MiniMax Hailuo wins cost race at $0.073 per usable second

AgDex's benchmark rests on 60 standard prompts, a setup that lets the authors compare not only raw prices but how often a model's output actually survives review. That distinction matters because the usable rates in the study range from 38% to 58%, meaning a model with a low sticker price can end up costing more per finished second. The spread between MiniMax Hailuo and Google Veo — $0.073 versus $0.526 — reflects that gap directly. For teams planning production budgets, the benchmark suggests the line item to watch is not the advertised per-second rate but the share of generations that make it to final cut.