What a Roadster AI video costs: credits, specs and packs
Roadster AI Video TeamCredit costs for 480p, 720p and 1080p clips, the 13 packs and subscriptions, how expiry works, and how to budget a week of posting.
A Roadster AI video is priced in credits, and the credit cost depends on the specification you choose. The default — Standard · 720p · 12 seconds — costs 35 credits. A 480p 12-second clip costs 20 credits. A 1080p 12-second clip costs 90 credits. Longer clips scale linearly from the 12-second base and round up to a whole credit. Aspect ratio does not change the price.
The numbers are set from the real Seedance 2.0 API cost, not from a round-number target. A 12-second 720p render costs us roughly $2.46 upstream; at the cheapest plan's credit value (yearly Studio) that is about $3.02 of revenue, which leaves a thin but positive margin after payment fees. The 35-credit standard is what keeps the cheapest subscription from losing money.
This page explains the full table, how the packs map onto real usage, how expiry works, and how to budget a week of posting without overbuying.
The credit table
| Resolution | 12-second clip | What it is for | | ---------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------- | | 480p | 20 credits | Drafting a prompt, checking the action | | 720p | 35 credits | The standard; posting to social | | 1080p | 90 credits | Sharper download, large screens |
A 5-second clip costs proportionally less; a 20-second clip proportionally more. The studio recalculates the number as you change the length, and prints it next to the Generate button before you commit.
The packs
There are five one-time credit packs:
| Pack | Price | Credits | Standard 720p clips | 1080p clips | | ----------- | ------ | ------- | ------------------- | ----------- | | Single | $9.90 | 35 | 1 | 0 | | Duo Pack | $19.90 | 105 | 3 | 1 | | Party Pack | $39.90 | 280 | 8 | 3 | | Crew Pack | $79.90 | 700 | 20 | 7 | | Studio Pack | $149 | 1,400 | 40 | 15 |
A standard clip is 12 seconds at 720p and costs 35 credits. A 1080p clip of the same length costs 90 credits. The two denominators are printed on every card, because 280 credits buys eight standard clips or three 1080p renders.
The Single pack is deliberately the most expensive per clip. It exists for someone who wants to test the workflow once, not for someone who posts weekly. If you already know you will make more than two clips, the Duo Pack or a subscription is cheaper per render.
Subscriptions
There are four monthly and four yearly plans.
| Plan | Monthly price | Monthly credits | Yearly price | Yearly credits | | ------- | ------------- | --------------- | ------------ | -------------- | | Starter | $9.90 | 35 | $79 | 420 | | Basic | $19.90 | 105 | $159 | 1,260 | | Pro | $39.90 | 350 | $319 | 3,600 | | Studio | $79.90 | 840 | $639 | 7,400 |
The $39.90 pair is the one to understand. Monthly Pro gives 350 credits. The one-time Party Pack at the same $39.90 gives 280 credits. Same price, more credits, but the subscription renews every month. If you post regularly, the subscription is the better deal. If you want a one-off batch and no renewal, the pack is the right shape.
Yearly plans are billed once and the credits arrive all at once. They are valid for the billing year, not forever. The discount is calculated against twelve monthly payments of the same tier: roughly 33.4% on every tier, which is why the toggle says "Save up to 34%".
Expiry, in plain language
- Monthly subscription credits are valid for the current billing month. Use them or lose them at the end of the period.
- Yearly subscription credits arrive at once and are valid for the current billing year.
- One-time pack credits never expire.
- The three balances are tracked separately. Buying a new plan does not overwrite or delete the credits you already have.
- When you generate, the credits that expire soonest are spent first. That is the only sensible order: it protects the balance that lasts.
Cancelling a subscription stops future renewals. It does not remove the credits already granted for the current period.
How to budget a week of posting
Suppose you post three standard 720p clips a week.
- Three clips = 105 credits a week.
- Four weeks = 420 credits a month.
- Monthly Pro gives 350 credits, which covers ten clips a month. Monthly Studio gives 840, which covers the full posting schedule with room for retries.
- Alternatively, buy the Crew Pack (700 credits, $79.90) and top up with a Duo Pack when needed. The pack does not expire, so unused credits carry over.
If you publish a 1080p master for each clip, the budget triples: three clips a week is 270 credits, and only the Studio tiers cover it comfortably.
The cheapest way to waste money is to render every test at 1080p. Draft at 480p, approve at 720p, and only re-render the winner at 1080p.
What a failed render costs
Nothing. If a render fails before a result is produced, the credits return to the balance they came from. Moderation refusals also return the credits. The charge is atomic: the task is created with its cost, and a failure flips the task to failed and revokes the credit.
What is not refunded is a successful render you simply do not like. Treat the first render as a draft and use the cheap resolution for experiments.
Is there a free tier?
No. Email accounts start at zero credits, and there is no daily check-in or sign-up bonus. The reason is straightforward: a free credit drop is farmed by scripted accounts, and the model cost is real. If you want to test the workflow, the $9.90 Single pack is the smallest commitment.
The one-sentence summary
Draft at 480p for 20 credits, approve at 720p for 35, publish the winner at 1080p for 90. Buy a pack if you want a one-off; subscribe if you post every week. The exact numbers are always on the pricing page, and the studio shows the cost before you press Generate.
This clip: 35 credits · 10 clips a month for $39.90 (Pro), or 102 a year for $319