How to Choose a Video Generation API by Use Case (2026)

The hard part of video generation is not the API call, it is picking the model. “Best” depends entirely on the job. A character who has to stay recognizable across three cuts, a spokesperson who lip-syncs to a voiceover, and a throwaway draft you will regenerate ten times each point to a different model. ofox puts three model families behind one POST /v1/videos endpoint and one key: Seedance 2.0, Wan, and HappyHorse. Because they share the endpoint, choosing between them is a model string change, not a new integration. This guide maps the common use cases to the right model, with the real per-second pricing for each.

Pick by use case, not by a leaderboard. Consistent characters across cuts point to Seedance 2.0. A talking head that lip-syncs to your audio points to HappyHorse. A 2-second loop or the lowest 1080p bill points to Wan. Cheap throwaway drafts point to Seedance Mini. All four are one model string on the same /v1/videos key.

Consistent characters and multi-shot scenes: Seedance 2.0

Seedance 2.0’s signature is native multi-shot generation with subject consistency. The same character, product, or set holds its look across separate cuts inside one job, which is exactly the thing that breaks when you stitch clips from a model that redraws the subject every render. It reaches 4K, runs 4 to 15 seconds, and does text-to-video, image-to-video, and video-to-video.

Cost scales with resolution: $0.07/s at 480p, $0.16/s at 720p, $0.34/s at 1080p, and $1.37/s at 4K for text-to-video. Video-to-video is a higher tier on the same model ($0.09/s at 480p, $0.20/s at 720p, $0.45/s at 1080p, $1.70/s at 4K), so budget for the mode you actually run, not just the resolution. If your deliverable is a short branded sequence where one hero has to survive several shots, this is the model to reach for. If you are only choosing between its own Mini, Fast, and flagship tiers, the Seedance 2.0 tier comparison covers that split in detail.

Talking heads and avatars: HappyHorse 1.1

When the deliverable is a person speaking, an avatar, a spokesperson, or a lip-synced explainer, HappyHorse is the model built for it. It is the audio-driven avatar and lip-sync specialist: give it a reference image and an audio track and it returns a clip whose mouth matches the sound. It also handles multi-image reference, runs 3 to 15 seconds, and reaches 1080p.

Pricing is $0.13/s at 720p and $0.17/s at 1080p. Seedance and Wan both generate audio, so they are fine for scenes where sound is ambient, but neither is a lip-sync engine. If a face has to say specific words on cue, HappyHorse is the one that is designed for it rather than approximating it.

Budget, short loops, and open-weights lineage: Wan 2.7

Wan is the value pick. It is $0.10/s at 720p and $0.15/s at 1080p, flat by resolution with no premium tiers to reason about, and it supports text-to-video, image-to-video, and video-to-video up to 1080p. Two things it wins outright among the three families. First, it accepts a 2-second minimum clip where every Seedance tier floors at 4 seconds, so 2 to 3 second loops and stingers are only possible here. Second, its open-weights lineage makes it the natural choice if you want the option of parity between a hosted API and a model you can inspect. The Seedance 2.0 vs Wan comparison walks the full head-to-head.

Cheap drafts at volume: Seedance Mini

When you will regenerate a shot ten times before you like it, do not pay flagship rates to iterate. Render drafts on bytedance/seedance-2.0-mini at $0.04/s for 480p and $0.08/s for 720p, the lowest 720p rate on the platform, then promote the winning prompt to the flagship for the final master. Because the tiers share the endpoint and differ only by the model string, the promotion is a one-line change, not a rewrite.

The pricing reality: per second, by resolution

Every model here bills per output second, and the rate rises with the resolution you request. The “from” figure next to each model in the catalog is the resolution floor, not a flat rate, which is the single most common budgeting mistake. Match the model to the job first, then match the resolution to where the clip actually lands.

Here is the same 8-second clip across the three families at 1080p:

Those rates are text-to-video. Seedance also runs video-to-video at a higher tier, where 1080p is $0.45/s and the same 8-second clip is $3.60 rather than $2.72, so price the mode, not just the resolution. Seedance costs more per second at 1080p because it is the only one of the three that also reaches 4K, and its multi-shot consistency is doing more work per frame. For a feed that downscales to 720p anyway, the gap narrows, and Seedance Mini at $0.08/s undercuts everything.

Where Sora, Veo, Kling, and Hailuo fit

Plenty of strong video models sit outside these three families. Sora, Veo, Kling, and Hailuo are all capable, and for some shots they are the right answer. On ofox they are listed as coming next rather than live, so for now each still runs on its own native API with its own SDK, auth, and billing. The point of a single endpoint is what happens when they land: adding one becomes a one-line model string on the same /v1/videos key, not a fresh integration to build and maintain. If your pipeline needs one of them today, the Sora vs Veo vs Kling comparison covers running them as separate integrations in the meantime. This guide is about the three families you can drive through a single ofox key right now.

One key, every model

The reason choosing is cheap is that switching is cheap. Every model here uses the same request: POST /v1/videos with a model ID and a prompt, poll the job, then read the clip from unsigned_urls[0]. The Seedance 2.0 API access guide walks that full request and response cycle, and it is identical across all three families.

Try all three on the key you already have. Start on the ofox video API: one key, USD billing, pay only for the seconds you render, and swap Seedance, Wan, or HappyHorse with a single string.

FAQ

Which video model should I use for a talking-head avatar? HappyHorse 1.1. It is the audio-driven avatar and lip-sync specialist: feed it an image and an audio track for a synced talking clip, up to 1080p, at $0.13/s (720p) or $0.17/s (1080p).

What is the cheapest way to generate video on ofox? bytedance/seedance-2.0-mini at $0.04/s (480p) and $0.08/s (720p). Use it for drafts, then re-render the winner on the flagship.

Which model can make a 2-second clip? Wan, which accepts a 2-second minimum. Seedance tiers floor at 4 seconds; HappyHorse starts at 3.

Do these models all cost the same? No. Per output second by resolution: Wan $0.10 to $0.15, HappyHorse $0.13 to $0.17, Seedance $0.07 to $1.37 across 480p to 4K.

Can I use one API key for all of them? Yes. All three sit behind POST /v1/videos on one ofox Bearer key. Switching is a model string change.

Sources Checked for This Guide

• ofox video model catalog and per-second floor pricing
• ofox Seedance 2.0 model detail, 480p to 4K per-resolution pricing
• ofox Wan 2.7 model detail, 720p and 1080p pricing
• ofox HappyHorse 1.1 model detail, 720p and 1080p pricing
• Seedance 2.0 tier comparison: Mini, Fast, and flagship
• Seedance 2.0 vs Wan video API comparison
• Seedance 2.0 API access quickstart