Newsletters.ai — Learn about AI, the lazy way.VEO 4 vs Veo 5: Complete Comparison (2026)
Create cinematic 8-second videos with synced native audio
Generate realistic short videos from text or images
Create cinematic 8-second videos with synced native audio
Generate realistic short videos from text or images
VEO 4 is the stronger pick for cinematic, production-style clips (including 4K options and richer creative controls), while Veo 5 is positioned for fast iteration and developer workflows with an API and pay-as-you-go credits. If you need predictable team pricing and high-end marketing visuals, VEO 4 is usually the safer bet; if you are building an app or pipeline, Veo 5 may fit better.
Comparison Overview
| Criteria |  VEO 4 |  Veo 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and cost predictability Measures how transparent and predictable pricing is, including availability of free tiers, published plans, and how easy it is to estimate cost at scale. | 8Clear monthly tiers plus free access via Google AI Studio, with some quota and API-cost uncertainty. | 6Flexible pay-as-you-go credits, but limited public clarity on credit rates and cost per output. |
| Video quality and realism Assesses cinematic look, temporal coherence, physics, character consistency, and suitability for professional marketing or storytelling outputs. | 9 |
VEO 4 and Veo 5 are both web-based AI video generators built around Google’s Veo family of models, but they are optimized for different buying decisions. VEO 4 (available via a front-end at veo4free.io and tied to Google AI Studio access) markets itself around cinematic short clips with native synced audio and optional 4K output, aiming at creators, educators, and businesses that want polished results for ads, brand storytelling, and premium social.
Veo 5 (veo5.io) positions itself as a fast, flexible short-video generator for both creators and developers. Its standout differentiators are API integration with webhook delivery, a seed parameter for reproducible outputs, motion intensity controls, and a pay-as-you-go credit model that can be attractive for spiky or programmatic usage.
People typically compare VEO 4 vs Veo 5 when they are choosing between (1) a more “production-style” experience that prioritizes cinematic camera language, coherence, and higher-end output options, and (2) an “API-first” experience that prioritizes speed, repeatability, and integration into apps or automated content pipelines. Both claim native audio and lip sync, but the depth of documentation and external coverage is stronger around Veo 4 than Veo 5, which affects how confidently buyers can forecast cost, limits, and scaling behavior.
Detailed Analysis
Pricing and cost predictability
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VEO 4
8VEO 4 advertises Free access (via Google AI Studio quotas) and publishes monthly plans of $29.9, $59.9, and $99.9 per month, which helps creators forecast ongoing spend. The main uncertainty is that full Veo 4 capability and large-scale usage can depend on Google-side quotas or consumption pricing, which is not always clearly stated per second. Overall, it is more predictable than credit-only systems for steady usage.
Verdict
Choose VEO 4 if your priority is cinematic polish and higher-end deliverables for marketing and storytelling, especially when 4K output, camera language (dolly, tracking, zoom), and character or scene consistency matter. Its published monthly plans (Basic $29.9, Plus $59.9, Pro $99.9) also make budgeting simpler for steady creator workflows, even if free usage is quota-limited and full capabilities may depend on Google access tiers.
Choose Veo 5 if you want fast short-form generation and are building a developer-driven workflow, for example, generating videos inside a product using an API plus webhooks, or running controlled experiments using a seed parameter. The trade-off is transparency: Veo 5’s credit pricing and output caps (length, resolution) are harder to independently verify, so teams that need predictable cost-per-video and enterprise-grade guarantees should validate these details before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is VEO 4 or Veo 5 better for cinematic marketing videos?
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For cinematic marketing outputs, VEO 4 is usually the better fit because it emphasizes production-style visuals, camera motion controls, and 4K output support (depending on the interface). Veo 5 can still work for short ads and social clips, but its top-end resolution and cinematic tooling are less clearly documented publicly.
Which is cheaper, VEO 4 or Veo 5?
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Some details in this comparison could not be fully verified. Please double-check the following before making decisions:
- Exact per-second or per-generation API pricing for Google-hosted Veo 4 usage could not be independently verified and may vary by platform (Gemini, Vertex AI, or third-party front-ends).
- VEO 4 maximum clip length and default output resolution vary by interface; the commonly cited 8-second workflow and 4K support could not be confirmed as universally available across all access paths.
- Veo 5 credit pricing (cost per credit, credits per second, and how pricing changes by resolution or quality) could not be independently verified from broadly available sources.
- Veo 5 maximum output resolution and maximum clip length could not be independently verified, as public materials emphasize speed and short videos without consistent caps.
- Independent user reviews and support SLAs for Veo 5 could not be reliably validated, making reliability and support comparisons less certain than for more widely covered tools.