Hedra vs Elyumfor Veo 3.1
Hedra charges Veo 3.1 Standard at 39.29¢/sec with audio on each render. Elyum charges only the take you keep.
Veo 3.1 is the Google video model you reach for when the shot has to speak. Native audio rides with the picture, so a 4 to 8 second brand spot can carry a written line, room tone, and one camera move in a single pass. It is known for film-like lighting and motion, not for half-minute plots. On Elyum it accepts a prompt, a still, or a reference. If you treat it as a silent b-roll box, you are leaving the dialogue path unused.
The weights are the same. The bill is not. Hedra publishes Standard Veo 3.1 at 39.29 cents/sec with audio (19.64 without) and Fast from 11.43 to 14.29 cents/sec, 720p or 1080p, up to 8 seconds, on Hedra's Veo model page. Elyum lists the same 4 to 8 second window on the Veo 3.1 page at 21 credits/sec in 720p, 28.8 in 1080p, and 60 in 4K, charged only when you keep a take. Hedra's monthly credits expire each cycle. A failed Elyum generation is never charged. Hedra's refund terms were not independently confirmed.
Hedra wins if the job is a talking portrait. Character-3 is Hedra's own model, and independent reviewers put its lip-sync and micro-expressions among the best tested in 2026. Elyum has no avatar product, no timeline editor, no stock footage, and no team seats. If Character-3 is why you opened Hedra, stay. If Veo 3.1 spots are the work, compare the keep price and the refund. The studio-level writeup is on the Hedra alternative page.
Veo 3.1 on Hedra
Hedra offers Veo 3.1 in Standard and Fast. Hedra's Veo page lists Standard at 39.29 cents/sec with audio and 19.64 without, Fast from 11.43 to 14.29 cents/sec, 720p or 1080p, and a cap of 8 seconds. That is a published per-second API price, not a subscription credit recipe. Hedra does not publish a cents-per-credit figure, so Basic ($15/mo, 1,500 credits) and Creator ($30/mo, 5,400 credits) cannot be converted into a Veo second from public copy. Hedra's pricing page says monthly credits do not roll over.
A bad take on Hedra cannot be priced from first-party copy. Hedra has a Generation History & Credit Refunds page, but the exact terms were not independently confirmed. Third-party Trustpilot reviews (about 2.1/5) include users who said credits were charged for videos with visible artifacts and that refund requests sat unanswered. Paid Hedra plans list commercial use and no watermark. The free tier is 100 one-time credits; third-party reviews say that output is watermarked and not licensed for commercial use.
Veo 3.1 on Elyum
On Elyum, Veo 3.1 is 21 credits/sec at 720p (5s = 105 credits = $1.05; 8s = 168 credits = $1.68), 29 credits/sec at 1080p (5s = 145 credits = $1.45; 8s = 232 credits = $2.32), and 60 credits/sec at 4K (5s = 300 credits = $3.00; 8s = 480 credits = $4.80). Clips are 4 to 8 seconds with native audio. Text to video, image to video, and reference to video are all on the Veo 3.1 page.
Every render comes back as a free preview. Credits move only when you keep the take. Kill it and the refund is automatic and full. Failed generations are never charged. The Free plan is up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card, with one kill a month; Plus ($9/mo), Pro ($29/mo), and Ultra ($69/mo) kill freely. Kept files download without a watermark and include commercial use. See Elyum pricing for the credit math. Elyum also exposes the studio through the MCP docs and the API docs.
What a Veo 3.1 take costs
| Scenario | Hedra | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| One 5s take you keep | Standard with audio: 5 × 39.29¢ = $1.96. Fast: $0.57 to $0.71 (5 × 11.43 to 14.29¢). No 4K listed. | 720p: 5 × 20.8 = 105 credits ($1.05). 1080p: 5 × 28.8 = 145 credits ($1.45). |
| Ten 5s takes, keep two | If each render bills: 10 × $1.96 = $19.65 Standard with audio. Refund on rejects not confirmed in first-party terms. | 2 × 105 credits = 210 credits ($2.10) at 720p. The other eight kills refund in full. |
| A failed generation | Not published. Refunds page exists; terms not independently confirmed. Trustpilot users reported charges for artifacted clips. | Never charged. A failed generation is not a keep. |
| Monthly plan needed to access the model | Not published which plan unlocks Veo. Free is 100 one-time credits. Paid starts at Basic $15/mo, 1,500 credits. | No. Free is up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card. 5 × 20.8 = 105 credits ($1.05) fits one 720p keep. |
| Watermark on the file | Paid: no watermark. Free: watermarked and not commercial, per third-party reviews, not confirmed on hedra.com. | No watermark on kept takes. Commercial use included. |
| 8s 1080p keep with audio | Standard: 8 × 39.29¢ = $3.14. Fast: 8 × 11.43 to 14.29¢ = $0.91 to $1.14. Cap is 8s. | 8 × 28.8 = 232 credits ($2.32). 4K 8s is 8 × 60 = 480 credits ($4.80). |
Elyum: 1 credit = $0.01, charged only when you keep a take. Hedra figures from its own pricing pages and independent reviews, verified 2026-09-07; sources at the end. Full rate card on the Veo 3.1 page.
