Video face swap works differently from photo and GIF face swap on our site in two ways: it always requires signing in, and it always costs credits — there's no free anonymous trial for video. This article walks through exactly how the limits and credit cost are calculated, straight from our production code, not a marketing summary.
The File Limits
From our tool's validation rules:
| Requirement | Limit |
|---|---|
| Source video format | MP4, MOV, or WEBM |
| Source video max size | 20MB |
| Source video max duration | 5 seconds (validator allows up to 6s to account for encoding rounding) |
| Face photo format | JPG, PNG, or WEBP |
| Face photo max size | 5MB |
If your video runs longer than roughly 5 seconds, the server rejects it before generation starts with an explicit "video too long" message — this is checked against the actual video duration, not just the file size.
Why Sign-In Is Required for Video
Photo and GIF face swap both let anonymous visitors try a limited number of free generations per day. Video is different: in our code, an anonymous (not signed in) request for video mode is rejected immediately with a "please sign in" message — it never even reaches the daily-limit check, the NSFW screen, or the AI model. Every video generation, including your first one, requires an account and consumes credits.
How the Credit Cost Is Calculated
Video is billed per second of source video, with a minimum charge. Here's how it works:
- 3 credits per second of source video duration
- 15 credits minimum per generation, regardless of length
That minimum matters: a 1-second, 2-second, 3-second, 4-second, or 5-second clip all cost the same 15 credits, because 3 credits/second only exceeds the 15-credit floor once your video passes 5 seconds — and 5 seconds is also the hard maximum duration. In practice, that means every video swap on our tool currently costs exactly 15 credits, since no accepted video can be long enough to push the per-second calculation above the minimum.
| Video Length | Per-Second Cost (3/sec) | Credits Charged |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 seconds (any length up to the cap) | 3–15 | 15 (minimum applies) |
By comparison, photo face swap costs 1 credit, multiple face swap costs 2 credits, and GIF face swap costs 8 credits per generation — video is the most expensive mode per generation, reflecting the extra compute needed to process a moving clip frame-by-frame rather than a single image.
What Else Applies to Video (Same as Other Modes)
Video isn't exempt from the checks that apply to every mode:
- NSFW screening still applies, on both your source video and your face photo, before upload or generation. Video screening runs against the whole clip rather than a single frame. See how the NSFW filter works if you think a clip was blocked incorrectly.
- You need enough credit balance, not just an account — if your balance is below the required 15 credits, the request is rejected before generation starts, the same way a daily-limit block works for anonymous photo/GIF users.
- Uploads are still auto-deleted from storage within 72 hours, the same retention policy that applies to every mode. See what happens to your uploads for the full flow.
Credits by Mode: Video Is the Most Expensive
For comparison, here's the full credit cost table across every mode:
| Mode | Credit Cost |
|---|---|
| Photo face swap | 1 credit |
| Multiple face swap (group photo) | 2 credits |
| GIF face swap | 8 credits |
| Video face swap | 3 credits/second, 15-credit minimum |
Video costs roughly double GIF and 15x a single photo swap. This isn't an arbitrary pricing choice on our end — it reflects that video generation runs a frame-by-frame model over a moving clip rather than a single still image, which is meaningfully more compute per request.
You're Only Charged on a Successful Generation
This is worth stating clearly, since it's not obvious from the outside: in our code, the credit-consuming step only runs after the AI model has already returned a successful result. If your request is rejected earlier in the pipeline — blocked by the safety screen, rejected for an invalid file, or failed at the AI generation step itself — no credits are deducted. You're only charged for a video swap that actually completed and produced a result.
The one exception worth knowing: if the credit-consumption step itself fails due to a backend error after generation already succeeded, the server returns an explicit error asking you to refresh your balance rather than silently failing — this is a rare edge case, not a normal outcome.
Getting Credits
Credits are purchased as one-time packs — there's no subscription — and they don't expire. See pricing for current credit pack options. Since video always costs a minimum of 15 credits per generation, it's worth checking your balance covers at least one full generation before uploading a video.
Quick Checklist Before You Upload a Video
- You're signed in (video isn't available to anonymous visitors)
- Your credit balance covers at least 15 credits
- Video is MP4, MOV, or WEBM, under 20MB, 5 seconds or shorter
- Face photo is JPG, PNG, or WEBP, under 5MB
- Video and face photo content will pass automated safety screening
Try it with the video face swap tool — sign in and generate your first swap. For step-by-step instructions, see our how-to guide.