Pika AI Pricing: Plans, Credits, and What You Actually Get

1. How Pika AI Pricing Works (Quick Overview)

• You choose a plan → this gives you a fixed number of video credits per month.

• Every time you generate something (video, effect, scene, frames), Pika deducts credits based on:

  • The tool/model you use (Turbo vs Pro vs 2.5 / 2.2)

  • The resolution (480p / 720p / 1080p)

  • The duration (usually 5–10 seconds, or longer for Pikaframes)

• If you run out, you can buy extra credits that roll over. 

So the real question is: how many clips per month do you want, and at what quality?

Image credit: Pika.art

---

2. Pika’s Main Plans (Basic, Standard, Pro, Fancy)

According to Pika’s official pricing page, there are four subscription tiers. 
Third-party sites that track AI tools confirm the same structure and rough price ranges.

💡 Prices can change, and there are discounts for yearly billing, so always double-check Pika’s pricing page before you buy.

2.1 Basic – Free Plan

Best for: testing Pika, light use, playing with features.

• Price: $0 (free)

• Monthly credits: 80 video credits

• Models tools:

  • Access to Pika 2.5 (480p only) for text-to-video / image-to-video

  • Access to Pikadditions, Pikaswaps, Pikatwists (Turbo)

  • Pikaffects Image-to-Video

• Perks (official page):

  • Download videos without watermark

  • Can purchase extra credits

  • Marked as including commercial use on the current pricing page

Some older blog posts still say the free plan is personal use only, but the current official pricing page shows “Commercial use” under Basic as well. Always check the latest Terms if you’re using it for a business.

---

2.2 Standard – For Regular Creators

Best for: regular short-form creators, YouTubers, small teams.

• Price (typical):

  • Around $10/month on monthly billing, or about $8/month when billed yearly (20% off)

• Monthly credits: 700 video credits

• Models & tools:

  • Access to Pika 2.5, Pika 2.2 (Pikascenes), Turbo & Pro models

  • Pikadditions, Pikaswaps, Pikatwists, and all Pikaffects

• Perks:

  • Fast generations

  • Download videos with no watermark

  • Can buy extra roll-over credits

  • Listed as including commercial use on the official pricing page

For many solo creators, Standard is the “sweet spot” if you’re making dozens of clips per month.

---

2.3 Pro – For Heavy Users & Freelancers

Best for: agencies, freelancers, people generating content every day.

• Price (typical yearly): about $28/month billed yearly (around $35/month if you look at month-to-month pricing on some trackers)

• Monthly credits: 2,300 video credits

• Models & tools:

  • Same model access as Standard (Pika 2.5, 2.2, Turbo & Pro, all Pikaffects)

• Perks:

  • Faster generations / priority rendering

  • No watermark

  • Commercial use

  • Extra credits available (roll-over)

If you’re making content for clients, Pro is usually the minimum plan recommended in reviews because you get enough credits + speed for real workloads.

---

2.4 Fancy – High-Volume / Studio Tier

Best for: agencies, brands, or studios pumping out a lot of content.

• Price (typical):

  • Around $76/month billed yearly or $95/month month-to-month, depending on source

• Monthly credits: 6,000 video credits

• Models & tools:

  • Same full model stack as Standard/Pro

• Perks:

  • Fastest generations

  • No watermark, full commercial use

  • Designed for teams and studios who want predictable high volume

Image credit: Pika.art

---

3. How Many Credits Does a Video Cost?

The pricing page also shows credit cost per feature, which matters a lot. 

Here’s a simplified view (exact numbers can change, but this is the general pattern):

3.1 Text-to-Video & Image-to-Video (Pika 2.5)

For Model 2.5: credits depend on resolution + duration. For example:

• 480p, 5s – around 12 credits (free plan eligible)

• 720p, 5–10s – around 24–40 credits

• 1080p, 5–10s – around 40–80 credits

So on Standard (700 credits):

• ~700 / 24 ≈ ~29 short 720p clips, or

• ~700 / 40 ≈ ~17 higher-quality 720p/1080p clips (rough ballpark)

3.2 Pikadditions & Pikaswaps

For a typical 5-second clip:

• Turbo 720p: ~10 credits

• Pro 1080p: ~20 credits

These are cheaper than big Pikatwists, so you can do more “light edits” per month.

