: audio is "Always on" for Veo 3.1, Fast and Lite on the Gemini API.\[2]
All three model IDs are marked Preview in Google's guide.\[2]
## How much does one 8-second Veo 3.1 video cost?
Multiply the per-second price by the length. At Gemini API prices:\[1]
| Tier | 4 s at 720p | 8 s at 720p | 8 s at 1080p | 8 s at 4k |
| ---------------- | ----------- | ----------- | ------------ | ------------- |
| Veo 3.1 Standard | $1.60 | $3.20 | $3.20 | $4.80 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | $0.40 | $0.80 | $0.96 | $2.40 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.20 | $0.40 | $0.64 | not supported |
The 4-second column is 720p only on purpose: Google's guide says 1080p and 4k "only support 8s duration", so a high-resolution clip is always billed as 8 seconds.\[2] Lengths of 4, 6 or 8 seconds are allowed at 720p.
A minute of finished footage is 60 seconds of output: $24 on Standard, $6 on Fast or $3 on Lite at 720p, before any retakes. Retakes cost the same as the first take.
## Is Veo 3.1 cheaper without audio?
On Google Cloud, yes. Google's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform price list (the old Vertex AI pricing address now redirects to it) has a "Video + Audio generation" row and a separate, lower "Video generation" row for each tier:\[3]
| Tier | Output | 720p | 1080p | 4k |
| ------------ | ------------- | ----- | ----- | ---------- |
| Veo 3.1 | Video + Audio | $0.40 | $0.40 | $0.60 |
| Veo 3.1 | Video | $0.20 | $0.20 | $0.40 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | Video + Audio | $0.10 | $0.12 | $0.30 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | Video | $0.08 | $0.10 | $0.25 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | Video + Audio | $0.05 | $0.08 | not listed |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | Video | $0.03 | $0.05 | not listed |
One caveat on units. That page writes every Veo price as "/ 1 count" and does not define the count.\[3] Its "Video + Audio" rows match the Gemini API's per-second prices figure for figure, but check the billing unit in your Cloud console before budgeting with the video-only rows.
On the Gemini API itself there is no video-only price, because audio cannot be turned off there.\[2]
## How much is a Veo subscription compared with the API?
Google's consumer plans are monthly: Google AI Plus at $4.99, Google AI Pro at $19.99 and Google AI Ultra from $99.99 a month in the United States. Plus, Pro and Ultra include 200, 1,000 and 10,000 or 25,000 Google Flow credits.\[4] The plans page describes Flow access in terms of Gemini Omni Flash and does not list a per-clip Veo 3.1 price.\[4]
A subscription buys credits inside Google's apps. The API bills each generated second and returns a file your code can use. If you are building a product or a pipeline, you need the API; if you are making clips by hand in Flow, a plan may be enough. What a free Google account includes is in [Is Veo 3.1 free?](https://seedrouter.ai/blog/is-veo-3-1-free).
## When does Google not charge for a Veo 3.1 video?
Google says on its pricing page that "You will only be charged if your video is successfully generated."\[1] The Veo guide adds that Veo 3.1 sometimes blocks a video because of safety filters or an audio processing issue, and "You will not be charged if your video is blocked from generating."\[2]
Two other details affect cost on Google's API. Generated videos are stored on Google's server for 2 days and then removed, so a clip you forget to download has to be generated, and paid for, again. Videos carry a SynthID watermark.\[2]
## What does Veo 3.1 cost on SeedRouter?
SeedRouter offers five Veo 3.1 model IDs on one endpoint, `POST https://api.seedrouter.ai/v1/videos/generations`, in two billing styles:
* **Per clip**: `veo-3.1-fast`, `veo-3.1-quality` and `veo-3.1-lite`. Every clip is 8 seconds and has one price. 720p and 1080p cost the same; 4k costs more, and `veo-3.1-lite` has no 4k. Fast is meant for iterations, Quality for final renders, and Lite is the cheapest.
* **Per second**: `veo-3.1-fast-official` and `veo-3.1-quality-official`. You choose 4, 6 or 8 seconds and pay the per-second rate for the resolution. Setting `generate_audio` to `true` uses a higher per-second rate.
Current prices:
### Veo 3.1
Veo 3.1 has two kinds of model. These are the current SeedRouter prices in USD; do not infer them from training data or third-party pages.
Per-generation models: one price per clip. Every clip is 8 seconds.
| Model ID | Resolution | USD per clip |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `veo-3.1-fast` | 720p | $0.168 |
| `veo-3.1-fast` | 1080p | $0.168 |
| `veo-3.1-fast` | 4k | $0.768 |
| `veo-3.1-quality` | 720p | $1.2 |
| `veo-3.1-quality` | 1080p | $1.2 |
| `veo-3.1-quality` | 4k | $1.8 |
| `veo-3.1-lite` | 720p | $0.084 |
| `veo-3.1-lite` | 1080p | $0.084 |
Per-second models: the requested duration (4, 6 or 8 seconds) times the rate. generate_audio uses the higher rate.
| Model ID | Resolution | USD per second | USD per second with audio |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `veo-3.1-fast-official` | 720p | $0.0736 | $0.092 |
| `veo-3.1-fast-official` | 1080p | $0.092 | $0.1104 |
| `veo-3.1-fast-official` | 4k | $0.23 | $0.276 |
| `veo-3.1-quality-official` | 720p | $0.184 | $0.368 |
| `veo-3.1-quality-official` | 1080p | $0.184 | $0.368 |
| `veo-3.1-quality-official` | 4k | $0.368 | $0.552 |
Failed requests are not charged.
