11 APIs compared, October 2026
Best video editing APIs in 2026, compared on price per minute
We compared 11 video editing and rendering APIs. List prices for a minute of 1080p output run from $0.02 on reelsdk to about $5.88 on Bannerbear's entry plan. Some vendors bill by input minute, compute time or GB instead. reelsdk has no subscription, your first $1 is free, and its caption jobs return the MP4 with SRT, VTT and ASS files.
- reelsdk captions and slideshows$0.02
- Shotstack Volume$0.05
- Submagic minute packs$0.10
- Creatomate Beyond, billed yearly$0.17
- JSON2Video Startup$0.20
- Bannerbear Enterprise$0.72
- Plainly Pro, billed yearly$0.76
Each vendor's lowest self-serve list price per 1080p output minute. APIs billed by input minute, compute time or GB are in the table.
Head to head
All 11 video editing APIs side by side
All 11 APIs with 1080p price, billing unit, free tier and limits. Monthly list rates, checked 26 October 2026.
| API | Price per 1080p minute | Pricing model and free tier | Length and resolution | Captions | Templates | Webhooks and rate limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reelsdk | $0.02 output minute, $0.25 a short, $0.01 ffmpeg compute minute | Prepaid per job, no plan. $1 free | Media up to 15 minutes | Word by word, plus SRT, VTT and ASS | No editor; 3 caption presets | HMAC-SHA256 signed, 3 attempts. 3 jobs at once, 500 a day |
| Shotstack | $0.05 to $0.20 | Minute plans from $39. 10 free credits | 1080p, 4K from Pro | Auto, 99 languages | Templates, white-label editor | Unsigned, 10 retries. 300 renders a minute |
| Creatomate | $0.20 to $0.84 at 25 fps, $0.17 yearly | Credits from $54 a month. 50 free credits | - | Auto, free at 720p and up | Visual editor, feeds, forms | Webhooks. 30 requests per 10 s |
| JSON2Video | $0.20 to $0.42 | Credits or prepaid packs. 600 free credits | 30 minutes, 4K at the same rate | Word-by-word subtitle styles | Templates with variables | Unsigned, 2 retries. No published limit |
| Plainly | $0.76 to $1.38 | Minutes from $69 a month. 14-day trial | Up to 4K, same rate | Only from your SRT or ASS | After Effects templates | Webhooks. 2 to 16 renders at once |
| Bannerbear | $0.72 to $5.88 for animations | Credits from $49 a month. 30 free credits | - | Subtitle tool, 4 credits plus AI credits | Visual template editor | Webhooks. 60 POST requests per 10 s |
| Editframe | $0.02 processing minute, plus $99 a month | Cloud plan $99 a month. SDK free up to 3 people | Up to 9 MP (4K) | Word level, from your transcript | HTML and code | HMAC-SHA256 signed, 3 retries |
| Remotion Lambda | About $0.017 to $0.021 AWS compute, plus licence | Your AWS bill. Free up to 3 people | 15 minutes per Lambda | Build them with Whisper | React components | HMAC-SHA512 signed. 1,000 Lambdas per region |
| FFmpeg Micro | $0.043 to $0.06 per input minute | Plans from $19.99, packs from $5. 200 free tokens | Inputs up to 2 GB | SRT from transcribe, burn-in is a second job | Presets, text overlay | None documented. No rate limit |
| Rendi | About $0.10 per GB in and out | From $25 for 250 GB. 50 GB free with a card | 10 minutes per command on Pro | Burn in your own SRT | None, raw commands | Webhooks on Pro. 4 commands a minute free |
| Submagic | $0.10 to $0.23 in add-on packs | Plans from $19 a member. Paid plans only | 2 hours, 2 GB, 4K 60 fps on Business | Core product: 42 templates, 13 languages | Caption templates | Unsigned webhookUrl. 500 projects an hour |
An output minute is finished video length, an input minute is source clip length, and a compute minute is server run time. A dash means the vendor doesn't publish the figure.