3.3 Pikatwists

Pikatwists are more expensive because they add complex transformations:

• Turbo 720p, 5s: ~60 credits

• Pro 1080p, 5s: ~80 credits

Use these for hero shots, not every tiny tweak.

3.4 Pikascenes (2.2) & Pikaframes (2.5)

• Pikascenes (2.2) – builds a scene from multiple reference images; 720p vs 1080p and 5s vs 10s change the credit cost (e.g. 15–100 credits per clip depending on settings).

• Pikaframes (2.5) – interpolates between keyframes, up to 25 seconds, with credit cost scaling by duration + resolution (e.g. 12–200+ credits).

These are more “premium” tools – amazing for sequences, but plan your credits.

3.5 Pikaformance (Lip-Sync)

Pikaformance is priced per second of audio:

• Around 3 credits per second of 720p output, up to 10s or 30s per clip.

A 10-second talking-head clip costs ~30 credits, which is reasonable if you’re making branded explainer content.

---

4. Free vs Paid: Which Pika Plan Should You Pick?

You’re just testing / learning

• Use: Basic (Free)

• Play with Pika 2.5 at 480p, some effects, and get a feel for prompting without paying.

• Good for students, hobby projects, and trying Pika before committing.

You post regularly on socials (but not daily)

• Use: Standard

• 700 credits is enough for consistent Reels/Shorts/TikToks if you’re careful

• Great for creators who want HD, multiple tools, and watermark-free outputs without going overboard on cost.

You create for clients / brands

• Use: Pro

• 2,300 credits + faster generations = way more comfortable for client work or multiple channels.

• Recommended in many reviews as the “real” starting point for commercial work.

You’re an agency or studio

• Use: Fancy

• 6,000 credits/month + fastest queue – you can generate a lot of drafts and still have enough left for polished final renders.

---

5. How to Stretch Your Pika Budget

A few practical tips so you don’t burn through credits:

1. Draft in lower resolution

   • Test ideas at 480p or 720p Turbo, then only upscale your favourite clips to 1080p or Pro.

2. Limit length

   • Most social clips work fine at 5 seconds.

   • Only go up to 10–25 seconds when the story really needs it.

3. Save Pikatwists for key shots

   • Use cheaper tools (Pikadditions/Pikaswaps, regular text-to-video) for most content.

   • Use Pikatwists and complex scenes for hero moments.

4. Batch your work

   • Plan prompts in advance and generate in batches, so you don’t waste credits on random experiments.

5. Consider yearly billing if you’re sure

   • Official pricing shows ~20% off for yearly subscriptions (e.g. Standard ~$8 instead of $10/month, Pro ~$28 instead of $35).

---

6. Pika AI Monthly Pricing (Approximate)

1. Basic – Free

• Price: $0 / month

• Credits: ~80 credits / month

• Good for: Testing Pika, light/hobby use, learning prompts.

---

2. Standard

• Monthly price (paid monthly): about $10 / month

• Monthly price (yearly billing): about $8 / month (billed annually)

• Credits: ~700 credits / month

• Good for: Regular TikTok/Reels/Shorts creators, small teams.

---

3. Pro

• Monthly price (paid monthly): about $35 / month

• Monthly price (yearly billing): about $28 / month

• Credits: ~2,300 credits / month

• Good for: Freelancers, agencies, people creating client content often.

---

4. Fancy

• Monthly price (paid monthly): about $95 / month

• Monthly price (yearly billing): about $76 / month

• Credits: ~6,000 credits / month

• Good for: High-volume studios, big brands, or agencies generating lots of videos.

