Hailuo AI vs Elyumfor MiniMax H3
Hailuo AI ships MiniMax H3 first-party at up to 2K; Elyum runs the same model to 4K and charges only when you keep a take.
MiniMax H3 is MiniMax's omni-modal video model. You give it text, a still, or reference images and audio, and you get a 5 to 15 second clip with native stereo, so dialogue and SFX land with the picture. Practitioners stay for that audio pass and for motion and physics, which multiple third-party reviewers treat as the Hailuo-family edge versus other video models. It runs as text to video, image to video, or reference to video from one prompt surface.
What changes is the studio around it. Hailuo AI is MiniMax's own consumer app, so H3 landed there on July 31, 2026 as a first-party flagship, billed live on the Hailuo AI homepage. Credits leave the monthly pool when you generate. AI Video Bootcamp (2026) reports that a failed or moderation-rejected clip still spends those credits. On Elyum, every render comes back as a free preview. Credits move only when you keep a take; a kill refunds the rest in full. Hailuo AI's H3 ceiling is 2K. Elyum lists the same model through 4K on the MiniMax H3 page. Keep rules and plan prices are on Elyum pricing.
Hailuo AI still wins the first-party race. New Hailuo-family controls land there first, and the same login also has Hailuo 2.3, Hailuo 2.3-Fast, and the older Hailuo 02 line. Elyum does not have a timeline editor, stock footage, avatars, a mobile app, team seats, or a community feed. If those are the job, stay on Hailuo AI. This page is only about MiniMax H3: price, bad-take policy, and the 2K versus 4K cap. A longer Hailuo AI writeup sits on the Hailuo AI alternative page. If you are shopping Seedance, see Hailuo AI vs Elyum for Seedance 2.
MiniMax H3 on Hailuo AI
Hailuo AI is MiniMax's consumer studio. MiniMax H3 is the first-party flagship there after the July 31, 2026 release. MiniMax's H3 materials cap it at 15 seconds and 2K, with native stereo from text, image, or audio. Hailuo AI does not publish a MiniMax H3 per-clip credit price on a dated official table. The live pricing page returned only a title on 2026-09-07. Mobbi.ai, AI Video Bootcamp, and Felloai mostly agree on Standard $9.99/mo for 1,000 credits, Pro $34.99 / 4,500, Master $79.99 / 10,000, Ultra $124.99 / 12,000, Max $199.99 / 20,000. Treat those dollars as approximate; writeups note promo drift on Standard.
No official refund guarantee showed up in Hailuo AI's own docs. AI Video Bootcamp (2026) says failed or moderation-rejected generations still consume credits. Free-tier output is watermarked, about 768p and 6s, no commercial rights. Paid Standard and above remove the watermark and grant commercial use, per third-party pricing pages, not a freshly scraped terms table. Credits reset each month and do not roll over. Queue times run from under a minute to 15-30 minutes at peak, especially on free. Hailuo AI's paid-versus-free blog does not list an H3 per-second rate.
MiniMax H3 on Elyum
On Elyum, MiniMax H3 is billed per second after you keep a take. Preview is free. A 5s keep is 25 credits ($0.25) at 480p, 35 credits ($0.35) at 768p, 75 credits ($0.75) at 2K, and 90 credits ($0.90) at 4K. A 15s keep is 75 credits ($0.75), 105 credits ($1.05), 225 credits ($2.25), and 270 credits ($2.70). Per-second rates are 5 at 480p, 7 at 768p, 15 at 2K, and 18 at 4K. Clips run 5 to 15 seconds. Modes are text to video, image to video, and reference to video.
Credits move only on keep. Kill the rest and we refund that take in full. A failed generation is never charged. The Free plan (up to 150 credits (our algorithm may grant them), once, no card) meters kills lightly, one kill a month. Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, and Ultra $69/mo kill freely. Kept files download clean, no watermark, commercial use included. The same credit balance also covers Seedance 2 and Nano Banana 2, plus 50+ other models. You can drive the studio from the web, or from Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor via the MCP server and the REST API.
What a MiniMax H3 take costs
| Scenario | Hailuo AI | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| One 5s 2K keep | Not published (no official H3 per-clip rate) | 75 credits ($0.75) |
| One 5s 4K keep | Not offered (H3 on Hailuo AI caps at 2K) | 90 credits ($0.90) |
| Ten takes, keep two (5s 480p) | Not published; Hailuo AI bills each generate | 2 × 25 credits = 50 credits ($0.50) |
| A failed generation | Credits still consumed (AI Video Bootcamp 2026; no official refund) | Never charged |
| Monthly plan to access H3 | Free trial exists. Paid from Standard ~$9.99/mo, 1,000 credits (third-party) | Free plan, up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card |
| Watermark on the download | Free: yes. Standard and above: no (third-party) | None on kept takes |
Elyum: 1 credit = $0.01, charged only when you keep a take. Hailuo AI figures from its own pricing pages and independent reviews, verified 2026-09-07; sources at the end. Full rate card on the MiniMax H3 page.
