AI Video Generator
The lighter Grok video model: sound in every clip, a quicker turnaround and a cheaper 720p.
Output
Both are xAI video models that put sound in every clip, lip-synced lines included. Lite is the lighter version: text or image to video only, the same 1 to 15 seconds, and run side by side on the same prompt it usually finished first. A six second clip costs 18 credits at 480p on either one. At 720p Lite costs 27 against 35 on Video 1.5. At 1080p the order flips: Lite's 1080p is upscaled from 720p and costs 126, while Video 1.5 renders native 1080p for 60, so for 1080p go to Video 1.5.
The full model, with references and native 1080p
Text, image and reference to video with up to seven images, any whole second from 1 to 15. Its 1080p is rendered at full size and costs less here than the Lite 1080p, which is enlarged from 720p. Pick it for references, fine detail and anything delivered at 1080p.
Open the Grok Imagine Video 1.5 pageThe light model, quicker and cheaper at 720p
Text and image to video from 1 to 15 seconds at 480p, 720p or a 1080p enlarged from 720p. Text prompts can also use 4:3 and 3:4 frames, which Video 1.5 does not offer here. There are no reference images and no end frame.
The florist from one still wraps the peonies, ties the twine and laughs at a customer, with the paper, the scissors and the market chatter in the soundtrack. This clip came back in 28 seconds; Video 1.5 took 55 on the same still and prompt.
Start frameShe finishes wrapping the peonies in kraft paper, ties the bundle with twine, then looks up and laughs at a customer just off camera. The camera holds a steady medium shot at counter height, no zoom; the striped awning flutters in the breeze. Keep her face, hair and freckles exactly as in the source frame. Sound: paper crinkling, scissors snipping twine, her short laugh, market chatter and a bicycle bell in the distance, no music.
A cook leans out of a food truck window, slides the tacos across, taps the bell and calls the order herself, her mouth matching the words. Six seconds of vertical 720p cost less here than the same clip on Video 1.5.
A food truck cook in her forties with a red bandana and rolled sleeves leans out of the service window of a teal food truck at dusk, slides a paper tray of tacos onto the counter, taps the little bell and says with a grin: "Two al pastor, extra lime. Enjoy!" Warm string lights above the window, steam rising from the grill inside. Medium close-up, slight handheld movement. Sound: her voice close and clear with accurate lip sync, the grill sizzling, the bell's ding, street chatter behind the camera, no music.
An old man scatters bread from a park bench while pigeons land at his feet and leaves fall through the low sun, framed 3:4 for a portrait feed. Text to video on Lite takes 4:3 and 3:4, two shapes Video 1.5 does not offer here.
An elderly man in a grey wool cap and a tweed coat sits on a park bench in autumn, tearing a heel of bread and scattering crumbs. A dozen pigeons flutter down around his shoes while yellow leaves drift through low afternoon sun, and he chuckles softly to himself. Slow push in from a medium shot, vertical portrait framing with the bench and the birds filling the lower half. Sound: wings flapping, pigeons cooing, dry leaves rustling, children playing far away, no music.
Try a prompt several times at 480p or 720p, keep the version that works, and move it to Video 1.5 when it needs references or a sharper 1080p.
Vertical or square clips with the sound already in them, spoken lines included, for less per clip than Video 1.5 at the same size.
A room, a street, a product turning on a table, from a short prompt or one still. Wide and medium shots hold up best; a close face from a photo holds better on Video 1.5.
How the model works, based on public documentation and sourced evidence.
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is xAI's lower-priced tier of its Video 1.5 model, released in October 2026 and described by OpenRouter as distilled from Video 1.5: a smaller model trained to imitate the larger one so it runs faster and costs less. xAI's video overview lists it for text to video and image to video only, with clips from 1 to 15 seconds at 480p, 720p or a 1080p upscaled from 720p, generated audio with lip-synced speech, and the recommendation to use it for simple videos and the full Video 1.5 for references, voices, pinned frames or native 1080p.
Two details shape what comes out. The 1080p tier is produced by rendering at 720p and enlarging the result, so the frame is 1080p in size but its detail comes from a 720p pass, which shows in fine textures, small text and tight crops. And on xAI's published price list Lite costs $0.02, $0.03 and $0.14 per second at 480p, 720p and 1080p, against $0.08, $0.14 and $0.25 for Video 1.5.
Artificial Analysis placed it 17th on its text to video board with an Elo of 999, seven places below Video 1.5 (1,060) and two above Google's Veo 3.1 (968). AlphaSignal's write-up of the launch results notes that Lite trails the full model in nine of ten capability groups, ties it on physics, comes closest in multi-scene narrative, lighting and text rendering, and falls furthest behind in dialogue with lip sync and in human anatomy.
