Three ways to buy video ads
Credits, creators or a team. The cheaper the route per ad, the more of the work is yours.
AI video tools
You pay a monthly plan in credits and make the ad yourself: script, prompt, re-roll, edit. Cheapest per ad, most of your time. Tools by name below; avatars and AI actors are covered in AI UGC.
UGC platforms and agencies
Real creators film your product. On a platform you pay per video and run the briefs and edits; an agency or studio runs them for a monthly retainer. Compared in UGC agency vs UGC platform.
Done-for-you subscriptions
Finished ads arrive on a schedule. Director by Sprites is a full creative team for your startup: every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human.
AI video tools: plans, credits and ad rights
A finished 30-second ad costs $0.75-$12 in credits before re-rolls. Avatars are cheapest; generated scenes cost the most per second.
| Tool | Entry plan | How it meters | Per finished ad | Ad use | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CreatifyProduct-URL-to-video ads with stock AI avatars | From $39/mo | 5 credits per 15 seconds of avatar or video ad, rounded up | $3.30-$3.90 | Creatify says you own your creatives and can use them in any channel. Only the free plan is watermarked. | Creatify pricing page and help center |
| ArcadsUGC-style ads read by stock AI actors | Not published | 800 credits per minute per talking actor, rounded up; video-model generations cost 96 to 1,620 credits each | Not published | A non-exclusive, personal, non-transferable licence to reproduce and broadcast what you make. Agencies making ads for clients should read the non-transferable part. | Arcads help center and terms |
| HeyGenAI avatars, digital twins and video translation | From $29/mo | Per minute of avatar video: 4 to 7 credits on Avatar III, 16 to 31 on Avatar IV, 48 on Avatar V; 90 credits per Veo 3 clip | $0.75-$5.50 | Paid plans remove the watermark and HeyGen markets them for commercial use; the free plan is watermarked. Enterprise has its own commercial terms. | HeyGen pricing page and help center |
| RunwayText- and image-to-video clips for b-roll and visual hooks | From $15/mo | Gen-4.5 at 12 credits a second; Gen-4 Turbo at 5 credits a second | $2.30-$8.60 | Runway says you own your outputs with no non-commercial restriction, advertising included. Free generations are watermarked. | Runway pricing page, API docs and usage-rights help article |
| HiggsfieldCinematic AI video with presets, on several video models | From $9/mo | 52 credits per 8-second 720p Seedance 2.5 clip | $9-$11 | Higgsfield describes paid output as cleared for commercial use, and elsewhere as tier dependent. Check the plan you buy. | Higgsfield's own blog (its pricing page lists no plans without signing in) |
| KlingText- and image-to-video with native audio | From $8.80/mo | Kling 3.0: 12 credits a second at 1080p with audio, 8 without; 9 and 6 at 720p; 30 at 4K | $2-$4.80 | Paid plans are for commercial use with no watermark. The free plan is not. | Kling's own credit guide, model guide and credit policy |
| SoraOpenAI's video model, now retired | Not available | No longer sold | Not available | Nothing new can be generated. Keep the licence terms for anything you made earlier. | OpenAI API deprecations page and help center |
| VeoGoogle's video model, in Gemini plans, Flow and the Gemini API | From $19.99/mo | Flow: 100 credits per Veo 3.1 Quality generation, 20 per Fast, 10 per Lite; API billed per second of video | $1.60-$12 | Every Veo video carries an invisible SynthID mark. Google does not state ad-usage terms or visible-watermark rules on the plan page, so check both for your plan before you run one as an ad. | Gemini API pricing page, Google AI plans page and Flow help center |
UGC platforms: price per video and usage rights
Creator video with paid ad rights starts at about $99 a video. Counting fees and subscriptions it runs $99-$220 per video.
