A free parameter against a priced step
One page states an allowed range of one to fifteen seconds. The other prices five seconds and ten seconds as separate steps, with Pikaframes in its own priced row at twenty to twenty-five. Length is a free parameter on one row and a purchase on the other. As of 2026-09-22.
| What the pages state | Grok Imagine | Pika |
|---|---|---|
| Asking for seven seconds | Available directly | Bought at the ten second step |
| Iterating while the beat is unsettled | Paid at the length used | Paid at ten every time |
| Reaching past the ordinary ceiling | Fifteen seconds is the range top | Pikaframes, priced apart |
Inclusion rule. Length figures each page states, with the billing form each page attaches. No rate is quoted; only whether the length is priced as a step. Order. The direct request first, then what iteration costs.
1A step turns exploration into a purchase
Short-form advertising is normally many attempts at one idea. Where length is a free parameter, the attempts are made at the length under test. Where it is a step, every attempt between six and ten seconds is charged at ten and trimmed.
The waste per request is small and the number of requests is not. That is the practical content of this pair, and it is invisible to anyone comparing the two ceilings.
2The floors differ more usefully than the ceilings
One second against five is a bigger practical gap than fifteen against ten. Joins between longer pieces often want a beat rather than a shot, and generating that beat at its real length is only possible on the row with the low floor.
On the stepped row the shortest purchasable piece is five seconds, which also happens to match the shortest ad format exactly. For a bumper the step is a perfect fit and nothing is discarded.
3What sits beside the length on each page
The free-parameter row states that generated videos include an audio track by default, so a length request returns sound as well as picture. Nothing about that is in the duration column and it changes what the deliverable is.
The stepped row prices resolution as well, at 480p, 720p and 1080p, so a request's cost is the product of two visible choices. That makes a whole variant set costable from one page, which few rate cards in this register allow.
4The rest of the column behind these two
| Generator | Duration |
|---|---|
| Amazon Nova Reel | 6 s increments, up to two minutes |
| CogVideoX | 6 s, at 49 frames |
| Google Veo | 4, 6 or 8 s |
| Grok Imagine | 1 to 15 s |
| Hedra | 10 minutes |
| HeyGen | 30 minutes per scene |
| Kling AI | Not stated |
| LTX-Video | Frames, never seconds |
| MiniMax | 4 to 15 s |
| Pika | 5 s and 10 s, 20-25 s on Pikaframes |
| PixVerse | 1 to 15 s on version 6 |
| Runway | 5 to 15 s on Gen-4.5 |
| SceneMixer | Thirty seconds on the Wan tiers, fifteen on H3 |
| Vidu | Not stated |
| Wan 3.0 | 2 to 30 s |
Inclusion rule. Every generator this register carries, on the one column this pair disagrees about. Rows that state nothing keep their place and are marked hollow. Order. Alphabetical by generator name.
Why these two. Both rows can produce a seven second beat. On one it costs what seven seconds costs, on the other it costs ten, every attempt, and the difference compounds across a campaign of variants rather than appearing once.
- Duration parameterThe allowed range is 1-15 seconds
- Durations5 and 10 seconds for text-to-video and image-to-video, and up to 20 to 25 seconds on Pikaframespriced per step
5Sources
Read from the xAI video generation docs and the Pika pricing page, checked 2026-09-22 and 2026-09-12 respectively. The column is described on duration, and each entry has its own cell page at Grok Imagine and Pika, and the rule that keeps surfaces and generators apart is on method. Nearby pairs: LTX-Video and Wan 3.0, Runway and HeyGen on files.