---

Quick tip

• Start with Free or Standard if you’re unsure.

• If you’re doing paid client work or lots of videos every week, Pro is usually the comfortable starting point.

---

7. Plans: price & credits (so you know $ per credit)

Monthly (web, interval=month) pricing:

*I’ll use Standard = $0.05 / credit as the reference for the “approx cost per clip” below.

---

8. Tool-by-tool: credits + rough $ per clip (Standard plan)

All credit numbers below come from Pika’s official pricing + credits table. Approx cost assumes Standard = 700 credits for $35 → $0.05/credit.

A. Core text/image-to-video - Pika 2.5

---

B. Pikaffects (VFX / style effects)

---

C. Pikascenes – runs on Pika 2.2

---

D. Pikadditions & Pikaswaps (Turbo vs Pro)

These are some of the cheapest tools in Pika for small edits.

---

E. Pikatwists (bigger transformations)

These are expensive in credits - use them for key "hero shots".

---

F. Pikaframes - extender / keyframe tool (Pika 2.5)

480p:

720p:

1080p:

Pikaframes is great for extending shots, but long 1080p clips can eat credits fast.

---

G. Pikaformance (talking-face model)

Pikaformance is priced per second of audio at 720p:
3 credits per second, both on Free and paid plans.

• Up to 10s on free
• Up to 30s on paid

Examples on Standard plan:

---

H. Selfies – “Selfie With Your Younger Self” template

The pricing table calls this out as a Pro template:

• 30 credits per video (Pro model, 5s 1080p).

On Standard plan that’s about:

• 30 × $0.05 ≈ $1.50 per “Selfie” clip

---

Quick summary – which tools are “cheap” vs “expensive”?

• Cheapest per clip (credits):

  • Pikadditions / Pikaswaps Turbo (10 credits)

  • Pikaffects Image→Video (15 credits)

  • Pikascenes 720p 5s (15 credits)

  • Pika 2.5 480p 5s (12 credits)

• Mid-range:

  • Pikaformance 10s (30 credits)

  • Selfie With Your Younger Self (30 credits)

  • Pika 2.5 720p 5–10s (20–40 credits)

  • Pikaframes short 480p/720p clips

• Credit-hungry / premium:

  • Pikatwists (60–80 credits per 5s)

  • Pikascenes 1080p 10s (100 credits)

  • Long Pikaframes 1080p 20–25s (200 credits)

---

9. Pika AI vs other tools - pricing & credits

Plan comparison table (approx monthly)

Prices are approximate and can vary by billing (monthly vs yearly) and region. Always double-check the official pricing page before you buy.

---

4. So. is Pika “cheap” or “expensive”?

If we simplify:

• Per month:

  • Pika Standard / Pro sits around the same price band as Runway Standard / Pro, Luma Plus Lite/Plus, and Kaiber Pro.

• Per usable, short HD clip:

  • For 5–10 second 720p social clips, Pika’s credit costs (20–40 credits) often come out cheaper than a Gen-4 Runway clip at similar quality, and competitive with Luma / Kaiber once you factor in commercial rights and watermark rules.

You can think of it like this:

• Want social-first AI video with lots of creative tools and sane commercial rights?
  → Pika Standard/Pro is very solid value.

• Need cinema-style, super-high-fidelity control and big budgets?
  → Runway or Luma Plus/Unlimited are stronger but more expensive.

• Music-video / experimental visuals mainly?
  → Kaiber is good, but bigger plans get pricey.

• Just playing and don’t care about rights?
  → CapCut free + Pro is the cheapest, but ToS is a big red flag for pro work.

---

10. Final Thoughts

Pika’s pricing can look confusing at first because of credits + models + resolutions, but it boils down to:

• Pick a plan (how many credits you need monthly)

• Choose the right tool for each shot (cheap Turbo drafts, Pro for final)

• Keep an eye on credits per clip when you switch resolution or duration