| Vendor | Pricing | Per video | Usage rights | Extra costs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BilloPay-per-video creator marketplace | Videos: From $99 each. CreativeOps Launch: $300/mo for 3 months, then $500/mo | $99 | The creator assigns all rights to you, for paid, owned and earned media, worldwide. | Creators set their own price for posting to their account or running as a Partnership or Spark ad. Editing, photos and extra hooks are add-ons. Unused balance refunds lose a 25% admin fee. | Billo terms of service, help center and comparison page |
| InsenseSubscription creator marketplace with Partnership Ads | Trial: $650 for 1 month. Brand: $500/mo quarterly, $400/mo yearly. Agency: $800/mo quarterly, $640/mo yearly | $120-$220 | Perpetual digital rights once content is approved and paid; the creator keeps ownership. How long it runs as a creator-handle ad is set in the brief. | Partnership Ads connections cost $125 a month for five. Extra seats are $30 a month, extra brands $100. Broadcast and offline use are bought separately. | Insense pricing page and help center |
| BackstageCasting marketplace where creators set their own rates | Hiring creators: Creator-set rates | Not published | The standard UGC licence is exclusive and commercial: 6 months of paid use (including Spark and whitelisted ads) and 12 months organic. The creator keeps copyright. | Paid use ends after 6 months unless you negotiate longer. Briefs, casting, review and edit are all yours. | Backstage help center and licence agreement |
Agencies and creative subscriptions
A weekly video ad creative subscription is an agency or service that delivers new ads on a schedule for a flat monthly fee. Published prices run from $7,000 to $50,000 a month.
| Vendor | Pricing | Per video | Usage rights | Extra costs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SupersideCreative agency on an annual subscription | Flex: From $15,000/mo + $1,000/mo software fee. Dedicated AI-Native Team: From $30,000/mo + $1,000/mo software fee | Not published | Not stated on the pricing page. | A $1,000 monthly software fee on top of the plan. Quick Start onboarding is $20,000; project boosters start at $15,000. Annual commitment. | Superside pricing page |
| Creative MilkshakePerformance creative studio on a monthly subscription | Subscription: $7,000 to $50,000/mo | Not published | Not stated publicly; ask about usage term and raw footage. | Delivery takes 3 to 7 weeks. Extra actors and languages are priced separately. | Creative Milkshake pricing page |
Creative Milkshake publishes subscriptions from $7,000 to $50,000 a month. Superside starts at $15,000 a month on an annual commitment, plus a $1,000 monthly software fee. Neither publishes a price per ad.
Director by Sprites is the weekly version. Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns. It is in private beta, and the application asks your monthly ad spend.
Done-for-you: finished ads every week
Director by Sprites: Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. Strategy, hooks, scripts, shooting and editing, end to end.
| Service | What you get | How it works | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director by Sprites | Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. Strategy, hooks, scripts, shooting and editing, end to end. | Every video is checked by a person before it reaches your inbox. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns. | Not published. The application asks your monthly ad spend. | In private beta |
More on video ads
Video ad pricing: questions
How much does a video ad cost in 2026?
A finished 30-second video ad costs $0.75-$12 in credits on an AI video tool, $99-$220 per video from a UGC platform with paid usage rights, and $7,000 to $50,000 a month on an agency retainer. The cheapest route costs the most of your own time.
How much does a UGC video cost with paid ad usage rights?
From about $99 a video on Billo, where the creator assigns full rights for paid media, and $99-$220 per video on Insense once its fee and subscription are counted. Whitelisting, Spark ads and extra hooks cost more.
How much does an AI video ad cost?
$0.75-$12 in credits for a 30-second ad, before re-rolls, depending on the tool and model. Talking avatars are cheapest; fully generated scenes cost the most per second.
Is there a subscription that makes video ads every week?
Yes. Agencies sell monthly creative subscriptions from $7,000 a month. Director by Sprites delivers finished, human-reviewed video ads every Monday and launches the ones you pick; it is in private beta.
Can I use AI-generated videos in ads?
On paid plans, most tools allow commercial use; free plans are usually watermarked or non-commercial.
What happened to Sora pricing?
OpenAI retired Sora. The Sora 2 video API was removed on September 24, 2026, so there is no Sora plan to buy.
Want finished ads, not credits?
Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. You never write a prompt. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns.