Last verified: August 30, 2026. Free-tier rate limits, Token Plan allowances, and pay-as-you-go prices were rechecked against MiniMax documentation on this date. Promotional offers on consumer products change without notice and are not covered by this verification.
Short answer: partly. MiniMax publishes a free tier for its video generation APIs, but it is a throughput tier, not a free allowance of clips. It caps how fast you can call the API, and MiniMax does not document how much video it lets you generate or how you qualify for it. If you want a predictable number of Hailuo clips, you either pay per clip or subscribe to a plan that includes a small daily quota. There is no documented plan that gives unlimited Hailuo video.
This page separates the four different things people mean when they ask whether Hailuo AI is free, and gives the published numbers for each. Where MiniMax does not publish a number, this page says so rather than guessing.
Independent-site notice: MiniMax-AI.chat is an independent educational website. It is not MiniMax’s official website and is not endorsed by or affiliated with MiniMax. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. API access, interface availability, billing, and provider terms are controlled by MiniMax.
The four routes to Hailuo, and what each one costs
| Route | Is it free? | What you actually get |
|---|---|---|
| Video API free tier | Free to call | 5 requests per minute on legacy Hailuo; 2 concurrent tasks on H3. No published clip allowance. |
| Pay as you go | No | $0.28 to $0.56 per clip depending on resolution and duration. |
| Token Plan subscription | No | Plus includes no Hailuo clips. Max includes 3 clips per day. Ultra includes 5 clips per day. |
| Credit packs | No | $5 buys 5,000 credits, valid 365 days. Credits are consumed by the same per-clip rates. |
The free tier on the video API is real, but it is a speed limit
MiniMax publishes separate rate limits for free and paid access to its video endpoints. For legacy Hailuo video generation the published figures are 5 requests per minute on the free tier and 20 requests per minute on the paid tier. For MiniMax-H3 on the newer Video Generation V2 endpoint, the figures are 2 concurrent tasks on the free tier and 15 on the paid tier.
Read those numbers carefully, because they are commonly misread. A rate limit tells you how often you may ask. It does not tell you how many videos you are entitled to receive, and it does not say the generation itself is unbilled. MiniMax publishes the throughput ceiling for the free tier but does not publish a free clip quota, a free credit grant, or the qualification criteria for that tier anywhere in the documentation reviewed for this page.
The practical consequence: you should not plan a project around the free tier. Treat it as a way to confirm your integration works, not as a supply of video. Full published limits for every endpoint are in our MiniMax API rate limits reference.
What a paid subscription includes for Hailuo
The Token Plan is MiniMax’s developer subscription. Its headline token allowances are aimed at text models, and video is handled separately as a small daily clip allowance rather than out of the token pool.
| Tier | Documented price | Observed at checkout | Included Hailuo clips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plus | $20 per month | $22 per month | None listed |
| Max | $50 per month | $55 per month | 3 Hailuo 2.3 clips per day |
| Ultra | $120 per month | $132 per month | 5 Hailuo 2.3 clips per day |
Three details matter more than the prices:
- The documented price and the live checkout price have differed. On August 26, 2026 the checkout amounts observed were $22, $55 and $132 against documented figures of $20, $50 and $120. The amount shown at checkout is the one that governs your purchase.
- The daily clip allowance does not accumulate. Unused subscription quota does not carry over, and usage is governed by both a 5-hour rolling window and a weekly window.
- Token Plan coverage excludes MiniMax-H3, Voice Design, Rapid Voice Cloning and Music. So the subscription that includes Hailuo 2.3 clips does not cover the current-generation video model.
The full tier-by-tier breakdown, including token estimates and every excluded resource, is in our MiniMax Token Plan guide.
What Hailuo costs when you pay per clip
These are the published pay-as-you-go rates for Hailuo 2.3, verified August 13, 2026. Prices are per generated video, not per minute of compute.
| Resolution | Duration | Price per clip | Cost of 100 clips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 768P | 6 seconds | $0.28 | $28 |
| 768P | 10 seconds | $0.56 | $56 |
| 1080P | 6 seconds | $0.49 | $49 |
For comparison against the subscription route: the Ultra plan at $132 per month includes 5 clips per day, which is roughly 150 clips per month, or about $0.88 per clip. At the 768P six-second rate of $0.28, the same 150 clips cost $42 pay as you go. If video is all you need, pay-as-you-go is cheaper than Ultra by a wide margin. The subscription only makes sense if you are also consuming its text token allowance.
