Google has quietly announced the pricing for its AI-powered video creation platform, Veo 2. According to the company's price page, generating a video with Veo 2 will cost only 50 cents per second, which equates to around $30 per minute or $1,800 per hour.
To put this in context, Google DeepMind researcher Jon Barron compares this to Hollywood blockbuster budgets. Marvel's Avengers: Endgame, for example, had a reported $356 million production budget, which equates to around $32,000 per second—far beyond Veo 2's pricing. While Veo 2 is unlikely to produce feature-length films any time soon, Google has emphasized its ability to create clips of two minutes or more, making it a useful tool for short content creators.
Despite its seemingly competitive cost, not every second of Veo 2-generated footage may be used, potentially increasing the effective costs for users. Unlike traditional video production, in which every shot is planned and tweaked, AI-generated video frequently requires multiple changes to obtain the desired result.
When compared to OpenAI's video model, Sora, Veo 2 takes a different pricing approach. Instead of charging for each second of a created video, OpenAI includes Sora as a part of its $200 ChatGPT Pro subscription. Depending on usage, one model may be more cost-effective than the other for certain users.
Google's pricing strategy positions Veo 2 as a premium service targeted at businesses and professionals instead of casual creators. While it offers a less expensive alternative to traditional filmmaking, users should consider additional costs like editing, refinement, and production oversight. However, Veo 2's efficiency and adaptability have the potential to dramatically cut production time frames for commercial and creative projects alike.