Luma Ultra cost per 1080p Ray3.2 clip by plan vs Sume H3 Max

On Luma's pricing page the cost of one 5-second Ray3.2 clip at 1080p falls from $1.00 on Plus to $0.75 on Pro and about $0.67 on Ultra, all at annual billing, because the credit price drops as the plan grows. Sume's MiniMax H3 Max at 1080p is $1.00 for 5 seconds with no plan, so Luma's large plans are cheaper per clip if you spend every credit, and Sume wins only when you would not.

Cost per 5-second clip by Luma plan

The page lists annual prices of $25, $75 and $250 a month for 10,000, 40,000 and 150,000 credits, and Ray3.2 text-to-video and image-to-video (SDR base rate; HDR costs more) at 50, 100 and 400 credits per 5 seconds for 540p, 720p and 1080p. Dividing price by credits gives the table.

The Sume side of the same clip

These come from the repository list prices multiplied by 1.25. Sume has no monthly commitment, so the price of the tenth clip is the price of the first. Luma's cheaper per-clip rates assume you actually use the monthly credits.

• MiniMax H3 Max, 1080p, 5 seconds: $1.00.
• Wan 3.0, 720p, 5 seconds: $0.625.
• Wan 3.0, 480p, 5 seconds: $0.3125.

The break-even is utilization

Ultra costs $250 a month whether you render 375 clips or 10. At 10 clips that is $25 a clip, while the same 10 clips on Sume at $1.00 cost $10. So ask how many 1080p clips you render in a normal month. Above about 250 a month Ultra's annual price is lower than paying $1.00 a clip, and below that a pay-per-job balance is cheaper. The page also says clips run up to 10 seconds with credits scaling, so on that page a 10-second clip costs three times the 5-second credits (1,200 against 400 at 1080p), tripling each Luma figure above, while Sume's H3 Max, billed per second, doubles to $2.00.

A quick way to decide

If your count is under 25 a month, Sume at $1.00 a clip costs less than the Plus plan. Between 25 and 75 clips Sume is still cheaper than Pro's $75, from 75 clips Pro is cheaper, and above about 250 clips Ultra's $250 is lower than a dollar a clip. The arithmetic ignores resolution mixes, so repeat it per resolution if your work is mostly 720p.

• Count the 1080p clips you rendered last month, retakes included.
• Multiply by $1.00 for the Sume H3 Max price of a 5-second clip.
• Compare that total with $25, $75 and $250, Luma's annual monthly prices.
• Choose the lowest total that you would really use up.