A WaveSpeed alternative for AI video generation APIs
Competitor prices checked October 22, 2026 from WaveSpeed's public pricing; they change often.
Prices as of October 22, 2026 (price list v5).
Is Makernice a good WaveSpeed alternative?
Looking for a WaveSpeed alternative? Makernice runs 12 video models, including Seedance 2.5, Kling 3.0, Wan 3.0 and MiniMax H3, behind one API key and a prepaid balance. Each run starts with a price quote locked for 12 minutes. As of October 22, 2026, prices go both ways: Makernice is lower at 15 price points, WaveSpeed at 7.
WaveSpeed facts from wavespeed.ai model pages and docs, checked 2026-10-22. Makernice lower at 15 price points, WaveSpeed at 7 (table below).
Who should consider a WaveSpeed alternative?
Consider Makernice if most of your volume is on the closed video models both services carry, you want a locked price before every run, and you'd rather work with a short, fixed menu: 12 video and 4 image models on one key.
Stay on WaveSpeed if you need its wider catalog (WaveSpeed lists 1,000+ image, video and audio models plus LLMs), Seedance with audio switched off, Kling 3.0 at its lower without-sound rates, or Seedance 2.0 Fast at 480p or 1080p.
Which models can you run on both?
| On WaveSpeed (model path, checked 2026-10-22) | On Makernice | Model page |
|---|---|---|
bytedance/seedance-2.5 | seedance-2.5 | Seedance 2.5 |
bytedance/seedance-2.0 | seedance-2.0 | Seedance 2.0 |
bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast | seedance-2.0-fast | Seedance 2.0 Fast |
kwaivgi/kling-v3.0-pro | kling-3.0-pro | Kling 3.0 Pro |
kwaivgi/kling-v3.0-std | kling-3.0-standard | Kling 3.0 Standard |
kwaivgi/kling-v3.0-4k | kling-3.0-4k | Kling 3.0 4K |
alibaba/wan-3.0 | wan-3.0 | Wan 3.0 |
alibaba/wan-3.0-prime | wan-3.0-prime | Wan 3.0 Prime |
alibaba/happyhorse-1.1 | happy-horse-1.1 | Happy Horse 1.1 |
minimax/h3 | minimax-h3 | MiniMax H3 |
Only on Makernice (of these families): MiniMax H3 Max and MiniMax H3 Max Turbo. We didn't find either on WaveSpeed's model pages on October 22, 2026 (minimax/h3-max/text-to-video returned 404). Full Makernice list: all 16 models.
How do per-second prices compare?
USD per second of output. Makernice: price list v5 (as of October 22, 2026). WaveSpeed: each model's page on wavespeed.ai, October 22, 2026; Seedance rows are WaveSpeed's rate without a reference video. Competitor prices checked October 22, 2026 from WaveSpeed's public pricing; they change often. WaveSpeed's own pages note that documentation prices are for reference and the final task charge prevails.
| Model · tier | Makernice $/s | WaveSpeed $/s (checked 2026-10-22) | Lower |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 · 480p | $0.1152 | 0.18 | Makernice |
| Seedance 2.5 · 720p | $0.2592 | 0.36 | Makernice |
| Seedance 2.5 · 1080p | $0.4618 | 0.90 | Makernice |
| Seedance 2.5 · 4K | $1.955 | 1.80 | WaveSpeed. Makernice's 4K is a separately priced 4K output option; ByteDance's official API tops out at 1080p (BytePlus ModelArk docs, checked October 22, 2026) |
| Seedance 2.0 · 720p | $0.1704 | 0.24 | Makernice |
| Seedance 2.0 · 1080p | $0.4252 | 0.60 | Makernice |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast · 720p | $0.1027 | 0.20 | Makernice. WaveSpeed also sells Fast at 480p, 1080p and 4K; on Makernice, Fast is 720p only |
| Kling 3.0 Pro · with audio | $0.1612 (1080p tier) | 0.168 (resolution not stated on the page) | Makernice |
| Kling 3.0 Pro · without audio | not offered | 0.112 | WaveSpeed |
| Kling 3.0 Standard · with audio | $0.1209 (720p tier) | 0.126 (resolution not stated) | Makernice |
| Kling 3.0 Standard · without audio | not offered | 0.084 | WaveSpeed |
| Kling 3.0 4K | $0.5142 | 0.42 | WaveSpeed |
| Wan 3.0 · 480p / 720p / 1080p | $0.0394 / $0.0789 / $0.1578 | 0.05 / 0.10 / 0.20 | Makernice |
| Wan 3.0 Prime · 480p / 720p / 1080p | $0.0617 / $0.1234 / $0.2468 | 0.075 / 0.15 / 0.30 | Makernice |
| Happy Horse 1.1 · 720p | $0.168 | 0.14 | WaveSpeed |
| Happy Horse 1.1 · 1080p | $0.216 | 0.18 | WaveSpeed |
| MiniMax H3 · 768p | $0.072 | 0.10 | Makernice |
| MiniMax H3 · 2K | $0.156 | 0.14 | WaveSpeed |
| MiniMax H3 Max / H3 Max Turbo | $0.0452–$0.1536 / $0.03–$0.096 | not listed | — |
Makernice prices are per second of requested duration, the same in every mode, 4-decimal truncation; live at GET https://api.makernice.com/v1/pricing. Makernice's Seedance and Kling prices always include audio. Audio is always on (no toggle) for Seedance. WaveSpeed showed temporary discount badges on some models on 2026-10-22; the table uses list prices. — = not stated on the competitor's public pages, checked 2026-10-22. Sources per row (checked October 22, 2026): seedance-2.5, seedance-2.0, seedance-2.0-fast, kling pro, kling standard, kling 4k, wan-3.0, wan-3.0-prime, happyhorse-1.1, h3 (text-to-video pages).
