The best AI model for a music video depends on the job, because a music video has two, and they use different models. One job is the pictures: a face, a street, a dance, a camera that moves. The other is the sound: a song, a score, a voice. This guide picks a model for each job, says what it costs, and says where each one stops.
Ziztu runs all the models below, so it can price them side by side with one billing code. It is our product, so read the picks with that in mind. Where another tool is cheaper for one job, we say so.
The short answer
- Most shots: MiniMax H3 Max Turbo, from 31 credits for 5 seconds.
- A dance: Kling Motion Control copies a reference dance onto your character.
- A fast chase or fight: Kling O3.
- One unbroken take up to 30 seconds: Seedance 2.5.
- A camera sweep over a still: MiniMax H3 Max Camera.
- A song with words: MiniMax Music 2. An instrumental of an exact length: ElevenLabs Music. A film score cue: Google Lyria 3.5.
How we compared them
Specs and list prices come from each model's page on fal, the API host, read on 15 October 2026 (see Sources). Ziztu prices are quotes from the billing code, in credits and in dollars at the Starter plan's price ($12 for 1,000 credits). We did not run a blind test of how each model looks or sounds, so the "good for" lines are how we use them.
The video models
MiniMax H3 Max Turbo: the workhorse
H3 is MiniMax's video model family, also known as Hailuo. Turbo is the fast, low-cost version Ziztu uses for most shots: it animates a first frame, or a first and last frame, in 1 to 15 seconds at 480p, 768p or 1080p. A 5 second clip is 31 credits at 480p, 50 at 768p and 99 at 1080p. Use it for the verse shots, the close-ups and the places.
Kling Motion Control: the dance
Motion Control is made for this job. fal describes it as transferring the movement of a reference video onto any character image. You give it your singer's picture and a short video of the dance, and the singer does the dance. In Ziztu a 5 second clip is 156 credits at 720p (Standard) or 208 at 1080p (Pro), and the clip is as long as your reference video, 3 to 30 seconds. Use footage you shot yourself or have the rights to. The model copies the motion, not the identity of the dancer.
Kling O3 and 3.0 Pro: action and the hero shot
Kling O3 takes a first and last frame and up to four reference images, with sound: 139 credits at 720p, 174 at 1080p. Kling 3.0 Pro (208 credits at 1080p) is the pick for the one shot of the video you will show full screen, such as the chorus drop.
Seedance 2.5: the long take
Seedance 2.5 makes up to 30 seconds in one pass, which means a whole verse can be one move through a room with no cut. It starts at 137 credits for 5 seconds at 480p and costs more at larger sizes, so use it once or twice in a video, not for every shot.
MiniMax H3 Max Camera: the sweep
H3 Max Camera turns a single image into a video with keyframed control of the camera orbit, elevation and distance, according to fal. It is the model for an orbit around a singer on a stage: 62 credits for 5 seconds at 480p.
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite: cheap loops
For background loops and drafts, Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is the lowest-cost option in Ziztu after HeyGen, from 28 credits for 5 seconds at 480p. We would not use it for the face of the video.
Not in Ziztu: Veo 3.1
Google's Veo 3.1 makes video with native audio and is sold in Google Flow and the Gemini API. On the Gemini API pricing page we read on 14 October 2026, Veo 3.1 Lite was $0.05 a second at 720p and Veo 3.1 Fast $0.10. Ziztu does not run Veo, so for a Veo music video you use Google's tools and cut it elsewhere.
The music models
MiniMax Music 2: a song from your lyrics
fal describes MiniMax Music 2.0 as making complete songs with synchronized vocals from your lyrics, with [Verse], [Chorus] and [Bridge] tags to set the structure, in 10 to 3,000 characters of lyrics. In Ziztu a song is 8 credits. It is the one to use if you have a lyric and no track.
ElevenLabs Music: an exact length
ElevenLabs Music is billed per started minute of output, at 149 credits for up to a minute in Ziztu, and makes instrumentals of the exact length you set. Use it when the video is 42 seconds and the track should be 42 seconds. fal lists commercial use on its page.
Google Lyria 3.5: a score cue
fal describes Lyria 3.5 as Google DeepMind's music model, with prompts that take a BPM, key, instrumentation, mood and structure. Ziztu uses it for film score cues of about a minute, at 25 credits a cue. The model picks the length, so trim it on the timeline.
Your own song
If you already have a track, from Suno, another AI tool or your own recording, upload it. Check that your plan lets you use the song where you post it. Ziztu reads the tempo and marks every beat and bar on the timeline.
What a 60 second music video costs
A minute is twelve 5 second clips. This is a video on MiniMax H3 Max Turbo at 768p with six Meta Muse first frames (18 credits) and a song:
| Song | Video and frames | Song | Total | In dollars (Starter) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiniMax Music 2, a song with vocals | 600 + 18 credits | 8 credits | 626 credits | $7.51 |
| Google Lyria 3.5, a score cue | 600 + 18 credits | 25 credits | 643 credits | $7.72 |
| ElevenLabs Music, one minute | 600 + 18 credits | 149 credits | 767 credits | $9.20 |
Add about a third for retakes. The clips are most of the bill, so the song model barely changes the total, and the biggest saving is to draft at 480p and remake only the keepers. Swapping every clip for Seedance 2.5 at 720p would cost 3,516 credits for the video alone, which is why we use it for one or two shots.
Using the models in order
- Make or pick the song first. The length and the sections tell you how many shots you need.
- Plan one shot per section. The intro is a place, the verse follows the singer, the chorus is the big image. Our guide to making an AI music video from a song has a table for this.
- Make first frames on Meta Muse Image (3 credits each) and keep one character sheet so the singer looks the same.
- Pick a video model per shot: H3 Max Turbo for most, Motion Control for the dance, Seedance 2.5 for the long take.
- Silence the models. Seedance and Kling make their own sound. Set each clip's sound to 0% in the shot inspector so your track is the only music.
- Cut on the beat and export. The cuts snap to the beat markers.
Honest limits
- No lip sync to your vocal. The singer does not mouth your lyrics. Shoot performance from a distance, from behind or cut away.
- Clips are short. 15 seconds at most on most models, 30 on Seedance 2.5, so a song is many clips.
- Faces drift. A character sheet and H3 Max References help a lot, but check every shot.
- No blind quality ranking. We compared specs, prices and how we use the models, not a lab score.
Pick a video model for each shot in the AI video generator. For the tools around the models, read the best AI music video generators. To make a 10 to 20 second video in one run, use the AI music video generator. New accounts get 40 free credits for scripts, character art, storyboards and voices; video starts on any plan.
