Pika pricing (2026): free plan, credits & video costs
Quick answer
Pika Create starts at $10/month for Starter; commercial licensing starts at Creator, $35/month. Free has no included monthly credits, although exports are watermark-free. Creator includes 3,150 credits; annual billing shows a $28 monthly equivalent. The separate legacy Pika site still advertises Basic with 80 monthly credits and different terms, but says that experience is temporary. Identify the site before using a price, allowance or license.
References: official Pika prices
Magic Hour publishes this guide and offers alternative video workflows. On October 2, 2026 we checked both Pika Create and the still-accessible legacy site. The same Pika brand now has different plan names, credit balances and commercial boundaries across those routes. Calculations below describe billed attempts, not measured output quality.
Pika Create: current plans and commercial licensing
The new Pika Create pricing page was checked October 2, 2026. Monthly and annual billing are different commitments; amounts below are the advertised USD rates before checkout-specific adjustments.
Plan | Monthly billing | Annual monthly equivalent | Monthly credits | Commercial license |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0; generation uses purchased packs | $0 | 0 | |
Starter | $10 | $8 | 900 | |
Creator | $35 | $28 | 3,150 | |
Fancy | From $95 | From $76 | 8,550 and up |
Pika Create’s four monthly plan cards, captured October 2, 2026. The free account and clean export are separate from included generation credits and a commercial license. This is a pricing-page capture, not a checkout or output-quality test.
Free account, usable credits and commercial use are different
A Free account has zero recurring Create credits. Starter adds a monthly allowance but still excludes a commercial license. For an ad or client deliverable, compare Creator’s license and usable capacity rather than selecting Starter only because its headline price is lower. Keep the actual invoice and chosen settings with your project.
For a one-off experiment, compare a credit pack with a recurring plan. A pack does not add the commercial license absent from Free. For a recurring project, estimate candidate generations and finishing work before paying annually. Preserve completed exports you are permitted to keep; the legacy site says it is available only temporarily.
Legacy Pika monthly and annual plans
Legacy Pika annual-plan cards, captured October 2, 2026. Basic and Standard exclude watermark-free downloads and commercial use; Pro and Fancy include both. The legacy experience is available temporarily. Check the legacy offer. Further reading: Check the legacy offer · View official source.
Plan | Month-to-month | Annual total | Annual monthly equivalent | Monthly credits | Watermark-free download | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic | $0 | $0 | $0 | 80 | ||
Standard | $10 | $96 | $8 | 700 | ||
Pro | $35 | $336 | $28 | 2,300 | ||
Fancy | $95 | $912 | $76 | 6,000 |
Annual billing means a yearly commitment; the credit allowance is still monthly. VAT may apply depending on your country. Model access and output settings differ by plan, so compare the mode you need as well as the balance.
Cloud shadows move slowly across the scene while foreground plants respond to a light breeze. The camera makes one gentle push forward. Preserve the original composition, subjects, and visual style. One continuous shot.
Animate your own image
Upload a source image to Magic Hour, describe the motion you want, and preview the result before generating more variations.
Try Image-to-VideoLegacy Pika 2.5 credit costs
Resolution | 5-second generation | 10-second generation |
|---|---|---|
480p | 12 credits | 24 credits |
720p | 20 credits | 40 credits |
1080p | 40 credits | 80 credits |
On the legacy route, 80 monthly Basic credits fund six five-second 480p attempts at 12 credits each, leaving eight. Basic excludes clean downloads and commercial use. Its combined text/image rate table is not proof that every input mode is available in a free account; check the account’s actual controls. This is not a Pika Create quote. The new Pika 2.5 app guide documents silent five-second prompt-only video at 720p or 1080p, and five- or ten-second image-led video. Frames accepts two to five ordered stills; five-keyframe output is 720p. Further reading: Pika 2.5 app guide.
Budget a finished project on the correct route
For the legacy rate above, fifteen five-second 720p generations at 20 credits total 300 credits. If five pass your brief, that is 60 credits per accepted clip. This is illustrative arithmetic, not a measured acceptance rate. On Create, use the selected model’s current quote instead; a legacy credit price cannot be transferred to another model or balance.
Start with the cheapest plan that includes the settings you need. A larger annual plan saves nothing if most of its credits go unused.
Do Pika credits roll over?
Pika Create’s pricing FAQ says plan credits reset without rollover, while purchased top-ups expire 365 days after purchase. Its top-ups cannot fund the API, MCP, iOS app or legacy site. The legacy pricing page offers purchased rollover credits on Standard, Pro and Fancy, but excludes them on Basic. The previously linked FAQ describes older plans; do not transfer those terms to Create. Further reading: legacy pricing page · official FAQ.
Commercial use and watermarks
Pika Create includes watermark-free exports on all listed plans, but commercial licensing only on Creator and Fancy. On the legacy site, Basic and Standard exclude both watermark-free downloads and commercial use; Pro and Fancy include both. Check the inclusion and exclusion icons on the actual plan card. Obtain rights to source media, likenesses and trademarks separately.
Pika or another tool?
Compare the same shot, including retries and final editing. Magic Hour Image-to-Video is another option for animating an existing image. Use our image-to-video comparison to shortlist the right workflow. Different vendors' credits are not interchangeable, and their free watermark policies differ.
Does the web plan cover API usage?
No. Pika's consumer web subscription and the Pika API Club are separate billing products. The official API page lists a $10 monthly membership fee, a $10 usage credit for the first month, and pay-as-you-go model usage at member rates. It exposes Pika 2.5 plus third-party image, video and audio models. Consumer plan credits do not fund API calls; verify the exact hosted model, settings and per-unit price before building an automated workflow.
For a broader decision, compare consumer plans in the AI video generator pricing guide and exact developer billing units in the AI video pricing index.
Frequently asked questions
Pika Create plan credits do not roll over. Purchased Create top-ups expire 365 days after purchase and cannot be used for API, MCP, iOS or the legacy site. The older FAQ refers to different plans; check the route-specific terms before buying a reserve.
Further reading: official FAQ
Compare the same shot, including retries and final editing. Magic Hour Image-to-Video is another option for animating an existing image. Use our image-to-video comparison to shortlist the right workflow. Different vendors' credits are not interchangeable, and their free watermark policies differ.
No. Pika's consumer web subscription and the Pika API Club are separate billing products. The official API page lists a $10 monthly membership fee, a $10 usage credit for the first month, and pay-as-you-go model usage at member rates. It exposes Pika 2.5 plus third-party image, video and audio models. Consumer plan credits do not fund API calls; verify the exact hosted model, settings and per-unit price before building an automated workflow.
For a broader decision, compare consumer plans in the AI video generator pricing guide and exact developer billing units in the AI video pricing index.
