Veo 3.1 pricing: Vertex AI vs Flow plans

Veo 3.1 price per second on Vertex AI

Vertex AI is where Veo 3.1 is sold by Google as a pay-as-you-go API. The price depends on three things: the tier (Standard, Fast, Lite), the resolution, and whether the clip has audio. Prices are USD per second of output video.

Three patterns are visible in the table:

• Audio roughly doubles Standard. The Standard tier costs $0.20/s (checked Nov 5, 2026) without audio and $0.40/s (checked Nov 5, 2026) with it. Fast and Lite carry a smaller audio surcharge.
• 1080p costs the same as 720p on Standard, but more on Fast and Lite. Fast is $0.12/s (checked Nov 5, 2026) at 1080p with audio.
• 4K is the expensive step. Standard 4K with audio is $0.60/s (checked Nov 5, 2026). Google's model reference lists Fast at 720p and 1080p only, while the price page lists a 4K Fast price. That conflict is unresolved, so check the console before you plan around Fast 4K.

Worked example: one 8-second 1080p clip with audio

Veo clips run 4, 6 or 8 seconds, and 8 seconds is the maximum. The cost of one attempt is the per-second price times 8.

The totals are arithmetic on the rates shown, so they update only when you recompute: 8 s times the per-second price.

Worked example: a 30-second finished video

A 30-second video needs four 8-second clips, which is 32 seconds. The keeper rate is how many generations you keep. The ClipCost default is 50%, an assumption and not a measurement, so you generate eight clips to keep four.

At that assumption, 8 attempts of 8 s at 720p with audio cost 64 seconds of output:

Change the keeper rate to match your own batches in the cost calculator. At 70% you need about six attempts, at 30% about 13.

Veo 3.1 in Flow: credits instead of dollars

Google Flow, the creative app tied to Google AI plans, charges per generation. An 8-second generation costs 10 credits on Lite, 20 on Fast and 100 on the Quality tier. Ultra subscribers pay half on Lite and Fast. Credit value is plan price divided by monthly credits, so it changes with the plan. The Flow credits guide has the full table; this is the Fast row:

Credits are the same for 4, 6 or 8 seconds, so always generate 8 seconds in Flow. Credits are derived dollar values and assume you use every credit in the month. Monthly credits do not roll over.

Resellers and the Gemini API

fal.ai charges the Standard tier at the Google rate, $0.40/s (checked Nov 5, 2026) with audio. Fast on fal.ai and Replicate is $0.15/s (checked Nov 5, 2026) with audio, above the Vertex Fast price. See the reseller comparison for why people still pay the premium.

The Gemini API no longer sells Veo. The preview IDs for Veo 3.1, 3.1 Fast and 3.1 Lite were shut down on 2026-10-22, and Veo 2 and Veo 3.0 IDs on 2026-06-30. Google names two replacements: Gemini Omni Flash on the Gemini API, or Veo on Vertex AI. Older Gemini API prices are kept on price history only.

Price history for Veo so far: on 2025-09-08 Google cut Veo 3 from $0.75 to $0.40 per second and Veo 3 Fast from $0.40 to $0.15 on the Gemini API. No later list-price change is recorded for the Vertex rows.

API or plan?

Pick the API when you need volume, programmatic control, 4K, or a fixed price per second with no monthly fee. Pick a Flow plan when you generate occasionally and want the interface: the 50 free credits a day cover a few Lite clips, and a paid plan lowers the price per clip. A plan makes sense only if you will use most of its credits.