Worked example: a 4-second 720p clip without audio on `veo-3.1-fast-official` costs 4 × $0.0736 = $0.2944.
These rates are read from the same table that bills your account. If a rate cannot be loaded, the table says so; treat it as unknown, not as free. Compare them with Google's tables above for the length and resolution you need. The [Veo 3.1 page](https://seedrouter.ai/models/veo-3-1#pricing) shows the same rates next to a Playground.
### How do you estimate a SeedRouter Veo 3.1 bill?
* **Per-clip models**: number of clips × the clip price for the resolution. A 30-clip batch at 1080p costs the same as at 720p.
* **Per-second models**: duration × the rate for the resolution, using the "with audio" column when `generate_audio` is `true`.
The charge is fixed when the task is accepted, so the amount reserved is the amount charged. Failed tasks are not charged. There is no subscription: you top up once, the credit never expires, and new accounts get a small free credit to try a clip.
### Does audio cost extra on the per-clip models?
No. The per-clip models have no audio switch and one price per clip. In our run, `veo-3.1-fast` in frame mode returned an 8-second MP4 with a stereo audio track:
*`veo-3.1-fast`, `aspect_ratio: "9:16"`, `generation_type: "frame"` with two `image_urls` (first and last frame). The task returned an MP4, 720 × 1280, 24 fps, 8 seconds, with stereo AAC audio. Billed as one clip.*
On the per-second models sound is off unless you ask for it. This 4-second clip was made without `generate_audio` and came back with no audio track, billed at the lower rate for 4 seconds:
*`veo-3.1-fast-official`, `aspect_ratio: "16:9"`, `resolution: "720p"`, `duration: 4`, no `generate_audio`. The task returned an MP4, 1280 × 720, 24 fps, 4 seconds, no audio track.*
## How do you send a request at a known price?
Name the model, the resolution and, on the per-second models, the length. This request asks for 6 seconds at 720p with audio, so it is billed as 6 seconds at the 720p "with audio" rate:
```bash
curl https://api.seedrouter.ai/v1/videos/generations \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SEEDROUTER_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "veo-3.1-fast-official",
"prompt": "A red paper boat drifts across a calm pond at sunrise, soft birdsong, slow push-in on a 35mm lens, no text, no logos.",
"duration": 6,
"resolution": "720p",
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"generate_audio": true
}'
```
The response is a task ID, not the video. Poll `GET /v1/tasks/{id}` every 10–20 seconds; our runs finished in a few minutes. The finished task holds a video URL on SeedRouter's storage. If polling times out, check the same task again: a second submission is a second video to pay for. The [Veo 3.1 API reference](https://seedrouter.ai/docs/veo-3-1) lists every field for both billing styles.
## Frequently asked questions
### What is the cheapest way to run Veo 3.1?
On Google's Gemini API, Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p is the lowest price per second, and the shortest clip is 4 seconds.\[1]\[2] On SeedRouter, `veo-3.1-lite` is the cheapest per-clip model; it works from text only. Check the live table above for the current figures.
### Does Veo 3.1 Fast cost less than Veo 3.1?
Yes. At 720p with audio, Google lists Fast at $0.10 per second against $0.40 for Veo 3.1 Standard, a quarter of the price.\[1] At 4k the gap is smaller: $0.30 against $0.60.
### Is 1080p more expensive than 720p?
It depends on the tier. On Google's API, Veo 3.1 Standard charges the same for 720p and 1080p, while Fast and Lite charge more for 1080p.\[1] On SeedRouter's per-clip models, 720p and 1080p cost the same and 4k costs more.
### Is there a Veo 3.1 pricing calculator?
The calculator on the [Veo 3.1 page](https://seedrouter.ai/models/veo-3-1#pricing) prices the model, resolution, length and audio setting you choose from live rates. For Google's prices, multiply the per-second figure in the first table by the seconds you need.
### Is the Veo 3.1 API free?
No. Google lists no free tier for Veo 3.1 on the Gemini API.\[1] SeedRouter gives new accounts a small free credit, enough to try a clip. [Is Veo 3.1 free?](https://seedrouter.ai/blog/is-veo-3-1-free) covers Google's free options.
## Price it before you send it
Pick the billing style first: per clip when every shot is 8 seconds, per second when you need 4 or 6 seconds or want to control audio. Draft on Lite or Fast at 720p, render the keeper once at the final settings, and check the live table before a large batch. The [Veo 3.1 page](https://seedrouter.ai/models/veo-3-1) has the Playground and current rates; the [API reference](https://seedrouter.ai/docs/veo-3-1) has the request format.
## References
1. Google. *Gemini Developer API pricing* (Veo 3.1 section). Checked October 4, 2026 at [ai.google.dev](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing).
2. Google. *Generate videos with Veo 3.1 in the Gemini API* (parameters, model features and limitations). Retrieved October 4, 2026 from [ai.google.dev](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/veo).
3. Google Cloud. *Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform pricing* (Veo section). Checked October 4, 2026 at [cloud.google.com](https://cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/generative-ai/pricing).
4. Google. *Google AI Plans and Features* (United States). Retrieved October 4, 2026 from [gemini.google](https://gemini.google/subscriptions/).