Be honest
What each of the 11 APIs is best for
reelsdk
Prepaid captions, slideshows, faceless shorts and raw ffmpeg
Captions cost $0.02 per output minute, with no visual editor and 3 concurrent jobs.
reelsdk pricingShotstack
JSON timeline editing with a white-label editor
4K requires the $99 a month Pro plan and webhooks are unsigned.
reelsdk vs ShotstackCreatomate
Visual templates connected to spreadsheets and no-code tools
A 1080p minute costs $0.20 to $0.84 from $54 a month, and 30 fps adds a fifth.
reelsdk vs CreatomateJSON2Video
4K template renders at a flat per-second rate
4K costs $0.20 a minute on the Startup plan, with no AI image generation and unsigned webhooks.
reelsdk vs JSON2VideoPlainly
Teams rendering After Effects templates in the cloud
Renders After Effects projects up to 4K for $0.76 to $1.38 per minute; captions need your own SRT.
Plainly pricingBannerbear
Automated images and short social clips from templates
Has an MCP server, though template video is $0.72 to $5.88 a minute.
Bannerbear pricingEditframe
Developers composing video in HTML and code
Local rendering is free for up to 3 people; cloud rendering needs a $99 monthly plan.
Editframe pricingRemotion Lambda
React teams running renders on their own AWS
A 1-minute render costs about $0.017 to $0.021 in AWS compute, plus a licence from 4 people.
reelsdk vs RemotionFFmpeg Micro
Simple hosted FFmpeg jobs billed by input length
Costs $0.043 to $0.06 per input minute, with no webhooks and a second job to burn in subtitles.
reelsdk vs FFmpeg MicroRendi
Chained FFmpeg commands billed by file size
About $0.10 per GB of input plus output, with no transcription.
Rendi pricingSubmagic
Styled short-form captions with AI b-roll and zooms
42 caption templates, but the API needs a paid plan from $19 a month.
reelsdk vs Submagic
Method
How we compared the APIs
We checked pricing and docs on 26 October 2026. Prices are monthly list rates unless noted. A 1080p minute means 1920x1080 or 1080x1920, with Creatomate at 25 fps.
Where an API bills by input minute, compute time or GB, we show that unit as it is. reelsdk publishes this page and is one of the 11 APIs compared.
FAQ
Video editing API questions
Which video editing API is the cheapest per minute?
By output minute, reelsdk is $0.02 for captions and slideshows, and Shotstack hits $0.05 on its $499 plan. By compute time, reelsdk runs ffmpeg at $0.01 a minute, and a 1-minute Remotion Lambda render costs about $0.017 to $0.021.
Which API is best for automatic captions?
reelsdk charges $0.02 per output minute with transcription included and returns the MP4 with SRT, VTT and ASS files. Shotstack captions 99 languages for $0.05 to $0.20 a minute. Submagic has 42 templates and AI zooms on plans from $19 a month.
Which API should I use for template-based branded videos?
Creatomate ($0.17 to $0.84 a 1080p minute at 25 fps, from $54 a month) and Shotstack ($0.05 to $0.20) have visual editors. Plainly runs After Effects templates at $0.76 to $1.38 a minute from $69 a month, and JSON2Video does 4K at $0.20 to $0.42.
Is there a hosted FFmpeg API and how is it billed?
Yes, three. reelsdk runs ffmpeg 8.1 on a fresh machine per job for $0.01 per compute minute. FFmpeg Micro charges about $0.043 to $0.06 per input minute. Rendi bills about $0.10 per GB of input plus output.
Which video editing APIs have a free tier?
reelsdk gives you $1 free. Creatomate has 50 credits, Bannerbear 30, FFmpeg Micro 200 tokens (about 33 input minutes), JSON2Video 600 credits, Shotstack 10 credits, and Rendi 50 GB a month (card needed). Plainly has a 14-day trial; the Editframe SDK and Remotion are free for teams of up to 3.
Sources, checked October 2026
- Shotstack pricing
- Shotstack limitations
- Shotstack webhooks
- Creatomate pricing
- How Creatomate credits are calculated
- Creatomate API reference and rate limit
- JSON2Video pricing
- JSON2Video webhooks
- Plainly pricing
- Plainly rendering FAQ
- Bannerbear pricing
- Bannerbear API reference
- Editframe pricing
- Editframe webhooks
- Remotion license and pricing
- Remotion Lambda cost example
- FFmpeg Micro pricing
- FFmpeg Micro OpenAPI spec
- Rendi pricing
- Submagic pricing
- Submagic rate limits
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