Wan 3.0 ships in two variants with two different pricing shapes, and picking the wrong one costs you between a third and three times the bill. The base model is priced per second by resolution: $0.035 at 480p, $0.07 at 720p, $0.14 at 1080p. Wan 3.0 Prime is a flat $0.05 per second no matter the resolution or the mode. On the 8frame canvas that lands as 24, 48, or 95 credits for a 5-second base clip against a flat 34 on Prime, so Prime is the cheaper choice the moment you want 720p or better, and the base model wins only at 480p.
TL;DR
- Base Wan 3.0 (via Replicate): 480p 24 credits, 720p 48, 1080p 95, for 5 seconds. Per second of output, so a 30-second clip is 142 / 284 / 567
- Wan 3.0 Prime (via fal): flat 34 credits for 5 seconds, 68 for 10, 203 for 30, at any resolution and in any mode
- The crossover: base is cheaper only at 480p. At 720p Prime costs less; at 1080p Prime costs a third of base
- Durations run 2 to 30 seconds, default 5. A credit is $0.01 in a top-up pack, so a 30-second Prime clip is about $2.03
- Unspecified resolution bills at 1080p on the base model, which is the most expensive tier. Set it deliberately
The two price shapes
| Duration | Base 480p | Base 720p | Base 1080p | Prime (any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5s | 24 | 48 | 95 | 34 |
| 10s | 48 | 95 | 189 | 68 |
| 30s | 142 | 284 | 567 | 203 |
The table is the whole article, but the reason it looks like that is worth knowing. The base model is billed by the provider per second of output video at three resolution tiers, so cost scales on two axes. Prime is billed at one flat per-second rate where resolution and mode (text-to-video, image-to-video, reference-to-video) are simply not pricing dimensions.
That produces an unusual situation: the premium tier is cheaper than the standard tier for most of the useful range. If you want 1080p, Prime costs about a third of base for the same duration.
When each one is right
Use the base model at 480p for volume drafting, timing checks, and any pass whose only job is to tell you whether the shot works. At 24 credits, roughly $0.24, it is the cheapest moving picture on the canvas, and 480p is plenty for judging composition and motion.
Use Prime for anything you might deliver. It is flat-rate, so higher resolution is free relative to the base tier, and there is no accidental over-billing from an unset resolution.
Use the base model at 1080p almost never. At 95 credits for five seconds it costs nearly three times Prime for output at the same resolution. The tier exists because that is how the provider prices it, not because it is a good buy.
The long-clip number
The figure that changes what Wan 3.0 is for: 30 seconds in a single pass on Prime is 203 credits, about $2.03 at pack rate. Most models on the canvas top out well before that, so producing half a minute means generating five to six clips and stitching them, with a continuity problem at every join.
For comparison at canon prices, a 30-second run assembled from other models: six 5-second Kling v3 Standard clips with audio is 516 credits; four 8-second Veo 3.1 Lite clips is 216 credits and still needs joins. Prime does it in one generation for 203, with no seams to hide.
The catch is that a single 30-second generation is a single roll of the dice. If second 22 is wrong, you regenerate all thirty. In practice that means drafting short and cheap on base 480p, then committing to one long Prime render once the shot is settled.
How this compares to the rest of the Wan line
| Model | 5s clip | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wan 2.2 | 50 credits at 720p | The last Wan with published weights, self-hostable |
| Wan 2.5 | 102 credits at 1080p | API-only, 5 / 10 / 15 second tiers |
| Wan 3.0 base | 24 / 48 / 95 | 2 to 30 seconds, resolution-tiered |
| Wan 3.0 Prime | 34 flat | 2 to 30 seconds, resolution-free pricing |
Wan 3.0 Prime at 34 credits undercuts Wan 2.5 at 102 by two thirds while going six times longer. If you were using Wan 2.5 for budget work, Prime is the upgrade, and Wan 3.0 vs Wan 2.5 covers what actually changes in the output.
Where the numbers come from
Provider rates verified 2026-08-28: Prime through fal's pricing API at $0.05 per second with the unit reported as seconds, base through Replicate's alibaba/wan-3 structured pricing block at $0.035 / $0.07 / $0.14. One gotcha worth repeating, because it bit us: the Replicate page's prose still shows the launch prices of $0.05 / $0.10 / $0.20, and the structured pricing block is the one that governs. Credits are the provider rate times our standard 1.35 markup, times 100.
FAQ
Why is Prime cheaper than the standard model? Because they are priced by two different providers on two different structures, not because Prime is a lower tier. Flat per-second pricing beats resolution-tiered pricing at every resolution above the cheapest.
What happens if I do not set a resolution? On the base model you are billed at 1080p, the most expensive tier. That is deliberate on our side (an unresolvable value must never under-bill) and it means the default is the priciest option. Set it.
Can Wan 3.0 really do 30 seconds in one generation? That is the stated duration range, 2 to 30 seconds, and it is what the canvas dispatches and bills. Whether 30 seconds of coherent output is what you want is a separate question; long single-pass generation trades control for continuity.
Draft at 24 credits, deliver on Prime, and never pay 95 for a resolution Prime gives you for 34. The 8frame canvas is free and unlimited, and generation is paid from $19/month.