MiniMax's Hailuo 2.3 shipped on October 28, 2025, and there are now several real ways to call it via API. Here's how four of them compare on price, scope, and what you actually get for it, including one real gap in pricing worth knowing before you pick.
Quick comparison
| # | Provider | 6s, 768p | 10s, 768p | 6s, 1080p | Fast tier available |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apiframe | $0.18-$0.48 | $0.37-$0.96 | $0.32-$0.84 | Yes, $0.13-$0.33 / $0.21-$0.55 / $0.22-$0.57 |
| 2 | fal.ai | $0.28 | $0.56 | $0.49 (Pro) | Yes, $0.19 / $0.32 |
| 3 | PiAPI | $0.23 | $0.45 | $0.40 | Yes, from $0.16 |
| 4 | Kie.ai | $0.15 | $0.26 | $0.39 | Yes, ~50% cheaper (per Kie.ai) |
The honest finding to lead with
It depends on which Apiframe rate you compare against. At the pure pay-as-you-go top-up rate ($0.01 per credit, no subscription), a 6-second 768p Hailuo 2.3 clip costs $0.48 on Apiframe versus $0.28 on fal.ai and $0.23 on PiAPI, the highest of the three. But Apiframe's paid monthly plans include a bundled credit allowance at a meaningfully better effective rate than the top-up price: $0.00475 per credit on the Basic plan ($19/mo, 4,000 credits), down to $0.00383 per credit on Growth ($199/mo, 52,000 credits). At the Growth rate, that same 6-second clip works out to about $0.18, cheaper than both fal.ai and PiAPI.
The catch is that this requires a monthly subscription; fal.ai and PiAPI are quoted as pure pay-as-you-go with no commitment. So the fair comparison is: Apiframe's pay-as-you-go top-up rate is the priciest of the four, but its subscription-plan effective rate is the cheapest, once you're generating enough volume to justify a monthly plan. For occasional, one-off generations, a pure pay-as-you-go provider is simpler. For steady volume, Apiframe's plan pricing (which also covers every other model on the platform, not just Hailuo) works out ahead.
1. Apiframe
Apiframe wraps Hailuo 2.3 into the same API key and billing used for every other model on the platform, so it's one integration that happens to include Hailuo, not a Hailuo-specific one. Requests are async, submit a job, then poll or get a webhook, no separate MiniMax account required. Full parameter reference is in the Hailuo 2.3 docs, or try it in Apiframe Studio without writing code. For a full walkthrough with code samples, see the Hailuo 2.3 API guide.
Pricing is credit-based: 48 credits for a 6-second 768p clip, 96 for 10 seconds at 768p, 84 for 6 seconds at 1080p. What that costs in dollars depends on the rate. Buying credits as a pay-as-you-go top-up runs $0.01 each, $0.48/$0.96/$0.84 for the three variants. But every paid monthly plan bundles credits at a cheaper effective rate: $0.00475/credit on Basic ($19/mo, 4,000 credits), down to $0.00383/credit on Growth ($199/mo, 52,000 credits). At the Growth rate, the same three clips run about $0.18, $0.37, and $0.32, cheaper than every other provider in this comparison. A cheaper hailuo-2.3-fast tier is also available (33/55/57 credits for the same three variants), covered in Hailuo Versions Explained.
Best for: teams already using, or planning to use, other models on Apiframe who want Hailuo on the same key and bill, and who generate enough volume that a monthly plan's effective credit rate beats a pure pay-as-you-go price.
2. fal.ai
fal.ai splits Hailuo 2.3 into Standard (768p) and Pro (1080p) tiers, each with its own Fast variant, four separate endpoints in total. Pricing is transparent and per-second-equivalent: Standard runs $0.28 for 6 seconds and $0.56 for 10, Pro runs a flat $0.49 per generation, and Fast Standard drops to $0.19 for 6 seconds and $0.32 for 10. This is the cheapest confirmed rate at 768p of the four providers checked here.
Best for: the lowest confirmed 768p rate, plus the clearest separation between quality tiers if you want to pick precisely.
3. PiAPI
PiAPI offers hailuo-v2.3 and hailuo-v2.3-fast with some of the simplest published pricing of the group: $0.23 for 6 seconds at 768p, $0.45 for 10 seconds at 768p, $0.40 for 6 seconds at 1080p, and Fast starting from $0.16. New accounts get free credits to test before committing, and both host-your-own-account and pay-as-you-go modes are supported.
Of the four providers here, PiAPI has the cheapest confirmed 1080p rate ($0.40) and a competitive Fast tier.
Best for: cost-conscious testing across both resolution tiers, with the cheapest confirmed 1080p number.
4. Kie.ai
Kie.ai offers both Hailuo 2.3 and Hailuo 2.3 Fast through a credit-based system with no subscription required, starting with as little as $5. Kie.ai's own material states the Fast tier is priced at roughly 50% less than the standard 2.3, consistent with the discount pattern seen across every other provider here.
Exact per-generation pricing wasn't visible in the page's static content, likely gated behind a calculator or dashboard, so verify directly before budgeting rather than assuming it matches another provider's rate.
Best for: teams that want a low-commitment, top-up-as-you-go entry point without picking a subscription tier upfront.
A note on Segmind
Segmind carries Kling models but does not currently offer Hailuo 2.3 or Hailuo 02. Its MiniMax listing (segmind.com/models/minimax-ai) only serves the older Video-01 model, capped at 720p and 6 seconds, a different, earlier generation entirely. Worth knowing if you were expecting it on the list, it isn't a gap in this research; it's a gap in Segmind's current lineup.
Which one should you actually use?
If you're already building on Apiframe for other models, staying on one key and one bill is the practical choice even though it isn't the cheapest per-video rate for Hailuo specifically. For the lowest confirmed 768p cost, fal.ai. For the cheapest confirmed 1080p rate, PiAPI. For a flexible, no-subscription entry point, Kie.ai, just verify its exact pricing directly first.
Get an API key and start with free credits, or go straight to the Hailuo 2.3 model page for full specs and code examples.
FAQ
Is there an official Hailuo API directly from MiniMax?
Yes, MiniMax offers its own Open Platform API. All four providers above offer an alternative route that doesn't require a direct MiniMax account.
Which provider has the cheapest Hailuo 2.3 rate?
Depends on the comparison. On pure pay-as-you-go pricing with no subscription, PiAPI ($0.23 for 6-second 768p) and fal.ai ($0.28) both undercut Apiframe's $0.01/credit top-up rate ($0.48). But on Apiframe's paid monthly plans, the bundled credit rate drops as low as $0.00383/credit (Growth plan), bringing that same clip to about $0.18, cheaper than either.
Does every provider offer a Fast tier?
Yes, all four offer some version of a faster, cheaper Hailuo 2.3 Fast tier, roughly 30 to 50% less than standard 2.3, depending on the provider.
Does Segmind offer Hailuo 2.3?
No. Segmind's current MiniMax listing only covers the older Video-01 model, not Hailuo 02 or 2.3.
Do these providers require a separate MiniMax account?
No, that's the point of using a third-party API. Only going directly through MiniMax's own Open Platform requires one.