Where the two differ
Hedra's Veo page prices Standard at 39.29 cents/sec with audio (19.64 without) and Fast from 11.43 to 14.29 cents/sec. Elyum prices by resolution: 20.8 / 28.8 / 60 credits per second (1 credit = $0.01), charged only on keep.
Elyum kills refund in full; failures are never charged. Hedra documents Generation History & Credit Refunds, but exact terms were not independently confirmed. A Trustpilot reviewer wrote that credits were charged even when the resulting video had visible artifacts, and refund requests went unanswered for a long time.
Both cap Veo 3.1 at 8 seconds. Hedra lists 720p and 1080p. Elyum adds 4K at 60 credits/sec. Seedance 2.5 on Hedra goes to 30 seconds; if you need a longer model, see the Seedance 2.5 Hedra vs Elyum page.
Hedra's pricing page lists that credits do not roll over monthly. Purchased add-on packs reportedly persist, per a third-party review, not independently confirmed. Elyum sells Plus, Pro, Ultra, and separate top-ups. This page does not claim an expiry rule for Elyum credits.
Both sides ship a developer API and an MCP server. Hedra's public API v3 is pay-per-use behind one key. Elyum's MCP and REST are built for Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor. Same model, two meters.
Hedra is strongest as a Character-3 avatar desk with a catalog reported at about 46 video, 35 image, and 12 audio models. Elyum is one studio and one credit balance across 50+ models. Elyum does not ship avatars, a timeline editor, stock footage, a mobile app, team seats, or a community feed.
Pick Hedra when
- Hedra's Veo Fast starts at 11.43 cents/sec with audio, which can beat Elyum's 21 credits/sec ($0.208/sec) 720p keep price if you rarely discard takes.
- Character-3 lives in the same Hedra studio and API key. Elyum has no talking-avatar model of its own.
- Hedra publishes a public API v3 price menu per second. Useful if you already meter Hedra jobs in code.
- Paid Hedra plans list commercial use and no watermark, same rights outcome as an Elyum keep.
Pick Elyum when
- Previews are free. You pay 105 credits ($1.05) for a 5s 720p keep, not for the nine takes you killed.
- 4K is on the menu (60 credits/sec). Hedra's Veo listing stops at 1080p.
- Failed generations are never charged. Hedra's refund terms were not independently confirmed.
- One credit balance across 50+ models, plus MCP and REST, without buying a Hedra plan you might not use.
Veo 3.1 in three styles, rendered on Elyum
Getting the most out of Veo 3.1
- Write the spoken line in quotes and keep it to one breath. Four to eight seconds holds about 8 to 18 words at a normal pace. Name the delivery and the room (dry booth, kitchen fridge hum, street wash) or Veo 3.1 will invent both.
- Call one camera move and one lens. A slow dolly in on a 35mm with a locked horizon holds together. A pan plus a tilt plus a crane in five seconds is how faces smear.
- Light with fixtures, not mood words. Overcast window, 3200K practical lamp, no fill beats a vague grade note. Veo 3.1 already leans film-like; extra adjectives just fight the image.
- For image-to-video or reference-to-video, treat the still as frame one. Describe only motion that can start from that framing. Do not ask for a reverse angle the still does not contain.
- Say when you want no speech. If the prompt is silent on audio, native-audio Veo 3.1 often adds lines or loud foley you did not budget for.
- Do not stack on-screen type, logos, or two people talking over each other. Short clips plus overlapping dialogue is how you get mush-mouth and invented spelling.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Veo 3.1 video cost on Elyum vs Hedra?
Is Veo 3.1 the same model on both?
What happens to a bad Veo 3.1 take?
Do I need a subscription to use Veo 3.1 on Elyum?
Does Hedra watermark Veo 3.1 downloads?
Can I run Veo 3.1 from an API or MCP on both?
- Hedra Pricing (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra All Models catalog (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Video Generation API (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Veo model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Nano Banana model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Grok Imagine model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Best AI Video Models blog (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Reviews - Trustpilot (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra AI Review 2026: Pricing, Character-3, and Is It Still Worth It? (fluxnote.io) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra AI Review 2026: What Holds It Back (lovart.ai, June 2026) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Generation History & Credit Refunds docs (accessed 2026-09-07)
Related comparisons
Create everything. Keep the best.
Veo 3.1 is a AI video generator you can preview free on Elyum. Keep the takes you love, kill the rest for a full refund.