WaveSpeed is lower for Seedance 2.5 at 4K, Kling 3.0 4K, Kling without audio, Happy Horse 1.1 and MiniMax H3 at 2K. Makernice is lower for the other rows above. If most of your volume sits in WaveSpeed's rows, WaveSpeed is the better deal on price. Run your mix through the cost calculator and hold it against your WaveSpeed bill.
How does billing differ?
| Makernice | WaveSpeed (from WaveSpeed's docs, checked October 22, 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per second of output, by model and resolution (images per request) | Per run or per second, by model and resolution |
| Price before the run | A quote for every generation, locked for 12 minutes; full list public at GET /v1/pricing | Prices on each model page, marked as reference; "the final task charge prevails" |
| Failed or timed-out run | Not charged; the hold is released in full. Note: if a finished output is blocked by output moderation for a policy violation, the run is still charged. You can contact support for a manual review. | Auto-refund for failed tasks, system errors and timeouts |
| Cancel | Only queued jobs can be cancelled; the hold is released in full. A running job can't be cancelled (409 not_cancelable) | — |
| Uncertain result (e.g. the model provider doesn't respond) | Status checking while the result is confirmed; the amount stays held until it's resolved and is charged only if the generation is confirmed to have succeeded | — |
| Payment | Prepaid USD, top-ups $15–$1,000 (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, crypto); no subscription, no free tier | Prepaid credits |
| Unused balance | Never expires. Unused balance is in principle non-refundable; duplicate charges or mistaken top-ups can be raised with support and handled case by case | Credits never expire; non-refundable |
| Fees on top | No top-up fee from Makernice; sales tax/VAT may apply at checkout depending on your location. | — |
| Output files | Outputs are deleted about 30 days after they're stored, so download them promptly. | — |
| Your content | Makernice doesn't use your content to train models. | — |
— = not stated on the competitor's public pages, checked 2026-10-22. Full Makernice rules with examples: No charge for failed generations.
Both services refund failures and timeouts, and neither balance expires. The differences: Makernice locks the price before each run and charges a finished output that output moderation blocks. Neither refunds unused balance as a rule; on Makernice, duplicate charges or mistaken top-ups can be raised with support.
How do you move a WaveSpeed request to Makernice?
A WaveSpeed task becomes three Makernice calls: quote, create, poll. Makernice uses its own async REST API; it is not OpenAI-SDK compatible.
