Minute Verdict
Grok Imagine is the image and video half of Grok, and it is not sold on its own. Images are included from Plus at $8 a month, video only starts at Premium at $30, and 1080p video at Super at $100. It suits someone already paying for X who wants stills and short clips in the same thread as the chat, and it does not suit a team that needs a known number of generations, because every plan shares one weekly allowance with chat, voice and the coding agent.
Best for: a creator or social manager already on X who wants images up to 2K and clips up to 15 seconds without opening a second subscription.
Not for: a video team that needs 4K, longer clips or a fixed monthly volume, since the ceiling is 1080p at $100 a month and the allowance is a shared pool.
From: $8/mo for images, checked November 11, 2026
What Grok Imagine does
Grok Imagine generates stills and video inside Grok, the assistant xAI ships through the X app, grok.com and the mobile apps. On the image side it goes from a text prompt to a picture at 1K or 2K, edits an existing picture with a written instruction, and combines up to five reference images in one request for style transfers or composites. A public image URL or a base64 payload both work as input.
On the video side it animates a still, generates from text, or builds a clip from up to 14 reference images with 3 voice references and pinned first, mid and final frames. Clips run up to 15 seconds, come out at 480p, 720p or 1080p, and carry lip synced speech. It also edits an existing video from a prompt and extends a clip from its last frame, joining the original and the extension.
Three model names sit behind this: grok-imagine-image-2.0 for images, grok-imagine-video-1.5 for the full video feature set, and grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite for cheaper video at the same resolutions. The same models are sold through the API at docs.x.ai, a separate meter from the subscription. For the assistant itself, the full Grok review covers chat, search, voice and the coding agent.
What it does not do is stand alone. There is no Imagine account, no Imagine price and no Imagine app. You buy an X subscription or you buy API credits, and the rest is a feature of that purchase.
On this page
What you get for the money
| Plan | Price | Imagine access | The limit that matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Images only, limited | No video generation at all |
| Plus | $8 | Images, shared AI usage pool | Video needs Premium |
| Premium | $30 | Images and video, 4x the usage of Plus | No 1080p |
| Super | $100 | Images and video, 1080p 15 second clips, 15x the usage of Plus | The only route to 1080p |
| Ultra | $200 | 50x the usage of Plus | Same features, larger pool |
| Teams | $30+ per user | Pooled usage, admin controls | Per seat, not per creator |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom limits and data residency | Sales conversation |
The cheapest entry is $8 a month on Plus, which covers images and no video. Twelve months of that comes to $96. Video moves the floor to Premium at $30, or $360 a year, and 1080p moves it to Super at $100, or $1,200 a year.
One allowance is shared. Every tier carries a pool of AI usage that covers Chat, Imagine, Voice and Bot. It refreshes weekly and top ups are offered when it runs out, so a week of heavy chat spends the images planned for Friday. No plan publishes a number of images or seconds.
Prices exclude applicable taxes and fees, the grid publishes no annual rate, and the subscriptions are sold only through X Subscription Corp. Cancellation works from the account settings, at least 24 hours before the renewal date.
The API is a second meter. Images bill $0.04 each on grok-imagine-image-2.0, with up to 10 images per request and flat pricing regardless of prompt length. Video bills from $0.08 per second on grok-imagine-video-1.5 and from $0.02 per second on 1.5 Lite, where duration and resolution move the total. API spend does not draw from the plan pool, so a subscription and a key are two separate bills.
Where it falls short
Video is the first gap. Free lists limited image generation and no video at all, and Plus lists Imagine without video, so the $8 tier that reads like the full generator gives stills only. Anyone who came for moving pictures starts at $30.
Resolution is the second. The main Grok page describes text to video up to 15 seconds at 720p, and the pricing grid makes 1080p a Super feature at $100 a month. A 4K clip is not on the ladder at any price, and 15 seconds is the ceiling everywhere, extension included.
The allowance is invisible. No tier states how many images or seconds it buys, only that the pool is shared across Chat, Imagine, Voice and Bot and refreshes weekly. A buyer comparing this with a credit plan cannot compute a cost per asset before paying.
Billing is monthly only. The grid publishes no annual rate on any individual plan, prices exclude taxes, and cancellation has a 24 hour window before renewal.
Review is a gate, not a number. Output passes a content policy review before it is returned, and the acceptable use policy bans nudifying real people, deceptive impersonation, sexualized depictions of children and stripping provenance metadata or watermarks. No document states how many requests fail review or how long a review takes.