Where the two differ
Hailuo AI subtracts from a monthly credit pool when you generate. Elyum previews are free. Credits move only on keep. Hailuo AI does not publish an H3 per-second rate. Elyum rates are the tokens on the MiniMax H3 page.
No official Hailuo AI refund guarantee was found. AI Video Bootcamp reports failed or rejected generations still consume credits. On Elyum a failed generation is never charged, and a kill refunds a take in full (Free plan: one kill a month; paid plans kill freely).
MiniMax's H3 launch materials cap Hailuo AI at 2K and 15 seconds. Elyum runs the same model from 480p through 4K, 5 to 15 seconds. Hailuo AI's free tier is reported at 768p max and about 6s, with lowest queue priority.
Hailuo AI is MiniMax's own app, so H3 and Hailuo 2.3 land there first. Cybernews reports queue times from under a minute to 15-30 minutes at peak, especially on free. Elyum queue time for H3 is not in the research.
MiniMax's developer API on platform.minimax.io is billed separately from Hailuo AI consumer credits. Elyum uses one credit balance in the web studio, plus MCP and a REST API.
Hailuo AI free output is watermarked with no commercial rights. Paid Standard+ removes the watermark and grants commercial use, per third-party pages. Elyum kept takes have no watermark and include commercial use. Elyum has no timeline editor, stock, avatars, mobile app, team seats, or community feed.
Pick Hailuo AI when
- First-party MiniMax H3 the day MiniMax ships it, plus Hailuo 2.3 and Hailuo 02 in the same workspace.
- Native stereo from the lab that trained H3, without waiting on a third-party gateway.
- Free trial with no payment method. Third-party writeups say the pool is roughly 4-8 short clips, watermarked, about 768p and 6s.
- Credit tiers from Standard (about $9.99/mo, 1,000 credits) to Max $199.99/mo if you want one MiniMax-shaped product line.
Pick Elyum when
- Free preview. Credits move only when you keep a take. A kill refunds it. Failed generations are never charged.
- Same MiniMax H3 through 4K. Hailuo AI's H3 cap in MiniMax's launch materials is 2K.
- Published per-second rates from 480p through 4K, clips 5 to 15 seconds, keep/kill on every take.
- One credit balance for 50+ models, plus MCP and REST from Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor.
MiniMax H3 in three styles, rendered on Elyum
Getting the most out of MiniMax H3
- Name the camera in one short clause (locked off, slow dolly in, pan left) and put subject action in the next. H3 will merge them into mushy motion if you write one long cinematic sentence.
- If you want the native stereo track, write the sound: speaker, one line of dialogue, and the room (street wash, room tone, score). A silent prompt often returns a thin or empty bed.
- On image-to-video, describe only the motion that should start from the still. Do not restage wardrobe, lens, or lighting the frame already fixed, or H3 will fight the reference.
- For reference-to-video, one identity image plus one style or location image is enough. Extra refs compete; faces and wardrobe drift over a 10-15s clip.
- Use 5 seconds for a single beat (one move, one line). Write a beginning, middle, and end before you ask for 10-15 seconds, or the back half wanders.
- Stay concrete on bodies and props. Vague beauty language and stacked negatives waste a take. On Hailuo AI, aggressive moderation can reject a prompt and still spend credits, per AI Video Bootcamp (2026).
Frequently asked questions
How much does a MiniMax H3 video cost on Elyum vs Hailuo AI?
Is MiniMax H3 the same model on both?
What happens to a bad MiniMax H3 take?
Do I need a subscription to use MiniMax H3 on Elyum?
Does MiniMax H3 have a watermark on Hailuo AI vs Elyum?
Can I get 4K MiniMax H3 on Hailuo AI?
- Hailuo AI Video & Image Generator (homepage) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI: Free vs Paid AI Video Generators (official blog) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Releases MiniMax H3: An Omni-Modal Video Model - MarkTechPost (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Hailuo 2.3: A New Level of Complex Video Performance - MiniMax News (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI: Pricing, Prompts and Honest Review (2026) - AI Video Bootcamp (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI Pricing Explained — MiniMax Video Plans and Costs (2026) - Mobbi.ai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Pricing 2026: Hailuo, API & Plans Explained - Felloai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI Video Review 2026: My Experience After Testing It - Cybernews (accessed 2026-09-07)
Related comparisons
Create everything. Keep the best.
MiniMax H3 is a AI video generator you can preview free on Elyum. Keep the takes you love, kill the rest for a full refund.