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we did the math against runway and kling — and we lose on $/second

September 20, 2026

On raw dollars per second of finished HD video, nixm is roughly two to three times Runway Max and about double Kling Pro. That is the real number and we are printing it. The argument for pay-per-clip is elsewhere: credits that never expire, failed renders that cost nothing, sound included in the price, and no monthly floor. Break-even is about four clips a month, every month.

The table, loss included

Every comparison page you have ever read was written by the company that wins it. So here is ours, with the column we lose on left in. Prices are as published in September 2026, converted at CA$1 ≈ US$0.73, and the seconds column assumes finished HD with sound at each platform's standard rate.

PlanPriceVideo budgetSecondsUS$ / second
Runway Standard (annual)US$12 / mo625 credits~52 s$0.23
Runway Pro (annual)US$28 / mo2,250 credits~187 s$0.15
Runway Max (annual)US$76 / mo9,500 credits~791 s$0.10
Kling StandardUS$10 / mo660 credits~55 s$0.18
Kling ProUS$37 / mo3,000 credits~250 s$0.15
Kling PremierUS$92 / mo8,000 credits~666 s$0.14
nixm — 5 videosCA$19.99 once5 credits, no expiry40 s$0.37
nixm — 15 videosCA$54.99 once15 credits, no expiry120 s$0.33
nixm — 30 videosCA$99.99 once30 credits, no expiry240 s$0.30

Read it straight: on dollars per second, we lose. Two to three times Runway Max, about double Kling Pro. Anyone who does the arithmetic will find that, so there is no point in a page that hides it.

Where the subscription number stops being true

A price per second is only honest if you spend every second you bought, every month, and nothing fails. Four things break that.

1. Credits expire

Runway Standard and Pro and every Kling tier reset monthly, used or not. Make four clips in January and none in February, and February was still billed. nixm credits do not expire — the five-pack bought in January is still five clips in June. That single difference is what moves the comparison from per-second to per-year, and per-year is the number you actually pay.

2. Failed renders still charge

Runway's own help documentation describes credit deductions on failed generations, and Kling's consumer app behaves the same way — its API is the exception, not the app most people use. At a realistic 30–40% retry rate, every per-second figure in the table above is optimistic by that much for the subscription rows. nixm charges on delivery: the receipt shows what a scene costs before it fires, and a refused or failed render costs nothing.

3. Sound is in the price

nixm renders dialogue, ambience and score in the same pass as the picture, at the price listed. On Kling, native audio roughly doubles the credit rate; on Runway it is a separate model and a separate step. Compare a silent clip to a silent clip and the gap narrows on its own. More on why one pass matters: AI video with sound from text.

4. You cannot buy less than a month

The entry price is $10–12 a month whether you make one clip or fifty. Our floor is CA$4.99 for a clip plus 30 chat credits. For anyone whose output is lumpy — a project, then nothing for six weeks — the floor is the whole cost story.

Break-even: about four clips a month

Runway Standard at US$12 buys roughly six 8-second HD clips. nixm at the five-pack rate is about US$2.90 a clip.

Clips per monthRunway Standardnixm (5-pack rate)
1$12$2.90
2$12$5.80
3$12$8.70
4$12$11.70
5$12$14.60
6$12$17.50

Break-even is four clips a month — every month, with no retries and no idle months. Below that, which is most people, pay-per-clip is cheaper in cash and much cheaper in waste. Above roughly eight clips a month, consistently, the subscription is the better buy, and we would rather say so here than have you work it out after three billing cycles.

What the per-second column cannot show

Cast persists. A face established once holds across every scene, and a wardrobe change is a recast rather than a re-roll. Runway and Kling both offer character reference; neither holds a named cast across a project with a receipt before every spend. What that takes in practice is in how to make a short film with AI.

Propose before spend. Thumbnails, length, price, then a yes. Subscription tools spend the moment you press generate — which is exactly why the retry rate above is not a rounding error.

One ask, best engine. The router picks the model per job rather than committing you to one vendor's lineup. A Runway plan buys Runway's models; a Kling plan buys Kling's.

Nothing kept. No dialogue history to leak. Subscriptions keep your library, which is also their retention mechanism.

The honest version

nixm costs more per second and less per month for almost everyone. If you make a clip or two a week, you will never buy a plan you did not use, never pay for a render that failed, and never explain your character twice. If you make fifty a month, get the subscription — we will tell you that too.

Related reading: Runway credits and the pay-per-video math, Kling alternatives without a subscription, and what an AI video credit actually costs.

Check the math yourself

Direct a scene in the cinematic studio — the first HD video with sound is free, no card.

Prices verified September 2026. Runway and Kling both change tiers and run promotional first-month rates; Kling's membership page is script-gated, so its figures come from secondary breakdowns. Treat this table as a snapshot, not a quote.

frequently asked

Is nixm cheaper than Runway?

Per second of video, no — Runway Max is roughly two to three times cheaper. Per month, yes for most people, because nixm credits never expire and there is no monthly minimum. Break-even is about four clips a month, every month.

Is nixm cheaper than Kling?

Per second, no — Kling Pro is about half our rate. But Kling credits reset monthly, its consumer app charges for failed generations, and native audio roughly doubles its credit rate. Those three close most of the gap for occasional users.

Why publish a comparison you lose?

Because anyone can do the division themselves, and a page that hides the obvious number is not worth trusting on the less obvious ones. The per-second figure is real; so is the fact that most people never spend their monthly allotment.

Do Runway and Kling charge for failed renders?

Runway documents credit deductions on failed generations, and Kling's consumer app does the same. Kling's API is the exception. At a 30-40% retry rate this makes published per-second rates optimistic by roughly that much.

Do nixm credits expire?

No. A pack bought in January is still usable in June. That is the main structural difference from every subscription tier compared here.

How many clips a month before a subscription is cheaper?

About four, sustained, with no retries and no idle months. Above roughly eight a month a subscription is clearly the better buy.

Does the price include sound?

Yes — dialogue, ambience and score render in the same pass at the listed price. On Kling, native audio roughly doubles the credit rate; on Runway it is a separate step.

What is the cheapest way to try it?

The first HD video with sound is free on a new account. After that the floor is CA\$4.99 for a clip plus 30 chat credits — there is no plan to join.

try it now — nixm makes cinematic ai video, with sound. no subscription. first video free.

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