Grok Imagine alternatives
Three tools with published prices, checked on their own pages, none of which bundles images and video into an X subscription the way Grok does.
- Nano Banana, Google’s image model, at $0.0336 per 1K image on the API with editing free in the Gemini app, the one to pick if you only need stills and want them metered: our Nano Banana review.
- Veo 3 at $0.40 per 8 second clip with audio on the API, and $19.99 a month for the Gemini app plans that include it, the closer match on video quality and the one with native sound: our Veo 3 review.
- Higgsfield at $19 a month for 270 credits spread over Seedance, GPT Image and its own studios, the cheapest way to keep several video models in one bill: our Higgsfield review.
Who it is for: Grok Imagine
Grok Imagine fits the person who already pays for X and treats generation as a side activity. The $8 Plus tier carries Imagine next to the timeline, the reply box and the chat, so an image for a post costs nothing extra, and editing with five references covers the usual fix a designer would be asked for.
It fits less well as a production tool. A video editor needs 4K, control over duration and a known cost per clip, and the ladder here stops at 1080p, 15 seconds and a shared weekly pool. An agency billing per deliverable will prefer Higgsfield at $19 with a credit count it can divide, or the Veo 3 API at $0.40 a clip.
In between sits the developer who wants image and video models behind one key. The Imagine API is priced per image and per second, supports up to 14 reference images and 3 voice references on video, and needs no subscription. The Grok pricing page carries the subscription side, and how we test explains what a paid month would add.
How we checked
This is a research review. We have not opened a paid X subscription for Imagine, so we did not generate an image, render a clip or measure a queue time, and we cannot report how the 15 second cap feels in practice or how often a prompt comes back moderated. We read the pricing grid and its full comparison table on November 11, 2026, along with the Grok product page, the Imagine API documentation, the release notes, the acceptable use policy and the X help centre article on data settings, all on the same day. The per second video rates and the 2K image ceiling come from the API documentation rather than from a generation we ran. What a paid month changes first is the one number the grid hides, the size of the weekly pool.
What to do next
Start with the Free plan and generate images for a week to see whether the limited allowance and the review gate fit the work. If they do, Plus at $8 adds the pool inside a subscription many people already carry.
Pay for Premium at $30 only if you need video, and skip Super at $100 unless 1080p is required. If the work is volume rather than a subscription, price the API first, because that route states a cost per asset and the plan route does not.
FAQ
How much does Grok Imagine cost? Images start at $8 a month on Plus. Video generation starts at $30 a month on Premium, and 1080p video at $100 a month on Super. The API is billed separately at $0.04 per image and from $0.08 per second of video.
Is Grok Imagine free? The Free plan carries limited image generation and no video generation. There is no separate free tier for Imagine, so the free route is the X account itself.
Can Grok Imagine make video? Yes, from Premium at $30 a month. It generates clips up to 15 seconds from a text prompt, from a still image, or from up to 14 reference images, with lip synced speech and native audio.
What is the maximum video quality? 1080p, on Super at $100 a month. The main Grok page describes text to video up to 15 seconds at 720p, and the API offers 480p, 720p and 1080p.
Is there a Grok Imagine API? Yes. The Imagine API uses grok-imagine-image-2.0 for images at $0.04 each, grok-imagine-video-1.5 for video from $0.08 per second, and a cheaper 1.5 Lite model from $0.02 per second. API usage is billed separately and does not draw from a plan.
What does content moderated mean on Grok Imagine? Output passes a content policy review before it is returned. The acceptable use policy bans nudifying real people, deceptive impersonation and sexualized depictions of children, and a breach can suspend the account.
Are my Grok Imagine creations public? An image or clip lives in the conversation where it was made, and a thread can be shared through a public link. X says your inputs and results may be used to train Grok unless you opt out under Privacy and Safety, then Data sharing and personalization.
How do I cancel an X subscription? Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date to avoid the next charge, from the account settings. Prices exclude applicable taxes and fees.
Sources
Sources
- https://x.ai/pricing (checked November 11, 2026)
- https://x.ai/grok (checked November 11, 2026)
- https://docs.x.ai/docs/guides/image-generation (checked November 11, 2026)
- https://docs.x.ai/docs/release-notes (checked November 11, 2026)
- https://x.ai/legal/acceptable-use-policy (checked November 11, 2026)
- https://help.x.com/en/using-x/about-grok (checked November 11, 2026)
Update log
November 11, 2026: first publication, research review. X pricing grid read in US dollars with the five individual plans and the comparison table, the Imagine API rates and the acceptable use policy read the same day.
