Pricing & Costs
PixelByte uses a micro-cent system for precise billing. No subscriptions, no minimums — you pay only for what you use.
Micro-Cents System
All monetary values in the API are expressed in micro-cents, where:
1,000,000 micro-cents=$1.00 USD
| Micro-cents | USD |
|---|
| 1,000,000 | $1.00 |
| 100,000 | $0.10 |
| 10,000 | $0.01 |
| 1,000 | $0.001 |
| 1 | $0.000001 |
Micro-cent precision eliminates rounding errors and allows for extremely granular pricing across different model types.
How Pricing Works
Each model version has a base cost in micro-cents. The final price is calculated by applying multiplicative factors based on the parameters you choose.
Multiplicative Factors
Factors are multiplied together, not added. This means each factor scales the cost proportionally.
finalCost = baseCost × factor1 × factor2 × factor3 × ...
Factors are multiplicative, not additive. Choosing two 2x options results in a 4x total multiplier, not 2x + 2x.
Example Calculation
For an image generation model with:
- Base cost: 40,000 micro-cents
- Quality: HD (1.5x multiplier)
- Resolution: 2048×2048 (2x multiplier)
finalCost = 40,000 × 1.5 × 2.0
= 120,000 micro-cents
= $0.12 USD
Common Pricing Factors
Quality
| Quality | Multiplier | Description |
|---|
standard | 1.0x | Default quality |
hd | 1.5x | High definition |
ultra | 2.0x+ | Maximum quality |
Resolution (Image Models)
| Resolution | Multiplier | Typical Use |
|---|
| 512×512 | 1.0x | Thumbnails, previews |
| 1024×1024 | 1.5x | Standard output |
| 1536×1536 | 1.75x | High-res output |
| 2048×2048 | 2.0x | Maximum resolution |
Duration (Video Models)
| Duration | Multiplier | |
|---|
| 3 seconds | 3x | Short clips |
| 5 seconds | 5x | Standard |
| 10 seconds | 10x | Extended |
| 15 seconds | 15x | Long form |
| 30 seconds | 30x | Maximum length |
Steps (Image Generation)
| Steps | Multiplier | Quality Impact |
|---|
| 20 | 1.0x | Fast, lower quality |
| 30 | 1.25x | Balanced |
| 50 | 1.5x | High quality |
| 100 | 2.0x | Maximum quality |
Exact multipliers vary by model. Check the model’s documentation or use the estimate endpoint for precise costs.
Estimate Costs Before Submitting
Use the estimate endpoint to calculate the exact cost before committing to a job:
curl -X POST https://api.muvi.video/v1/jobs/estimate \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"modelSlug": "stability/sdxl",
"modelVersion": "v1",
"input": {
"prompt": "A beautiful sunset over mountains",
"quality": "hd",
"resolution": "2048x2048"
}
}'
Estimate Response
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"estimatedCost": 120000,
"baseCost": 40000,
"factors": {
"quality": { "value": "hd", "multiplier": 1.5 },
"resolution": { "value": "2048x2048", "multiplier": 2.0 }
},
"currency": "micro-cents"
},
"requestId": "req_est_abc123"
}
User Pricing Overrides
Platform administrators can configure custom pricing for specific users or groups:
| Override Type | Description | Example |
|---|
percentage_discount | Percentage off the calculated price | 20% discount → 120,000 becomes 96,000 |
fixed_price | Fixed price per job, ignoring factors | Always 50,000 micro-cents per job |
custom_dynamic | Custom multiplier table per user | Different factor values for HD, resolution, etc. |
Pricing overrides are applied server-side after the standard calculation. The estimate endpoint reflects any active overrides for the authenticated user.