| On WaveSpeed | On Makernice |
|---|---|
Model path, e.g. bytedance/seedance-2.0/text-to-video | "model": "seedance-2.0" plus an explicit "mode": t2v, i2v, flf or r2v |
| Kling 3.0 Pro / Std / 4K model paths | Pick the model id: kling-3.0-standard, kling-3.0-pro or kling-3.0-4k (t2v only). Kling has no resolution field |
| Resolution choice | resolution (480p, 720p, 1080p, 4k; MiniMax H3: 480p, 768p, 2k, 4k). Seedance 2.0 Fast takes none |
| Prompt and duration | prompt, duration (whole seconds inside the model's range) |
| First frame, last frame, references | image_url, last_image_url, reference_images (Seedance 2.5 ≤16; Seedance 2.0, 2.0 Fast and Happy Horse 1.1 ≤9; MiniMax H3 ≤5) |
generate_audio on Seedance | Don't send it: Audio is always on (no toggle), and the field returns a 400. Kling 3.0 always includes audio. On Wan 3.0 / Prime, generate_audio is an option (on by default) |
import os, time, uuid, requests
API = "https://api.makernice.com/v1"
H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['MAKERNICE_API_KEY']}"}
job = {"model": "seedance-2.0", "mode": "i2v", "resolution": "720p", "duration": 5,
"prompt": "The dancer spins once and stops facing the camera, studio light.",
"image_url": "https://example.com/first-frame.jpg"}
quote = requests.post(f"{API}/generations/quote", json=job, headers=H).json()
print(f"${int(quote['amount']) / 1e6:.2f}") # $0.85 at v5, locked for 12 minutes
gen = requests.post(f"{API}/generations", json={"quote_id": quote["id"], "input": job},
headers={**H, "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4())}).json()
while gen["status"] not in ("succeeded", "failed", "canceled"):
time.sleep(5)
gen = requests.get(f"{API}/generations/{gen['id']}", headers=H).json()
A retry with the same Idempotency-Key returns the original generation and doesn't charge again. Guides: Video API best practices · Quickstart.
Where does WaveSpeed win?
- Catalog size. 1,000+ image, video and audio models plus LLMs, against Makernice's 16.
- Audio off. An audio switch on Seedance, and lower without-sound rates for Kling 3.0 Pro ($0.112) and Standard ($0.084). On Makernice, Seedance and Kling always include audio.
- Lower prices on some rows: Seedance 2.5 at 4K, Kling 3.0 4K, Kling without audio, Happy Horse 1.1 and MiniMax H3 at 2K, as of October 22, 2026.
- More Seedance 2.0 Fast tiers: 480p, 1080p and 4K, where Makernice offers 720p only.
- Credits never expire (Makernice's balance doesn't expire either).
- Tooling. WaveSpeed lists a CLI, an MCP server and a desktop app.
About Makernice
Makernice is an AI video and image generation API: one API key and one prepaid balance for 16 models from ByteDance, Kuaishou, MiniMax and Alibaba. Every run starts with a quote that locks the price for 12 minutes, through Makernice's own async REST API (quote, create, poll, cancel).
Frequently asked questions
Is Makernice a WaveSpeed alternative?
Yes. Makernice is an API for 12 video and 4 image models, including Seedance 2.5, 2.0 and 2.0 Fast, Kling 3.0, Wan 3.0, Happy Horse 1.1 and MiniMax H3, with one API key and one prepaid balance.
Is Makernice cheaper than WaveSpeed?
It depends on the model. As of October 22, 2026, Makernice is lower per second for Seedance 2.5 up to 1080p, Seedance 2.0 and 2.0 Fast, Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime, Kling 3.0 Pro and Standard with audio, and MiniMax H3 at 768p. WaveSpeed is lower for Seedance 2.5 at 4K, Kling 3.0 4K, Kling without audio, Happy Horse 1.1 and MiniMax H3 at 2K.
Does Makernice have MiniMax H3 Max?
Yes, MiniMax H3 Max and H3 Max Turbo are both available. We didn't find either on WaveSpeed's model pages on October 22, 2026.
Can I turn off audio on Seedance or Kling?
Not on Makernice: Seedance and Kling 3.0 always include audio. WaveSpeed offers an audio switch and lower audio-off Kling rates.
Are failed runs charged?
No. Failed and timed-out runs aren't charged. Note: if a finished output is blocked by output moderation for a policy violation, the run is still charged. You can contact support for a manual review.
Is there a free tier or subscription?
No. Makernice is prepaid USD with top-ups from $15 to $1,000. No top-up fee from Makernice; sales tax/VAT may apply at checkout depending on your location.
Related
- All 16 models · Seedance 2.5 · Seedance 2.0 · Kling 3.0 Pro · Wan 3.0 · Happy Horse 1.1 · MiniMax H3
- Billing: No charge for failed generations · Pricing
- Build: Quickstart · Video API best practices
- Other alternatives: Replicate alternative · OpenRouter alternative · Atlas Cloud alternative · Higgsfield API alternative
- Cost: AI video cost calculator
Product and company names on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Makernice is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them.
Price your WaveSpeed video workload on Makernice.
Prepaid in US dollars by card (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) or crypto, $15 to $1,000 per top-up; the balance never expires. Failed runs aren't charged. Note: if a finished output is blocked by output moderation for a policy violation, the run is still charged. You can contact support for a manual review. No top-up fee from Makernice; sales tax/VAT may apply at checkout depending on your location.