Can You Use OpenRouter for Video Generation?

Yes, OpenRouter can be used for video generation: OpenRouter runs video jobs through a separate asynchronous endpoint, and its video list had 32 entries on November 12, 2026. That list includes Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0, Kling 3.0 Pro, Wan 3.0, MiniMax H3 and Happy Horse 1.1, next to Google Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-4.5 and Grok Imagine Video. OpenRouter's general model list, the one most people check first, marked only two Gemini Omni Flash models with video output on the same day. fal, Kie.ai, MuAPI, PoYo, WaveSpeedAI and Makernice are other APIs that put several video model families behind one key. Makernice has no free credits: its balance is prepaid in US dollars and never expires.

How does OpenRouter's video API work?

OpenRouter's video API is asynchronous: POST /api/v1/videos starts a job, and you poll it or receive a callback_url webhook, then download the file (OpenRouter docs, checked October 22, 2026). Each entry in GET /api/v1/videos/models carries its pricing_skus. The cost of a finished job appears in usage.cost. The video endpoint is separate from OpenRouter's chat completions endpoint, so an app that already calls text models through OpenRouter needs new calls for video.

Which Seedance, Kling, Wan and MiniMax models does OpenRouter list for video?

OpenRouter's video list carried 10 of the 13 video models in the Makernice catalog on November 12, 2026, often at fewer resolutions. The table reads each Makernice video model against OpenRouter's GET /api/v1/videos/models response from that day.

OpenRouter's video list also carries models outside the Makernice catalog, among them Google Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-4.5 and Aleph 2.0, Grok Imagine Video, HeyGen Video and FLUX 3 Video. OpenRouter lists Seedance 2.5, Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime with durations up to 30 seconds. Per-second prices for the shared models, OpenRouter against Makernice, are on the OpenRouter alternative page, checked October 22, 2026.

Why does OpenRouter's main model list show only two video models?

OpenRouter keeps video and image models in their own lists, so its main list shows only two models with video output, both of which also return text. On November 12, 2026, GET /api/v1/models held 467 entries, and only Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash and Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash were marked with video output. The same list marked 13 entries with image output: 10 Google and OpenAI image entries, plus 3 of OpenRouter's own auto routers. Seedance, Kling, Wan and MiniMax video entries sit in GET /api/v1/videos/models, and image entries such as Seedream 5.0 Pro and Qwen Image 3 sit in GET /api/v1/images/models, which had 65 entries that day. Reading only the main list makes OpenRouter look as if it had no Seedance or Kling.

How does OpenRouter bill a video job?

OpenRouter bills each video model by its own price SKUs: Wan 3.0, Happy Horse 1.1 and Kling 3.0 are priced per second of output, while Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0 and Seedance 2.0 Fast are priced per video token (video list, November 12, 2026). OpenRouter says it adds no markup to provider prices. OpenRouter charges a fee when you buy credits, 5.5% on the Standard plan and 8% on Business (checked October 22, 2026). The exact cost of a job shows in usage.cost after it completes. OpenRouter's video docs list failed, cancelled and expired statuses without saying whether those jobs are billed (checked October 22, 2026).

Can OpenRouter take a video as input?

OpenRouter accepts video input on some video models: Seedance 2.5, Seedance 2.0 and Seedance 2.0 Fast each carry a separate price SKU for requests that include video input, and Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash lists video among its input types (November 12, 2026). Makernice's Seedance models don't accept video input. A Seedance job that edits or extends an existing video has to stay on a platform that takes video input, such as OpenRouter.

Does OpenRouter have free image generation models?

OpenRouter had no free image generation model that we could find on November 12, 2026. The 13 entries with a :free id in OpenRouter's main list all return text only. No id in OpenRouter's image list ends in :free, and that list carries no prices, so per-image prices have to be read from each model's endpoints page. OpenRouter's "zero completion insurance" covers image requests that return no usable output (checked October 22, 2026). Makernice has no free credits either; estimate_cost returns a price without creating a job or charging your balance. The starter credits other video APIs do state are listed in free AI video generation API offers.

Which other APIs give one key for Seedance, Kling, Wan and MiniMax?

fal, Kie.ai, MuAPI, PoYo and WaveSpeedAI each list Seedance 2.5, Kling 4.0, Wan 3.0 and MiniMax H3 behind one API key (pages checked November 11, 2026); of those four, OpenRouter's video list lacks Kling 4.0. Makernice serves 19 video and image models on one key. The table is in alphabetical order and is not a ranking; it lists billing rules, not prices.

How the one-key video APIs differ on billing rules

fal bills model APIs per output: per image or megapixel, per video second, or per request, from prepaid credits. Purchased credits expire 365 days from the date of purchase. fal never charges server errors, but invalid inputs may still be charged if a runner spent GPU time. Generated files stay available for at least 7 days by default.

Kie.ai says to "Integrate once and access leading models across video, image, audio, and LLMs." Kie.ai bills each model per image, per second, per video or per million tokens, from pay-as-you-go credits at a fixed rate. Kie.ai credits do not expire, and failed tasks are not charged. Kie.ai deletes generated media after 14 days.

Makernice serves 19 video and image models on one API key, including Kling 4.0, Kling 3.0 4K and MiniMax H3 Max Turbo. Makernice has no LLM text API and no free credits. Every run is priced first: a REST quote is locked for 12 minutes, and over MCP the generate tool refuses a job priced above the max_cost_usd you approved. Failed, timed-out and input-rejected runs aren't charged. A finished output blocked by output moderation is still charged, and support can review it. The prepaid balance doesn't expire, there is no subscription, and a single top-up runs from $15 to $1,000 by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or crypto.

MuAPI meters API use with credits that are bought in advance and deducted per generation, with no monthly subscription fee for API access. MuAPI credits never expire. MuAPI documents an estimate endpoint that returns the exact price for a specific request. We didn't find a rule on MuAPI's pages for failed runs.

PoYo describes one async API to "Build image, video, music, chat, and 3D generation into your product". PoYo is pay as you go with no monthly fee, and its credits never expire. PoYo says failed requests do not consume credits. PoYo deletes generated media after 3 days.

WaveSpeedAI is pay per use with no monthly fees or commitments, and the balance never expires. WaveSpeedAI's Generate button shows an estimate, and the final task charge prevails. WaveSpeedAI's refund policy says failed requests are refunded automatically. WaveSpeedAI says generated media files generally expire within 7 days.

A wider list of OpenRouter alternatives, including CometAPI, Atlas Cloud, EvoLink and reAPI, is in best OpenRouter alternatives for video APIs.

When is OpenRouter the better choice for video?

OpenRouter is the better choice when a team already sends LLM traffic through OpenRouter and wants video on the same account and credit balance. OpenRouter's video list includes models Makernice doesn't sell, such as Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-4.5 and Grok Imagine Video, and its Seedance entries take video input. OpenRouter also supports bringing your own provider keys. OpenRouter says its API is OpenAI-compatible (checked October 22, 2026), while Makernice is its own REST API with a quote step, so moving video calls to Makernice means rewriting them.