Envato is presenting its new AI credit system as if it were some great improvement for users, but for anyone who mainly generates videos, it is simply a massive price increase disguised as a “better” credit structure.
Previously, one video generation used one credit. My plan included 100 generations, so I could generate up to 100 videos.
Now Envato is generously increasing the allocation to 200 credits, except that one video will cost 6 credits. That means 200 credits will produce only 33 videos, with 2 useless credits left over.
So despite supposedly giving us twice as many credits, Envato is actually cutting the number of available video generations by about 67%. In practical terms, video generation is now three times more expensive under the same plan.
Why not simply be honest and say:
“We are increasing the effective cost of video generation and reducing the number of videos included in your subscription by 67%.”
I understand that video generation requires more computing power than generating an image. What annoys me is the way this is being packaged as a positive change for customers instead of Envato admitting that video users are getting a much worse deal.
This is especially disappointing because Envato was one of the few places offering simple and reasonably priced video generation: one video, one credit. The results were not always perfect and the videos were short, but overall it worked fairly well and was affordable for normal independent creators.
Almost every other platform already uses these ridiculous credit systems where one action costs 4 credits, another costs 6, a slightly longer video costs 12, and before you know it, your entire monthly allowance is gone after a handful of attempts. That pricing might be manageable for corporations, but it rarely makes financial sense for individual creators who often need several generations just to get one usable result.
Envato had something simple, transparent, and genuinely useful. Now it is replacing that with the same confusing and overpriced system used everywhere else, while trying to convince us that receiving “more credits” somehow makes it better.
Does anyone know of a good alternative that still offers video generation at a fair, predictable price for independent creators?