On Vidney both modes are open, every whole second from 1 to 15 at 480p, 720p or the 1080p upscaled from 720p, with sound always on. The upscaled 1080p costs more here than the native 1080p of Video 1.5, so for 1080p Video 1.5 is the better buy. Text to video takes 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 3:2 or 2:3; image to video keeps the shape of the starting image. In our paired test runs on October 19, 2026 at 480p and six seconds, Lite finished first in five of seven pairs, with a median of about 32 seconds against about 43 for Video 1.5. In the same runs Video 1.5 kept a face from the starting photo closer to the original when the camera moved in. Reference images, an end frame and keyframes are not offered because Lite does not take them.
Sources: x.ai · artificialanalysis.ai
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is the lighter, distilled version of xAI's Video 1.5, released in October 2026. It covers two modes, text to video and image to video, any whole second from 1 to 15 at 480p, 720p or a 1080p upscaled from 720p, and like Video 1.5 it puts sound in every clip, spoken lines included. xAI itself points to Video 1.5 for references, voices, pinned frames and native 1080p. On Vidney the trade comes out like this: a 480p clip costs the same on both, 720p costs less on Lite, the upscaled 1080p costs more than Video 1.5's native 1080p, and run side by side on the same prompt, Lite usually finished first. In the same pairs Video 1.5 held a face from a starting photo more closely, so portraits made from a photo still belong on its page. Reach for Lite for drafts, social clips and simple scenes.
Create AI video with Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite on Vidney in three steps.
Specs side by side with similar models, all runnable on Vidney.
| Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite | Vidu Q4 Preview | Grok Imagine Video 1.5 | Kling 4.0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task modes | Text to Video · Image to Video | Image to Video · Reference to Video | Text to Video · Image to Video · Reference to Video | Text to Video · Image to Video |
| Duration | 1–15 seconds | 3–16 seconds | 1–15 seconds | 3–30 seconds |
| Resolution | 480p · 720p · 1080p (upscaled from 720p) | 540p · 720p · 1080p · 2K · 4K | 480p · 720p · 1080p | 720p · 1080p |
| Audio | Included, always on | Supported | Included, always on | Included, always on |
| Cost | 18 credits per generation | 159 credits per generation | 18 credits per generation | 215 credits per generation |
Recurring themes from public reviews, comparisons and creator write-ups. Both the good and the bad.
The price per second is the headline. At xAI's list prices Lite costs a quarter of Video 1.5 at 480p and about a fifth at 720p, which AlphaSignal frames as a lower-cost tier for drafts and variants before a final render on the full model.
It scores above its price. Artificial Analysis ranks it two places above Veo 3.1 on text to video and puts it on the quality and speed frontier, with AlphaSignal reporting a median of about a minute for a ten second clip at its upscaled 1080p.
It keeps the family's sound. Every clip comes back with audio generated in the same pass, spoken lines included, so a quick draft already plays with dialogue and ambience.
Its 1080p is an enlargement of a 720p render, not a native 1080p, so fine detail, small text and crops look softer than on the full Video 1.5.
Benchmarks put its weakest areas in dialogue with lip sync and in human anatomy, and in our own runs a face from a starting photo drifted more than on Video 1.5 when the camera pushed in.
It is text and image to video only. There are no reference images, voice references, end frame or keyframes, so anything that needs those goes back to Video 1.5.
More AI video models you can run on Vidney.
Every clip comes back with its own sound, dialogue and lip sync included.
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Write the scene, the lines and the sound, and Shengshu's Q3 returns all three together, from one second to sixteen.
Generate AI video with MiniMax H3 Max: text to video and image to video, all from one Vidney workspace.
Generate AI video with Kling 3.0: text to video and image to video, all from one Vidney workspace.
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is an AI video model you can run on Vidney. It supports text to video and image to video from a single workspace. Read our tested review of Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite costs 18 credits per generation. The exact credit cost is shown on the generate button before you run it. That is about $0.54 per run at the Starter plan rate ($0.03 per credit).
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite supports the following aspect ratios: 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9, 9:16, 2:3, 3:2.
Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite generates clips of 1–15 seconds.
Yes. Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite generates video with sound in the same pass: dialogue, effects and room tone. There is no switch to turn it off.
Partly. New accounts get 10 to 30 free credits depending on country, no card required, and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite costs 18 credits per generation. Whether your sign-up credits cover a run depends on your balance; the exact cost is always shown on the generate button before you spend a credit.
Yes. The videos you generate with Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite on Vidney are yours to use in commercial projects: ads, social posts, client work, and product content. You keep the output; Vidney only handles generation and storage.
Only on the free plan. Free-plan downloads carry a small Vidney watermark; on any paid plan, Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite videos download clean, ready to publish or hand to a client. Upgrading also removes the watermark from videos you already made.
The closest Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite alternatives on Vidney are Vidu Q4 Preview, Grok Imagine Video 1.5, and Kling 4.0. They all run in the same workspace from one credit balance, so you can run the same prompt on each and compare the results side by side.
No. Vidney runs Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite for you, so there are no API keys to manage and no separate provider account to set up.