Credit packs
| Pack price | Credits | Rate | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | 5,000 | 1,000 credits = $1 | 365 days |
| $25 | 25,000 | 1,000 credits = $1 | 365 days |
| $100 | 100,000 | 1,000 credits = $1 | 365 days |
Credits are a prepayment mechanism, not a discount. The rate is flat at every pack size, so buying the largest pack saves nothing per credit. The only reason to buy a larger pack is to avoid repeat purchases within the 365-day validity window.
About “unlimited Hailuo credits”
A large share of searches around Hailuo pricing use the words unlimited credits, mod, or hack. It is worth being direct about what those lead to.
No MiniMax plan documented anywhere grants unlimited Hailuo video. The highest published tier, Ultra, includes 5 clips per day. Anything advertising unlimited Hailuo credits, a modified application package, or a premium unlock is not a MiniMax product. In practice these downloads carry credential-stealing malware, and installing one puts any account you sign into on that device at risk.
If cost is the constraint, the legitimate levers are: generate at 768P rather than 1080P, keep clips at 6 seconds rather than 10, and write a tighter prompt so you need fewer regenerations. Our Hailuo prompt guide covers the camera commands that reduce wasted generations more than any other single change.
Before you budget: Hailuo 2.3 is now a legacy model
MiniMax lists Hailuo 2.3 as a legacy V1 video model. The current generation is MiniMax-H3 on the Video Generation V2 endpoint, which has its own payload format, its own polling behaviour and its own pricing.
This matters for a cost decision in two ways. First, the Token Plan clip allowance applies to Hailuo 2.3, not to H3, so subscribing does not give you free access to the current model. Second, you cannot reuse a V1 integration or its pricing assumptions for H3. If you are starting a new project, price H3 first and treat the Hailuo 2.3 figures on this page as the legacy baseline.
- Hailuo 2.3 — legacy V1, 6s at 768P or 1080P, 10s at 768P, 24 fps.
- Hailuo 2.3 Fast — image-to-video variant of the same generation.
- MiniMax-H3 — current V2 video model. Price this one for new work.
How to check the current offer yourself
Free tiers and promotional credits change more often than any independent page can track. Before you commit, verify these four things directly:
- Open the official MiniMax pricing page and read the video section, not the text-model section. Video is priced separately.
- Start a purchase and stop at the checkout screen. The amount shown there is what you will be charged, and it has differed from the documented price.
- Check whether the plan you are considering lists MiniMax-H3 in its coverage. If it does not, the subscription will not cover current-generation video.
- If a free trial is offered, confirm in writing what it grants: a number of clips, a credit balance, or only a higher rate limit. These are three different things and only the first two produce video.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Hailuo AI trial?
MiniMax publishes a free tier for the video generation APIs, defined as a rate limit rather than a clip allowance. No free clip quota or free credit grant is documented in the material reviewed for this page. Consumer-facing promotional trials, where offered, are run by MiniMax on its own product and change without notice.
How much does one Hailuo video cost?
Between $0.28 and $0.56 for Hailuo 2.3, depending on resolution and duration. A six-second 768P clip is $0.28; ten seconds at 768P is $0.56; six seconds at 1080P is $0.49.
Does the Token Plan include unlimited Hailuo?
No. Plus includes no Hailuo clips, Max includes 3 per day, and Ultra includes 5 per day. Unused daily quota does not carry over.
Is Hailuo AI free for commercial use?
Cost and licensing are separate questions. Paying for a clip does not by itself settle commercial rights. Read MiniMax’s terms of service for the specific product you are using before publishing generated video commercially.
Why do I see prices that differ from this page?
Two reasons. Documented prices and live checkout amounts have differed by roughly ten percent, and prices vary by model generation. Always trust the checkout screen over any published table, including this one.
Pricing, quotas and tier names on this page reflect MiniMax documentation as verified on the date at the top. For account, billing and commercial decisions, use MiniMax’s official channels. See also our full MiniMax pricing breakdown.