Veo 3.1, Seedance 2.5 or Kling 3.0? A spec sheet for vertical video.

Google's Veo 3.1, ByteDance's Seedance 2.5 and Kling 3.0 are three of the main options for vertical AI video right now. All three make 9:16 video with sound. They differ on how long a single take can run, what you pay per second, how US teams can reach them, and what the fine print says.

Short version: Seedance 2.5 runs the longest single takes and ranks highest of the three on independent leaderboards, but costs the most through US routes. Veo 3.1 is the cheapest per second and caps clips at 8 seconds. Kling 3.0 sits in the middle, with multi-shot clips and dialogue in five languages. This comparison is built from each vendor's published specs and prices, not from our own tests.

The spec sheet

Sources: Google's Veo docs, fal's Seedance 2.5 page and ByteDance's Seed site, and Kling's 3.0 release note. We couldn't find 9:16 on an official Kling page; fal and other resellers list it.

Clip length decides how you build an ad

A 15 to 30 second vertical spot is where the three split most clearly. Seedance 2.5 can render it in one pass, up to 30 seconds. Kling 3.0 tops out at 15 seconds, but it can cut between several shots inside that one clip. Veo 3.1 generates 4, 6 or 8 seconds; its Standard and Fast versions can extend a clip in 7-second steps, but only at 720p. Longer Veo spots mean extending at lower resolution or editing clips together.

Sound and dialogue

• Veo 3.1 generates audio on every version and includes it in the price. Google says English is the only audio language it has fully evaluated.
• Seedance 2.5 adds audio by default at no extra cost and lip-syncs dialogue written in quotes, per fal.
• Kling 3.0 charges more with audio on, and officially supports dialogue in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, with regional accents.

If you plan to add music in the edit anyway, an audio-off option saves money. Google doesn't sell one, but fal does for Veo, and Kling prices it separately.

Control and consistency

For keeping a product or a character the same across shots, Seedance 2.5 accepts the most input: up to 50 reference files across images, video and audio. Veo 3.1 takes up to three reference images, and first-and-last-frame control, on its Standard and Fast versions only. Kling 3.0 offers start and end frames, element and multi-image references, and its official multi-shot mode. All three take camera direction through the prompt.

What a second costs

List prices per second at 720p with audio, on the official API unless noted, as of October 13, 2026:

• Google lists Veo prices on its pricing page. At 1080p, Lite costs $0.08 and Fast $0.12.
• Kling lists its rates on its API pricing page, but its own API is sold in prepaid packages starting at $700. Through fal, Kling 3.0 Pro costs $0.168 per second at 1080p with audio.
• Resellers don't always match. On fal, Veo 3.1 Fast with audio costs $0.15 per second, more than Google's own rate. fal's Veo 3.1 pages also show a notice that those endpoints will be deprecated on October 22, 2026.

On the app side, full Veo 3.1 comes with Google AI Ultra, from $99.99 a month; Google AI Pro at $19.99 includes only a limited Lite trial. Dreamina's Basic plan, which includes Seedance 2.5, is $15 a month. Kling's Standard plan is $8.80 a month.

How US teams can reach each one

• Veo 3.1: Google's Gemini API, Vertex AI, Flow and the Gemini app, plus resellers. The API model names still end in “preview.”
• Seedance 2.5: ByteDance's official API, BytePlus, doesn't list the United States on its availability page. US teams use Dreamina's app or resellers such as fal and Runway.
• Kling 3.0: kling.ai, Kling's own API and resellers. For what's happening with the next version, see our Kling 4.0 update.

Rights and watermarks

None of the three is watermark-free. Every Veo clip carries Google's invisible SynthID watermark. Dreamina says it uses invisible watermarks and C2PA Content Credentials. Kling embeds an invisible watermark and metadata it describes as aligned with C2PA.

On commercial use, Google's Gemini API terms claim no ownership of what you generate and describe the service as for business use. Kling's paid plans include commercial use; its free plan doesn't. Dreamina's pricing page says paid plans remove its watermark, and that commercial eligibility depends on its terms, so read those before client work. fal marks both Seedance 2.5 and Kling 3.0 for commercial use.

What the leaderboards say

On Artificial Analysis's text-to-video arena, where people vote between anonymous clips, Seedance 2.5 ranked third when we checked on October 13, Kling 3.0 16th and Veo 3.1 19th. On its image-to-video arena, Seedance 2.5 ranked fourth, Veo 3.1 13th and Kling 3.0 19th. These votes measure general preference, not vertical ads, and rankings move often.

Which one for which job

• A 15 to 30 second spot in one take: Seedance 2.5.
• High volume at the lowest cost: Veo 3.1 Lite or Fast.
• Several cuts inside one short clip, or dialogue beyond English: Kling 3.0.

Each vendor publishes a prompting guide worth reading first: Google's Veo 3.1 guide, ByteDance's Seedance 2.5 guide and Kling's VIDEO 3.0 guide. If you're coming from Sora, our guide to the alternatives covers more tools.

A spec sheet tells you what a model can do. It doesn't tell you what the spot should say, or which take is the right one. That part is still the job.

Specs and prices are from each vendor's official pages and fal, checked on October 13, 2026; prices change often. Kling's 9:16 support comes from reseller listings. Leaderboard ranks are third-party. We didn't run our own tests. This isn't legal advice. We aren't affiliated with Google, ByteDance, Kuaishou or fal.